The sourdough Starter Thread

[Jeanied]

Thanks for the tips, Bren and Barleysugar. It will get fed some flour later on this evening and I have kept it closely covered with clingfilm since I made it - mainly to keep the cat from shoving her head in the bowl! It has been my excuse for keeping the heating on all day as well

[northepaul]

Just wanted to say a Massive THANK YOU to Barleysugar - Ann, who very kindly sent me some of her starter. I got back from the seed swap to discover it sitting on my door step - what a lovely gesture!!



She's a star!!!!

[BarleySugar]

So glad it arrived OK, and didn't break the jar .
My breadmaker bread is rather heavy (I used the same amount of dried yeast that I would use for conventional bread, rather than the tablespoon called for in the recipe I found), but good news, son no2 loves the taste of it (and it looks 'brown', he only eats white ).
I also tried out the crumpet idea to finish up the remaining discards. They were rather heavy, but I hadn't got the bicarb that the recipe called for. He loved those too, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. The taste was quite acidic, like lemon juice on pancakes, but the starter was 'hungry', which I think was the reason!
Once I get going properly it's good to know he will like the flavour, and as he says, it's also good for us.

[Bren In Pots]

BS try dropped scones with your next discard I preferred them to the crumpets :-

Wholemeal drop scones recipe - Channel4 - 4Food

I replaced the baking powder and flour with starter and added a bit more flour to make up the weight.

[BarleySugar]

Thanks Bren, will do. I have a cast iron griddle I use for blueberry pancakes in the summer, so I'll experiment with that. OH had a bit of bread with his dinner and also liked the taste, so hopefully that's one of my worries out the way.

[Jeanied]

Now my starter mix has been whipped up with a feed of 100g wholemeal strong flour and enough water to make it like double cream. Hoping this was the right thing to do as the instructions are all a bit on the vague side - not sure when the rhubarb comes out!
It is going into the airing cupboard tonight as it is sooo cold!

[mothhawk]

My starter's 4 days old so split it for the first time. Didn't think the discard would be good for anything at this stage, so stirred in a cup of oats and a tablespoon of sunflower oil and zapped it in the MW. Crumbled it and put it out for the blackbirds, who scoffed the lot in short order.

[Jeanied]

Okay - day three for me. It still looks a bit split so I keep whisking it together again - and then the bubbles appear from the whisking.
I am going to feed it again later this evening, but how long to I leave the rhubarb in there? Should I be adding a fresh chunk each time?

[Bren In Pots]

Jeanie I took my rhubarb out on day 6 when I made the sponge for my first loaf.

[Jeanied]

Aha! Thanks Bren - you are officially our sourdough expert! I just bunged in 100g wholemeal flour and some water to make it gloopy, gave it all a whisk and it still smells wholemealy, so it hasn't gone nasty yet!

[Bren In Pots]

Aha! Thanks Bren - you are officially our sourdough expert!

that's a laugh I've only produced 3 sourdough loaves and what works for me might not work for others.

[BroadRipple]

hello me lovelies...for what it's worth, here are some of my findings/discoveries/research:
1)didn't use either pineapple or rhubarb but have read about both and sound good; doubt you need to keep replacing. i used rye flour and (tap) water.
2)my starter took AGES to, er, start, and in fact i was about to chuck it. but the funny thing is that now I've had it for a few weeks it seems obvious that it's alive - i just hadn't known what the signs were. in case it's helpful to anyone, as long as you've kept it warmish and fed, they are splitting, as others have noticed, AND a fruity smell (though presumably the pineapple/rhubarb makes that trickier!) and, v important, i TASTED a tiny bit, and it was sour and slightly fizzy - that was my breakthrough, when i really thought nowt was happening.
3)it's been much more obliging than I expected, am even using dollops of it straight from the fridge as, if i add it to flour/water and let it prove for a few hours (not even necess. overnight) i reckon that warms it up/feeds it anyway, even in my cold kitchen.
4)last night i tried a recipe (in Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking) for normal, i.e. yeast bread, but i added a big dollop of starter too, as Daniel Stevens in the Riv Cot book says you can to most breads - and it was gorgeous.
5)bren thanks for drop scones recipe, going to try it.
and 6)if anyone wants me to post them a bit of my starter, v happy to...honestly, can't tell you how happy and proud this makes me! am taking photos of my bread...maybe shd send it a valentine's card.

[Bren In Pots]

Thanks for the update BR its good to know what others are doing.

[Jeanied]

Mine is on day 4 now and all day it has looked different - it is definitely alive with a thicker top layer not watery and small bubbles showing at the surface, and the smell is slightly sharper - no longer so wholemealy. I have whisked it up, poured half away (800 ml down to 400 ml) and added 100g wholemeal strong flour and enough water to keep it like thick cream. I poured it into a clean bowl and replaced the rhubarb, fresh cling film on top. I feel like taking it to bed with me

[elizajay]

I have been watching this thread with great interest and building up to starting myself. Today somebody came round and gave me Herman which is a cake version. You have to add flour, sugar and milk and otherwise it seems very similar. I was just wondering whether I can use one of the discards and start adding flour and water to that and see if it becomes a sourdough starter. Any thoughts?