The sourdough Starter Thread

[Containergardener]

Thanks I will have a look snoop.
Thanks for pics bren.


I was thinking while walking I'd seen sourdough somewhere. Found it when I got home, it was in my Paul Hollywood baking book. He uses grated apple in his.

[smallblueplanet]

Thanks I will have a look snoop.
Thanks for pics bren.


I was thinking while walking I'd seen sourdough somewhere. Found it when I got home, it was in my Paul Hollywood baking book. He uses grated apple in his.

Bleurgh.
I presume that's for added bacteria or acidity?

[Snoop Puss]

Whichever method you use, CG, I'd recommend choosing one and sticking to it. Dan Leppard uses raisins in his. Me, I'm a straight flour and water kind of gal.

[smallblueplanet]

Thanks I will have a look snoop.
Thanks for pics bren.


I was thinking while walking I'd seen sourdough somewhere. Found it when I got home, it was in my Paul Hollywood baking book. He uses grated apple in his.

It starts like this, just rye flour and water:

"Day 1: Take a small clean jar (I use a 400ml jam jar) and add 40ml of water and 40g of whole grain rye flour, stir with a clean spoon for 30 seconds. Draw a line to mark the height of the mixture with a permanent marker on the jar so you can see any activity easily. Loosely close the lit of the jar and store at room temperature (about 20-21 degrees Celcius) out of direct sunlight for 24 hours."


Video: https://youtu.be/p7mfMTXqGas

[Snoop Puss]

Bleurgh.
I presume that's for added bacteria or acidity?

Additional types of natural yeasts, apparently. I'm no scientist or expert, but I think of the natural yeasts on apples as good for cider, and those on raisins (grapes) as being for wine. Me, I'm happy to stick with the natural yeasts on wheat because I'll be using that for bread. Call me Mrs Luddite but all these fruit starters are a bit new-fangled for me. A bag of organic flour contains all the natural yeasts a starter needs.

[mothhawk]

You still making sourdough, sbp? How about you, mothhawk?

I don't make much bread now, one small loaf lasts us a week (I slice and freeze it in 4 slice packs), so I let my starter go, and use yeast. I did enjoy the whole process though, and if I had more people to bake for, I'd definitely still be using sourdough.

[Bren In Pots]

I made my starter using a mix of wholemeal Spelt and bread flour following a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe even added a bit of rhubarb like he did, it seemed to have worked ok for me.
I agree with Snoop stick to one way, its a bit like looking after a goldfish you feed it and clean out the container every now and then.

[Snoop Puss]

^I stand corrected. If HFW adds fruit, then it must be a good thing.

[Containergardener]

It starts like this, just rye flour and water:

"Day 1: Take a small clean jar (I use a 400ml jam jar) and add 40ml of water and 40g of whole grain rye flour, stir with a clean spoon for 30 seconds. Draw a line to mark the height of the mixture with a permanent marker on the jar so you can see any activity easily. Loosely close the lit of the jar and store at room temperature (about 20-21 degrees Celcius) out of direct sunlight for 24 hours."


Video: https://youtu.be/p7mfMTXqGas

I've done the same quantities but it's just a thick paste in the bottom. Is that right?

[Snoop Puss]

I must admit, when I use rye, especially whole rye, I tend to add a bit more water, but only a few ml more proportionally. But Weekend Bakery are really reliable, so if that's what they say, it'll work. smallblueplanet will be along with the next day's instructions.

Don't forget that video is what happens in eight hours once you have an active starter. It takes a few days to get your starter fully active.

[smallblueplanet]

I've done the same quantities but it's just a thick paste in the bottom. Is that right?

As Snoop Puss suggests add a splash more water, it won't hurt. I think as long as you remember the ratio of flour to water you use is what matters. When making different sourdough breads there are starters with different ratios of flour and water - I honestly can't remember exact recipes as we tend to just stick with 1:1 for our starter. But there are some 'starters' that are more like thick doughs.

https://www.weekendbakery.com/posts/...in-easy-steps/

Day 2: If you are lucky you should see some little bubbles of air in the mixture. The smell of the mixture at this stage is not very nice, a bit musty but not totally off putting. Add 20ml of water and 20g of whole grain rye flour. Stir with a clean spoon for 30 seconds. Draw a new mark line if needed. Loosely close the lit of the jar and store at room temperature out of direct sunlight for 24 hours. Stirring the mixture 2 or 3 times a day for 10 seconds helps distribute the flour, yeast and bacteria and aerates the mixture which helps development.

"Some bubbles are visible after 24 hours – It’s alive, its alive…"

[smallblueplanet]

Day 3: Your mixture should now be getting active. Mine did more than double in size during the last 24 hours. If your mixture is not very active yet, throw away half of the mixture and repeat the directions of day 2 again. The smell of your mixture should be a little nicer at this stage. When your mixture is active, throw away two third of the mixture and add 30ml of water and 30g of whole grain rye flour, stir with a clean spoon for 30 seconds and store at room temperature. Stir the mixture 2 or 3 times a day for 10 seconds.

This is called refreshing or feeding your starter. By throwing out part of your mixture and adding new rye flour you give the starter fresh food (the rye flour) to work on, so all your new yeast and bacteria can get ‘stronger’ and multiply again. You also dilute the alcohol and the acid they produce so the yeast and bacteria do not ‘poison’ themselves.

Day 4: Your starter should now be fully active and strong enough to double or triple in size during a 24 hours time period. We need to refresh it again before we can use this starter because the acid producing bacteria need more time to develop than the yeast. So throw away two third of the mixture and add 30ml of water and 30g of whole grain rye flour, stir with a clean spoon for 30 seconds and store at room temperature.

When your starter is not active repeat the steps of day 2 and 3 until it is getting active. Sometimes it just takes a few days longer, depending on flour, area and temperature. When at any stage your starter gets moldy, smells bad or you see colored spots on your starter which do not seem to belong there, you sadly have to start over as you probably picked up some bad guests.

[smallblueplanet]

I think this is our first rye starter attempt - Elvis lives! From back in 2013 it seems from the pic properties.

[Containergardener]

Thanks . I have added a little more water. Liv rm gets the warmer at night so it's in there. We never have the house in the 20s, too warm for us.
Will see if it does anything. It will get a name if it does.

[Snoop Puss]

Will see if it does anything. It will get a name if it does.

It will do. Might take a bit longer than suggested, but it will do. It can't help but do so. All you need is patience. As far as I can see, people give up on their starters because they don't wait long enough for the action to start, or because they throw it out when they don't need to (I'm in the latter category - learned my lesson). Good luck, CG. Hang on in there.