Do you do....sourdough starters?

18 years ago

I have 2 going. Just put them together yesterday. One is using commercial yeast. I know some say this is a no no in doing a sourdough starter...I didn't know any better..LOL

A rose forum friend mentioned that a true starter began using flour/water and caught native yeast and so begins the sourdough starter...you just keep it fed.

This morning I noticed the starter using commercial yeast has an alcohol smell...the clear liquid(hooch) that forms on top IS alcohol...just stir it back in.

The starter using flour/water...I also added a Tablespoon of pineapple juice(read that on a bread forum)smells just like a nice buttermilk!!!

I fed both of them this morning with 1 tblsp whole wheat flour and 1 tblsp of pineapple juice. I am so excited to see what they both do!

So.....does anyone else do starters?

Deb

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Comments (14)

clairdo2
18 years ago
I tried once but was not happy with the results.Just don't like the taste of sourdough bread.
Daisy7
18 years ago
Deb, I do. I keep a liquid starter. It gets fed with sugar and potato flakes and keeps in a fruit jar in the fridge. The alcohol smell is what you're looking for in a good starter.

If you'd like to experiment futher, take a cup of the alcohol smelling liquid, add to it one cup of warm water, a half cup of sugar and three tablespoons of instant potato flakes. Let it set out on the counter in a warm place to 'work'.

Catching wild yeast is interesting. Some are the ones you are looking for and some are, shall we say, not. LOL

If you'd like to talk more, email me at daisyherbs at clearwire dot com.
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Carla - the above will certainly work well. But sourdough is generally considered dough made without a commercial yeast. If you plant roses, you don't get daffodils, right? So yeast is the same. If you use a commercial yeast, it will not turn into a different yeast, it will simply be that yeast. Not that this is good or bad, it's just the fact - you grow the yeast you start with. If you let it over rise, you can get it to taste sour, but that's not exactly the same. So in making wine or making beer or making bread, you can use a commercial yeast or you can attempt to find a wild or a feral yeast. They are all over and they are how people always made bread and wine until recently, when science was able to identify and propagate certain strains. The recipe for that is as follows: Take some flour. Mix in enough water to make a batter about the consistency of pancake batter. Leave it on the counter until it starts to bubble. This may take up to five or six days. Then take care of it. End of story. The yeasts that you get this way are all over - some work really fast, some slower, some have more flavor, some less. If you don't like what you get, you can try again. But they will certainly be different from anything you get using a commercial yeast. I have three in my fridge at the moment. Again, I'm not knocking commercial yeasts, but you end up with an entirely different product. And the other thing to remember is that a good part of the flavor with sourdough comes from the bacteria that work with the yeast. These are also caught the same way - and one of the problems with commercial yeast is that they don't include the bacteria. So you can use a bit of yogurt - it's a fairly closely related bacteria and it will improve the flavor of your bread. Good luck with this.
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Daisy7
18 years ago
Correction: make that clearwire dot net.

Looks like it's gonna be one of those days. LOL
Linda Wayman
18 years ago
I used to keep a starter called Herman's starter, but that was years ago. It made the best bread.

Linda
azzalea
18 years ago
Some years back, I followed the directions in Nancy Silverton's La Brea Bakery book to grow a wild yeast starter, using the concord grapes in my back yard. It turned out great, and I'm still using it. Of course, it's a long process. One I don't really want to have to do again, so I periodically dry some, to keep on hand as an 'emergency' starter, in case I can't use mine often enough to keep it lively.
sayhellonow
18 years ago
I never have, but I love sourdough bread and would love to try it. One thing on my To Do list for several years has been to learn how to make bread. I want to learn it from scratch and not using a bread-making machine.

Azzalea: I had no idea you could make yeast from something like grapes -- how absolutely interesting!

Will someone tell me how to make a sourdough starter? Or should I go to the Recipes area?
wandam1
18 years ago
I'd like to know, too. I love sourdough bread! :) And all these add-ins or whatever you call them, that you are talking about are fascinating. I never knew there were any 'different' things that could go into a starter.
Wanda in South Texas

Here is a link that might be useful: My Blog - The Bee Hive
debnfla8b
Original Author
18 years ago
One forum friend said to take equal amounts of flour/water and make a pancake like mix. Stir it together in a ceramic or plastic container. He also said you can put about a tablespoon of plain yogurt in there. Put it on the counter, loose lid and let it ferment. Stir it everyday. It should start to develop bubbles and you know you have yeast growing.
Google sourdough starter. You will find lots of websites that can give you detailed information and instructions. I put a tablespoon of pineapple juice in one of mine...it is the one that smells just like buttermilk used to smell when my Granny made it. I do believe it is going to make some fabulous bread!

Deb
azzalea
18 years ago
Sayhellonow--it's not exactly that you make the yeast from the grapes, so much as there is wild yeast on grapes, and you can sort of 'trap' and grow it. The whole process takes 2 weeks and has some very disconcerting (ugly--LOL) moments along the way. But it does make a great starter.

For those wanting to get involved without putting that much effort into it (or who don't have access to organically grown grapes), there is a group that has a starter that's been in existance since the 1800's. If you google "Carl's Friends" you should be able to find their website, they'll send you a free sample of their historic starter. It's good.
wandam1
18 years ago
Thanks, Deb. Yes, I had googled it in the meantime, and actually, already started some! LOL! I really like the yogurt idea. I have some plain kind in the fridge. Maybe I could still add it... The pineapple juice sounds wonderful too. I guess that would be in place of the water?
Wanda in South Texas

Here is a link that might be useful: My Blog - The Bee Hive
debnfla8b
Original Author
18 years ago
Wanda, I just added a tablespoon of the pineapple juice plus the water. It smells like buttermilk! I guess it is fermenting. My daughter is a biochemist and she shuddered when I told her I was making a starter. Then she proceded to tell me she had done that in one of her labs and was so amazed at all the little organisms she saw under the microscope. She laughingly said she should package hers right up and mail it to me for a starter. But she loves bread...any kind of yeasty bread and can't wait to taste what I create. I will have to mail some to her, she lives 3 hours away at college.

I am so excited about these starters...LOL It doesn't take much to make me happy...a butter bowl of clabbered, fermenting liquid gold!!!!

Deb :o))
sayhellonow
18 years ago
I'm with you on that, Deb. I'm reading all this at work so I can hardly wait to get my starter started. I always have plenty of plain yogurt on hand.

I'll also go to Carl's Friends, and I love the idea of teh pineapple juice. Does it change the taste of teh bread?
susanjf_gw
18 years ago
i'm so lazy! we buy our sough dough from costco every week...it very good san francisco style...
debnfla8b
Original Author
18 years ago
Sayhellonow(love that name!)

I don't think it will change the flavor of the bread. It feeds the yeast and helps keep the ph balanced....so I have read. I know it made my starter smell like buttermilk....the kind my Granny used to make. I can NOT wait to use it!

I'm eager to try that potato flake starter. I wonder what my precious husband will say when he notices all the fermenting jars on the counter??? I hope he doesn't lift a lid...hahahahaha.

I use my kitchenaid mixer to do it all. It kneads the dough so well, it is always perfecting kneaded. I usually go for 8 to 10 minutes kneading on speed 2, no higher.
I have had carpul tunnel surgery on both of my wrists and kneading for a long time just kills my hands. Thank GOD for the kitchenaid mixer! Oh....I have a bread machine too! It is sitting on the counter....I do use it to mixer up bisquit dough..LOL

Deb

Do you do....sourdough starters?

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