Sourdough starter for dummies...
7 years ago
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- 7 years ago
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Can I feed my worms Sourdough starter?
Comments (6)I know this thread is very old, but it's one of the only really relevant links to come up when you google this. After never finding a satisfactory answer, I just tried it in my indoor plastic tote worm bin (made from 2 nested 10 gallon totes from Lowes http://www.lowes.com/pd_332449-61896-332449_1z0yly3__?productId=3276019&pl=1), and the worms adore sourdough starter. At first I thought something was wrong because every worm in the bin ended up in a giant, writhing mass where the starter was put down, but it turns out they were just super excited to eat it. It gets kind of hot, though, so be careful with quantity if the temp where you keep your worms is high. You'll see more condensation in the bin with the starter in there. I've put down up to 1/4 cup with no bad consequences to my bin. I don't know about larger quantities--I would guess it depends on the size of your bin and worm population. I had no problems with odor generally, but there can be a funk for a while if you uncover just the area where the starter is--probably because it can cause a wet, sludgy spot. I've since started to take out some older bedding and mix it into the starter before putting it down. The worms seem to prefer to eat the castings/organic matter/bedding that has soaked up the starter rather than eat the starter itself anyway, and it helps me control moisture better. If I notice that the spot with the starter is getting compacted and funky, I fluff it, and it seems to nip the problem in the bud. Anyway, I'm sure this is no help to the original poster anymore, but maybe this will help the next person who Googles for the answer to whether it's OK to feed sourdough starter to the worm bin....See MoreAnother new Sourdough Starter
Comments (11)Thanks Plllog. I'm pretty familar with the good and bad of sourdough starters and recognize the difference between what is an acceptable "smell" and one that isn't. I've been baking sourdough for about ten years now. First starter I kept going for s number of years. The last one that I neglected to the point of no return was two years old. To be honest, since I'm not really a big fan of sourdough bread to begin with, so I lose interest. My family, especially Matthew loves sourdough so I make it mostly for him and share it with friends. I do get a sense of satisfaction out of being able to bake bread from wild yeast without the addition of commercial yeast. Hooch is something that usually develops if I let my starter go longer than 8 to 10 days. I don't care for it so I pour it off. It isn't necessary to keep it. I know that my new starter is good and strong since it baked the above bread when it was only three to four days old. And without the addition of commerical yeast. The flavour is already quite developed. I fed both starters again this morning before leaving for work. And I used the discard to make a rye preferment that will be going into a batch of rye bread that I will handmix tonight and probably bake on Monday. This is what the starters looked like when I got home. One fed with white and one with rye. and the rye preferment had more than doubled....See MoreHave you tried using sourdough starter in a
Comments (11)I'm sure your starter is fine, but I think you'll find that after a year it'll be that much finer, especially if you stress it occasionally (let it go a little too long between feedings) to thin the herd. :) My own journey is a big old muddle of learning wild yeast (sourdough starter) and whole wheat at the same time, combined with water restrictions that made me look for ever less cleanup. Whole wheat actually requires at least eight hours of soak (in the liquid of the recipe) or rise, to fully hydrate, along with some acid to reduce the anti-nutrients. Along the way, I experimented with a number of traditional recipes, some white or with a large enough percentage of white to handle the same as white, many of which I documented in this forum (search on 'sourdough"). What worked for me was making a preferment (i.e., biga or levain--The Kitchn says "leaven") in the evening, and baking in the morning. I can't remember the timing well, because I have a bad relationship with mornings. There are some hours involved for the dough to rise. It only rises as fast as commercial yeast when you're counting on it not to! My best advice is twofold: One, get in the habit of baking bread so that it becomes part of your rhythm, and you'll have it ready before your chicks turn up hungry. The other is just to try some recipes and learn what it is you all like best. There may be one that does it for your daily bread, or a base dough that you can make up differently as in the 5 minutes method, or it may be a rotation of different flavors and textures. While learning one at a time seems wise, there's also something to be said from learning a bit from each thing you try and bringing the total learning back around when you try them again. Nine people, minimum, if I got that right, is plenty to be experimenting on, and should give you plenty of scope for learning what you're doing. So, do you want sour or just good bread with wild yeast? Sour takes some time to work, remember the rule of less starter = more sour taste requires longer rise. If you have your starter on the counter and feed it every day (maybe twice a day while it's young), you'll be ready to bake a lot sooner. I don't quite agree with some of what is said at The Kitchn about starter. It is an acidic environment (not "likes" one). It's also not finicky once established. While it's young, you have a number of organisms fighting for supremacy. The yeast will win, and as it strengthens, it'll do away with new organisms introduced in feedings without any protest. Once it's established, it's very hard to completely kill. Just feed it up and it'll start burping again. I'll also mention, that no matter the original source, all wild yeast in starter is the same kind. The whole location thing is silly. "San Francisco" sourdough is the name used for really really sour. That's about how hungry the yeast is, not the location (French fries aren't from France, either, though, I believe they got their name because frying was in vogue in France at that time, just as really sour bread was commonly made in San Francisco, and they did up beans mighty fine in Boston). Rather than getting too wrapped up in how long the process is going to take, it's best to just go with what you know and work it into your life. Eventually, you'll be able to adjust the timing. Like maybe you know if you set your dough to rise at noon, it'll be ready to bake after the school run, and before dinner. Or that if you make your levain after breakfast, you can mix the dough up after dinner, and bake after breakfast the following day. Also, have some interim breads, either quick to produce commercial yeast breads, or bisquits, waffles, cornbread, or whatever it is you can fill in with if your bread just isn't ready yet, while you're learning. You'll get there....See MoreIs this old sourdough starter is still good to use?
Comments (16)Here’s an update: a bubble or two appeared after about 12 hours, and now after about 40 hours (one feeding, no discard, just sitting on covered with light towel counter) there are several (see pics). So I guess it’s alive! Overnight the little layer of dark separation that you see formed. I’m thinking I’ll try to pour that off and feed, without discard, as per @pilllog’s suggestion. Also, it still smells quite strong. Volume didn’t increase in the 40 hours. @artemis_ma: i don’t suggest waiting 1-1/2 yrs between loaves!!...See More- 7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
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