That is amazing isn't it? I thought I was doing good to keep mine going for a couple of years.

Maybe you could head up there and get a sample

Should only take a couple of days!

You could follow the path the '49ers took, so many years ago!

LOL

My goodness that takes love!

I don't remember quite how old the 'mother' is that is used at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite Park but it's really old too. When they had the big floods in Yosemite Valley 20 years ago, one chef rescued the starter and took it home with him, and o it's still in use today.

Quick thinking by that chef! I'm sure the Belgians must have the famous Carl's Oregon Trail starter as well--and anyone who wants some can send an envelope and a small donation (I keep meaning to, but the local ordinance specifies no more than three pets). I wonder who gets the job at the archive of feeding all the pets and cleaning their beds? I have three going (white, wheat and low hydration French mix), and it can be a chore. :)

I'm not sure how feeding every few hours got into the article. If you're baking daily, you feed up your reserved bit once and set it aside, then feed up what you're baking with and bake. That keeps your starter stronger than if you're constantly dividing the reserve through the day, and it's easier, too. If one is baking less frequently and has a fridge, a well established starter can go a month without harm, and the norm is to feed once per week.

Nice that the archive found Ione Christensen and her starter. Thanks for posting the article.

Heck, I couldn't even keep mine going over the winter, let alone over a century, wow.

Annie

Annie, did you ever hear the medical old saw that someone isn't dead until he's warm and dead? Meaning that life signs can be hidden by the cold? Same is true with starter. If you think it has died in the fridge, it probably hasn't if it had any legs at all. Pour off the hooch (brown alcoholic liquid) and use a spoon to remove the darkest of the gray part. Feed the rest, let it sit up to a day until you see a bubble. Feed it again. By the time it's warm and had a couple of good meals, it should start burping its thank-yous and showing rising signs of life. Feed it a couple more times in the warmth, until it doubles volume in 12 hours (8 is better) and you can put it back in the fridge to hibernate. Once a starter is established, it's really a resilient little pet. You can also dry your starter and wake it up a few days before you want to start baking...

"burping it's thank-yous" plllog, you're too funny!

I love reading the history/culture of different foods, and this is a wonderful story. I'm always intrigued by wild yeast anyways, but I also think about how I can get pretty technical using my scale for measurement, knowing proofing temps, etc. Previous generations just made do with what they had and experience created that intuition.

Cathy in SWPA

I'm jealous. I've tried three times, with different "won't fail" recipes followed exactly, and have failed to get a proper starter going. Love sourdough, and each new effort that fails is more depressing. I think it is just not to be.

Gyr_falcon, you might have a kitchen environment that isn't hospitable to the growing of a fresh starter. I was determined to grow mine on hard red wheat, even though I was warned that's not easy. I had to freeze my wheatberries so the yeast wouldn't die in the grain mill, and it still took a couple of tries before it started to ferment rather than going moldy, and my kitchen is pretty starter friendly. It's much easier if you start with rye berries or grapes because they have more must.

Rather than worrying about not being able to start one, why not just send away for Carl's? There's a link in my first post on this thread.

The great thing about an old started like that is that it's really hard to kill. Just follow the directions and feed it up, and you'll be ready to go.

I agree with buying the starter. Mine was a few $$ on Ebay.

Before that I did try to get one going myself and only got fruit flies.

gyr_falcon -- I hope you continue your quest. My daughter in Boston has been wanting me to dry some of mine to send to her, and I just haven't gotten around to doing it. If I do, I'd be more than happy to send you some? I don't think it's as cool as Carl's:) but it may be another experiment? I may UPS her some, and if I do I'll let you know to see how it works.

Cathy in SWPA

So, I read about an easy way to dry starter. Use a pastry brush to paint it onto a piece of parchment paper. Literally the thickness of paint, or at least tempera. You can water it down if your starter is too thick. When it's dry, you crumple the paper over another sheet and the starter powder falls off. Then just roll the paper into a cone and funnel the powder into a container. I haven't done it, but it sounds easy enough. To get Carl's Oregon Trail starter, you send a self addressed stamped envelope, and a dollar or so as a donation for the administrative costs (it's run by volunteers) and they mail you the powder and instructions.

Cathy, I hope you send your daughter some!

I'm going to try this, plllog, at some point. We have folks who are going to Boston, so I may just give some to them. I don't know why, I had this vision of me getting pulled aside by TSA and trying to explain that "it really is just sourdough starter, officer." HA!

CathyinSWPA

Grrrr. My new computer ate my post! Cathy, that's a hoot!