How to start a sour dough starter
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adoptedbyachicken
Lovin' The Homestead
I forgot to mention, I never threw out any starter when I was doing sourdough. The bean pot was big enough that I just fed it and then on bread making day used it. I fed the leftover that day, and continued to feed it so the volume built back up, then used it. Mine lived on top of the upright freezer if I wanted it really active and a pantry shelf if I wanted to slow it up. I had to feed it daily on the upright and every other day on the shelf. If I was going away I had to make room in the fridge so it could go a week between feedings.
Hubby called it my kitchen pet, got fed right after the dogs at night.
Hubby called it my kitchen pet, got fed right after the dogs at night.
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- #83
Dace
Revolution in Progress
Kitchen pet...hehehehe...it really is!
Kel & Kim...my Hubby loves the bread maker, so I understand how it really works for some folks. I just prefer to use my mixer and *feel* as I go. I used to make bread all the time, I miss the smell of fresh bread! I hope that my crew can handle eating this SD!
Feeding #12
As warned my started has slowed since I switched to white flour. It is only rising by about 25%....I hope that it perks back up. I am glad that there is activity but I am sad to see that it stopped doubling. Hanging on the hope that it will get more active with the next feeding or two. It was suggested that it may take 3-4 feedings of the white flour before it gets relialby active enough to double after each feeding. This morning will be the 4th WF feed.
It is fun to hear how others are managing thier baby starters how others have managed their established starters...thanks to all for sharing their info!
Kel & Kim...my Hubby loves the bread maker, so I understand how it really works for some folks. I just prefer to use my mixer and *feel* as I go. I used to make bread all the time, I miss the smell of fresh bread! I hope that my crew can handle eating this SD!
Feeding #12
As warned my started has slowed since I switched to white flour. It is only rising by about 25%....I hope that it perks back up. I am glad that there is activity but I am sad to see that it stopped doubling. Hanging on the hope that it will get more active with the next feeding or two. It was suggested that it may take 3-4 feedings of the white flour before it gets relialby active enough to double after each feeding. This morning will be the 4th WF feed.
It is fun to hear how others are managing thier baby starters how others have managed their established starters...thanks to all for sharing their info!
Wow mine doubled and then some last night and I'm just useing store bought WF. It's in a pretty warm place though so that might have something to do with it.
Going to try making my first loaf today while the baby is down for a nap.
Going to try making my first loaf today while the baby is down for a nap.
- Thread starter
- #85
Dace
Revolution in Progress
Mamagoose...not to rain on your parade, but if you just started your started yesterday or the day befor eit is not going to be ready to use yet. You want to give it time to stabilize, time for the good beasties to overtake the bad that are likely growing in your new starter.
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/startermyway.html
The reason we discard half the starter each time is because we want to double the size of the starter with each feeding. If we don't discard half the starter each time, the amount of starter will fill a modest sized swimming pool in about 10 days, an Olympic sized pool in 14 days, and a second pool the same size Twelve hours later. That's a lot of flour and that's a whole lot of stirring!
Some people object to discarding starter. It is made of flour, and it seems a shame and a waste to throw it away. At this point in the cycle, there is no telling which organisms are in the starter. I feel that until the starter is stable, it is better to discard the wannabe starter.
The following is from this page: http://www.sourdoughhome.com/startingastarter.html
The mythology of sourdough is that you are capturing yeast from the air. However, there are many reasons to believe that doesn't happen very often. When people take care to sterilize the flour and water they use to catch a culture, it fails much more often than not. When they don't sterilize, it almost always works. In short, the flour has wild yeast in it, and chances are you are providing the lactobacillus from your skin. All you need to do is encourage their growth.
A few years back the lot behind our house was being sold. We decided to buy it. The lot was a vacant, untended lot in our hometown. It was a weed patch. And it was aggravating the neighbor's sinuses. When the neighbors found out we had bought it, they hinted it was time SOMEONE started taking care of the lot. We really didn't want to sod the lot, nor did we want to seed it. A bit of reading, and we had our strategy in hand. We weren't shooting for a lawn that could be featured in a gardening magazine, just something that would be okay and not make the neighbors sick.
The grasses people cultivate like to be watered often, so we ran a hose to the lot behind our house and started watering the lot regularly. Next, most weeds like to grow tall, so we started mowing the lot as often as we mowed our own lawn. Our mower is a mulching mower, and the theory is that the mower will destroy weed seeds and chop the grass and weeds so finely they would decompose and quickly act as fertilizer. When we had some fertilizer or weed'n'feed left over from our yard, we'd put it on the back lot.
The first year we did this, the lot was better largely because we were knocking the tops off the weeds. The second year, we started having grass move in from the neighbors lots. Each year there were fewer weeds and more grass. It never became a candidate for inclusion in a gardening magazine, but it was far from the worst lot in town.
You're probably wondering why I told that story. Honestly, it is the best analogy to starting a sourdough starter I have been able to come up with. And it IS a true story. When you use whole grain rye or wheat flour, the flour is covered with a LOT of microorganisms. We're interested in two of them, yeast and lactobacillus bacteria. When we mix flour and water, and keep adding more flour and water we are encouraging the critters that we want to take over the starter. By creating a hospitable environment, the critters we want will inevitably take over the culture. However, just as in the back lot, you are never completely rid of weeds, or the unwanted microorganisms. As long as you keep the conditions in your starter favorable, the unwanted critters will be kept under control. But, just as in the back lot, if you stop treating the starter right the unwanted critters can take over.
That story makes it sound like a straightforward process for both the yard and the starter. Sadly, it isn't. Stray weeds can take over the yard. Keep watering and mowing, and they go away. Similarly, when a starter starts there is no assurance that the right microorganisms will be the first ones out of the gate to take over the culture, and that they'll keep control over the starter. As noted above, whole grain flour has many, many microorgranisms on it, and we're really only interested in two of them.
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/startermyway.html
The reason we discard half the starter each time is because we want to double the size of the starter with each feeding. If we don't discard half the starter each time, the amount of starter will fill a modest sized swimming pool in about 10 days, an Olympic sized pool in 14 days, and a second pool the same size Twelve hours later. That's a lot of flour and that's a whole lot of stirring!
Some people object to discarding starter. It is made of flour, and it seems a shame and a waste to throw it away. At this point in the cycle, there is no telling which organisms are in the starter. I feel that until the starter is stable, it is better to discard the wannabe starter.
The following is from this page: http://www.sourdoughhome.com/startingastarter.html
The mythology of sourdough is that you are capturing yeast from the air. However, there are many reasons to believe that doesn't happen very often. When people take care to sterilize the flour and water they use to catch a culture, it fails much more often than not. When they don't sterilize, it almost always works. In short, the flour has wild yeast in it, and chances are you are providing the lactobacillus from your skin. All you need to do is encourage their growth.
A few years back the lot behind our house was being sold. We decided to buy it. The lot was a vacant, untended lot in our hometown. It was a weed patch. And it was aggravating the neighbor's sinuses. When the neighbors found out we had bought it, they hinted it was time SOMEONE started taking care of the lot. We really didn't want to sod the lot, nor did we want to seed it. A bit of reading, and we had our strategy in hand. We weren't shooting for a lawn that could be featured in a gardening magazine, just something that would be okay and not make the neighbors sick.
The grasses people cultivate like to be watered often, so we ran a hose to the lot behind our house and started watering the lot regularly. Next, most weeds like to grow tall, so we started mowing the lot as often as we mowed our own lawn. Our mower is a mulching mower, and the theory is that the mower will destroy weed seeds and chop the grass and weeds so finely they would decompose and quickly act as fertilizer. When we had some fertilizer or weed'n'feed left over from our yard, we'd put it on the back lot.
The first year we did this, the lot was better largely because we were knocking the tops off the weeds. The second year, we started having grass move in from the neighbors lots. Each year there were fewer weeds and more grass. It never became a candidate for inclusion in a gardening magazine, but it was far from the worst lot in town.
You're probably wondering why I told that story. Honestly, it is the best analogy to starting a sourdough starter I have been able to come up with. And it IS a true story. When you use whole grain rye or wheat flour, the flour is covered with a LOT of microorganisms. We're interested in two of them, yeast and lactobacillus bacteria. When we mix flour and water, and keep adding more flour and water we are encouraging the critters that we want to take over the starter. By creating a hospitable environment, the critters we want will inevitably take over the culture. However, just as in the back lot, you are never completely rid of weeds, or the unwanted microorganisms. As long as you keep the conditions in your starter favorable, the unwanted critters will be kept under control. But, just as in the back lot, if you stop treating the starter right the unwanted critters can take over.
That story makes it sound like a straightforward process for both the yard and the starter. Sadly, it isn't. Stray weeds can take over the yard. Keep watering and mowing, and they go away. Similarly, when a starter starts there is no assurance that the right microorganisms will be the first ones out of the gate to take over the culture, and that they'll keep control over the starter. As noted above, whole grain flour has many, many microorgranisms on it, and we're really only interested in two of them.
DrakeMaiden
Sourdough Slave
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Even with waiting at least a week after you get the starter going, I think it took months before my starter could reliably make a good loaf of bread. During that time, I was getting a lot of fairly short loaves, plus on one occasion I got the inevitable and notorious "hot brick bread." 
BBH knows that of which I speak . . . same thing happened to her. It was edible, but not very presentable.
Don't waste a bunch of flour trying to bake bread right away.
BBH knows that of which I speak . . . same thing happened to her. It was edible, but not very presentable. Don't waste a bunch of flour trying to bake bread right away.
DrakeMaiden
Sourdough Slave
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I would wait at least a week from when it becomes active . . . active meaning that it is doubling after feeding. I think otherwise, you might be disappointed. But even then, don't expect much and give it lots of time to rise and keep the dough at the ideal temperature for the yeast to be active. About 75-85 degrees F.
- Thread starter
- #90
Dace
Revolution in Progress
I have a question about using my starter.
I have read a few recipes that start with a 1/4 c of starter, add more flour water etc....let rest 24 hours, then bake.
The site I have been referencing says this: To convert a recipe to sourdough, I start by replacing each packet of yeast (about a tablespoon, or 6 grams) with a cup (or about 240 grams) of active sourdough starter. I adjust the recipe to accommodate the water and flour in the starter. I figure each cup of starter has about 1/2 cup of water and 3/4 cup of flour in it (240 grams of starter mixed the way we talked about in maintaining a starter will have 120 grams each of water and flour.
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/usingastarter.html
And then this about using a starter that has been stored in the frig:
If I actually want to bake with the starter (remember baking? the point and goal of the exercise?), I don't discard any more starter. Instead every 12 hours I double the amount I am feeding the starter. So, my next feeding is 1/2 cup of water and 3/4 cup of flour. Twelve hours later, 1 cup of water and 1 1/2 cups of flour. My goal is to double the starter with each feeding so I'll have enough to bake with in two or three days. If you weigh your ingredients it is very easy to calculate how much starter you will need and how much each feeding should be so you'll have enough starter in two or three days with no wastage.
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/revivingastarter.html
Can anyone tell me how they use their start to actually bake bread AND of you SD regulars does your SD live out on the counter or mostly in the frig?
I have read a few recipes that start with a 1/4 c of starter, add more flour water etc....let rest 24 hours, then bake.
The site I have been referencing says this: To convert a recipe to sourdough, I start by replacing each packet of yeast (about a tablespoon, or 6 grams) with a cup (or about 240 grams) of active sourdough starter. I adjust the recipe to accommodate the water and flour in the starter. I figure each cup of starter has about 1/2 cup of water and 3/4 cup of flour in it (240 grams of starter mixed the way we talked about in maintaining a starter will have 120 grams each of water and flour.
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/usingastarter.html
And then this about using a starter that has been stored in the frig:
If I actually want to bake with the starter (remember baking? the point and goal of the exercise?), I don't discard any more starter. Instead every 12 hours I double the amount I am feeding the starter. So, my next feeding is 1/2 cup of water and 3/4 cup of flour. Twelve hours later, 1 cup of water and 1 1/2 cups of flour. My goal is to double the starter with each feeding so I'll have enough to bake with in two or three days. If you weigh your ingredients it is very easy to calculate how much starter you will need and how much each feeding should be so you'll have enough starter in two or three days with no wastage.
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/revivingastarter.html
Can anyone tell me how they use their start to actually bake bread AND of you SD regulars does your SD live out on the counter or mostly in the frig?
