Sourdough

[tortoise]

I got bubbles again! Its covered with a coffee filter this time.

 

[tortoise]

when Mom was young she worked for a while at a bakery and she was just talking about this bread they made once a week that people would line up to buy. after looking up the recipe for it i can see why:

Salt Rising Bread:

Salt Rising Bread

This bread demands a delicate, tricky process that will give you a uniquely delicious result. Starter is made from salt, cornmeal and sugar in milk, which can easily take a full day before the breadmaking commences.

www.allrecipes.com

it is considered a sourdough bread but Mom says she'd never make it. reading along it's a bit more than i'd like to do, but perhaps if i were snowed in for a few weeks in the middle of winter and had all the ingredients i'd give in a try.

she said it had quite a distinctive smell, and if so could you imagine a whole bakery of hundreds of loaves going full tilt with people lining up in the morning to start buying it?

*whew!* makes me tired thinkin' 'bout it...

This looks... interesting in a good way. My Instant Pot could hold the temperature for the starter. Need to check my corn meal.

I'm concerned the starter and rising times could get off and I'll end up baking it at midnight.

Also that "distinctive smell" might not be a good smell.

 

[flowerbug]

This looks... interesting in a good way. My Instant Pot could hold the temperature for the starter. Need to check my corn meal.

I'm concerned the starter and rising times could get off and I'll end up baking it at midnight.

Also that "distinctive smell" might not be a good smell.

i was thinking it might smell like a sour mash recipe for distilling hooch.

 

[Trying2keepitReal]

So we have a softner for our water. If I get some water out the tap and let it sit for 24 hours, will it be good to use in the starter?

Edit- we have well water

 

[flowerbug]

So we have a softner for our water. If I get some water out the tap and let it sit for 24 hours, will it be good to use in the starter?

Edit- we have well water

it might be ok, but a bit saltier than wanted. letting it sit won't change much at all IMO - that is, i doubt you're chlorinating as part of a water softener set up.

i'm assuming you normally cook with bottled water?

 

[Trying2keepitReal]

it might be ok, but a bit saltier than wanted. letting it sit won't change much at all IMO - that is, i doubt you're chlorinating as part of a water softener set up.

i'm assuming you normally cook with bottled water?

We don't cook with bottled water. But we drink filtered water and so do the pets. I grew up on well water with a water softner. Are you not supposed to?

 

[R2elk]

We don't cook with bottled water. But we drink filtered water and so do the pets. I grew up on well water with a water softner. Are you not supposed to?

You should not be drinking softened water due to its high sodium content. Normally the water softener is hooked up only to the hot water supply. It is not normally hooked up to the cold water supply because you should not be using it for cooking, drinking or watering plants.

 

[flowerbug]

You should not be drinking softened water due to its high sodium content. Normally the water softener is hooked up only to the hot water supply. It is not normally hooked up to the cold water supply because you should not be using it for cooking, drinking or watering plants.

good point, i have no idea what normal practice is for plumbing and water softeners. we have well water with rust/calcium in the water but we don't have a water softener.

 

[tortoise]

You should not be drinking softened water due to its high sodium content. Normally the water softener is hooked up only to the hot water supply. It is not normally hooked up to the cold water supply because you should not be using it for cooking, drinking or watering plants.

I'm not sure that the amount of sodium in softened water is significant. If a person has high sodium or high blood pressure, the first intervention should be reducing insulin level. (insulin is the single biggest factor in sodium retention.) For those who don't have metabolic disease, sodium is pretty well regulated. For those on low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diets, or who fast may have difficulty consuming enough sodium. There's some really interesting science starting to come out around nutrition and sodium. I don't expect it to become mainstream in my lifetime and I'm not waiting for the medical field's extremely slow adoption of new evidence-based advise.

 

[FarmerJamie]

You should not be drinking softened water due to its high sodium content. Normally the water softener is hooked up only to the hot water supply. It is not normally hooked up to the cold water supply because you should not be using it for cooking, drinking or watering plants.

Interesting, never heard that as a concern before. The well water here is very high iron content and the water conditioner filters both the cold and hot lines. Without it, the lines would gunk up pretty quickly.