Sourdough Questions (Any enthusiasts out there?)


 

Ron Pierce

TVWBB Member
Do any of y'all have sourdough starters going? I'm looking into it lately as I've been craving chili in a sourdough bread bowl. (I've had 'em in San Francisco, and love them together.)

I've searched the net over the past couple days and found some sites with conflicting info. I suspect there are folk in this forum who might be well-informed in this area, too.

I've ordered a "San Francisco" starter from the net. (Northwestern Sourdough) My suspicion is that it should work well for a while, but that in time, yeast and lactobacillus more common to my area will infiltrate the starter and take it over.

I'm not above reading books to alleviate my ignorance on the subject, if you can recommend any.

Thanks, all!
Ron
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ron Pierce:
My suspicion is that it should work well for a while, but that in time, yeast and lactobacillus more common to my area will infiltrate the starter and take it over.

Ron </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
That assumption is false. When you have millions of happy hungry yeasties in your sourdough jar, what little bit you introduce via flour or airborne will be quickly consumed by your millions in the jar. And yes yeast are canibals.
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Anywho here is where I got mine, and Ed's book is worth picking up also.Sourdough cultures
You can also start your own from scratch.
 
Thom, I bought Silverton's book when it first came out in 1996. If I recall, her starter recipe called for organic grapes and I spent a week looking all over my area of Atlanta for *organic* grapes. In those days, "organic" was still somewhat of a rarity in the Eastern US and even the 2 or 3 health food stores which actually did sell fresh food -- most were pill sellers -- couldn't get organic grapes. I was still a neophyte then and my starter was OK but nothing to write home about.

If you want an easy, fuss-free, less wasteful, and very detailed method of making a starter, check out Maggie Glezer's "Artisan Baking (Across America)" or her "A Blessing of Bread." In both she gives a precise day-to-day schedule of feeding the starter and a good explanation of what is happening. It's a great starter, too. I've neglected mine a time or two for a year or more and was able to revive it in only a few days.

Andrew Lancaster, one of our members in the UK, made his starter from Glezer's method and from what I heard was quite successful with baking with it. Haven't heard from him in a while.

Andrew, if you're out there, let us know if you are still 'Qing! Wasn't it you who was inquiring about moving to Malta?

Rita
 

 

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