(no subject)
May. 20th, 2008 11:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
coraaI started a from-scratch sourdough starter on... Saturday night, I think, on the principle that the worst case scenario would just mean I'd have to start again, and probably it wouldn't be that hard to move a jar of goo the mile or so to the new house. 1 cup flour, 1 cup filtered water, in an empty, cleaned-and-scalded glass pasta sauce jar. Cheesecloth over the top, held in place with a rubber band. Once a day I've been giving it a good stir, pouring off half the goo, and mixing in another half-cup of water and half-cup of flour.
Now, the first time I tried to make sourdough starter, it didn't work so well. The starter didn't do anything for a couple of days (I dutifully kept feeding it) and then put up a few hopeful bubbles.. and then got very, very sour and stopped bubbling altogether. I tried to rehabilitate it by mixing it into sponge, but it had about as much get-up-and-go -- and about the same flavor -- as a tablespoon of vinegar. So I was resigned this time to possibly having to coax it along, make false starts, and otherwise work for it.
Instead, to my astonishment, this time it's been easy as pie. (Knock wood.) The very first day I went to feed it, it already had a mild but distinct sourdough odor and bubbles on the top. The next day, a less-mild but still pleasant sourdough odor, and positively a froth of bubbles. The same last night, with the froth extending a good distance below the surface. My sources recommend letting it develop at room temperature for five days before putting it in the fridge, so I am, but it's so tangy and frothy right now I can't resist -- I'm going to make some sourdough pancakes with it for dinner tonight. (Sourdough pancakes are supposedly a good thing to do with not-quite-ready starter, since, being thin, they don't require as much lifting power as a heavy knob of bread dough, and many sourdough pancake recipes still use baking soda and powder to give them some oompf anyway. So it's mostly a chance to see how the flavor is developing.)
I'm not sure what's different, exactly. Obviously I'm in Seattle now rather than Redondo Beach -- it's possible that the wild yeast cultures here are better, and/or that there was some other microbe in the air in RB that was competing more successfully with the yeast. It doesn't hurt that the very first night was really warm (in the upper 70s, maybe even lower 80s), which probably gave the yeasts a good head-start in breeding. And I'd made bread Saturday afternoon, so there's a decent chance that the air in the kitchen was pre-laden with yeasties looking for a home. Still, it's interesting how immediately and almost effortlessly successful it was this time, as compared with last time.
The sponge for the pancakes is bubbling happily away on the top of the fridge. (I have to thank![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cvillette for the comparison of a sourdough starter to a shoggoth... now every time I peek in and see a swelling, bubbly mass, I think of that and smile.) Hopefully they'll come out!
Now, the first time I tried to make sourdough starter, it didn't work so well. The starter didn't do anything for a couple of days (I dutifully kept feeding it) and then put up a few hopeful bubbles.. and then got very, very sour and stopped bubbling altogether. I tried to rehabilitate it by mixing it into sponge, but it had about as much get-up-and-go -- and about the same flavor -- as a tablespoon of vinegar. So I was resigned this time to possibly having to coax it along, make false starts, and otherwise work for it.
Instead, to my astonishment, this time it's been easy as pie. (Knock wood.) The very first day I went to feed it, it already had a mild but distinct sourdough odor and bubbles on the top. The next day, a less-mild but still pleasant sourdough odor, and positively a froth of bubbles. The same last night, with the froth extending a good distance below the surface. My sources recommend letting it develop at room temperature for five days before putting it in the fridge, so I am, but it's so tangy and frothy right now I can't resist -- I'm going to make some sourdough pancakes with it for dinner tonight. (Sourdough pancakes are supposedly a good thing to do with not-quite-ready starter, since, being thin, they don't require as much lifting power as a heavy knob of bread dough, and many sourdough pancake recipes still use baking soda and powder to give them some oompf anyway. So it's mostly a chance to see how the flavor is developing.)
I'm not sure what's different, exactly. Obviously I'm in Seattle now rather than Redondo Beach -- it's possible that the wild yeast cultures here are better, and/or that there was some other microbe in the air in RB that was competing more successfully with the yeast. It doesn't hurt that the very first night was really warm (in the upper 70s, maybe even lower 80s), which probably gave the yeasts a good head-start in breeding. And I'd made bread Saturday afternoon, so there's a decent chance that the air in the kitchen was pre-laden with yeasties looking for a home. Still, it's interesting how immediately and almost effortlessly successful it was this time, as compared with last time.
The sponge for the pancakes is bubbling happily away on the top of the fridge. (I have to thank
cvillette for the comparison of a sourdough starter to a shoggoth... now every time I peek in and see a swelling, bubbly mass, I think of that and smile.) Hopefully they'll come out!![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-08-21 04:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-21 04:49 am (UTC)I meant to offer, last time I saw you, that if you want some of my starter to give yours a booster, I'd be happy to share.