Sour dough starter

[Sealed]

Hi Ladies,

I am now on a quest to make my own sour dough starter. I have been having so much fun learning to bake my own bread, that I have decided that I should learn to make my own yeast, too!

Two Saturdays ago, I mixed 1 cup of unbleached flour and 1 cup of water, and by last Thursday, after all the stirring and pouring out half and feeding the blob daily, it began to bubble and froth and smell like beer. So, I thought that I was on the right path....

I have tried different sour dough recipes, and while the bread rises, it really doesn't have a good flavor...and, for comparison, I bought some starter from King Arthur, and theirs smells so nice compared to mine. Haven't baked from theirs yet...am going to do that tomorrow morning.

Would anyone know about this? Did I do something wrong? I have scoured the web for answers and all I can find is that if your starter rises and gets bubbly it is good.

Thanks gals!

[icebear]

http://www.io.com/~sjohn/sour.htm

i use the recipe (starter and bread) and instructions there.

i don't discard half the starter, i just keep feeding it. i refrigerate 2 cups of it and use the rest in one big batch of dough.

[icebear]

:)oh, and i don't pour off the hooch, seems to have a better flavor when it stays in the mix, and i feed my starter a little sugar every day that its growing on the counter.

[Sealed]

This is the site I have been using, too.

So, once a day you stir it, feed it and add a bit of sugar, and when it has gotten bubbly you take out what you need for dough, is that right?

Do you feed at night and let it ripen over night and then make the dough the next morning?

For some reason, my brain cannot organize the datails...:doh

[Buzzardhut]

keep the starter,
stir the hooch back in
add a sprinkling of sugar with the new flour and water at every feeding
sugar helps ferment (proof) the batch
repeat for 6 days
separate into 2 batches at day 4


keep your sponge and repeat for the next round (which will taste better)
add salted butter to the dough

[icebear]

i mix the flour and water and add a little sugar. i do set things off with a half packet of bread yeast- this might make some difference.

i leave it out overnight (i use a big glass pickle jar with a loose lid), mix up another cup or two of the flour/water mix, and sugar and pour that in it burbles all day and another night, the next morning i throw in another one or two cup mixture of flour/water and some sugar 1 or 2 tablespoons.

i don't discard any starter.

if i won't be using it soon, i refrigerate it at that point- usually i do use it so i make sure to save at least one cup to store in the fridge to start the next batch-- don't need commercial yeast anymore.

usually by day three or four i have a really frisky starter, i scoop out 2 cups of starter for each loaf of bread i plan to make -- usually at least 3 loaves at a time-- since i don't refrigerate it i don't need to proof it, it dosen't need to be woken up. but if i need more starter i can add another cup or 2 of the flour/water/sugar mix and let that sit for a few more hours before i start to make...


i used to over think it, now it is about as easy as it gets.

explaining it is the hardest thing!

[Galoutofdixie]

Hi Ladies,

I am now on a quest to make my own sour dough starter. I have been having so much fun learning to bake my own bread, that I have decided that I should learn to make my own yeast, too!

Two Saturdays ago, I mixed 1 cup of unbleached flour and 1 cup of water, and by last Thursday, after all the stirring and pouring out half and feeding the blob daily, it began to bubble and froth and smell like beer. So, I thought that I was on the right path....

I have tried different sour dough recipes, and while the bread rises, it really doesn't have a good flavor...and, for comparison, I bought some starter from King Arthur, and theirs smells so nice compared to mine. Haven't baked from theirs yet...am going to do that tomorrow morning.

Would anyone know about this? Did I do something wrong? I have scoured the web for answers and all I can find is that if your starter rises and gets bubbly it is good.

Thanks gals!

You'll get different tasting/smelling starter depending on what varieties of wild yeast are in your enviorment. Different areas of the country have different types of wild yeast floating around in the air. San Francisco is famous for it's unique tasting Sour Dough Bread because of their climate and the type of wild yeast prevelant in their area. Each geographical and climate area have different varieties of yeast. :hat

P.S. Google "wild yeast". There are several good articles and blog spots. There's one article on a blog that called, "Stalking the wild yeast!" It looks interesting.

[Buzzardhut]

i mix the flour and water and add a little sugar. i do set things off with a half packet of bread yeast- :doh
:shocked

CHEATER! :devil
:reaction

:gaah

:rules

:nono


:tapfoot

:stars




:heythere

[icebear]

CHEATER! :devil
:reaction

:gaah

:rules

:nono


:tapfoot






:heythere


LOL... i have tried it the "natural" way and end up with a bacteria colony instead. we don't have yeasty air up here i guess. so i compromise by setting it off with baker's yeast and keeping a re-starter in the fridge so its the last time i need to use new packaged.:lol2

...i even use packeted yeast when brewing. thats not taboo because certain strains must be used for lagering, top or bottom fermenting etc....

so i gues my experience in beers makes me less resistant to boosting things, my goal is to get the colony of the proper organism from the start :heh

[icebear]

You'll get different tasting/smelling starter depending on what varieties of wild yeast are in your enviorment. Different areas of the country have different types of wild yeast floating around in the air. San Francisco is famous for it's unique tasting Sour Dough Bread because of their climate and the type of wild yeast prevelant in their area. Each geographical and climate area have different varieties of yeast. :hat

P.S. Google "wild yeast". There are several good articles and blog spots. There's one article on a blog that called, "Stalking the wild yeast!" It looks interesting.


i wonder if thats cause or effect in regards to wine country. grapes are loaded with beautiful wild yeasts...!