The sourdough Starter Thread

[Jeanied]

Well mine got another 100g of wholemeal stoneground strong flour - stirred straight in to the watery top and whipped in as I added it - it has been plonked in the airing cupboard to think about its fate The rhubarb is coming out if it looks like it is misbehaving - it is beginning to disintegrate and look even more alien to the mix. What I like about the mix is that it smells like a nice addition to a batch of bread to make it a sourdough. But I have nothing to suggest it could raise a batch of bread yet - it just doesn't smell yeasty or look bubbly - all I have is flour on the bottom and liquid on the top. No bubbles!

[BroadRipple]

hang in there...today's loaf is a dollop of starter with some dried yeast, yes I'm going freestyle...i reckon that if you keep it out of the fridge tonight, and tomorrow it's expanded at all, smells sweet/sour, whatever, you should try making bread with it. Bren, do you agree?

[Bren In Pots]

Yep

I made my first loaf using a 6 day old starter and it turned out fine.

[BarleySugar]

My starter recipe used pineapple juice for the first 4 days, then went on to spring water (well I used cooled boiled water). The acidity of the fruit is supposed to inhibit nasty bacteria getting hold before the yeast, and the spring water is to avoid chlorine, which is supposed to inhibit the yeast. Do you keep it away from metal too? Another site advocates this to encourage strong growth. They seem to be fussy little critters if all you read is true.
If you still have the rhubarb in I would ditch it as it could start to decompose which wouldn't be good.

I still have my rye/wholemeal starter and now a white one (by converting the original to white flour over several days). Looking at the jars this morning, the white one seems to be slower growing than the rye/wholemeal one. I wonder if the white loaf will take longer to rise today? The dough also seemed stiffer, so I put in a bit more liquid, I suppose this is due to the different flours. If anything the white starter is thinner than the wholemeal despite following the same quantities.
I'm going to make a 'brown' sponge later so I alternate the bread type.

[Bren In Pots]

BS I'd also read about not using metal so to be on the safe side I've been using a wooden spoon and plastic measuring cups.

My starter gets fed with either spelt or white flour but I've noticed spelt makes it more active.

[BarleySugar]

I could get into this routine I think.
Morning - add flour to sponge from yesterday, kneed and leave to rise
Late afternoon/Early evening knock back and prove,
Later evening - bake risen loaf, make sponge for next day, feed remaining starter.

Until OH and Son no2 get fed up with the bread that is, they can clear a loaf in a day at the moment. They weren't happy I hadn't done one for today.

I mentioned the sourdough experiments to a friend of mine. Apparently her husband was thinking back to their holiday when they'd tried it, and was wondering whether they could find it in the supermarkets. I'm giving her a bit of starter and she's going to try making her own .

[Bren In Pots]

That's about the same as my routine BS, it doesn't take long to fit in does it. There's just the two of us and we don't get through that much bread so I slice and freeze my loaf.

[Creemteez]

My first loaf is in the oven! if it tastes as good as it smells.........

[Jeanied]

Get your camera ready Creemteez!

[Creemteez]

Dammit! can't post my picture as the "file is too large" Will really have to sort out howto reduce them one day!
Bread turned out really quite well for a first attempt. I think I may have left it proving for a fraction too long on the second rise as I had to go out and was later back that I thought I'd be. The texture wasn't as open looking as some of the beautiful loaves on here, but it was lovely and soft with a WONDERFUL crunchy crust. It was out of the oven for about seven minutes before we tore into it -and the best part of half of it has already been scoffed!
Have fed the remaining starter and am going to source a better proving basket as the one I used was a little too small/shallow. Was also wondering about a baking stone. Do you think I could use a piece of slate tile? Well-scrubbed of course!

[BarleySugar]

Creenteez, if you have Microsoft Office it usually comes with Picture Manager, which enables you to resize the picture. If you want more detailed instructions, PM me. There are also quite a few free software applications on the web, but I haven't used one for ages, so someone else might have more up to date knowledge.
I'm still working on the proving and baking stages, although the oiled cling film in the pudding bowl worked quite well today. I also used a non-stick baking parchement instead of flouring the baking sheet as mine prefer not to have a floury bottom . I'm also just using boiling water in the baking tray until I can get hold of a new hand spray to create the steam.

Slashing the top of the loaf certainly seemed to make a difference!


Unslashed


I just went into the kitchen, and my rye starter had risen to the top of the jar, more than doubled in size in a couple of hours. I'd even taken most of the original out when I'd made the sponge, there was just a coating left in the jar and I thought it might take several days to recover!

[Bren In Pots]

My first loaf is in the oven! if it tastes as good as it smells.........

Congrats on baking your first loaf

[Bren In Pots]

. Was also wondering about a baking stone. Do you think I could use a piece of slate tile? Well-scrubbed of course!

From what I've read they use the stone because it can be heated to a high temperature so I don't think you'll get the same result with a slate tile.

I cook my loaf in a Dutch oven then I don't have to mess around with water, I've posted a photo of it somewhere in the thread.

[BroadRipple]

this all sounds great, hooray the contagion is spreading...my last night's one was good btw and that might be helpful to know b/c i a)used a bit of a random mixture of flours and b)am getting more and more slapdash re: measurements i.e. used a big dollop of starter and about 3-4 g of dried yeast i.e., and it looked great and tasted lovely. i think when you start it's terrifying but soon you get quite slapdash!
in accessory news, i've made a diy proving basket with a flattish bowl and a well-floured linen cloth - seems to work fine though still finding it difficult to get bread on to my peel. which is a thin flat bit of wood, not ideal shape but works fine. and i became soooo obsessed a couple of weeks ago that i bought, yes, AN UNGLAZED QUARRY TILE! Creemteez, it seems to work v well - it's biggish (about a foot square) and wasn't hard to find. any other oven stone recommendations? very proud that it's all a bit scavenged so far, though i spend happy hours on BakeryBits - Artisan Bread Baking Equipment wishing i could justify the cost of a real proving basket...
one more poss helpful thought - i couldn't be bothered with adding steam at first but now i do, and crusts aren't as rock-hard, so I recommend...

[Creemteez]

I just threw half a cupful of hot water onto the oven floor after I put the loaf in. Lovely crust! Will have a go with the slate -if it works it works, if not, never mind!