On Sun, 4 Apr 2004 09:52:24 -0500, "Fred"
wrote:

My starter was made from a formula in my professional baking book so I
assume it worked for someone at some time before. The book also mentions
that starters that are moved will change because the change of natural
yeasts, so my feeling was that my own starter would get a local "flavor" in
a similar manner to one transported from San Francisco. I'll give it a
couple of days and see what happens. You're probably right. Take care.

Fred
The Good Gourmet
http://www.thegoodgourmet.com

"Dusty" wrote in message
...
Fred, yes, you *can* start your own "sourdough" starter from scratch.
Many
folks do it and swear by it. Just like you can make your own wine from
your
own crushed grapes using whatever organisms are found on them. However,
to
some degree it's an art form...that can blossom in the hands of an
experienced baker.

As a SD beginner, I suggest that you purchase a starter that has a bit of
a
pedigree. It will help you by giving you a solid foundation from which to
grow your sourdough experience. Trust me, neither Joe Heitz, nor Robert
Mondavi leave the fermenting of their fine wines to "whatever they find on
their grapes that day..."

Then, when you've mastered the basics and have an understanding of what
happens, what it *should* look/act/smell/taste like, *then* you might try
to
grow your own culture from scratch. That way you'll know exactly what did
(or didn't) happen, and where the blame lies. Otherwise you can spend
years
chasing erratic results (ask me how I know sometime...).

You also might want to lurk in: rec.food.sourdough. Lots of savvy
sourdough
oriented folks post there.

And no...you cannot "make" a "sourdough culture" out of yeast, potatoes,
grapes, or any of the other litany of processes that so many try to foist
off on unsuspecting folks. Yes, they will create something that may even
be
active and look like sourdough...but those paths have about the same
possibility of success and are similar to trying to make your own
penicillin
by using your shoe-scrapings...


Dusty
San Jose, Ca.
--
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"Fred" wrote in message
...
My baking book has some formulas for sourdough starters. The one that
appeared to provide the quickest results was a commercial yeast starter.
After the prescribed18 hours at room temperature, the dough smelled like
alcohol but had no sour taste. I left it covered and will look in on it
again on Monday and perhaps throw an apple or potato in with it. Am I
being
misled that the starter should be useable after 18 hours? Thanks.

Fred
The Good Gourmet
http://www.thegoodgourmet.com






Howdy,

Regarding the potato or grape approach:

With respect, I do not agree with Dusty. Those things can be used to
make good starters, but there is a better way that the approach
usually suggested:

The critters that we want to culture for a starter are in the grain,
and also in the baker (don't ask...) The other things (grapes, etc.)
don't really hurt anything, nor do they help. When you are ready to
mix the grapes, flour, and water, do yourself a favor, and first eat
the grapes. They follow the remaining instructions. You are likely to
end up with a starter that you can bake with happily.

Next, the issue of geography seems to be a myth. I am no biologist,
but the commonly suggested explanation (that the local yeasts will
take over) is rather like suggesting that a herd of cattle will
eventually become a gaggle of geese if the cows roam too close to the
river.

There are billions upon billions of active yeasts and lactobacilli in
every droplet of a viable starter. If they are properly fed, nothing
will take 'em over.

All the best,

--
Kenneth

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