Mike Romain wrote:
So you folks are saying that the FAQ is 'totally' wrong on something so
basic as proofing the Starter???


No, I wouldn't say that. I would say that all of worked for someone,
somewhere at some time. While I don't think the FAQ is a good tutorial,
it is a valuable resource from a historical perspective. There are
large parts of it that do not represent what most of the people in
rec.food.sourdough are doing today. If those portions were removed, I
think the document would be less valuable than it is. Perhaps a shorter
FAQ that represents what people are doing today would be a good thing(tm).

I am looking for a ten minute to half hour test for viability of a dried
starter, not a regrow that takes days.

And I'm looking for a way to turn lead into gold. I was looking for the
northwest passage, but I hear that has been found and is open.

Sourdough does not work as quickly as commercial bakers yeast. You
aren't going to get a half hour test. When people around here try to
revive an old starter, they tend to start two batches. One with the
saved culture, one with just flour and water. This gives them an idea
of whether what was revived was the culture they wanted or something
from the flour they used. In trying to re-start a culture, some things
help success. Use bleached white all-purpose flour. It has, as Dick
points out, a lower critter count on it, reducing the chance of starting
a new culture. You can also do a poor man's sterilization of the
media. Measure your water and bring it to a boil. Measure your flour
and pour the boiling water over it. Stir and allow to cool. Then add
the saved culture.

The essence of baking is patience. The essence of sourdough baking is
patience squared.
I am on several automotive groups and if someone posted total garbage
and called it a 'FAQ' about a vehicle, they would be seriously chastised
and a BS Warning would be posted every time the fool posts the crap
again if they didn't get the point the first time. People can die from
wrong automotive information.

Luckily sourdough is more forgiving.

I will do my own test and take photos. My starter is on a 'long' grow
period of feeding it once a day right now to get the 'flavor' parts up
in volume for another drying batch run.


I do not feel that a once a day feeding is adequate, regardless what
some others say. A number of professional bakers I know have tried to
feed their starters once a day and ALL have given up on it. This
stresses the starter to a point where other organisms can take over, and
the character of the starter can change. Often irreversibly. It is
easy enough to start a new starter, however, if you are emotionally
attached to your starter, you need to feed it at least twice a day while
it is at room temperature. Each feeding should be enough to double the
size of the starter you are feeding. (Which is why discarding starter
is not a bad thing.) And the mix of flour and water should be about 1
part flour to 1 part water by weight, or 2 parts water to 3 parts flour
by volume.
Last time I let it grow with only a cloth over it so a hard shell was
formed and used this shell. It only lasted 3 or 4 months on the shelf,
but worked really well during that period.

Ahhh... right. I doubt you got those handling instructions from the
FAQ, or any web page I've seen.

Mike


--
Mike Avery mavery at mail dot otherwhen dot com
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