until Carl's starter arrives? It mentions 6 weeks on the website, presumably
to make sure and leave enough time to create the starter; but then also says
it probably wont take that long.
Just wondering how long it took for others out there.
Also, anyone have any idea how to grow yeast, other than Carl's method?
thanks,
gw

I do not recall exactly but it was close to the 6 weeks, maybe 4-5. But That
did eclipse the Christmas/New Years holidays.

--
Ron Anderson
A1 Sewing Machine
PO Box 60
Sand Lake, NY 12153
518-674-8491
http://www.a1sewingmachine.com
"gw" > wrote in message
...
> until Carl's starter arrives? It mentions 6 weeks on the website,
presumably
> to make sure and leave enough time to create the starter; but then also
says
> it probably wont take that long.
> Just wondering how long it took for others out there.
> Also, anyone have any idea how to grow yeast, other than Carl's method?
> thanks,
> gw
>
>

Ron,

If you are impatient, and have no sourdough starter, one of us can mail a half
once of a non-dried starter. My Mr. Baker starter is lively and will survive
the post.

You can read the FAQ's on how to make a starter. (Gosh I hope there's a recipe
in there that doesn't involve baker's yeast.)

There is samartha's site. He has recipe for starter beginning with rye flour.
Google samartha and sourdough and you should be able to find it.

Good luck,
Ed Bechtel

PS. I believe if you add any organic flour and water and let sit 24 hours then
feed twice more you will end up with a vigorous natural starter.

no, but thank you! for the kind offer, I am not in a hurry. Just wondered
how accurate the disclaimer is on the website.

I AM very interested in growing a batch of another type of yeast, and
looking for recipes (method outlines?) on how to do that safely. I figured I
would only do this once per batch, and go back to the reference each time,
but this would still allow me to KEEP the reference intact for most of the
year. I hate buying a very expensive packet of yeast and having it all go in
six weeks, don't you? So far, Carl's method is the best, but I am anxious
about leaving it out on a plate. I guess I can loosely cover it with saran,
yes?
gw

gw wrote:
>
> So far, Carl's method is the best, but I am anxious
> about leaving it out on a plate. I guess I can loosely cover it with saran,
> yes?

Well, no. It would not be a good idea to cover drying start with
anything. Covering will slow down the drying process too much.

There is little to fear about contamination of the drying start
by stray yeast from the air. The start contains untold millions
of creatures and to imagine that a stray critter from the air
could take over that culture is, I guess possible because we can
imagine it, but in reality it just doesn't happen. What does
happen is that in a matter of hours in good drying conditions a
film or skin appears on the drying starter and any stray yeast
finds itself on a realativly dry surface that is not a good
growing medium.

I have experimented with various methods of drying start and
Carl's method as described in the FAQ's is one that gives
consistantly good results.

An alternative to drying is to just knead in as much flour as
possible into some starter and pack the the result into a small
freezer container and store in the freezer. This will keep for a
very long time and when thawed and diluted with water back to
starter consistancy will be good as new. This works with Carl's
starter, but I have not tested it with other strains.

Worry less. Imagine good results and they will happen.
Something about good kitchen Karma I believe.

Regards,

Charles
--
Charles Perry
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