Well my wife and I were out camping for 10 days in the deep Canadian
Bush and enjoyed homemade bread and rolls and sweets made in my little
Coleman oven while there. Fresh bread out camping is just wicked.

My SD starter was behaving excellently with some nice big rises for the
most part but we made the 4 hour round trip into a town at the halfway
mark to replenish perishables and we got some fresh jugs of water while
there.

I fed the starter up near the end of the trip with it and put it away
for a couple days.

I fed it from the same jug when I got home because it looked kinda
flat or hungry and now the starter is dead flat. It still has a nice
sour smell, but no action over two feeds with clean water and flour.

OK, I admit, I need 1X magnifier glasses to read the freakin' fine print
unless the light is just right, but crap! The bottled stuff was just
bottled filtered or ozonated 'tap' water and had chlorine in it.

Is there any hope for that or should I break out some dried stock and
start another batch?

Thanks,

Mike

Mike Romain wrote:
OK, I admit, I need 1X magnifier glasses to read the freakin' fine print
unless the light is just right, but crap! The bottled stuff was just
bottled filtered or ozonated 'tap' water and had chlorine in it.

Is there any hope for that or should I break out some dried stock and
start another batch?

Chlorine is usually not a problem. I've started and maintained all my
starters on chlorinated water. Most bottled water is, in fact, tap
water. Usually they are pretty cagey about admitting it.

I don't know what your usual procedure is, but I find if I don't feed a
starter at least twice a day, and feed it enough to double its size each
time I feed it, it will fade. If I have a weak starter, I feed it 3x a
day, each feeding being enough to triple it in size. (Each feeding
should be 1 part of water to 1 part of flour by weight, or 2 parts water
to 3 parts flour by volume.)

Mike

--
Mike Avery mavery at mail dot otherwhen dot com
part time baker ICQ 16241692
networking guru AIM, yahoo and skype mavery81230
wordsmith

A Randomly Selected Thought For The Day:
Everyone hates me because I'm paranoid.

On Thu, 13 Sep 2007 12:31:49 -0600, Mike Avery
wrote:

Most bottled water is, in fact, tap
water. Usually they are pretty cagey about admitting it.

Hi Mike,

That brought a smile...

PepsiCo lost a recent lawsuit about this very "cageyness."

Now, their bottled water (I can't remember which is their's)
says on the label that it is from a "PWS."

Give up...?

Public Water Source.

'gotta love it.

All the best,
--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."

Mike Avery wrote:
Mike Romain wrote:
OK, I admit, I need 1X magnifier glasses to read the freakin' fine
print unless the light is just right, but crap! The bottled stuff was
just bottled filtered or ozonated 'tap' water and had chlorine in it.

Is there any hope for that or should I break out some dried stock and
start another batch?

Chlorine is usually not a problem. I've started and maintained all my
starters on chlorinated water. Most bottled water is, in fact, tap
water. Usually they are pretty cagey about admitting it.

I don't know what your usual procedure is, but I find if I don't feed a
starter at least twice a day, and feed it enough to double its size each
time I feed it, it will fade. If I have a weak starter, I feed it 3x a
day, each feeding being enough to triple it in size. (Each feeding
should be 1 part of water to 1 part of flour by weight, or 2 parts water
to 3 parts flour by volume.)

Mike


I had it in a cooler and then in the fridge so hadn't fed it for a few
days. It looks like drywall mud now after three feeds.

When in use, I do or need 3 feeds a day also to keep it lively.

I fired up some starter I dried back in May and froze a while ago. It
has been on it's first feed for an hour using boiled bottled water just
in case.

Mike

On 13 Sep, 21:10, Mike Romain wrote:
Mike Avery wrote:
Mike Romain wrote:
OK, I admit, I need 1X magnifier glasses to read the freakin' fine
print unless the light is just right, but crap! The bottled stuff was
just bottled filtered or ozonated 'tap' water and had chlorine in it.

Is there any hope for that or should I break out some dried stock and
start another batch?

Chlorine is usually not a problem. I've started and maintained all my
starters on chlorinated water. Most bottled water is, in fact, tap
water. Usually they are pretty cagey about admitting it.

I don't know what your usual procedure is, but I find if I don't feed a
starter at least twice a day, and feed it enough to double its size each
time I feed it, it will fade. If I have a weak starter, I feed it 3x a
day, each feeding being enough to triple it in size. (Each feeding
should be 1 part of water to 1 part of flour by weight, or 2 parts water
to 3 parts flour by volume.)

Mike

I had it in a cooler and then in the fridge so hadn't fed it for a few
days. It looks like drywall mud now after three feeds.

When in use, I do or need 3 feeds a day also to keep it lively.

I fired up some starter I dried back in May and froze a while ago. It
has been on it's first feed for an hour using boiled bottled water just
in case.

Mike- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Mike, have you thought about a jug filter? They aren't that expensive
and I really like the water from mine. It's so much 'sweeter' than the
tap water, which tastes more like urine, I dare say my tap water would
be fine in the sourdough, I used it with my other starter for at least
10 years with no problem but I use the fileterd because it's there.
Jim

TG wrote:
Mike- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Mike, have you thought about a jug filter? They aren't that expensive
and I really like the water from mine. It's so much 'sweeter' than the
tap water, which tastes more like urine, I dare say my tap water would
be fine in the sourdough, I used it with my other starter for at least
10 years with no problem but I use the fileterd because it's there.
Jim

Mike, we have been using a Brita jug water filter for over 25 years here
in Canada, for all water consumed either by the glass or in cooking. The
cartridges are filled with charcoal/silica sand and absolutely remove
chlorine and the taste of the water is so much better. I have used it in
all of my sourdough, and regular bread baking.
old Doug in BC

"Mike Avery" wrote in message news:mailman.5.1189707971.37271.rec.food.sourdough @mail.otherwhen.com...

... I find if I don't feed a starter at least twice a day, and
feed it enough to double its size each time I feed it, it will
fade. If I have a weak starter, I feed it 3x a day, each feeding
being enough to triple it in size. (Each feeding should be 1
part of water to 1 part of flour by weight, or 2 parts water to 3
parts flour by volume.)

That, and keeping it semidormant in the fridge, is good advice. But,
don't you see it Mavery(?), it's not about success, it's about mucking and
commiserating (something like the so-called war).

They should ask "am I in it for the (1) sourdough, or (2) just for the starter
mucking?". If (2), go to ??? ( Try www.groups.yahoo.com/groups/sourdough )

--
Dicky

Doug Irv wrote:
TG wrote:
Mike- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Mike, have you thought about a jug filter? They aren't that expensive
and I really like the water from mine. It's so much 'sweeter' than the
tap water, which tastes more like urine, I dare say my tap water would
be fine in the sourdough, I used it with my other starter for at least
10 years with no problem but I use the fileterd because it's there.
Jim

Mike, we have been using a Brita jug water filter for over 25 years here
in Canada, for all water consumed either by the glass or in cooking. The
cartridges are filled with charcoal/silica sand and absolutely remove
chlorine and the taste of the water is so much better. I have used it in
all of my sourdough, and regular bread baking.
old Doug in BC

That is a good idea but I live with klutzes. Every one of those
Britta's we have bought never lasted one filter change.

I was out camping and the next store that sold large jugs of water was
50 miles one way and this store was over 2 hours one way from the camp
so had to take what they had. I would have been much better off with
boiled lake water I think.

I could have even left some out overnight for the chlorine to evaporate
if I had of thought to read the fine print.

Next time I make sure I have a dedicated water bottle just for starter.
I did going out, but we drank it knowing we were going for supplies.

Mike

TG wrote:

Mike, have you thought about a jug filter? They aren't that expensive
and I really like the water from mine. It's so much 'sweeter' than the
tap water, which tastes more like urine,

I've always wondered about the people who talk about beer tasting like
horse ****.

B/

Dick Adams wrote:

They should ask "am I in it for the (1) sourdough, or (2) just for the starter
mucking?". If (2), go to ??? ( Try www.groups.yahoo.com/groups/sourdough )

--
Dicky

So I take it 'your' starter has never left the confines of it's
environmentally stable and temperature controlled laboratory where you
have access to perfectly pure filtered water, chemically grown pure NaCl
and fresh ground hydroponic grown flour eh? ;-)

I take mine camping....

:-)

Mike

On Sep 14, 2:24 pm, Mike Romain wrote:

I take mine camping....

Ahem... you took it camping and it died...

Will wrote:
On Sep 14, 2:24 pm, Mike Romain wrote:

I take mine camping....

Ahem... you took it camping and it died...


Details details...

Mike

On 14 Sep, 18:25, Brian Mailman wrote:
....
I've always wondered about the people who talk about beer tasting like
horse ****.

B/

You weren't an inquisitive child then Brian?
Jim

TG wrote:
On 14 Sep, 18:25, Brian Mailman wrote: ....

(text restored for context)
TG wrote:

Mike, have you thought about a jug filter? They aren't that
expensive and I really like the water from mine. It's so much
'sweeter' than the tap water, which tastes more like urine,

I've always wondered about the people who talk about beer tasting
like horse ****.

You weren't an inquisitive child then Brian?

Oh, quite. But not *that* inquisitive.

B/

On 17 Sep, 19:37, Brian Mailman wrote:
TG wrote:
On 14 Sep, 18:25, Brian sfo.invalid wrote: ....

TG wrote:
..I've always wondered about the people who talk about beer tasting
like horse ****.
You weren't an inquisitive child then Brian?

Oh, quite. But not *that* inquisitive.

B/

lol, fair enough.

Jim