Sourdough (rec.food.sourdough) Discussing the hobby or craft of baking with sourdough. We are not just a recipe group, Our charter is to discuss the care, feeding, and breeding of yeasts and lactobacilli that make up sourdough cultures.

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I made a mixed starter (w/ yeast) about a 2 weeks ago. I've fed it and
refrigerated it and revived it, all with no probs. I fed it two days ago
and let sit for two days without feeding. It is still viable, having just
fed it a few hours ago. Before the last feed, it also smelled like some
seriously sour doough. Maybe a bit too sour. Is it possible for a starter
to go bad?

My other question concerns a real sourdough starter I created today. Flour
and water only. My question: just how wet should a starter be when trying
to get it to start fermenting. I made it in a orbital stand mixer and added
flour till the dough started pulling away from the bowl. It was moist
enough that pulling it from the bowl caused stretching and the stretch
folded over on itself. Was this too dry?

nb
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notbob wrote:
>
> My other question concerns a real sourdough starter I created today.
> Flour and water only. My question: just how wet should a starter be
> when trying to get it to start fermenting.


Pancake batter consistency.

B/
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On Aug 3, 10:36*pm, Brian Mailman > wrote:
> notbob wrote:
>


>
> Pancake batter consistency.


Agreed, the starter will go faster at pancake batter consistency, but
for a newbie I would recommend equal parts of flour and water (100%
hydration) by weight. If you are not used to working with sourdough,
it is too hard to tell if you are getting any action (raising) with a
liquid batter.
Sharon

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On 2009-08-05, doughnut > wrote:

> Agreed, the starter will go faster at pancake batter consistency, but
> for a newbie I would recommend equal parts of flour and water (100%
> hydration) by weight. If you are not used to working with sourdough,
> it is too hard to tell if you are getting any action (raising) with a
> liquid batter.


I got dbl rise from my first mix (jes pull away from mix bowl), so the
starter has obviously taken. I fed today, making the starter a tad wetter
and put in new bowl. I got bubbling, but not dbl volume. I'll add more
flour tomorrow.

I want to try to bake after a week of constant dbl. My question is, what is
the desired wetness of a long range sourdough starter. Sticky wet? Pull
away from bowl (orital mixer w/ dough hook) wet?. Kneadable on board wet?
I don't understand this whole hydration thing. A hydration for dummies
website would help.

nb

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On Aug 5, 7:32*pm, notbob > wrote:
> On 2009-08-05, doughnut > wrote:
>
> > Agreed, the starter will go faster at pancake batter consistency, but
> > for a newbie I would recommend equal parts of flour and water (100%
> > hydration) by weight. If you are not used to working with sourdough,
> > it is too hard to tell if you are getting any action (raising) with a
> > liquid batter.

>
> I got dbl rise from my first mix (jes pull away from mix bowl), so the
> starter has obviously taken. *I fed today, making the starter a tad wetter
> and put in new bowl. *I got bubbling, but not dbl volume. *I'll add more
> flour tomorrow.
>
> I want to try to bake after a week of constant dbl. *My question is, what is
> the desired wetness of a long range sourdough starter. *Sticky wet? *Pull
> away from bowl (orital mixer w/ dough hook) wet?. *Kneadable on board wet?
> I don't understand this whole hydration thing. *A hydration for dummies
> website would help.
>
> nb


I keep my fridge culture at not-quite kindergarten paste consistency.
Well, it comes out the fridge that way, so it is a little looser at
room temp, say, where it can easily support a chopstick stuck straight
in it. It has kept that way for 18 months. I can bake after two warm
refreshments of a marble-sized blob of it, using Dicky's "billowy
sourdough loaves" (search the group for more info) refreshment
technique. I don't use his baking proportions, but that is just
personal preference (I like a dark, mid-density, rye flour loaf).

I feed the fridge culture every two weeks or so with 100% whole grain
rye. When I refresh the marble-sized blob I use unbleached white
flour.

http://samartha.net/SD/index.html helped me a great deal.


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doughnut wrote:
> On Aug 3, 10:36 pm, Brian Mailman > wrote:
>> notbob wrote:


>> Pancake batter consistency.

>
> Agreed, the starter will go faster at pancake batter consistency, but
> for a newbie I would recommend equal parts of flour and water (100%
> hydration) by weight.


I use equal by volume.

> If you are not used to working with sourdough,
> it is too hard to tell if you are getting any action (raising) with a
> liquid batter.


My pancake batters must be less liquid than yours. This isn't mine, but
looks-just-like it, #4 he http://www.pbase.com/rina/sourdough

Very easy to tell when there's action of any sort.

B/
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