Howdy,

I used to keep my starters in the fridge at 100% hydration,
but switched a few months ago to much lower hydration (as
much flour as I can knead in).

Now, they can sit for months with no visible evidence of
change.

Of course, I understand that the critters have more to eat,
but beyond that, what are the reasons that the cultures last
so much longer before showing evidence of deterioration?

Thanks for any insight into this...
--
Kenneth

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

Kenneth,

One place to look is Dan Wing's posts (Samartha's site). It has to do
with acid balance. Water makes more hydrogen available (remember pH
stands for potential hydrogen) so less water/more flour buffers the
starter, keeping hydrogen ions immobile. If you think about the
byproducts of fermentation... you are releasing CO2 and alcohol while
concentrating hydrogen (acidifying the dough).

Will

Kenneth wrote:
Howdy,

I used to keep my starters in the fridge at 100% hydration,
but switched a few months ago to much lower hydration (as
much flour as I can knead in).

Now, they can sit for months with no visible evidence of
change.

Of course, I understand that the critters have more to eat,
but beyond that, what are the reasons that the cultures last
so much longer before showing evidence of deterioration?

Thanks for any insight into this...

This way of keeping a starter is very well known in Germany as
"Krümelsauer" sth. like crumble-starter or crumble-sour
Many people use to keep their starters in this more stable consistency.

Joschi

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Hi Kenneth,
More flour solids to water ratio .....means the substrate ( the
dough)is better buffered and it can lost longer....

Roy

Kenneth Jun 19, 8:38 pm wrote:
Of course, I understand that the critters have more to eat,
but beyond that, what are the reasons that the cultures last
so much longer before showing evidence of deterioration?

Hello Kenneth,
Something that's not being considered is that the micro-organisms can't
walk but they can, after a fashion, swim. Basically the wetter (more
aqueous) their medium the more easily they can drift about and get at
the food. The more food they find, the quicker they can make more of
themselves and over-populate their substrate. The drier they are the
more they are restricted, the slower they grow, the longer the food
lasts.

Slim