"Doug Irv" > wrote in message ...
> I decided to ... instead of using filtered water ... use ....buttermilk.

That is really silly, Doug-Irv. Sourdough starters don't need dairy.
S'matter of fact, dairy makes 'em rotten.

> Now, as Marie just did an oatmeal bread, and we do
> not use more than a loaf a week, I will just have to wait until she does
> another loaf to see how that tastes.

Well, you could feed Marie's oatmeal stuff to the birds, and get
the other urge out of your system before an unhealthy condition
develops.

> But it sure did surprise me, and my starter smells more sour,
> as well as the buttermilk odor.

Active starter is not sour, does not smell sour (unless maybe if
you are doing rye).

Buttermilk could be used as part of the fluid in sourdough, but
I can predict that the use of it in the starter culture will not become
popular. There is a lot of stuff in the Google r.f.s. archive about what
can and can't usefully be done with buttermilk as regards sourdough.

--
Dicky