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Will
 
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On 1/9/05 10:30 AM, "Kenneth" > wrote:

> On Sun, 9 Jan 2005 10:53:12 -0500, "HUTCHNDI"
> > wrote:
>
>> Hello, new to this. I originally had a starter made from commercial yeast
>> that I used for making a few loaves of bread, worked ok, but wanted to try
>> making a natural one. Made a new starter from rye flour and water, in a few
>> days it got bubbling, but no smell. I have been removing half and feeding
>> twice a day, 3/4 cup water and 1 cup king Arthur unbleached all purpose
>> flour, and it seams active, but still no sour smell. Almost a week now. My
>> old commercial yeast starter at least had a sour smell to it. (i used that
>> all to get rid of it). Did I catch an unsour yeast or what?
>>
>>

> Howdy,
>
> I would suggest that you not be concerned with the taste or
> smell of the starter. You are not going to be eating it.
>
> Use it to make bread, and see if that results in the taste
> you want.
>
> HTH,


Kenneth gives good advice about tasting your bread to see whether it is what
you want, because in the end, that is what counts.

But being concerned about the smell or taste of the starter is smart too. In
this instance, your starter is telling you it is too large and fed too much,
and fed too often, to develop the scent you think appropriate. You are
adding 3/4 cup water and 1 cup flour TWICE a day. Since this is half of your
total volume, your overall starter must be about a quart. That's quite a
lot. You could go into business with that much starter. And it is the most
refreshed starter I know of at twice a day (on a persistent basis). Really
fresh starter, which is what yours is, doesn't smell very sour, if it smells
sour at all.

Samartha's web site has a nifty calculator (google for it) that will help
you get a good handle on things like the ratio of starter to finished dough
weight. You will see that what you need to produce 2 loaves, or about 1800
grams, of bread is about 200 grams of starter. You could use 600 grams too.
It is a preference thing that will develop over time as you experiment. But
the main thing now is to:

1) congratulate yourself on a successful start. Make bread and taste it. I'm
betting it will be excellent, by the way.

2) reduce your starter to a volume that is realistic (to consumption) and
adopt a feeding schedule that is easier on both time and wallet. Like twice
a week, maintaining about 1/2 cup, refrigerated. It will smell sourer at
that volume considering the longer interval (but will smell fresh when fed).

By-the-by... Dick Adams is right on the money. Get your language tapes and
visit the bank. You will need a lot of equipment now, possibly a new
kitchen, one with a garde manger at the least.

Good luck,

Will