"Bob" >
> This is the second time I tried to get a rye starter going. The second
> time I added an equal amount of bread flour (and water) to the rye
> mixture after 24 hours thinking it was starting based on what I
> thought were bubbles. But even that second kind of flour would not
> start.

Were you using treated tap water? Presumably some locales leave enough
chlorine in the water to inhibit new culture wannabes. Simply boiling it or
letting it sit out for 24 hours allows remaining chlorine to dissipate.
Soggy



>
> >Baker's yeast cannot take the vinegar produced from sourdough LB's and
> >dies away within three generations (or refresh's), that's been
> >researched.
>
> Hmm... that's an important thing to know.
>
> As a public service in the spirit of trying to keep the local pedants
> at bay, I point out that you are attempting to co-join two
> incompatible entities in your sentence, viz, "baker's yeast" and
> "sourdough". According to one "expert", you must use the term
> "olddough" if it has anything to do with baker's yeast.
>
> So in the interest of harmony on these bread forums I ask your
> indulgence as I post the pedantically-correct phraseology:
>
> "Baker's yeast cannot take the vinegar produced from olddough LB's and
> dies away within three generations (or refresh's), that's been
> researched."
>
> There, now it's technically accurate and we won't have to put up with
> any pedants - for now anyway.
>
> >Maybe you get some ideas out of this.
>
> I am getting all sorts of ideas. What I want, however, is some
> successes. I am disappointed that the rye starter did not work because
> I truly want to make a genuine sourdough - none of that "olddough"
> crap for me.
>
> Maybe I need to expose it to the air inside my house after all. I have
> done that with yeast-based starters. However, I believe the baker's
> yeast in those starters overwhelmed any thingies in the air. Without
> yeast, those thingies, being part of the air of Houston, could produce
> diesel fuel for all I know.
>
> ---
>
> (*) shoo shoo - quaint New Orleans expression for a firecracker that
> did not explode. It comes from the fact that such a firecracker
> usually makes a sound resembling "shoo shoo". In its generic use it
> means anything that ends up a dud.
>
> Next time, I will try to work "lagniappe" into a sentence.
>
>