Don, I just got done resurrecting some of the nastiest, vilest Carls starter
I have ever seen. I could have sworn it was DOA. The hootch was black and
moldy, smelled like vomit and reminded me of something they clean out of the
wastewater treatment plant. It was bad!. I consulted the starter doctor
FAQ and Dick Adams book and thought what the heck. It would either revive
or morph into some flu virus that would wipe out the world. It took about 2
1/2 weeks of the washing process that Dick Adams talks about to get it back
among the living but I finally made pancakes and sourdough refrigerator
rolls with it yesterday and they were marvelous.

Gene
Kansas City

"Don Hellen" > wrote in message
...
> A while back I asked about rejuvenating my old starter that
> didn't seem to be doing anything at all. a few had given
> some advice on removing only the smallest portion of the
> yeast (in my case, what was on the bottom of my liquid
> starter container) and trying to use it to get things going
> again.
>
> I had just about given up on it when I tried using a smaller
> amount and feeding it twice over a few days' period. I also
> replaced the oven light bulb and measured the temperature in
> it when the light is left on--about 86 degrees F.
>
> It is showing signs of activity and smelling a lot like it
> used to- a bit yeasty but also a bit pungent.
>
> I'm going to try getting it back to it's former volume and
> making bread with it again.
>
> To those who sent me dried starters, I haven't given up on
> trying them out. I just want to get this one back on track
> (if I can) before I experiment. I've refrigerated the
> samples so they would keep a while (how long???) and would
> like to try them out as a liquid starter first (using a
> small portion of the sample). If that doesn't work out, the
> rest will be used as a conventional dough starter.
>
> I like the liquid starter because it remains free from mold
> and keeps well for at least 6 months without feeding. (Mine
> went inactive, after 12 years, only after not feeding it for
> about a year!!!) I use an airlock from my brewing/winemaking
> equipment in the top of a Tupperware container with a round
> opening on top to keep out the air but allow CO2 to be
> released. I've tried a dough type starter and don't like how
> mold formed on it, but that may be because of the way I
> handled it.
>
> The liquid starter is easy to gauge as to how active it's
> doing since I can see the bubbles from fermentation. If this
> goes well, I will be making bread again, and a lot more
> often than every 6 months. I don't know why I got away from
> making sourdough bread.
>
> I really do appreciate the starter samples and may be using
> them if this doesn't turn out to be like it used to be. I
> had exposed the starter to the air and it might actually be
> a different strain (which might be desirable or not).
>
> Deer season is upon us in Ohio next week, however, so I
> don't think I'll be doing anything this next week with it.
>
> Don Hellen
> To reply, substitute "firstnamelastname" with
> my firstname and lastname in the header and
> use no spaces.