Hi All,
I have started into my first ever attempt at sourdough making last
night and today I just found this newsgroup! :-)

The Culture medium I have used is this : 2 medium potatoes in the
skins boiled until very over done ,poured (water and all) into a mesh
sieve. Potato mashed through and skins removed to make what looked
like watery wall paper paste. Cool for a short time added 2 cups of
all purpose flour and one table spoon of sugar ....I did not add any
yeast (trying tocatch my own.)

***I will be getting bread/strong flour before I make bread but is all
purpose O.K for pancakes and biscuits***

It seems to have been a success....and after 24 hours it is bubbling
nicely. I fed it today with 3 tablespoons flour, water and 3 scant
teaspoons sugar.

Simialr to the first poster in the new starter odor thread ,mine
culture smells like soured milk.( Is this because of the lactobacilli
that is supposed to be in with the yeast?)

I am sure things are going right and just wanted to make sure it is.
With the culture medium above....what amouts of flour water and sugar
should I be feeding it...is it supposed to smell like soured milk,
when can I use it....what does it smell like once it is ready to use?

I know it takes a while before you can use it for bread baking...but
when I reduce the volume and feed it can I now use the excess in
pancakes or biscuits...or does it need to be the same age as for use
in bread.

I am quite experienced in baking so I was sure I could handle starting
a culture from air gotten yeasts...but I just need some assurance that
everything is going to plan....because I haven't made it
before....once I have advice and experience with sourdoughs I am sure
I will be throughly hooked..:-).

By the way: It is really cool to see something like this come
together....who'da thunk...yeasties were in the air..

Thanks in advance..I'll post more questions as they come up...which
until I've been at this awhile might be alot (So please forgive me in
advance , hehehe)
Cheers

Julie in Northern Ireland

Julie wrote:
<potatoes... sugar... air...>

Standard sourdough starter ingredients:
1. Wheat or rye flour
2. cold to room-temperature water (55-100% as much water as flour by
weight)
3. sourdough starter if you have it (up to 50% as much starter as flour
by weight)

Most recipes are written for a standard starter. A very few are
written for a starter containing milk or potatoes. Generally a
standard starter is the most reliable. Additional ingredients such
as sugar are unnecessary and may even lead to dangerous contamination.

Note: the amount of water in the starter (its /hydration/) and the
temperature of the starter will have a big impact on its growth
rate. A low-hydration starter will be slower. A low-temperature
starter will be slower. Generally, if you use a high-hydration
(liquid) starter you must refrigerate it and feed it at least once
a week [will someone who has a lot of experience with these please
correct my figure?]. If you use a low-hydration (solid/dough-like)
starter you may keep it at room temperature if you feed it 2x per day.
The amount of old starter used to make a new starter (the innoculum)
also affects the amount of time needed for the starter to mature, but
the innoculum must be changed a lot to make a significant difference.

David

Feuer > wrote

> Most recipes are written for a standard starter. A very few are
> written for a starter containing milk or potatoes. Generally a
> standard starter is the most reliable. Additional ingredients such
> as sugar are unnecessary and may even lead to dangerous contamination.

I used this recipe. Before I saw the this newsgroup I looked at
recipes and just picked one. I will from now on not use sugar. The
recipe I got is here :schttp://breadnet.net/ratch.html

As potatoes are not normally a recommended medium....I have no
objections to starting over using either rye or wheat flour. and
following a starter recipe you all think is the tops. I plan on making
mostly white bread and the occasional rye . And of course the usual
pancakes and cakes etc.
> Generally, if you use a high-hydration
> (liquid) starter you must refrigerate it and feed it at least once
> a week [will someone who has a lot of experience with these please
> correct my figure?].

Is one better than the other?

Mine is a 1:1 hydration and is quite liquid and frothy . I thought it
was supposed to beleft out and fed for about a week before being
placed in the Fridge.
If you use a low-hydration (solid/dough-like) starter you may keep it
at room temperature if you feed it 2x per day.

Does a low hydration starter begin as a high hydration and become more
solid with each feeding or is it quite solid from the start?

I would like to get this as right as possible and I am not adverse to
starting over should I go wrong. I am in no hurry to make bread and
can wait if that means getting a smashing loaf or few of great bread.

I am slowly weeding my way through the FAQ's...so if I ask anything
very obviously in the FAQ's let me know and I will go there and find
it.


Thanks David for answering my questions.

Cheers

Julie

"Julie" > wrote in message
om...

> I am slowly weeding my way through the FAQ's...so if I ask anything
> very obviously in the FAQ's let me know and I will go there and find

Hi Julie,

I am new as well, and found a good web site on making a rye starter:
http://samartha.net/SD/MakeStarter01.html
The site owner, Samartha, is also an active member of this group.

Another site I found helpful is:
http://www.pipeline.com/~rosskat/wizzi.html

and

My first sourdough 100% rye starter is new, and it has made one tasty, sour,
pumpernickle brick (I loved it and will try again) and one 66% rye 33%ww
loaf (not very sour, followed the "kneaded rye" recipe posted in the
archives, will ferment longer next time following Dick's revisions to that
recipe) that rose probably 1/2 to 2/3 as much as I would have liked.

I hope this helps,

Heather

Julie wrote:

> > Generally, if you use a high-hydration
> > (liquid) starter you must refrigerate it and feed it at least once
> > a week [will someone who has a lot of experience with these please
> > correct my figure?].
>
> Is one better than the other?

It depends what bread you're making.

> Mine is a 1:1 hydration and is quite liquid and frothy . I thought it
> was supposed to beleft out and fed for about a week before being
> placed in the Fridge.

If you leave it out you will be feeding it very often.

> Does a low hydration starter begin as a high hydration and become more
> solid with each feeding or is it quite solid from the start?

It's solid because you're using more flour in it... You can start
a starter either solid or liquid, and can convert in either direction
if you choose, though you probably don't want to do so too often.

> I am slowly weeding my way through the FAQ's...so if I ask anything
> very obviously in the FAQ's let me know and I will go there and find
> it.

Nothing is obvious in the FAQs because they suq.

> Thanks David for answering my questions.

Yer welcome.

David