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Sourdough (rec.food.sourdough) Discussing the hobby or craft of baking with sourdough. We are not just a recipe group, Our charter is to discuss the care, feeding, and breeding of yeasts and lactobacilli that make up sourdough cultures. |
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Starter Comparison
Well here it is, actually got around to my experiment:
http://picasaweb.google.com/stbuzby/StarterComparison Fed both my "new" and "old" starters on the same flour- same proportions, bread recipe, raising and baking times. The "new" starter is distinctly more tart, but the crust and crumb - as I've heard them called - are just about identical. Nice and browned, very fluffy. There is a definite difference between the two cultures that comes out in the taste, but it looks like the rising power and activity levels of each is about the same..... Stacey |
Posted to rec.food.sourdough
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Starter Comparison
> Beautiful. (I must have missed it - what was the difference in the two
> starters?) > -joe About the only difference was that the new starter is more on the sour side than the older one. Don't know enough to get into the finer points of exactly why, but I must have caught different critters in that one when I made it a few weeks ago. Stacey |
Posted to rec.food.sourdough
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Starter Comparison
Stacey wrote:
<snap> > > About the only difference was that the new starter is more on the sour > side than the older one. Don't know enough to get into the finer > points of exactly why, > Stacey So if you do not know why what the use to post, I learn nothing from your post. Joe Umstead |
Posted to rec.food.sourdough
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Starter Comparison
On Mon, 31 Dec 2007 12:17:10 -0800 (PST), Stacey
> wrote: > >About the only difference was that the new starter is more on the sour >side than the older one. Hi Stacey, Are you saying that the starters differ in their sour taste, or that they make breads that differ in that way? Thanks, -- Kenneth If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS." |
Posted to rec.food.sourdough
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Starter Comparison
> Are you saying that the starters differ in their sour taste,
> or that they make breads that differ in that way? > Kenneth That would be the bread I was referring to- not into tasting the starter itself. |
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Starter Comparison
/
> You might want to try it. *Both the smell and taste of a starter are > good indications of the condition of the starter. *Over a period of time > you'll be able to add the information from smell and taste to the visual > cues you are currently using to gauge the health and vitality of your > starters. > > In some classes I teach, some students are reluctant to taste the > starters, but c'mon - it's just flour, water, yeast and harmless > bacteria. > > Mike Very true! I taste my starter very often, I like it, plus I'm sure it's good for digestion! I tend to taste the bread very often as well, it's important to spot mistakes sometimes, like salt deficiency for example |
Posted to rec.food.sourdough
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Starter Comparison
> You might want to try it. *Both the smell and taste of a starter are
> good indications of the condition of the starter. *Over a period of time > you'll be able to add the information from smell and taste to the visual > cues you are currently using to gauge the health and vitality of your > starters. > > In some classes I teach, some students are reluctant to taste the > starters, but c'mon - it's just flour, water, yeast and harmless > bacteria. > > Mike Hmmm, maybe when the memories of how it smelled in its early stages are not so fresh... still can't stomach the thought of rotten peas. I'm sure the bacteria and fungi that were producing such odiferous aromas at first are long since gone, but I think I will still wait a while. I do use smell when checking my starters - yeasty when first fed, good and sour and lively after about 12 hours, fermented and strong when slack after 24 hours or so and really needing fed again. Texture is also a good guide, as in how well it sticks to the mixing spoon and how "stringy" it is when pulled out of the jar. Good stringyness (very technical terms here) seems to indicate a healthy starter, while strings that break apart quickly seem to indicate that it needs fed. My guess on this one is that the gluten in the flour is in the later stages of being broken down, and that the critters are getting low on what they like to eat. All of this is based on personal observation, and trial and error in my own baking/starter feeding endeavors... Perhaps one day, when I'm brave, I'll give it a taste and see what it's like.... but for now I think I will stick to checking the bread. Viince wrote: >Very true! I taste my starter very often, I like it, plus I'm sure >it's good for digestion! You might be right on that one - never really thought about that before... Stacey |
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Starter Comparison
Mike Avery wrote:
> You might want to try it. Both the smell and taste of a starter are > good indications of the condition of the starter. Over a period of time > you'll be able to add the information from smell and taste to the visual > cues you are currently using to gauge the health and vitality of your > starters. > Ticker is in compleat agreement with you on that. Newer posters might not know that my feline companion has won many sourdough starter tasting contests. She retired after winning the National Championship - saying that she had nothing left to prove. Regards, Charles |
Posted to rec.food.sourdough
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Starter Comparison
On Feb 2, 5:22*pm, Charles Perry > wrote:
> Mike Avery wrote: > > You might want to try it. *Both the smell and taste of a starter are > > good indications of the condition of the starter. *Over a period of time > > you'll be able to add the information from smell and taste to the visual > > cues you are currently using to gauge the health and vitality of your > > starters. > > Ticker is in compleat agreement with you on that. > > Newer posters might not know that my feline companion has won many > sourdough starter tasting contests. *She retired after winning the > National Championship - saying that she had nothing left to prove. > > Regards, > > Charles Sourdough is about the only thing left out on the counter that my cats *won't* get into. I did find myself one of the jars with the flip top lids and wire latch, just in case they do decide to try it.... Stacey |
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Starter Comparison
So How is the new one doing a month on?
Were they both made using the same flour Stacey? I've made quite a few starters all in my own kitchen using different flours. Each and every one was different in some way to the others, or at least that was my opinion at the time, but without doing side by side bake offs as you've done it's very hard to tell, you also need to have treated the two starters in exactly the same way for a day or so before. Thanks for sharing your observations. Jim On 5 Feb, 21:06, Stacey > wrote: ... > Sourdough is about the only thing left out on the counter that my cats > *won't* get into. *I did find myself one of the jars with the flip top > lids and wire latch, just in case they do decide to try it.... > > Stacey- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - |
Posted to rec.food.sourdough
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Starter Comparison
On Feb 6, 3:57*am, TG > wrote:
> So How is the new one doing a month on? > > Were they both made using the same flour Stacey? I've made quite a few > starters all in my own kitchen using different flours. Each and every > one was different in some way to the others, or at least that was my > opinion at the time, but without doing side by side bake offs as > you've done it's very hard to tell, you also need to have treated the > two starters in exactly the same way for a day or so before. > > Thanks for sharing your observations. > > Jim It's doing quite well actually, for being a weekend fridge-kept starter. I did treat both cultures the same in my original experiment, feeding and growing them for the same amounts of time before baking. If I remember right, I also gave each about two days' worth of feedings before finally making bread. Rising and texture were more or less identical, but the bread from the new starter was distinctly more sour. The older culture tends to have a more mild aroma, smelling pleasantly fermented even when it's just been fed. It also has a different consistency- I generally give it 1/4c of water, 1/2c flour and it will absorb the whole thing to make a soft sponge. The new one maintains the faintest trace of the "rotten peas" smell it had when it first began working (most of the reason why I won't taste it) but other than it has a distinctly tart odor - more of what I would think of as being an Alaskan sourdough. It will take 1/4 c of water and 1/2 c flour and end up being like a ball of dough- much thicker. Still puzzled by that, since I am using the same flour and water for each. I know most here aren't interested in pancakes, but I also find it interesting that the new culture produces cakes that are about twice as fluffy as the old starter .... same recipe.... so I'm thinking the bacteria in the new one must produce more of the acids that react with baking soda. All in all it was a very intriguing experiment - there is something neat about knowing you can make your own leavening with nothing but flour and water. We have a hard enough time keeping up with one starter though, so I will probably give the new one away.... plenty of neighbors around here who would like to try some. Thanks for your interest, Stacey |
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Starter Comparison
Hi Stacey,
thanks for that, sorry, I don't check in that often here. I've found that a new starter can take quite a while to settle down sometimes. My very first starter didn't become what the established sourdough starters I've had from other people until after I'd dried and revived it. That was a great starter, I stopped using it though and didn't have a back up. But easy come, easy go eh? Jim On 8 Feb, 05:39, Stacey > wrote: > On Feb 6, 3:57*am, TG > wrote: > > > So How is the new one doing a month on? > > > Were they both made using the same flour Stacey? I've made quite a few > > starters all in my own kitchen using different flours. Each and every > > one was different in some way to the others, or at least that was my > > opinion at the time, but without doing side by side bake offs as > > you've done it's very hard to tell, you also need to have treated the > > two starters in exactly the same way for a day or so before. > > > Thanks for sharing your observations. > > > Jim > > It's doing quite well actually, for being a weekend fridge-kept > starter. > > I did treat both cultures the same in my original experiment, feeding > and growing them for the same amounts of time before baking. *If I > remember right, I also ... plenty of > neighbors around here who would like to try some. > > Thanks for your interest, > Stacey |
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