Hi! After perusing this newsgroup's useful archives, I decided to grow
my own sourdough starter. Pastry flour and water in equal proportions.
It's about 12 hours old, it looks somewhat bubbly, healthy white, and
smells funny.

My question is: Since I intend to bake bread later in the day (or
tomorrow at the latest) can I use some of the starter for the dough?

Not that I expect it to leaven (too young, probably) so I'll still use
commercial yeast for this batch of bread. It's just that my starter jar
is already 1/3 full. Being the cheapskate that I am, I'm wondering if I
can avoid throwing part of the starter away and turn it into dough
instead.

TIA

On Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:40:13 +0100, Dario Niedermann
> wrote:

>Hi! After perusing this newsgroup's useful archives, I decided to grow
>my own sourdough starter. Pastry flour and water in equal proportions.
>It's about 12 hours old, it looks somewhat bubbly, healthy white, and
>smells funny.
>
>My question is: Since I intend to bake bread later in the day (or
>tomorrow at the latest) can I use some of the starter for the dough?
>
>Not that I expect it to leaven (too young, probably) so I'll still use
>commercial yeast for this batch of bread. It's just that my starter jar
>is already 1/3 full. Being the cheapskate that I am, I'm wondering if I
>can avoid throwing part of the starter away and turn it into dough
>instead.
>
>TIA

Look up "Biga" in bread making.

Maj6th

Mr Maj6th > wrote:

> Look up "Biga" in bread making.

Interesting. But there's a difference: I didn't mix baker's yeast into
my starter, so I guess it wouldn't qualify as biga. Probably still
usable in the dough, though. Or is it?

On Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:24:10 +0100, Dario Niedermann
> wrote:

>Mr Maj6th > wrote:
>
>> Look up "Biga" in bread making.
>
>Interesting. But there's a difference: I didn't mix baker's yeast into
>my starter, so I guess it wouldn't qualify as biga. Probably still
>usable in the dough, though. Or is it?

It should do fine, just add extra yeast to the recipe.

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-hom-159913

Maj6th

You can minimize dough waste by keeping the batch small, I'd always stir and then throw half out before adding the water and flour back in. I don't know if anyone has an ideal minimum amount, but I think I have only 1/2 to an inch of the mason jar full when I finished stirring (I use weights more, about 50 grams seems to be right when I'm just feeding). Then when it's finally ready I'll stop throwing it out and let the last 2 feeds get it bigger. With an early starter like yours, I leave a fork in and stir, stir, stir. Someone said they thought it helps, and it seems like worth a shot to me.

Best of luck, it takes awhile before it get's right, and a bit longer to get used to cooking with it, but the bread is certainly different. Be careful what you mix in early on too, as I think it'll affect the flavor until you get some stable cultures in charge of the starter.

On Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:40:13 +0100, Dario Niedermann
> wrote:

>Hi! After perusing this newsgroup's useful archives, I decided to grow
>my own sourdough starter. Pastry flour and water in equal proportions.
>It's about 12 hours old, it looks somewhat bubbly, healthy white, and
>smells funny.
>
>My question is: Since I intend to bake bread later in the day (or
>tomorrow at the latest) can I use some of the starter for the dough?
>
>Not that I expect it to leaven (too young, probably) so I'll still use
>commercial yeast for this batch of bread. It's just that my starter jar
>is already 1/3 full. Being the cheapskate that I am, I'm wondering if I
>can avoid throwing part of the starter away and turn it into dough
>instead.
>
>TIA

It's far too "young" to use. The yeast/bacteria in the mix
produce substances which kill the nasty toxic/pathogenic bacteria
present. How long it takes varies, but I would not risk less than a
week. I usually wait until it's really frothing, put it in the fridge
until it forms a clear layer of hooch. If the hooch smells fruity ,
it's fine. Start with that.
I still don't understand why people make so much starter. I
take out my fridge starter, add a teaspoonful of that to two
tablespoons of flour, add water to a toothpaste consistency, and wait
for it to rise. When it's bubbly, I put it back in the fridge.
The rest I use to make my bread (starter+1/2 cup of flour +
1/2 cup of water, the night before the bread making.)
No waste.
[]'s

PS never mix commercial yeast with sourdough, they hate each other.

My starter "from scratch" is now 10 years old, still making great
bread.
--
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