My father-in-law is moving from his home to gentler quarters, so the
family have been cleaning out the old place as it has been sold.

My FIL was always an avid bread baker well into his late 80s, but I
could never convince him to play with sourdough. Oh, I tried, thinking
his chemical engineer background would make it fascinating. Nope.

I had some of Carl's starter sent to him. Frankly, I had no memory of
it whatsoever, but lo and behold, when we opened one of the boxes,
there was an envelope with my handwriting addressed to my FIL.

Curious, I turned it over and the back of the envelope, which has been
written on to say "Send brochure" gave me my clue before even opening
the back flap of the envelope.

Inside the envelope was a small baggie with the dried starter, stating
it was packed in February of 2002 by Charles Perry. The brochure was
in there too.

Why my FIL never used it is beyond me, but I started to revive it
yesterday.

It is alive folks.

There is activity, which the control batch I mixed with plain flour
and water is not showing.

Long way from activity to an established and workable starter, but I
had not tried anything like this in a while. I have revived very old
starters in the past, from Sourdough Jack packets in those books I had
acquired. There was doubt from a few around here back then, and no, I
did not sterilize the flour as Samartha thought would be the only
proof, nor followed anyone else's advice or listened to hectoring
(Dick probably). I stood firm then and still do.

Been to this rodeo before, certainly created a few dozen burbling
batches of SD from scratch using varying flours, and have also revived
many SDs of my own, long in storage or purchsed/traded for curiosity.

What this really is, though, is a delightful walk down memory lane,
remininding me of many wonderful hours spent on this group.

I thank the bread faeries, too.

On Mon, 09 Nov 2020 08:56:28 -0500, Boron Elgar wrote:

> My father-in-law is moving from his home to gentler quarters, so the
> family have been cleaning out the old place as it has been sold.
>
> My FIL was always an avid bread baker well into his late 80s, but I
> could never convince him to play with sourdough. Oh, I tried, thinking
> his chemical engineer background would make it fascinating. Nope.
>
> I had some of Carl's starter sent to him. Frankly, I had no memory of
> it whatsoever, but lo and behold, when we opened one of the boxes,
> there was an envelope with my handwriting addressed to my FIL.
>
> Curious, I turned it over and the back of the envelope, which has been
> written on to say "Send brochure" gave me my clue before even opening
> the back flap of the envelope.
>
> Inside the envelope was a small baggie with the dried starter, stating
> it was packed in February of 2002 by Charles Perry. The brochure was
> in there too.
>
> Why my FIL never used it is beyond me, but I started to revive it
> yesterday.
>
> It is alive folks.
>
> There is activity, which the control batch I mixed with plain flour
> and water is not showing.
>
> Long way from activity to an established and workable starter, but I
> had not tried anything like this in a while. I have revived very old
> starters in the past, from Sourdough Jack packets in those books I had
> acquired. There was doubt from a few around here back then, and no, I
> did not sterilize the flour as Samartha thought would be the only
> proof, nor followed anyone else's advice or listened to hectoring
> (Dick probably). I stood firm then and still do.
>
> Been to this rodeo before, certainly created a few dozen burbling
> batches of SD from scratch using varying flours, and have also revived
> many SDs of my own, long in storage or purchsed/traded for curiosity.
>
> What this really is, though, is a delightful walk down memory lane,
> remininding me of many wonderful hours spent on this group.
>
> I thank the bread faeries, too.

Yes, those were the days.
I tried examining my starter under the microscope (a Leitz Orthoplan) but
all I saw was a cloud of flour particles. I also dissolved some instant
yeast and made a slide, but the spores were just featureless spheroids and
not at all as interesting as the fossilized ones I've seen in geological
samples.
You've prompted me to revive my starter:-)

On Mon, 9 Nov 2020 15:06:27 -0700, Graham > wrote:

>On Mon, 09 Nov 2020 08:56:28 -0500, Boron Elgar wrote:
>
>> My father-in-law is moving from his home to gentler quarters, so the
>> family have been cleaning out the old place as it has been sold.
>>
>> My FIL was always an avid bread baker well into his late 80s, but I
>> could never convince him to play with sourdough. Oh, I tried, thinking
>> his chemical engineer background would make it fascinating. Nope.
>>

>> It is alive folks.
>>

>You've prompted me to revive my starter:-)


Those starters are like old friends.

On Wed, 11 Nov 2020 14:45:02 -0000 (UTC), heyjoe wrote:

> On Mon, 09 Nov 2020 08:56:28 -0500
> in Message-ID: >
> Boron Elgar wrote :
>
>> it was packed in February of 2002 by Charles Perry. The brochure was
>> in there too.
>>
>> Why my FIL never used it is beyond me, but I started to revive it
>> yesterday.
>
> Question about reviving dried starter.
>
> From Friends of Carl -
>>To REACTIVATE the starter from the powdered form:
>>
>>1. Dissolve the contents of the packet with 3/4 cup warm (90 degree) water, add 3/4 cup white bread flour, and 1 teaspoon sugar in glass or plastic container (NOT METAL!).
>>
>>2. Place bowl (covered with damp towel) in warm place (the oven with the light on is about 85 degrees-Test it first!) for up to 48 hours. It will get bubbly from the fermentation. ITS ALIVE!!
>>
>>3. Mix in 1 cup warm (95) water, add 1 cup flour, 1 tablespoon dried potatoes or use potato water and let sit in the warm place till bubbly again. Dont worry about the lumps as the fermentation will take care of them.
>>
>>4. Now, you can store it in the frig till needed. It may develop a clear liquid on top, if so, stir it back in as this is alcohol - keep it happy! It will need feeding about every couple of weeks, just add 1 cup warm skim milk or water, 1 T Sugar and 1 cup flour. Once in a while add 1 tablespoon of dried potatoes (or use potato water). If it looks sick, add 1 T CIDER vinegar to give it a kick in the behind! Give the excess to a friend or you can keep some of it in the freezer for several months between feedings.
>
> In step 3 - don't keep dried potatoes on hand and potato salad season is
> past. Would like to skip this if it's not really needed.
>
> Is using potato water or dried potatoes desirable or necessary?

I don't know about the potatoes but two things in their #4 instructions
don't make sense.
Alcohol kills bacteria and, presumably, fungi. So I would pour it off.
Cider vinegar is a similar bug killer, that's why it's used in pickling.

On Wed, 11 Nov 2020 14:45:02 -0000 (UTC), heyjoe
> wrote:

>On Mon, 09 Nov 2020 08:56:28 -0500
>in Message-ID: >
>Boron Elgar wrote :
>
>> it was packed in February of 2002 by Charles Perry. The brochure was
>> in there too.
>>
>> Why my FIL never used it is beyond me, but I started to revive it
>> yesterday.
>
>Question about reviving dried starter.
>
>From Friends of Carl -
>>To REACTIVATE the starter from the powdered form:
>>
>>1. Dissolve the contents of the packet with 3/4 cup warm (90 degree) water, add 3/4 cup white bread flour, and 1 teaspoon sugar in glass or plastic container (NOT METAL!).
>>
>>2. Place bowl (covered with damp towel) in warm place (the oven with the light on is about 85 degrees-Test it first!) for up to 48 hours. It will get bubbly from the fermentation. ITS ALIVE!!
>>
>>3. Mix in 1 cup warm (95) water, add 1 cup flour, 1 tablespoon dried potatoes or use potato water and let sit in the warm place till bubbly again. Dont worry about the lumps as the fermentation will take care of them.
>>
>>4. Now, you can store it in the frig till needed. It may develop a clear liquid on top, if so, stir it back in as this is alcohol - keep it happy! It will need feeding about every couple of weeks, just add 1 cup warm skim milk or water, 1 T Sugar and 1 cup flour. Once in a while add 1 tablespoon of dried potatoes (or use potato water). If it looks sick, add 1 T CIDER vinegar to give it a kick in the behind! Give the excess to a friend or you can keep some of it in the freezer for several months between feedings.
>
>In step 3 - don't keep dried potatoes on hand and potato salad season is
>past. Would like to skip this if it's not really needed.
>
>Is using potato water or dried potatoes desirable or necessary?


I have never used sugar or potato products to revive any Carl starter.

AP flour and water only until it is alive, alive-o.

On Wed, 11 Nov 2020 15:51:00 -0000 (UTC), heyjoe
> wrote:

>On Wed, 11 Nov 2020 08:32:18 -0700
>in Message-ID: t>
>Graham wrote :
>
>> I don't know about the potatoes but two things in their #4 instructions
>> don't make sense.
>> Alcohol kills bacteria and, presumably, fungi. So I would pour it off.
>> Cider vinegar is a similar bug killer, that's why it's used in pickling.
>
>Stopped reading at #3, as I'm not even close to that point. Don't see
>the point of potatoes - I think it's just a different source of starch.
>But maybe I'm missing something, so am asking for advice/expertise
>potatoes (and any other clues).
>
>Agree with you. In the past, I poured off the top liquid/alcohol before
>adding just flour and water to refresh the starter.
>
>Lost my starter years ago from lack of use/refreshment. It was a from
>scratch starter using rye flour. Am going to jump start this time by
>using Carl's starter.


It is a very dependable starter with the usual care. Only drawback I
ever had with it, is that it is pretty mild. To counter that, I have
adjust final refreshments with other flours.before a bread session

On Wed, 11 Nov 2020 08:32:18 -0700, Graham > wrote:

>Alcohol kills bacteria and, presumably, fungi.

Actually, most of the alcohol is oxidized quickly to acetic
acid. Think an open bottle of wine.

Acid won't kill the Lactobacillus or the Candida. It's why
they take over the colony. They thrive in an acidic environment.
The starter collapses from lack of food (flour), not because of the
presence of acid.

>So I would pour it off.

I never do. If it's very old, I might pour maybe half off.

>Cider vinegar is a similar bug killer, that's why it's used in pickling.

There is no need to add acid, the starter's "hooch" should be
acidic enough to protect the colony.
If the hooch "fails", you will get mould and/or a foul
smelling paste. And the starter is lost.
I've lost starters because people poured off the hooch in the
belief it had gone "sour".
But my primary starter, made in 2002 from scratch, is still
going strong. It's probably not the SAME as the original though:

https://modernistcuisine.com/mc/sourdough-science/

(quite a good article)

A lot can change in almost 20 years.
HTH
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