Tourist trap or the real deal?
So, I'm brand new to baking bread. In fact, I'm brand new to baking period. My mother taught me to cook starting around age 8. I can cook pretty good. I have a passion for BBQ. But I recently have caught the baking bug.
Here’s what happened. I went on a fishing trip in Alaska. I had great sourdough bread in several restaurants. At a gift shop, I found a packet that said it was dehydrated starter from a sponge that was over 100 years old. I may have fallen for a tourist trap but I bought it, brought it home and hydrated it. I followed the instructions exactly... I think, and I have made two batches of bread from my new starter. The bread turned out pretty good but the curst was a little too crusty and the bread is a little too dry for sandwiches and such. However, it makes great toast!
I found this site this morning and started reading this post http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/40847/starter-troubles. After reading about two thirds of it, I think I have learned that my "starter" never started. It doesn't rise at all, it barely bubbles, it has the consistency of pancake batter, and practically no smell at all.
Thanks in advance for any input. I can take a picture of the starter if you think that would help.
and how have you been feeding it and at what hydration?
I wonder about these dried starters sold to tourists. I wonder if they're no more than a little flour and baker's yeast. That would account for whatever rise you got in your initial loaves.
rise much. The bubbles usually pop before lifting the starter. Thicken it up with a little flour and see if it rises. Would also be wondering the particulars and your observations.
dabrownman... I haven't been feeding it. I have learned today that is mistake number one. I thought I learned from the instructions on the packet that I just needed to replace with 50/50 water flour as I used it. A friend from church said I should put in a tsp of sugar once a month. I've done that once. It was on the 1st of December with little visible effect.
mixinator... you're probably right. I felt like a sucker while I was buying but figured "what the heck". I really just wanted to be able to enjoy bread as good as I was getting virtually everywhere we stopped to eat in Alaska.
Mini Oven... I'll some more flour and report back with pictures. I really hope my starter isn't dead but if so, I'm not against starting from scratch.
Thanks for the quick feedback. I can tell this is going to be a great site!
Replacing some of it with more water and flour is feeding it. Flour contains a few forms of sugar for the yeast to eat already - no need to add the granulated stuff. You may have already have been on the right track for taking care of it, if it was actually a sourdough culture.
Glad you came here to learn more. There's plenty of information on this site to help you learn how to make bread like what you enjoyed during your trip - it will take some time.
Good luck with your current starter and further journey!
you need less water. Volume measurements have weights of about 240g for a cup of water and 125g for a cup of flour.
So to get about 100% hydration (equal amounts of each) you need to feed 1/2 cup of water to almost 1 cup of flour. Heavier flours including "whole" and more bran and outer protein parts, will soak up more water and be thicker. A scale is a good way to go if you have access to one. Many recipes aim at this type of starter. Recipes will include about a cup of starter to 3-4 cups of flour plus the addition of water or other liquid.
The other 50/50 interpretation works well in cooler climates, a very wet starter of almost 200% hydration. That's the starter variety kept in a gallon jar and for a bread recipe; take out what you need to blend with the flour and replace with equal Volumes of both water and flour. The starter is the liquid in the bred recipe with only small amounts of other liquids.
And to be sure... 100% hydration means the same amount of flour to water by WEIGHT!
Also, not all flours bubble up the same way. Just like not all breads produce the same crumb.
You could have done it on it's own but not really a tourist trap as you will be able to activate it quicker but the "special" attached to 100 year old starter may be a bit fanciful. You've bought sourdough starter that's all.
Sorry to hear you've got the bug :) It's addictive!
Since I'm pretty much a novice also, my advice would be to search for starter instructions on the site and read that. I think it's more helpful to know what success looks like at this point than to read up on each and every problem you could encounter. There's lots of time for that once your starter lets you down.
As for whatever you have going now, I'm with mixinator. Who knows what was in that envelope? But you certainly could use a few grams of your "starter" and mix it with an equal weight of filtered water and good quality (organic is my choice) flour and see what happens. In 24 hours you should know if you want to keep feeding or start creating from scratch. Or hedge your bets - do both.
As for the "sour" that's something you can work for by manipulating your feeding and hydration of your starter. But that's beyond my expertise. I'd have to say dabrownman seems to be the authority on sour.
You're had replies from several of the most successful bakers (IMHO) here - although there are many more. You can definitely count on any advice they offer.
Very good luck to you.
In your situation I would begin another, real starter off to the side rather than dinking around with this unknown quantity and 101 different schemes for feeding it.
of making your own starter from scratch.
dead. Do what Mini says. Stiffen it up with some flour and see if it starts to bubble and rise then toss half and feed it the same weight as what is left with flour and water. If you keep 25 g of starter then feed it 25 g each of flour and water. Keep it at 78-84 F or so, the temperature that SD cultures love the most. Don't feed it any sugar!
Don't toss it either - it really is a SD starter. They just make a big batch of peaking starter, dry it and grind it into powder. Just what we do when we want to store some our own starter in case we kill off the mother or going away for a long, long time
You don't know that.
don't do it and just want to rip everyone off with flour and yeast? I have a higher regard for people in general and for those who own and run businesses in particular. You might be right but I seriously doubt it, iIm sure there is a TFL'er out there that know the people selling this starter. It is such an easy process and business - just flour, water, seed, mix dry ans package. No barriers to entry. Who would be sick and crooked enough to try to cheapen this process? There have been so many people over the years on TFL who have begin their starters this way it is beyond count and points to the packages being real dried SD starters - not fake ones. Their web sites tell what is in the packages and many of these operations have been in business for years and years. Not long ago someone on TFL found an old package in a antique or thrift store that was 40 years old and it still worked. Now, those claiming their starter is 150 years old and decended from the first Frenchman who brought starter to san Francisco might be stretching it but it is SD starter, Not everyone is a Barry Madoff.
I guess I'm just a little more positive and possibly more naive than some. .
I agree this business of packaging the dried starter was probably started by an enthusiast and then grew from there. I suspect it may be over priced but that is the way of the tourist trade, $1 of product, $3 of packaging and a $15 price tag. I think there are easier ways to scam people if that is what you want.
Gerhard
is ridiculous but we were talking about it not even being dried SD starter - not the price. Ripping people off on price is in the eye of the beholder and they should charge what the market will bear. For us, $15 is a rip and we would never buy it but for others. this purchase might be a nice cheap gift for a baking friend you forgot about on your vacation and are about o get on the plane. The only way you are scamming people who want to buy it is if it isn't SD starter at all. They are sure selling enough of it to make a living at it. If people make SD starter from it I'm guessing they are happy as pie especially if it was a gift.
Anyone could put some flour and baker's yeast in a packet and sell it. It would be sourdough starter of sorts, not the genuine article and not something any of us would make. It would probably raise a loaf and could technically be considered "starter".
Thanks to all who have chimed in. This is a really great site. I can't believe I didn't think about the 50/50 ratio being by weight. Duh. I'm such a noob.
I wish I would have saved the package so I could check out a website or show you guys the package. I think I agree with dabrownman. After reading the logic posted, it probably is the real deal. It just requires a little know how on how to take care of it. I'll get it. As for price, I think I paid $9.95 or something close to that. Over priced maybe when you think of the actual markup. But, for someone like me... brand new to bread. If that 9.95 is responsible for me finding a new outlet in the kitchen and eventually helps produce quality bread... I'm fine with paying it.
Again... thanks everyone. This is an awesome site with great people. So glad I found it.
Why should anyone known it's by weight unless told so. Volume is more of a logical conclusion.
I think you should make your own starter from flour and water. Very rewarding when it works.