Mutant Sourdough
This question isn't really about a problem, but it's one that's been on my mind for some time, So, I thought I'd finally throw it out here and see what kind of info I could get.
I have this sourdough starter that's kind of.....weird. Not that it's unhealthy, or strange-tasting, or anything like that. I've made great bread with it.
The issue is that I don't feed it every week, or two. Or four. More like six months. From what I've read, if you feed it that infrequently, you usually end up with a starter that's not very healthy and probably would need several days of feeding to get it back up to snuff.
Well, that doesn't happen with me. I pour off the hooch (the gray liquid on top) and feed it just once. Just one time.
And it turns into The Blob That Ate New York. In other words, the growth can be so fantastic, it overflows the container that it's in.
Same thing happens when I start a fresh starter, from scratch.
FYI, this is a liquid levain, in case anyone's curious.
This isn't a complaint, I'm quite happy when this happens. I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this experience.
The same thing is happening here. I'd been baking several loaves per week before summer and then vacation happened. I left three jars of starter in the fridge for a couple of months. When I returned to baking last week, the starters were all very "hoochy."
I tried Jim Lahey's no-knead recipe from the NY Times substituting the commercial yeast with 3/4 c of un-fed starter (I stirred the hooch into it) mixed into the warm water called for in the recipe and let it ferment for 24 hours.
The dough rose slowly but impressively, and the resulting loaf was one of the best I've ever produced. I'm now on a don't-feed-the-starter, don't-knead-the-dough, let-it-ferment-for-24-hours baking binge.
After mixing up the dough, I fed the starter with whole grain rye flour and water, let it ferment for about 10 - 12 hours, and then put it back in the fridge. It's in great shape.
Now I rotate my three jars of starter and have not "fed" any of them before making the dough. I'm assuming that the long ferment is the magic ingredient. So far these are some of the best breads I've made - nice crumb (even with whole grain flours), great taste, robust crust. I'm also convinced that the amount of active time needed to make bread this way is shorter than going to the bakery to buy bread.
I may never try another recipe. Ever!!
it happens. As long as you're happy with it and it works for you, it's fine.
Several years ago, I found and revived a Sourdough Jack (sold in the 60's) packet. It has been the most active and flexible starter I have had. I'm sure it has changed a bit from it's first jump out of the jar but it is still very active. I have dried,made thick and thin, left for weeks and scraped a bit off the bottom for another bach. It has never failed me. I count my blessing on this one.
that by using starter fed one week ago I might be stretching my luck! Come to think of it, I didn't have any problems "reviving" my starter culture after a three-week holiday back in March, so it seems like these little guys are pretty tough.
and will outlive us and all of our decedents all by a wide margin. Thye are near impossible to kill - thankfully for us!
Maybe it will turn out strange but reading your post and especially the statement about making new starter reminded me on the problem I had experienced when making new rye starter. Within 18 hours I had glass full of bubbles, but after another two feedings the activity calmed down. This fast reaction was not result of yeast activity but rather I was "victim" of leuconostoc. At that time I didn't know that but only recently I came across these two posts on TFL made by Debra Wink. Excellent reading for those who would like to know more about the micro cosmos in our SD cultures.
The Pineapple Juice Solution, Part 1
The Pineapple Juice Solution, Part 2
Happy baking, Joze
I too was suspecting leuco when the new starter was mentioned. The established starter rise is less likely to be caused by this, but the new one probably is not yeast activity. I have revived starters (liquid and firm) that were in the fridge for the better part of a year and it bounced right back. First feeding it ate quickly and doubled, second feeding I fed more and it was ready to go. I still fed it for a bit before using it though just to get things balanced out again. I actually mixed the hooch back in every time I did it, but it is probably better to pour it off to speed things up.