March 26, 2009 - 10:07am
Lactobacillus in Starts
In my recent research on start chemistry, I read that lactobacillus is one of the main bacteria that is captured in a start to produce a good start. If that is true, would it be beneficial to your start to add a few granules of lactobacillus? I should probably just give it a try once I've gotten into the swing of sourdough and am ready to experiment with my own start but I just wondered if anyone else had thought about this.
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Hi there:
I'm not sure adding a dose of Lactobacillus to your starter is really a good idea. Remember, they are acid-producing bacteria, and acid inhibits yeast growth. Since you're really aiming for a nicely symbiotic, happily coexisting mixture of yeast AND bacteria, artifically tipping the scales may not be wise for the poor little yeasties, which take time to come to equilibrium. You may also see a huge spike in "rising" activity with too many acid-producers, and think that you've arrived at a completed starter, when really it was just a large population explosion of bacteria.
Also, remember that the term "Lactobacillus" is the genus name of a whole group of bacteria. Therefore, each sourdough culture will take on a mixed community of various strains, depending on where they came from - hence sourdoughs started in different places with different materials have unique characteristics.
I hope this answer wasn't too long & snooty sounding. I actually am a microbiologist (card-carrying).
However, with all that said, it might be a fun experiment to try anyway. Who knows what you might come up with! Good luck and have fun.
peace,
karladiane
Thanks for your long and very non-snooty reply :), you made some very good points that I never considered and I really appreciate the professional info. I love that something as simple as bread-baking can connect people from such varied backgrounds!
There is a method of making a starter that I found works for me, when relying on random air born yeast and bacteria failed.
The starter begins with water, rye and white flour to which are added some dried fruit, for example rasins, and live low fat yoghurt. I presume the bloom on the fruit contains wild yeast and the yoghurt has the required Lactobacillus.
By all means try to let nature take its course, but if all else fails ...
See my comments in http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/11188/greetings for a bit more detail.
This is my first start, and we'll see whether or not it survives my very non-reliable "mommy brain." If not, yours is a great idea!
This is my first start, and we'll see whether or not it survives my very non-reliable "mommy brain." If not, yours is a great idea!