Adrian,

You have the start of a sourdough starter.  Your flour and the air both have yeast in them (there are many and varied opinions on this issue, but suffice it to say, there's yeast in your mix).  As you ponder, there is also bacteria there.  Generally, the early activity you see will be largely from the bacteria.  The yeast takes hold later (generally days 3-5 if you are making a starter).

To answer your other question, the bacteria that is there is not harmful.  But, as mentioned, it's not beneficial in the sense that you have the beginning of a starter, but not truly a starter yet.  You might say you've got the sour but not the dough.  So, my advice would be to remix all your ingredients and refrigerate them. 

If you want a sourdough starter, I'd start over and follow the Sourdough Tutorial or some other instructions to make a starter.

Phyl

I am a sourdough newbie, trying to do exactly what it sounds like you did by accident!  It sure sounds like you got accidental something, but the question is whether it's yeast or not.   

You should search this forum for the posts about pineapple juice used in starters--those posts have a very comprehensive description of the bacteria that also can get going in plain flour and water when it has a fairly neutral ph.  Eventually, the wild yeast get going and lower the ph, killing off the bad bacteria and allowing the wild yeast (and good bacteria) to flourish. 

So the question I would have is whether you have yeast bubbling and growing, or bacteria at this point.  And if it's the latter, it may only be an interim stage, before the wild yeast take over, or you may actually have a flourishing colony of wild yeast (lucky--I'm not having such good luck with my tries). 

There are far more experienced people around here who can tell you more about this.  My inclination would be to keep feeding it equal parts of flour and water daily for a while and see if it continues to bubble and grow or if it goes dormant for a few days.  If so, you might be in one of those bacteria stages but on your way to wild yeast.  If it keeps going strong, you may have a great vigorous colony. 

In any case, I wouldn't throw it out unless it got stinky or moldy. 

I am echoing Phyl in saying that the activity you observed is not an accident; it is a very natural event that those of us creating sourdough starters like to experience!  I have never had a problem creating a starter in that fashion. I failed miserably when using more complicated methods.

I am curious about the motivation behind your storage of the flour and water mixture. Was it for a recipe or perhaps an experiment?    Anyhoo, you've got a healthy starter, it sounds like, although you weren't expecting it!

DrPr,

I had read some Peter Reinhart books recently and was following the general idea outlined of two groups of ingredients - flour and water left room temp for 1-2 days, and flour/water/yeast/etc left in the fridge 1-2 days. Afterwards mix them together, let rise, and bake. IIRC the flour and water mixture at room temp is supposed to provide some enzymatic action that brings out some tasty or complex flavors as the grain is broken down to some extent. I made one loaf that way with some success, but this time made the room temp half with much more water. The reason for the water increase is the general idea of it being easier to develop the gluten with a mixer (from Jeff Varsano's page).

I'm basically just giving it a lazy effort with the combined thoughts I have picked up over the last few months :)

I actually have two packets of sourdough starter in the kitchen, I just have activated them yet. I intend to use a lightbulb in a styrofoam cooler for that, but am hoping I can find my old thermostat first (messy garage :(). It will be kind of funny if I accidentally end up with a sourdough pizza crust before I activate the starters I purchased :)

thanks for the feedback!

-Adrian

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Getting anything resembling a usable starter gave me fits for a time.  I was feeding it daily.  Then, reading a couple of different starter recipes, it occurred to me that I might be over-feeding my starter.  I developed a practice of feeding daily with equal parts of flour and water for the first four or five days, then feeding it every three days, then once a week.  Each time I feed it (usually 2 Tbsp flour to 2 Tbsp water) I pour off any liquid that has risen to the top, blend the flour/water in thoroughly and fold the mixture several times to incorporate air.  Even yeast needs air to breathe.  That adjustment hit the bulls-eye for me.  My most recent batch of starter has been very healthy for more than a month and it gets better with each loaf I bake.

What I would do is, take out a tablespoon of your bubbly mixture and use it as the beginnings of a starter. Make your bread with the remainder--you'll never miss that tablespoon. Feed the tablespoon of 'starter' as per any of the sourdough starter beginning instructions on the site and see how it develops. What do you have to lose?