The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Help with sourdough starter

mdrdds's picture
mdrdds

Help with sourdough starter

I need help with sour dough starter. I tried to use the starter in the CIA book for artisan breads. I could not get it to work. Than I tried the starter recpie in the Bakers apprentice. It worked for a while than it died after I froze it and it couldn't be revived. Ive tried different things from different books to no avail. I'm really confused. HELP!! Mike Robinson

K.C.'s picture
K.C.

At the top left corner of the page is the search field. There are countless threads on starters.

Here's an excerpt from the article that is here: 

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10901/pineapple-juice-solution-part-2

 

Day 1: mix...

2 tablespoons whole grain flour* (wheat or rye)
2 tablespoons pineapple juice, orange juice, or apple cider

Day 2: add...
2 tablespoons whole grain flour*
2 tablespoons juice or cider

Day 3: add...
2 tablespoons whole grain flour*
2 tablespoons juice or cider

Day 4: (and once daily until it starts to expand and smell yeasty), mix . . .
2 oz. of the starter (1/4 cup after stirring down-discard the rest)
1 oz. flour** (scant 1/4 cup)
1 oz. water (2 tablespoons)

Organic is not a requirement, nor does it need to be freshly ground.

** You can feed the starter/seed culture whatever you would like at this point. White flour, either bread or a strong unbleached all-purpose like King Arthur or a Canadian brand will turn it into a general-purpose white sourdough starter. Feed it rye flour if you want a rye sour, or whole wheat, if you want to make 100% whole wheat breads. If you're new to sourdough, a white starter is probably the best place to start.

On average, yeast begin to grow on day 3 or 4 in the warmer months, and on day 4 or 5 during colder times of the year, but results vary by circumstance. Feed once a day, taking care not to leave mold-promoting residue clinging to the sides or lid of your bowl or container, and refer back to the different phases to track progress. Once you have yeast growing (but not before), you can and should gradually step up the feeding to two or three times a day, and/or give it bigger refreshments. This is the point at which I generally defer to the sourdough experts. There are several good books on sourdough which address the topic of starter maintenance and how to use it in bread. Just keep in mind that the first days of the seed culture process have nothing to do with developing flavor or even fostering the most desirable species. The object is simply to move through the succession and get the starter up and running. The fine-tuning begins there. Once yeast are growing well, choose the hydration, temperature and feeding routine that suits you, and the populations will shift in response to the flour and conditions that you set up for maintenance.

LeeYong's picture
LeeYong

defintely try the pineapple juice method... worked for me.

Good luck and your new starter monster!

Happy baking!

mdrdds's picture
mdrdds

Steph,
You just have to be patient. The method above works well and I have baked some beautiful loaves of SourDough with it. As some one once said in the end mother nature will win out and you'll get your yeast. Give it time.
Mike

elissabee's picture
elissabee

Are you using tap water or spring water? I was having trouble getting a starter to "start" and then it occurred to me that the chlorine in tap water was to blame. Switched to spring water on day 5 and now on day 7 I'm feeding it twice a day because it's expanding so much.

mdrdds's picture
mdrdds

I use tap water. With my current starter and it has not been a problem. But having said that , water quality is different in different parts of the country ie.. Hard vs soft and the amount of chemicals in the water so I suppose that could have an effect. I'm in north Jersey and tapnwater works fine.
Mike