December 27, 2014 - 6:04pm
Greetings from Brighton,United Kingdom :-)
After several failed attempts at growing a sourdough mother it was a real blessing coming across this website,i want to grow my own starter and do not want to buy already grown ones; hopefully this website will be the beginning of many sourdough successes in the future.
I have one going now which is only four days old which was made with 100g strong white flour,100ml tepid water and 7 organic green grapes,early days yet but keeping my fingers and toes crossed!
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I'm not a sourdough baker and so won't try offering any advice. However, given you're at day 4, it does seem obvious to ask for a full description of what you've done so far, especially feedings, so that those more knowledgeable than I will be better able to help you.
Hi Arjon,
Thank you very much for your reply;i am using a recipe according to paul hollywood a British baker and its as follows:
Ingredients
- For feeding
Preparation method5-7 seedless organic green grapes
250g/9oz strong white flour
250ml/9fl oz tepid water
100g/3½oz strong white flour
100ml/3½fl oz tepid water
Slice the grapes and combine with the flour and the water.
Tip the dough into an airtight container. Cover and leave to rise for three days at room temperature.
After three days, discard half of the mixture and 'feed' the remainder with another 100g/3½oz of flour and 100ml/3fl oz of water. Stir well until the mixture is thoroughly combined.
Leave for at least 24 hours and the starter should be ready to use. It should be like a bubbly jelly in texture. If it is not yet bubbling and active, feed it once more and leave it for another couple of days.
If you are using the starter regularly, say every week, you need to discard half and re-feed it every couple of days. Also, feed the starter after you make each loaf of bread. The starter should be stored at room temperature (except on very hot days) and should be a like a thick batter.
If you are only making bread once a month you can keep it in the fridge but return it to room temperature before using. Keeping it in the fridge will slow down the activity but not stop it. If the starter seems to be inactive, give it another feed. Remember it is a live mixture of yeast and bacteria and it needs to be fed.
So far it was bubbling away nicely and now all of a sudden it has stopped bubbling and now just has tiny bubbles at the top and nothing else and it has not risen at all (the not rising issue has happened from the beginning);it does smell sour and yeasty thats about it,i know its still early days but i am just worried as i have not had any successes with my starters using different recipes and this is my 3rd batch with a different recipe as well!
I don't want to give up yet but boy is it discouraging and testing!
... to make a sourdough starter.
Fortunately in the UK we have plenty of relatively recent TV stuff, so you can pick what you like, mix and match. It seems to work for the most part. Grapes - sounds like a Paul Hollywood thing :-) Remember to take them out! In-fact you could probably do that now - if you've been feeding it most days, take 100g of it out, minus the grapes, then that's your "mother" - work on that, feed it up and bake with it... (crack an egg into the rest, add some milk, whisk it up, throw it into a pan of hot butter and make yourself a pancake :-)
If you've not fed it yet - then feed it now - 100g flour, 100g water and keep an eye on it!
My starters/mothers live in the fridge. I either use them directly (for small batches of bread), or take some out and bulk it up for bigger batches. (the mother then gets fed and put back into the fridge)
But just as there are dozens of ways (and flours) to use to create a starter there are dozens of ways to make bread with it!
-Gordon
Hi Drogon,
Thank you very much for your input,There are so many recipes out there it is insane! the varieties are vast some call for rhubarb others pineapple juice and even cooked potatoe water! i just want something easy and reliable as i work very long hours and come home late so the easier the better for me and honestly this starter thing is starting to feel like a second job on its own but i am not complaining;i like the challenge :-)
I took the grapes out on the third day but since then i found that after taking them out the activity has sort of slowed down;i don't know :-/
i will post pictures to show what their activities are looking like.
Kind Regards
Use instant dried yeast ;-)
However I bake 6 days a week with my sourdoughs, and that for me is reliable enough to make small batches of bread for sale. (microbakery thing) Keep going with the starter - if you keep it in the fridge then it'll be slow, but if it's on the counter it will pick up.
Here's a test - take 50g of your starter out. Add in 100g of flour and 100g of water (I'm assuming you're using generic white bread flour here) mix this up and leave covered for a few hours - do you get bubbles? Has it expanded a little? Take a handful out and see if it floats in a bowl of water (the bubbles trapped inside will do this). Taste it - is it a bit sour? Does it feel a bit fizzy on the tongue? If you get all that, then try baking with it!
Your starter will take some time to settle down - my very first one did - but I was baking with it after the first week, but I was also experimenting with different ways to feed it, keep it, and so on.
-Gordon
That was cheeky with the instant dried yeast LOL!!!
For me its all about the challenge and seeing the end results of growing your own bread basically,its being kept on the countertop since the beginning as i feel its not matured enough to store in the fridge eyt,thanks for the tips anyways i shall follow them and see how it goes.i will keep pushing on till i get a results.
Cheers
Take a look here:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/24437/blog-index-will-keep-updating-and-linking-it
These are posts from someone who knows extremely well how to bake with sourdough and posts very detailed descriptions of her processes.
You do not need the grapes to get your sourdough going although I imagine they will do no harm. Sourdough baking is different that baking with commercial yeast. So much so that it is a bit like learning a whole different skill set with many similarities to commercial yeast baking. Stay with it and all will be well.
Jeff
Thanks for the link Yerffej will definately take a look.
Kind Regards