January 9, 2016 - 5:44am
Can I make sourdough starter without feeding it?
A DIY book I found states to mix an equal weight flour with water, cover with cloth and leave for 3 weeks. Then it's ready to make bread. Can it really be this easy?
Any other source I've consulted says to feed it daily or almost-daily, and I've failed that every time (just turns smelly with no bubbles).
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No.
Yes and no...
There are many ways to create a starter... One way is to make a very thick paste of flour and water and roll it into a ball and just leave it... After some time (a few weeks, I've read), you break it open and what's vaguely liquid in the middle (the outside will have dried and hardened by then) will be a "starter".
I accidentally left a poolish out for over a week once - a simple flour+water plus a pinch of ordinary yeast mixed in a bowl. It was covered, but when I found it, the top had crusted over and the sticky stuff at the bottom was very much starter-like in smell and appearance.
The way I've made starters in the past is to take 100g of flour - a good organic stoneground wholemeal and 100g water. mix and leave covered for a day. Day 2 add 100g flour + 100g water- mix, leave. Same on day 3. Day 4 throw half it away (it will be filling the jar by now) and carry on. (I've switched to white flour at that point) Ignore smell and anything you see until about day 6, just keep on going. It ought to be ready on day 7, when it can live in the fridge and be fed when used, but it will keep on "maturing" (ie. changing, settling down) for a few weeks after that - depending on use.
Try again - make sure you use a good organic stoneground flour if at all possible - so no pesticides, sprays, etc. to remove any natural yeasts.
-Gordon
Feeding is overrated. Three weeks can also be too long a wait for temperatures over 78*F. Just put some flour into the bottom of a jar, a few centimeters thick and cover with non-chlorinated water, a bit more than the flour layer. Cover with a plastic bag or foil and a loose rubber band and leave it alone for a week. :). At the end of the week, remove any scum and give it a good stir. Be ready to use it the next day should it rise. If temps are below 75*F, then you might have another week to a month wait for the starter. Point: temp makes more of a difference than feeding.
dough ball placed into a a brown paper bag and buried in AP flour and placed on top of the fridge for a week. That one works every time! Can't get much easier than that:])
Whole wheat dough ball, place in bag, and bury bag in AP? Or fill bag with AP and bury ball in the enclosed flour?
bag to encapsulate the WW dough ball. I use a liquor bottle paper bag. Here was my post on it
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/32665/mini-ovens-no-muss-no-fuss-starter-8-days-laater
I've never tried it that way! I usually just use the tried and true method of putting some flour and water in a covered jar, let it sit for a week, then start feeding it when it starts to rise. But I'm all about experimenting with new things! The next time I need to make a new starter I think I'll give it a try.
Any guidance on whether it's better to use the bag from a bottle of bourbon vs. single malt scotch? ;-)
but 20 years ago it would be Single Malt Scotch. Another really easy way to make a starter is to mix 30 g of whole rye flour and 25 g of water and let it sit 24 hours at 75 F ( I use a heating pad since it is winter) The the next day add 30 g of whole rye and 25 g of water. On day 3 divide in half and feed each 30 g of whole rye flour and 25 g of water. and let it again for 24 hours...... but stir it every 4 hours if you want since it will double every 4 hours at this point if you do. On day 4 add 30 g of flour and 25 g of water to each and let sit for 6 hours with a stir at the 4 hour mark. Then make a bread with one of the starters and retard the other one in the fridge for a week or two or 6 if you want.
Don't forget my 2nd favorite way to make a fast, but really fun and great, 4 day starter
Joe Ortiz Pain de Champagne with Rye and WW SproutsIf you go to youtube you will find an episode of Julia Child baking with Joe where he makes this starter and decorates a fine bread made from it too!
There is a great word of baking bread of all kinds out there..... for those who are want to find it
Happy baking
24 year. The best choice.
Cool room temperature will turn a one week process into a 3 week process very easily. Setting the whole thing on top of the fridge usually adds enough heat to keep things moving.
I also find that if my new starter is having trouble starting, reducing the hydration is very helpful. I usually start at 100% hydration, but find that after 5-6 days it helps to feed it and back the hydration off about 10%. Suddenly, within a day, the whole thing takes off.
And my experience is right in line with Mini's. Feeding too soon, or too often, will definitely get in the way. Don't do anything for the first 5-6 days minimum. After that you can feed it once, but don't feed it again until you see some significant rise.
tiemu
No, you can't.
Get yourself some Rye (and if unavailable) some Whole Wheat flour and basically do as Gordon says.
Mix it by weight (usually about 100g to 100g) with unchlorinated water and wait a day or two (maybe 3 with WW) until you see the bubbles on the surface. If you want to give it a stir now and then, go ahead.
When you see the bubbles on the surface (usually day two or three with Rye, depending on temp), then give it a feed. 1:1:1 is often recommended. One part your current brew of starter, one part Rye (or WW or whatever), one part water. By weight, not by measure. Don't discard at this point as you will just be diluting your beasty yeasties. Yes, it will get a bit large at first. You can discard later.
If all is going well, within 12 to 36 hours (again, depending on temp) you should start to see some rise to the brew.
Then you are underway and can start feeding, dicarding and converting it to whatever flour or hydration you wish to have it be.
That's been my experience.
I'm sorry Mini, but personally, if I had to remove scum or wait more than a week, I'd start over.
dbm - that might work, but it wouldn't be my first choice.
Mini, dbm, I know, how dare I? But I thought this was pretty much the way you guys taught me to do it. Am I wrong?
dobie
you are very dangerous . Not to others........ but to yourself - so nothing has changed:-)
Thank you dbm
I think I get it.
dobie
so I think I fixed it
so I think I fixed it
Thank you dbm
I actually did get it. But there is always the danger of misinterpreting when assuming thru a typo or such.(which we all make now and thend ;-)
Sometimes I can be my own worst enemy. A mind is a beautiful thing to waste. Chuckle.
dobie
to get a starter going. Some work better than others depending on the circumstances. now if we got technical and called the first combining of flour and water a feeding, the yes, the answer is no.
important here is that a starter can be started simply but it has to be maintained after a certain point, namely when the yeast numbers are high enough, or you may loose the culture back to " Mother Nature" if you miss your cue to maintain or feed the starter.
And thank you Mini
You are absolutely right. Not only about 'many ways' but also - don't miss the cue.
dobie
This sounds like the desem process...
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/2050/desem-first-try
WW starter. It still holds, to this day the, record for the most sour and tangy SD bread we have ever made. You would think rye sour would be the winner but it wasn't even close.