Self-quarantine and sourdough
My daughter called to ask if I had active sourdough starter to share with another resident in my town. Evidently, many people are looking for new and interesting things to do at home, and she saw a request for sourdough starter on Facebook.
I agreed to share mine, and mentioned that it was Oregon Trail Starter, which was brought west from Missouri in 1847.
The next thing I knew, thirteen more locals asked if they, too, could have some 1847 starter.
How long it will take to increase my starter by fourteenfold?
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Had to look it up. Double, triple, quadruple, ..., quattuordecuple (fourteen)
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March 22: Now up to 33 requests. Can't help wondering how the growth of the sourdough list compares to the coronavirus numbers.
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April 8: Have shared over 50 starters!
I figured it was safest to put each starter in a lidded glass jar, wash the outside of the jar, then set it outside my front door. That's why I ran out of jars.
Two of the recipients gave left thank-you gifts for me: Maple syrup (which I had with my sourdough pancakes this morning), and—a bottle of hand sanitizer!
Leaving aside the question of whether sharing non-pre-packaged food from home breaks your local quarantine rules ...
Feeding 1 : 1.5 : 1.5 (1+1.5+1.5=4) quadruples. So, two feedings gives 4x4 = 16. So, however long it takes to feed twice.
Or one feeding of 1 : 6.5 : 6.5, but it would take longer to peak.
For the time it takes for local transit (again, assuming it does not break your local quarantine rules) , you can share wet room-temp or refrigerated starter. And it only needs to be a tablespoon, or so. The recipient can then build it up to a useable amount.
A less messy/gooey way than sharing 100% hydration starter, is to make it a "firm", maybe 60-65% hydration, starter. Take your fed-and-peaked wet starter, add enough flour to make it 65% hydration, and give it a few hours to peak. I'm thinking a 1" diameter ball of dough, weigh it, then give the recipient instructions on how much water and flour to add to make a 100% hydration wet starter, such that it would also be appropriate for a first feeding, and treat as a regular 100% Hyd starter from there on.
For making dry powdered culture to share, see https://breadtopia.com/drying-sourdough-starter-for-long-term-storage/
To rehydrate dried starter see: https://breadtopia.com/faq/how-to-reactivate-dehydrated-starter/
and/or this video: https://breadtopia.com/starter_instructions/
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See this discussion: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/62174/long-term-starter-storage
and scroll down to see comment(s) from chefcdp, aka "Carlos", who is one of the principal people in the 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Preservation Society. He da Man!
At this rate, a tablespoon each is about all I can spare. It's going to look stingy, a tablespoon in a quart-size jar! I am running out of containers.
A little messy for 100% hydration starter, but the cheapest baggie, like a fold-top sandwich bag could work. Tieing it in a knot would save even the cost of a twist tie.
Using 50-65 % "firm starter" even less messy. Still a "quick start" for the recipient, and they could use it in 24-36 hours.
but with 20 requests, sounds like time to go to a dried starter. 1/2 tsp is enough, but triple it "for good measure" so they can have 3 attempts to get it rehydrated and going.
Up to you.
in weight please?
you can easily feed it 1:10:10. Wait about 12 hours for it to peak and begin to fall, distribute 20 portions.
36 g starter + 360g water + 360g flour. ( take out 36g for yourself )
720/ 20 = 36g but I would measure 35g ( two level tablespoons about) and....
Instructions for the lucky bread bakers?
36 grams is what I have on hand now.
...for people to inoculate a new starter. It can easily be done with less than that, it just might take a little longer.
A tablespoon in a plastic sandwich bag. Done.
Another cheapy method to improvise a container, if you don't have cheap fold-top sandwich bags, is cling film, aka Saran wrap, or plastic wrap.
Lay out a 12" x 12" square and put a tablespoon of 100% hydration starter, or 50-60% "firm starter" in the middle and gather the edges/corners. Tie it off with a rubber band or piece of string, maybe double layer with plastic wrap to secure it against accidental tearing.
----- Playing with math: (anyone, please correct me if my math is off.)
Sharing wet starter is messy; sharing dehydrated starter takes 3 days to get it going. So maybe biga is best, with less mess, and only 1/2 day start-up.
Supposing I want to share a 36 gram ball of "firm" 50% starter, sometimes called biga. This is easier to scrape off of or out of a plastic bag or piece of plastic wrap without wasting any goopy stuff remaining on the plastic.
That means 24 g is flour, and 12 g is water, in what I want to share.
My existing wet starter, is 100% hydration.
I could start out with 24 grams of my starter, (12 g flour, 12 g water), and add 12 g flour. Mix, wait 3 hours at room temp, and it's ready to share and go. So there is 36 g, of which 24 is flour and 12 is water.
Let's assume it is ready to accept a feeding when the recipient gets it to their kitchen. ( If the recipient is going to wait 6 or more hours from receipt to when they work with it, then you do not need to wait the 3 hours before giving it to them.)
First it would need 12 g of water to get to 100% hydration; it would then be 48 g total, of which 24 is flour, 24 is water. Feeding 1:1:1 (if I understand correctly) means another 48 g water and 48 g flour. Add together, 48+12= 60 g water, plus 48 g flour, to the existing 36 g, and they now have 144 g of 100% hydration starter.
You say, or put in writing, to the recipient:
------- start suggested/sample text-------
"Here is 36 grams (1.28 ounces by weight) of 50% hydration starter, also known as "firm biga". It has 24 grams of pre-fermented flour, and 12 grams of water.
No sooner than ##:## am/pm on (_date_), disolve this completely in 60 grams (milliiters) of water (or 2.14 ounces of water by _weight_, or approx 1/4 American cup). Once disolved, mix in 48 grams (1.71 ounces by weight), of plain unbleached/unbromated all-purpose flour or unbleached/unbromated bread flour. It is better/easier to weigh things out than measure by volume.
(Note: add something about chlorinated tap water. let the water sit out X hours so the chlorine evaporates, or use bottled spring water.)
Stir well, so there are no lumps, cover, and let sit at room temp until it doubles in volume, this will take 3 to 6 hours depending on temperature. Keeping it in your oven with just the light on is a common method to do this feeding (but not storage).
The mixture will now be a "100% hydration starter." There will be 72 grams of fermented flour, and 72 grams of water in it. Follow recipe instructions from sourdough cookbooks or online to bake with it, and for instructions on feeding/maintaining your starter.
(Note: If you want to include your storage/feeding methods, include them. But that will likely encourage people to pester the heck out of you, so just refer them to a book or your favorite web page. )
(Note: Jane, since you are using Carl's 1847 starter, just refer them to www.carlsfriends.net for feeding and storage instructions and recipes. Especially if you decide to share dehydrated starter instead of firm biga.)
------- end suggested/sample text -------
Other math: you take 20 g 100% hydration starter, add 10 g flour. Share the 30 g, 50% Hyd biga. They add 50 g water, 40 g flour. And they end up with 120 g of 100% hydration just-fed starter
You'd actually make a big batch all at once, and then divide/weigh into individual proportions. I just did one portion to show the math.
Generic: Assume "share size" is X grams of 50% hydration biga. The recipient then disolves in 1-2/3 (1.667) times X grams of water, and then mixes in 1-1/3 (1.333) times X grams of flour, in order to end up with 100% hydration starter, and which does a feeding at the same time.
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Does this make sense, or did I just ramble on needlessly?
I use them as weights on my weaving loom.
I took your advice and referred recipients to Carlsfriends.net, and I also emailed Carl’s friends to tell them about the sudden interest in sourdough bread. They responded, remarking that they have lately experienced a huge increase in requests for the dried starter.
is what I'd put them in. Right time of year and symbolic of new life. ? I got a dozen lying around here someplace.
What a great story Janet, and what strange times these are that hand sanitizer is the most special gift!
I'm still sharing sourdough starter. The last recipient left me a thank-you note along with drawing done by his daughter, and some kombucha starter he made last week.
To be honest, at first I thought that kombucha starter was another type of yeast for making bread. Good thing there's Google.