wheat vs. rye in starting starter
I noticed in another thread [1] Mac said a mix of whole wheat and rye is generally the best for starting a starter. In Mike Avery's comments he says more people have had leuconostoc problems with whole wheat in the initial starter mix, and I had the same experience myself. Also, some authors say that whole rye in particular may carry more of the right organisms. My overall impression from reading various starting a starter articles and recipes was that there is somewhat of a bias toward using whole rye as opposed to whole wheat when starting a starter. On the other hand, if there is a large variety of the desired yeasts and lactobacillus around, then Mac's point of using both sounds good, as then you have a better chance of "capturing" them if you use both. Since you can use pineapple juice in the beginning, the problem mentioned, if it's real, with whole wheat can be handled that way. Just curious if Mac or others have more info on this.