November 6, 2017 - 6:01am
Super Starter
My starters are always very strong. I was a little worried though as I took a fairly long tip to India, how my main source would do. Apparently, it really wanted to get out and be made it to bread. I found it totally healthy, but half had escaped into the refrigerator!. Made a bunch of nice loaves after a feeding.
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That is one lively starter. Sorry you had to clean up that mess.
Was not bad to clean up. I actually took that chunk, put in a freezer bad and tucked in the freezer for backup. It still had lots of life to it.
It looks like the starter was placed near the top of the refrigerator. The bottom shelf should be a little cooler.
But it sure is great to see your starter “breaking out” of its container :D
Dan
I don't think placement would have mattered much in this case. It has lived there for years, just was super active that day after several bakes and feedings. It happens now and again, thought it would be fun to share.
I’d be happy to have to clean up a mess like that. We should all be so fortunate :-)
Dan
Edo, are you allowing the starter to ferment at room temp before retarding in the fridge? If so, how much growth do you generally get before retarding?
It seems to are attributing the growth during retardation (~39F) to a super active starter. It is obvious that your starter is extremely active, but I think many super active starters are retarded at or near that temp without your results.
I’d like to learn from yourself and others.
Danny
Hey Danny,
I just follow a couple of rules and guidelines for my starter and it has never failed me.
1. I never change the flour I use. I happen to use KA Bread. I used to have different starters, different mixtures etc. But this one showed its worth and I eventually used the others up and now only use this.
2. I use tap water, but I put it in my tea kettle and give a boil first - eliminates chlorine and possibly some other stuff. Just a habit I got into, works, so I don't change.
3. After adding flour/water back into my starter, I don't have a set time for it to go back to the fridge. My only criteria is that I see some bubbles have formed so I know that there is activity. This can vary widely not only from when they start, but when I get back to notice. So it can be as little as a few noticeable bubbles to quite a few and some growth.
39F certainly wont stop a starter. It slows it was down, but you have to get to about 35 to really be dormant. Since we are dealing with exponential scales with growth, a few degrees has the potential to change things a lot obviously.