March 29, 2010 - 7:46pm
WHat kind should i keep?
I am making a miche and that is a 50% White and 50% white whole wheat miche. My question is what sort of starter should i keep? A 100% white one? A 100% white whole wheat? Or a 50% each starter? I remember reading something on Farine about Gerard, and he feeds his levain with the same build he uses for his dough, which was a combination of flours. Any suggestions?
SndBrian
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Some people keep one of each and never let them even see each other. Others keep one (of either type) and when needed, switch it up over a few feeds to the other type. It doesn't take a lot to flip a starter from one to the other and have the original flour basically turned marginal in only a couple of feeds. The added bonus is that you don't have to feed & maintain two different starters. Also, a white starter gets a nice boost from getting fed WW or Rye now and again.
Still some people keep several different starters going at the same time, maybe keeping different cultures separated, like a San Fran starter plus and Italian starter plus some other type, etc.
So decide how important it may be for you to keep a strain of starter pure. Then from there decide if you must keep separate starters or just switch you main one over as needed.
Paul
MellowBakers.com
Can you explain what happens when a white starter is fed ww or rye? Does it get more sour or more gassy?
I keep one whole wheat and one rye. However, if space, time or flour were an issue I'd just keep the rye. I find my rye starter more sour. I use the whole wheat in anything calling for WW or white starter. (I rarely bake anything white). I use the rye for anything rye or mixed.
I have converted starters over a couple of feeds and it's very simple. In fact, a couple of weeks ago I accidently "switched" my starters by feeding them the wrong flours. No big deal. After a few more feeds I really couldn't tell a difference and I think the WW might have benefitted by becoming a little more flavorful.
I used my rye starter in pancakes yesterday. It was delicious.