November 10, 2010 - 2:12pm
starter in my cold house?
I would like to try making a starter from freshly ground whole wheat flour. My house is set for 60 degrees at night and goes between 65 and 68 on most days. Will my starter just take longer, or is this just too cold to do this?
Share
Just be patient and allow the wild yeasties and lactobacilli time (up to 2 weeks) to get established.
Larry
stiffly mixed in a double bagged zipper bag with air pressed out (letting the built up gasses out) will help. :)
...it will just take longer!
With the oven light turned on (but the oven turned off!), my oven's interior is quite warm...78-90 degrees, depending on ambient temp and how long the bulb's been on. The closed, turned-off, light-switched-on oven is a good place for waking up a dormant starter.
I tried to do my starter last winter and it didn't take off in those temps. I finally began using my microwave as an "incubator" and it took off like gangbusters.
I heat a glass measuring cup of water in the microwave for 2 minutes. Then put the starter in the microwave next to the cup of hot water. Close the door ASAP. This will stay between 70 and 80 degrees for 8 - 12 hours (if you want it cooler, don't heat the water as long). If we need the microwave, I take the starter out, reheat the water and put it back in when cooking is done.
You can put a cup of hot water in a styrofoam cooler with the starter and get the same effect.
I use this sometimes for "fast" bread dough in the winter too, as we don't heat our house warmer than 63 degrees.