Authentic Extra Sour San Francisco Sourdough Starter
I purchased a packet of dried Authentic Extra Sour San Francisco Sourdough Starter. Directions called for 1 tbs of the dried culture, 1 cup flour & 1 cup warm water. Cover bowl & ideally put in 85 degree temp for 1 1/2 - 3 days stirring 2-3 times daily. Then transfer to jar & refrigerate for a few days to develop stronger flavor. Now ready to use. OK, I did this process twice. Started out with nice thickness (like batter) Culture reached it's peak in less than 8 hours rather than 1 1/2 - 3 days. After that. it got watery and appeared dead with hooch on top. Followed directions for reviving (add equal amounts of flour, water & 1 tsp sugar & let stand @ room temp. for 8-12 hours or until fermentation resumes) which it never did. 2 tries & 2 failures. Just didn't behave like my regular starter. Did I get an inferior product or are there some characteristics specific to S.F sourdough that I don't know about???
For lots of reasons you are not alone in failing to revive a dried starter by using the directions that come on the package.
For the most part it is due to the lack of knowledge of the supplier and has nothing to do with your ability to follow instructions. I could go on and on about what is wrong with what may actually be just plain flour, or contaminated flour, or dead starter, or contaminated dead starter, but you get the idea.
Just toss the package and order a new starter from King Arthur. It comes as a wet starter in a small jar and is both inexpensive and known good. You will be in full operation within 24 hrs of receiving it.
If you want more just send me a PM and we can do it off-line.
I have a starter from King Arthur and it works great, it can survive 4 weeks in the fridge between feedings, trust me.
Thanks so much. Ordering today.
I can do this. Water is not the issue. We're very rural & have great well water. I do have honey. Cider vinegar or white?
No iron in our water. I'll check out the Whole Grains book. Hope to give your experiment a try next week when, hopefully, things slow down a bit here on the ranch.