April 15, 2015 - 9:09pm
How to save an ill(non fermenting) starter?
hi,I wondered what I am practising is right. I was running short of starter last weekend and thought of making more by creating a new one. My 100% organic dark rye flour did not have any activities after more than 16 hours. I was a little worried and added 3 tbsp of my old starter to the new one. The new one showed some activities of fermentation as there are some small bubbles within hours,say 3-4 but not rising as vigorously as the old starter that I have. My indoor temperature is at 28-30 degree celcius year round. So things are 'happening' quite quickly over here in my kitchen. Is it wrong to revive a starter this way or should I start from the scratch again so that I will always have a healthy starter?
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on the forum, not as a blog. It'll get noticed more.
Not quite sure what you're trying to do here.
I keep the "mother" starter in the fridge from which I build all pre-ferments. Maintaining mother and building pre-ferments follow the same technique of feeding. Mother is the starter which is maintained indefinitely and is now 14 months old. No need to create "new" starter.
Mother sits in the fridge. When I need to bake i'll take a little off and build pre-ferments to use in the dough. When mother runs low i'll take it out of the fridge, give it a good feed, allow it to sit out for a few hours and return to the fridge with plenty of food left as reserves. Then the process starts again. Never is there any discard and mother has been continuously maintained for over 14 months now.
There's no "creating a new one".
Thanks AbeNW11. I created some new starter as a backup starter. As I mentioned,I have a healthy starter sitting in the fridge but was running low on it that day. Also,I need to 'master' the skill of creating a starter. I also read so many recipes and sites and all of them tend to have different ways of doing it. Juice,shredded fruits,yoghurt.....can be both confusing and overwhelming.
Flour + water + time
That's the formula.
I like to keep it simple. If you want to employ something extra to help with making your starter then the use of pineapple juice is a good method.
To simply put it you can do the following:
Day 1: 60g whole rye flour + 60g pure pineapple juice. Mix into paste, cover loosely so that gas can escape but flies can't get in and place in warm area.
Now you wait till you see some activity. Could be a day or two. Give it a stir every now and again. When you do see some activity then feed as follows...
Day 2 (for all intense purposes but could be day 3): take off two thirds (80g) and then feed 40g whole rye flour + 40g pineapple juice.
Then again wait till you see activity stirring every now and again. Then go onto day 3...
Day 3: just like day two.
Once your starter starts to become more predictable and has no trouble doubling within 12 hours then switch to water instead of pineapple juice. Many use tap water but in some areas the tap water is chlorinated which doesn't favour starters. So you can use boiled water which has cooled to room temperature or bottled water. It might slow down a bit when you switch but just persevere and don't feed again till you see activity then carry on as normal.
Day 4, 5 onwards... feed as normal but with water and don't worry if all goes quiet.
When your starter shows predictability and strength then your starter is ready.
Crystal clear instructions,thanks so much.
Is the thinner...or more liquid....the better the activity. So when I made a starter of one part starter to one part flour and one water with rye it was too thick. Thinning it with more water produced better action. Hope this helps.
thank you.....
rarely die. Things you should know about rye starters are, when they ripen and go flat, they stay flat until they get more flour. The gluten matrix is so weak in rye that under ideal conditions it may double or triple in volume but it breaks up quickly. The yeast are there, they starter just can't trap gas anymore. I love that rye starters take up so little room in the fridge, mine never doubles in there so the jar is small. My experience with dark pure whole rye starters is that after 8 hours, don't expect it to rise any wether it is chilled or not, it just can't. The same goes for 100% rye sourdoughs put into retardation.
A rye starter can easily be fed one part starter to ten parts flour with enough water to make a soft paste or with equal amounts of water. If you are running low on starter, don't be afraid to give it a good feeding and let it rise in the warmth 26°C until it peaks and smells great. If you need more fast, simply double the amount of starter you have and in about two hours, it will be and peaked ready with your conditions. Ex. 100g starter plus 50g each water and rye flour to make 200g. Repeat if needed. 200g +100g +100g = 400g
This will get you a mild starter so I suggest for doughs with a high amount of rye flour (when over half the flour is rye) add some pickle juice, lemon juice, tablespoon of 5% vinegar or use buttermilk or sour milk to get a more acid dough to help the dough matrix when stirring in this very yeasty mild rye starter.
To speed up fermentation keep it more on the thin side and stir every hour to circulate food. You will know by the aromas, taste and feel of the starter when to add to your recipe.
Thank you mini. Like I said earlier,I'll have to use my intuition too despite all the great pointers from you guys as everything is so different over here....flour, water......phew!