May 25, 2020 - 12:17pm
Any Sourdough bakers from Miami, FL?
I tried getting a sourdough starter started with organic whole wheat and it got to smell pretty good but after about nine days it never really produced any bubbles. You could see bubbles in the jar but very few and it never rose at all. I had looked into what water to use and heard that if you leave your water out the chlorine would dissipate after a day, so I did that. Then after my starter never really got going I looked into it and the water in Miami I think has choramine which doesn't dissipate like chlorine. So I was hoping someone here is from Miami to set me right, maybe the waters fine and I just did something wrong or should have just kept going with the feedings or what?
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Welcome to TFL!
My best results come from bottled _spring_ water (not bottled _purified_ water).
I use Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water, purchased at Big Lots in Indiana.
Here is the "ultimate" guide to starting a starter: www.thefreshloaf.com/10901/pineapple-juice-solution-part-2
scroll down a bit in the page, to skip the technical stuff, and go right to the "how to."
(You can also send away for cheap dehydrated starter, $1 plus S.A.S.E. to www.carlsfriends.net )
Good luck!
Thanks for the info, I'll definitely look into that starter guide. As for the water I didn't mention it, but I knew I could buy bottled water, I'm just trying to see if I could get away with using tap water. Hopefully there's a Miami baker here that could help me out. If not, I guess I'm buying Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water.
If your tap water does indeed have chloramine in it, you can not get rid of it by letting it sit out nor by boiling it. At least, you can't get rid of it in any reasonable amount of time with those methods. Whether or not there is enough chloramine in your water to be a problem with a sourdough culture is another question. I have no idea how much SD can tolerate. I know pretty much any dose that would be added to municipal water is deadly to most species of aquarium fish, so I'd tend to think it's likely even more deadly to microscopic organisms. That's why it gets put in the water in the first place, after all.
If you don't want to have to buy bottled water, you could use filtered water. Most (maybe all) tap water filters, such as those you attach to your tap or a brita pitcher, or the ones that are built into your fridge water dispenser, will remove chloramine (and chlorine also). You do need to be sure the filter has been changed recently enough that it is still effective. Before you decide on filtered water, be aware that most filters do remove beneficial minerals, as filters can't really pick and choose what they remove very well. I have not seen any scientific evidence regarding whether or not our SD cultures can get every thing they need from the flour or if they are better off with water that has some natural mineral content in it, but a lot of people do prefer to err on the side of caution, and that's why spring water is recommended over purified or filtered water.
Now that I've said all that, I want to point out that LOTS of people that successfully make homegrown SD starters have found that the 5-7 days that most internet "how to make a sourdough starter" guides claim is how long it takes is NOT long enough. Yes it's possible in that time frame, but it very often takes longer, and occasionally significantly longer. You might want to start a new thread asking for help getting your starter going. It may just need a few more days or some tweaking to your method. I recommend you read the entire pineapple juice article that was linked, both parts 1 & 2 because I found it tremendously useful. And do get a chloramine free source of water. Baby starters can be delicate and temperamental so you want to eliminate all possible issues. Once it's going it is much more durable altho as I said above I'm not sure it can handle chloramine.
Thanks for the info. I forgot to mention I used filtered water, but its the one in my refrigerator. Though I don't know if back then (this was a few months ago) I read or just thought that most filters don't take out chlorine so I left the water out just in case. I also heard about the yeast and bacteria feeding on the minerals, but I guess I didn't think the filter would filter that out, don't know why. Now that you're telling me it does I guess I better just get the spring water. What really helped me out is you saying the starter might take a little longer than usually stated, thanks for that. I would still love it if I could get a Miamian to share their experiences.
So, did you make the Sourdough bread? How did it turn out? I found this thread by searching "sourdough starter Miami water". I had tried to make a starter using the tap water down here in Cutler Bay. After a week and a half I had the same problem. No bubbles and it didn't float. I tossed it all out and restarted with filtered water yesterday.
I used 1/2 c of whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup of water..