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Sourdough starter experiment with probiotic capsule

tunerhd's picture
tunerhd

Sourdough starter experiment with probiotic capsule

I just started experimenting with probiotic capsules containing heterofermentative bacteria. After the first 12 hours of waiting, I fed them again.

Here Ingredients:

Lactobacillus Acidophilus 3,0 Billion CFU

Bifidobacterium Longum 2,5 Billion CFU

Bifidobacterium Bifidum 0,5 Billion CFU

Bifidobacterium Infantis 0,5 Billion CFU

Lactobacillus Rhamnosus 0,5 Billion CFU

Lactobacillus Bulgaricus 0,5 Billion CFU

Lactobacillus Paracasei 0,5 Billion CFU

Lactobacillus Brevis 0,5 Billion CFU

Lactobacillus Reuteri 0,5 Billion CFU

Streptococcus Thermophilus 0,5 Billion CFU

Lactobacillus Plantarum 0,5 Billion CFU

Inulin 1.250mg

 and after 2 feeds, I added a little sprinkle of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Today is 3th day and It's smells like orange and very foamy on top. I'm looking for analyses.

tunerhd's picture
tunerhd

I'm feeding them with whole wheat flour.

Ilya Flyamer's picture
Ilya Flyamer

Something tells me these bacteria like warm temperature around 37C. Are you keeping your starter warm?

tunerhd's picture
tunerhd

They are in average ~27°C

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

Welcome aboard.

Nice experiment!    I'm a tinkerer too, and sometimes like to "play mad scientist."

My latest is "making" buttermilk by propagating the cultures from store-bought buttermilk with plain milk, then letting it sit at room temp overnight. Someone, I forget who, showed me this link:
http://benstarr.com/blog/all-about-buttermilk/
My "homemade buttermilk"  also increases in tanginess just sitting in the fridge. I've tinkered by adding some yogurt and cream cheese.

--

Two of the real bread and microbiology experts here who I admire are:

https://www.thefreshloaf.com/user/mariana
and:
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/user/debra-wink

Hopefully, they will soon chime in.

--

About yeast-vs-LAB, Mariana linked to a video, and wrote a good comment here:
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/comment/486405#comment-486405

Debra Wink's microbiology expertise is on display in these two posts:
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10856/pineapple-juice-solution-part-1
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10901/pineapple-juice-solution-part-2

Part 1 is super technical, Part 2 is more how-to about getting a starter going for the average home-kitchen baker.

--

All I can offer is this: commercial Saccharomyces Cerevisiae is not a species of yeast that loves to live in symbiosis with the various acid producing bacteria. For that, you need one or more of the wild yeast species that are known to inhabit the surface of grains (such as wheat and rye) or fruit (such as grapes).

I think your system could work, but if it does, what may happen is this:  As the Saccharomyces Cerevisiae slowly dies off, it is also being replaced by feeding the ongoing starter with flour that is bringing in species of wild yeast that do love the LAB.

This is similar to what is recommended in the Poilane book: make a LAB/yeast starter out of yogurt, white flour, and WW flour, and commercial (Saccharomyces Cerevisiae) yeast.  But if the starter is maintained/fed long enough, the LAB and wild yeast brought in by the flour that is fed to it, eventually take over.

Abe's picture
Abe

Dave makes a valid point about the yeasts. Seems logical with numerous feedings the wild yeasts that prefer an acidic environment would take over. And while I also love to experiment if this takes as long as the traditional way to make a starter then nothing has been gained. It's still very interesting though. 

I'm also under the impression that while the yeasts and bacteria in a sourdough/starter are varied and many it won't make a good home for every type of yeast and bacteria. So while you have thrown at it many lab grown bacteria it'll find an equilibrium. And on top of that you also find that one type of bacteria with accompanying yeast tends to be the more dominant ones at any one time. 

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

I just remembered another example of someone seeding a sourdough starter with one tiny individual granule of commercial bread yeast.

In the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book, updated edition copyrighted 2003, pages 150 - 151, "Manuel's Rye Sour." 

She says the 1/2 tsp milk and literally one granule of yeast really made a difference, and that they tried it both with and without them.

alcophile's picture
alcophile

Here's a similar approach you might find interesting:

https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/59912/sour-dough-ferments-using-probiotics

tunerhd's picture
tunerhd

Thank you for having me here, and for your answers.

I'm making my first bread today with this starter.

I'll post the result after it's cooked.

By the way, is it possible for you to tell me a few wild yeast strains that I can research? I love researching about fermentation things.

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy
tunerhd's picture
tunerhd

Whoops!, it just came out. And it didn't spread the way I wanted.

I'll slice it when it cools.

I used ~450 gr flour (starter included) and %~60-77 hydration (I have no scale right now)

tunerhd's picture
tunerhd

What do you think?

It has a veeery veeery sour taste!

Missmoneypenny's picture
Missmoneypenny

Not sur it’s worth it TBH with a less than stellar rise and a taste you don’t seem convinced by. I guess an experiment is never a total waste- chalk it down to experience.