Adding diversity via fruits
Hi all,
I have been struggling to get my bread flour based starter really active. I have a rye-based one that is doing very well, but converting it does not yield a very active wheat starter. From all the research I have been reading, it seems that yeasts select for certain LAB and vice versa (This publication) [1]. This, in turns, means that is really important that the initial inoculation is. We also know that dried fruit contains a lot of wild yeasts, so my idea is to start sourdough with various bits of dried fruit. This paper [2] compares dried longan with raisins and finds that the longan sourdough is raising dough much better.
My questions:
- If you have made your starter several times from scratch (just water and flour), how much variation have you noticed?
- Have you ever experimented with adding fruit or other plant material?
Thanks!