Topic: Anyone to Share their Sourdough Starter with me please?

[irridium]

i've tried to make this some yrs ago following a recipe from a Dan Lepard's site, but it didn't rise enough for me (nor airy and light). ok, there were a couple of days in the two-week process where i didn't feed it and so it went to 'sleep' in the fridge on the individual days that 'i had off'. i used organic flours or rye and strong white, half n half.

so now, i'm wondering if anyone making sourdough or another kind of nice bread with a starter to help me in the forays of making my own bread.. i'll gladly pay for postage, or to swap for seeds/seedlings/plants of whatever you fancy.

[peanuts]

Irridium, I'm sure you will find someone who is able to pass on a little of their own sourdough starter, but reallyh it isn't difficult, and certainly not nearly as complicated as the 'proper' version by dan Lepard!
If you are starting from scratch, just put  2 parts  flour (rye, strong white, or strong wholemeal) in a pot (I actually use an oval carte d'or icecream container) plus 1 part decently warm water and mix well.  I would probably add a spoonful of natural yoghurt as well, and poss a few raisins.  If you find a warm enough place it will ferment.  Next day add similar amounts of flour to water, and continue like that until you  have enough to start your bread.  Remember to save some, and add water and flour as before. The longer you keep restarting with a small amount again, the more sour it will become. If I want to start a big lot of dough going, e.g. 4-5lbs flour, then I will keep the starter going over a few more days, in a big mixing bowl, adding to it regularly. Hope this makes sense!  I started off thinking it was really complicated, and perhaps purists will say it has to be done in such and such a way, but . . . . . !

As I wrote in an earlier post,  I do my own version, which involves keeping a small lump of the finished dough, before it goes into the oven (I have to try very very hard to remember to do this!), mix it with some more flour and a little water, and get it going again over two or three days.  Either it then goes into the fridge or I continue to add to it for the next batch if it is in a couple of days.  If it is in the fridge I have to remember to get it out several days before my next breadmaking  in order to re-activate it again.  This method is tolerant, and doesn't involve throwing half of the starter away each time, which I can't bear to do - so wasteful! If it is working well, I use no yeast,  or hardly any, but sometimes I find it needs a little help.

[irridium]

hey peanuts

thanks for your lengthy and quick reply. a couple of questions for you:-

how much to save - about half? i did that in the original recipe, and wondered in first 3 days, none of it was puffing up.. so there was little to throw out.

do you use scales to weigh the flour and water? or measuring cups? i used the former, and it was a bit of a faff each day for 14 days!! how much would you use? don't say, you go by eye?!! ::)

how long would you say this starter be ready to use?

are raisins neccessary? won't it be a little tedious to fish them out when you ready to bake?

as i don't have nat. yoghurt or raisins in atm, i'll have to get some in then...

[goodlife]

I start mine literally with couple of spoonfulls of rye flour and drop of water and that's it. Feeding it with spoonful or two flour couple times a day until and walking around house while whisking it in.
This I carry on doing for a week or so...until I get first whiff of yeasty smell, first sign of activity.
If your starter start to grow into too big quantity..don't waste it but use it as base for a bread dough, but add some yeast as it is not strong enough for the purpose yet.
You only need to save enough this sloppy 'porridge' like starter to carry on by what sticks into your container without scraping it clean.
'Rinse' your container with drop of water to get all the starter off from sides of the bowl into bottom and add some flour and carry on doing this  for few weeks. You'll find that each week your starter gets more and more active.
It also helps if you give your starter occasional whisk during day between 'feedings'..fermentation needs air.
I've never needed any additional incredient to my starters..just rye flour and water.
word of warning!..never fill your starter container more than 2/3 full...once it gets really active..it will foam and usually this happens while you are in bed..during night.. ::)..you wake up and find in the morning your kitchen counter flooding with this sticky mess.. ::)

[peanuts]

Agree with all Goodlife says.  I never throw any out, perhaps I didn't say it clearly enough.  That's what I don't like about 'proper' recipes for sourdough, which always require you to  ditch half the mixture  when you add more flour!  When I say save, I mean 'cos I've used most of the mix,  to do some bread, and just keep a little in the pot as Goodlife says, enough to start again with more flour and a little water. Or  save a small lump, perhaps a dessertspoonful of the kneaded dough instead, and add flour and water to that to get it going again.  Once it has got going properly, after four days or so, I store it in the fridge if I don't need it and get it out several days in advance of next breadmaking to activate it again.  Warmth needed!
And sorry, I don't measure, I just put some flour in out of the bag, (a couple of heaped tblespoonfuls, perhaps) and mix in what I think is less water, and  stir away with a fork.  You must always add more flour than water, certainly. Just go for it, it isn't an exact science, if you aren't a professional baker!  You don't need raisins or yoghurt, I was just telling you what I sometimes do, if  feel like it!

[irridium]

Goodlife & Peanuts:

ok, i shall give it a whirl this morning, and start my process. i didn't realise that the starter can be made more simple like this, not like the recipes, i've seen with meaured amounts and taking half of it away each day...

do you think in my original attempt when the starter didn't seem to have activated much as it just looked a bit dense, not really airy... that it wasn't very warm enough. it was usually stored on my kitchen top, and i didn't think it was that cold - maybe 16 - 18 Celsuis - which i think was kinda normal for late spring temps.

[goodlife]

Room temperature..even cool one will work with your starter..it just may work little slower.
When I add some water into mine when 'feeding', I'm careful not to give too warm/hot water as it can kill the living yeast in the mixture. If I can just about feel some warmth in the water, then that is enough.
As you keep your starter going..you will find it has different 'personality' depending of the time of the year..in summer you get really strong flavoured bread with it as warmer temperature will make ferment quicker..and in cooler time its all slower and you can forget it to do its thing.
I make my starter into sloppy..almost runny 'porridge' ..(or diarrhea like sloppy mess  :-X). You'll find eventually what works for you...it is not exact job.
I'm going to start mine too...again.. ::) I'll keep you posted about the progress. Perharps together we get you going with most wonderful tasting bread.. ;) ;D

[goodlife]

Here we are..day one1
I tried to catch the 'sloppyness' into pic but its difficult.. ::) I'm sure you know what I mean.
I'm going to give it a quick whisk couple of times a day for next few weeks...and tonight it gets its first feed, tablespoonfull of rye flour and drop warm luke warm water.

[peanuts]

Goodlife and Irridium.  Sorry, I"m not going to join in with the making of your sourdough starter - I actually have some  sleeping in the fridge.  Have just made bread this morning, without it as I forgot to get it  out of the fridge three days ago to get it going again.  And now I won't be making bread for a few weeks, as I'm about to go into hospital for a week, for a half-knee replacement.  After that I don't think I will be up to kneading the bread for a little while, although I have been practising kneading while standing on one leg!!!! So regretfully I'll probably be throwing away the chilled starter, and will start it again later.
Good luck!

[goodlife]

Oh..I hope your operation goes well..BUT don't throw your started away! You can freeze it and when you get back into baking mode again..it takes less time to wake up frozen starter than start it all over again from scratch.

[peanuts]

I wouldn't have thought of freezing it, thank you!  I'll move it straight away.

[irridium]

unfortunately, i don't have a decent camera, nor one on my mobile, so i won't be able to show you how mine is looking. i started it last night and this morning, fed it's first meal and hopefully, it'll start looking livelier as the days go by. i'll keep you posted!

[goodlife]

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so i won't be able to show you how mine is looking Oh..thats ok..I'm doing this photo follow up as a bit of 'fun'. It will be interesting to see what's the time difference, if any, for our starters to get ready.
Once mine is ready and bubbling, and if you still want to some starter to give some 'hybrid vigour' to yours..I'm happy to share.
I took little bit of mine to holiday with me last year..and as it got fed with different rye flour (with local wild yeast)..it became really 'angry beast'..reeally strong and foamy starter. But then later on I lost it.. ::)

[artichoke]

All this is very interesting and useful - thanks. I have been making bread for decades, but have never tried sour dough. I mixed my starter yesterday, using rye flour, and will be very interested to see photographs of goodlife's to compare with mine.

Should it remain sloppy porridge consistency as you add more flour and water? Or does it thicken up?

[goodlife]

Sorry I missed your post Artichoke.
It remains same all the time..although sometimes the flour may 'swell' and take on more moisture so you might need to adjust by adding some more water later on.
This is how mine is looking now..[attachment=1]
I've got almost half a bowl full now and I still keep feeding mine twice a day and in between feedings I give a brisk whisk... ;D
Those few bubbles are not from the fermentation but the air rising after whisking. My starter is starting to show first signs of activity now..there is definite 'smell' coming out and in the surface there is evidence of slight 'fizz'.
I'm going to take all the starter soon and bake it into bread with a help of yeast..and what is left of the starter sticking  into bowl is going to be base of the starter when I start feeding process again. Usually it takes 3-4 weeks before the starter become bubbly enough for raising dough on its own without help from additional yeast.

[irridium]

i'm glad you've shown posted an updated pic. mine is definately not looking like yours. it's still in the thick constistency stage, and i'm not sure if i've gone down the route of less water, more flour mantra more seriously than yourself. also, i don't have as much of what you have in your bowl. mine was originally started with 2 tbsp of rye and 2tbsp white. the water is just-tepid. in the mornings when i wake up, i feed it and take it back upstairs to the bedroom so that it'll get the morning sun (not in direct light, of course). sometimes, if i'm around (like the w/e) i will take it to the other room and let it have the afternoon sun as well!

do you think i should make more of it, and also put more water in?

[goodlife]

I don't measure the flour or the water..I just 'chuck' some in..mix it and if it feels too runny or thick I adjust accordingly...but it about couple of tablespoon full of flour that I put in twice a day. Mine is definately more on the runny side..like batter mixture.
My kitchen is quite cold..and the bowl is sitting on windowsill as well that is even colder..no cosy 'cuddling' for my starter.. ;) ;D...and I give it a vigours beating with whisk too... ;D

[irridium]

oh ::) ::) ::) i haven't really whisked it as such, just tried to mix it with a spatula. plus, i don't feed it twice like you do. is that a must? what i have to confess to, i leave the spatula in and then tie the bowl with a plastic see-thru bag so that it can trap the warmth in and keep out any dust/floating cat hair (he's moulting atm!) reason why i do this is for ease of getting to it regularly over the course of the day.

i will have to get the swap the spatula for a whisk then! i wasn't sure whether metal equipment was accepted in the making of starters, hence my choice of using a spatula over a fork. my bowl's a glass one, btw... ;)

i shall make more of it to the amount of what you have in your bowl with more flour and water.

ps. also, i vaguely estimated the amounts of flour.  i didn't measure them..

[goodlife]

Ahh..the mixture need 'air'.. and if you do feed with small amount of flour ..then twice is good idea. You probably seen some instruction using 'cup measures' ..that's because they tend to do one big feed once a day. Trouble with that is that you end up really quickly with loads of inactive starter as it take lot of activity to ferment such a mount. When you only add little and often the fermentation that kick start the 'starter process' takes place much quicker there  being less to 'deal with'.
Metal don't have any problems with this process as it is not 'bacteria based' starter but yeast. I change into wooden 'fork' style spatula once the starter is properly working, but at this stage its easier to whisk with normal whisk to get plenty of air into mixture.
Other think I noticed I do differently..I only cover mine loosely with plastic plate/tea towel.. so that the mixture gets air exchange.
You'll get there.. ;)..that's why I tought is good idea to do this together so we can sort all the 'kinks out' in the process.

[BarriedaleNick]

I started mine off with a  starter kit and I must admit to being bewildered by the seeming complexity of it all.  However after talking to the local guru I now have it sorted.
Your starter does need to be about a week old for this but...
My starter stays in the fridge until i need to make bread.   I take it out and double it with flour/water and instantly use half in a loaf.  Thes rest I leave out for a couple of hours (just to see if there is still action) and then back in the fridge.  It will stay alive but almost dormant for at least two weeks but seems to revive with ease.  Some folks say you can leave it for 3-4 weeks!

I use lock and lock stuff to keep it in and I tend to keep it quite thick.

I'm glad there are other sour doughers on the forum!