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

[BarriedaleNick]

l wouldn't worry about not seeing it - it's just one of those things that happens sometimes

[jesssands]

this is how my sour dough mix looks after a few days in the kitchen.

I have fed and stirred  it up twice daily. and its just been sat in the kitchen.

It is gloopy and deff got an aroma about it.

Is it looking ok, do you think?

[goodlife]

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It is gloopy and deff got an aroma about it.

Is it looking ok, do you think?  ;D yep..looks promising

[irridium]

mine's still not doing much, other than looking the same deflated self. there are bubbles and a proper sourness to it, but i had to transfer to a kilner jar as i thought there was too big a surface area from the original bowl it was in for the starter to activate. do you think that'll make a difference? has anyone seen their's rise yet? also, i seem to remember using boiled/purified water might make a difference. originally, i did that but soon started adding cold tap water to the hot water. and only the w/e did i realise that maybe that was my mistake as cold tap water has chlorine and that may have prevented the starter from activating... what do you think?

[BarriedaleNick]

Personally I dont think the water makes much odds - mine has always had it straight from the tap.
How long have you been going?
I could dry some of mine out and send you some if you want - apparantly it will go dormant and revive.

[jesssands]

Mine is 5/6 days old now and deff doing something. it looks like its spongy on top.
I might make some rolls in a bit with half.. see what its like.

[goodlife]

I used all my starter up over the weekend and started new batch with only couple of teaspoons (scrapings from the bowl) 'old starter'. This morning my starter has finally gone properly active..all foamy.
I have used cold water from tap too and it haven't made any difference now or in past.
I have two lots in a go now..one with wholemeal/rye flour mix and one with white flour only. Both are doing well. White is in 'narrow' container and it doesn't seem to make any difference to the activity level.

Irridium..the sourness is definate sign that it is getting there..try this; give to you starter one 'bigger' feed and let it 'digest' over 24 hrs. Whisk the 'feed' well in and leave it be until next day without disturbing it.. ;)..let me know what happened..

[jesssands]

Well.... here is a pic of the bread I just baked with my sour dough mix.
Not that much flavour atm (5/6 days old, just subtle) but it it very soft and fluffy.
The mix was not separated any more but got over 1cm of frothy foamy stuff on top.
All good! as you can see.. we could not wait to get stuck into it!

[irridium]

[quote author=goodlife link=topic=71504.msg733150#msg733 give to you starter one 'bigger' feed and let it 'digest' over 24 hrs. Whisk the 'feed' well in and leave it be until next day without disturbing it.. ;)..let me know what happened..
[/quote] digest - as in let the flour (and water) just sink in, and wait for 24hrs before i can stir it in?

[artichoke]

Mine has started to separate with watery stuff floating on the top.

I wouldn't say it was "rising" or getting bigger in any way other than my adding flour and water to it. Is that what is expected?

Am about to use half of it in the supermarket ciabatta mix that made such lovely springy rolls last week.

It is now 18 days since I started it, and I wouldn't say it was "foaming" at all, just lots of tiny bubbles on the top, now obscured by the watery liquid.

[goodlife]

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digest - as in let the flour (and water) just sink in, and wait for 24hrs before i can stir it in? No..stir it in and then let it be.

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Mine has started to separate with watery stuff floating on the top.
That's good..your starter will start 'separate' when the yeast has 'used' up the 'food' in flour. It now that you might need to use slightly more flour to the feeding but you don't have to do it anymore so often. I've got my wholemeal/rye starter stored in fridge now until I need it again in fridge. 'White' starter is on kitchen counter and I feed it every other day but more generously. I use the white starter in breadmachine with a bit of yeast as it seem to raise much quicker than heavier 'dark' starter...that one I save for hand made bread for being much slower riser.

You might not see much of the 'foaming' as yet..but as you use the starter up more you'll see it start getting much more bubblier.

[artichoke]

Thanks! It's lovely to have this step by step guidance and encouragement.

I remember the bread strikes  30 or 40 years ago when I always made my own bread for a big family anyway, and had with bins full of flour, but ran out of yeast. A chemist friend started making it in his lab, propped on radiators. I never knew what was involved in this, just accepted it gratefully, but I wish I had known about this method then.

[irridium]

well, it's been 24hrs since the big feed (with no water as previously for the past couple of days it was quite thin) and it's taken on a foam like appearance with about 1cm depth. there's tiny bubbles throughout this amount. i think it's worked with your tip, goodlife. now, what do i do next? do i feed it as normal now, or shall i take some of it out to bake with? if so, how much shall i use from a 250ml in a 1l kilner jar? 

it's a bit late for you to reply now (i work evenings, y'see) so hopefully, you're around tomorrow morning!

thanks for guiding me thru' this. you've been a great help, and others too for their input/updates.  ;D

ps. barriedalenick: so kind of you to offer me some of yours. thank you! ;)

[goodlife]

Yeees..you've got foamy starter..!  ;D
I would keep feeding it less often but bigger dozes now..you don't need to 'build up' the yeast anymore but keep it alive and active.
It is good thing to keep using it and in same time you 'automatically' provide feed as well as you replace what you've taken out.
If you need to make more bread in one go...pour all the starter into large bowl and mix in BIG amount of flour and water and let it stand until frothy again and then process forming a dough. But do take it into account that sourdough is slow riser..depending of temperature and type of flour it is working it can take hours to rise a loaf.
 

if so, how much shall i use from a 250ml in a 1l kilner jar? 

you can use it all...and what ever sticks into the jar is enough to keep the starter going..usually there is couple of spoonfulls of starter on sides when you 'scrape' it all together again. Just rinse the jar with water and add some flour to start the process again... ;)

[goodlife]

Just thought of something... ::) ;D

When you first start making you starter..you feed it like baby..little and often to make it grow and keep tapping its bottom (whisking) to make it burb.
Now that its active and able to manage its own..its like 'teen'..always hungry and needs big feeds to keep its 'head' full of air and foam.. ;D ;D

ENJOY your bread!

...and looks like its going to be looong day for me... ;D ;D ;D

[Gadget]

I have been following this with interest and decided to have a go myself, I did 2 types with Rye flour one I added a teaspoon of yoghurt and the other  without, the one with yoghurt exploded on the 4th day so decided that was a bit of a risk, but the one without it doing really well, I just need to get a big kilner jar to keep it going. ;D

I have a quick question when making your bread what proportion of starter do you use? ie. if I had a mug full of starter how much flour should I use, and do I need to add more water to the bread mixture, this is the bit that really confuses me :-\

[BarriedaleNick]

What I tend to do is to go with my 500g flour/300g fluid bread reciepe and add about 100 ml starter.  OF course it does depend on how runny or thick your starter is but I find I have to add a little flour - not much though. I am still a beginner but this has worked for me through experiment.
I always hand kneed the dough so I get a "feel" for when it is right - doesn't always work as my last loaf was a little on the loose side.

One odd thing is that the more starter you add the quicker it rises and the less time it has to develop flavour so I don't add that much - it takes at least 5 hours to rise and develops a decent smell and taste..

[goodlife]

In Finland where rye bread is made properly sour..they make new batch of 'starter' using 'old' starter as a seed. This 'new' starter or 'pre-dough' is then kept bubbling for 12 hrs or even longer until there is very strong aroma coming out of it..then the salt and flour and is added and 'proper' dough formed..they form the breads and they are raised  for hours. There is no need to raising the dough twice like with 'normal' yeast.

[BarriedaleNick]

It seems that everyone has a slightly different method!
Talking to two fellow plot holders in the pub last night and we all do sourdough but completely differently.

One does the sponge method ala HFW http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall/sourdough-loaf-recipe
The other does his initial rise overnight in the fridge..
I do it the simplest way I can think of!!!

Here's a pic of my first ever sourdough loaf! Not sure I have gotten any better!!

[Gadget]

Wow look at that loaf, how fab is that, well I will take my inspiration from you BarriedaleNick  ;D ;D ;D