Wild Yeast Sourdough Starters Exchange

Janis, Thank you so very much for the reactivating instructions and links. This is so cool, isn't it? Soon all of ours will be ready to dry too, and send out. My Little Island Lake (LIL) culture is doing very well, and will be ready to spread out to dry in 5 more days.

Suzanne, Hey, not so bad for the first time.:D Sour dough is tangy. Hmmmmm, but I don't know about bitterness though. Did you find anything on line for troubleshooting for tasting bitter? I use the same ratios. 1 part culture, one part bread flour and 1 part water.

Tricia, For me, I didn't find anything different using weight instead of using the measurements. I suppose if you want to fine tune it. Unless you have an accurate scale it's about the same anyway. Less expensive scales can be off a bit. My suggestion is to hold off a bit on an expensive scale and get familiar with the process. You are doing really well. Getting pieces of info here and there, talking to people...It's great! You will soon be a professional.

You are going to love that book. Lots and lots of info in there. Do remember, there are many ways to do this, and exploring the many ways will give you the experience to know the way that works for you.

LIL is doing very well and will be ready to spread out to dry in about 7 days.

I'm glad the kitchen disaster is over and everyone came out of it unscathed. It must have been very scary.:confused:

Suzanne, If you really want a great scale, check out Walmart for a stamp scale. They are great for the kitchen and very reliable. I have one, but I don't use it for bread, I use it for other things. That's just me though.;)

Take care everyone and have a great day.

Janie
 
Janie - Yes, the links Janis sent are great! I've checked them out and I remember readying that one set of instructions earlier on and decided to come back to it when I actually needed it!

I thought it might help my white starter, but that one doesn't seem to be going anywhere. I may try to start feeding it every 12 hours? I've read about that too. Maybe it's eating though it's food too fast? Let me know what you think about that. In the meantime, I think my wheat starter is ready. It's very spongy with lots of big bubbles in it. Should I just try to spread it, dry it and send it out do you think or should I test a loaf first, then build it back up before doing that? If you think I should try a loaf first, do you have a recipe you could post that would be basic?

Looking forward to your input here Janie! Thanks!

I can't wait to get my book! It doesn't ship until April 1st.

Time for a nap. Went out for a 5 mile run this morning, came in, showered, made breakfast, made tamales and I'm just sitting down! I never take naps, but I'm going to now! I'll check in later for responses.

I know I directed this to Janie, but the rest of you feel free to chime in here with any ideas!

Thanks to all of you!
 
Tricia, How I love your enthusiasm.:) It's OK to feed it every 24 hours, but, if you are ready for baking bread, then, it's time to feed the starter every 12 hours. Here is a link for step by step instructions for preparing and baking your first loaf.

I'll give you the link, and then select "First Loaf". Using your whole wheat starter use bread flour to make your first loaf. Whole wheat flour is harder to manage until you get the hang of it. Then there are instructions in many places for doing whole wheat once you've mastered the basic white bread. Save some of your wet whole wheat starter for that time and place in fridge and feed it appropriately. If you want to dry some all you really need is only 1/2 t-1 t. of the starter, dried, but, you might want to save more for what ever reason. Then save it for the next venture. Oh yeah, send some our way too. LOL

Recipes


You'll find that you will have plenty (I think) of starter left over. Also make sure you have enough too, for the next loaf of bread.

These instructions are amazing, and will give you a fantastic loaf of really homemade sourdough bread.

If you like, I can give you another way to reactivate your starter. It's fast and also will give you plenty of starter for the next loaf, whether it will be white or whole wheat. It's more for beginners I think. It's great! Janis way is good too, which ever one you choose will be good.

Good luck, Let us know how it turns out. I'm sure it will be wonderful.

Janie
 
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Thanks Janie! Unfortunately, I'm back to work tomorrow, so I'll keeping feeding until Saturday. I'll try a loaf then, if it turns out decent enough (in the rising department), I'll dry out my other wheat culture to send to everyone. I'm going to keep the white one going and see what happens over the next week.
 
Janie - that's an interesting idea - a stamp scale. I'll have to check that out! I like what I know (admittedly not much) about digital kitchen scales because of the tare weight option. I like to use little tupperware type containers when I'm fiddling with ingredients so it's nice just to hit a button to zero out.

My starter finally doubled today!!! First time and I think it might actually be 15 days old which would put it pretty much on time. It has a nice ferment-y smell to it and lots of bubbles. I'm going to keep feeding it and then do a second practice loaf. If that's good I'll dry it to send out.

Please everyone PM me with your address if you'd like a sample!

I think the trouble with my first loaf was that I didn't let it rise properly(and it may not have had the oomph to rise). And/or it was underdone.

The taste has settled down to just tangy. It's edible but it isn't fabulous.

This morning I used my discard to make sourdough hotcakes! That was fun and I'll try that again as well since I didn't have the griddle hot enough! Learning, learning, learning.
 
Hello sour buddies! or wild women...

As I typed this I have some sourdough blueberry muffins in the oven and they are at least looking great! I got anxious today and decided since I had the two starters, to go ahead and use one to try this recipe. It has only been about a week, but, I had to give it a try!!

Now, I have to figure out how to keep baking and keep the pounds off. I gained two pounds last week.. aughhhh! You can't gain from mixing starter, but it must have been the homemade loaf... or too much time pondering and not enough moving my butt...

I am going to try to walk the treadmill as they bake....
 
Beth:

That is sooo going to be an interesting issue! LOL! We're all going to baking like crazy! Luckily, I have a secret weapon - whenever I eat junk food or just too much of a good thing, I run! Hey, it really burns the calories and I find that I don't gain anything! On a good day with a longer run, I can actually even lose a little!

I hope your blueberry muffins came out nicely! I'll be testing mine next weekend!
 
Suzanne, The stamp scale comes in handy for me. Those little tupperware type containers are a good suggestion.:) Congratulations on your starter. I'll pm you with my address. I'll be saying the same thing in about a week or less. Actually 5 more days.:D I bet your loaf of bread is great. It suppose to taste tangy. You are your own worst critique.LOL:) The more you bake the better it will be, a learning curve.

Beth, I don't blame you for trying out your starter. Killing two birds with one stone. That is the way to do it! Let us know how your muffins turned out.

Tricia , Running is a great idea while having one of those days.:rolleyes:

Janie
 
Hi Wild Women

You should be receiving your envelopes from me today or tomorrow.

Janie - I bookmarked the recipe site you posted, I can't wait to try some of the recipes.

Suzanne - I laughed out loud when I read your post about my typo. I went back and edited it, but didn't have time to let you know how much that made my day! :D:D

Tricia - I use a scale now for all my baking measurements. I have the Salter digital which allows you to zero out the weight of a bowl. It also measures in gm/kg...which is very convenient for even more accurate measuring and using international recipes.

Beth, Yum. Your muffins sound delicious. I hear ya on the weight gain. Gosh darn it. My inner thighs are the equivalent of a camels hump, I experience immediate fat/fluid storage and plumping with in hours of eating what I shouldn't.

Shall I pm everyone my address or can you just pull it off the envelope you will be receiving shortly? :)
 
Hi everyone - or Wild Women (I really like that!)

Janis - I'll get your address off your envelope, if it survives this horrible rain we're having! If it doesn't, I'll just PM you for it. Didn't receive it today! I'll be looking for it tomorrow!

Well, all of a sudden, last night when I fed my starters, my white one has taken off with the super bubbling and sponginess! I'm looking forward to a nice doubling! I'm thinking mine should all be ready this weekend. I'll do a test bake and, if successful, I'll dry and mail next week! This is getting so exciting! My Reinhart book shipped today, so now it should be here by Thursday! Can't wait to sit down and read it and bookmark all the recipes I want to try! LOL! This happens to me every time! You should have seen me with my first issue of Clean Eating magazine! I think I' made every recipe!

Time to feed my babies! Not sure what to do with myself tonight! Worked out this morning, so I'm free this evening. Funny, after a year of working out in the evening, even though I already worked out, I feel like I should be doing some Cathe or something! LOL!

Later!
 
YAY!!!!!

Janis - I received my packet of dried starter today! I'm so excited! Thanks for the lovely card and note! I can't wait to try it! I"m going to be a busy breadmaker (hopefully!) for the next few weeks!

Thank you so much Janis! I'm sure it's going to be great!

Guess what? While I was writing this, my Reinhart book came, too! Woo-hoo! I'm in heaven now! Lots of reading and studying to do!

Have to see if it's okay to let the dried starter sit at room temp or if I should refrigerate it until I reconstitute it!

Well, I hope everyone else has received their big little letters, too!
 
Happy Days!! My package arrived today too! Thank you Janis! I am going to get it started right away! I can't wait to compare formulas!

Also, my other culture has taken off! It is frothy and bubbly and beautiful!:p I made more muffins to test out the difference and these were lighter! I want to tackle the "first loaf" but it looks like it takes more than one day- so I may wait until the weekend!! By then, the littlle guys ought to be nice and strong and I will dry them out for mailing.

I was talking to my mom who has been dong sourdough for years, and she says that she doesn't feed but once an week. On Saturday she takes out one cup then uses the rest to make waffles for my dad, then feeds the cup and puts aside-- thats it!

Well, ttly, Beth
 
Hi Beth!

Glad your muffins came out better! Good luck with your first loaf this weekend! No matter the results, post it and a picture! I'll do the same!

I wish I had the time to work with Janis' culture and both of mine, but, alas, I am a working woman and don't have the time during the week and am not certain I can handle 3 starters in one weekend!

Have a great night!
 
Our Modem has died, and it took us a couple of days to get it fixed.

Janis, I too got your starter in the mail. Can't wait to get going on it. Will start tonight for sure and post pictures too of the bread when I'm done.

My starter has 6 days left and will be able to dry and send out. I'm on a countdown. It's very strong now.

I'm so excited for you all and your new found baking with wild yeast. It is so much fun, and a lot of people don't do it. It's a very old fashion way to make and bake bread. Proud of you for sticking with it.

Talk later, I have a lot of catching up to do tonight.

Beth, good job on the muffins. This weekend sounds like a busy weekend for all of us for baking.

Janie
 
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Five more days and I'll be able to spread out LIL starter. Yeah! I'm counting my chickens before they hatch.:rolleyes:

If you like, you can pm me your addresses. (I have Janis's). I like to get things done and ready to go. LOL:D

I also have a lot of dry starter from 1847 Oregon Trail from Carl. If you are interested I can send that as well. His starter is so lively that once activated, in just a short couple of days, you can literally see it bubble and pop. It's that good! I use his reactivation instructions for all my starters.


Talk later,

Janie
 
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Hi Wild Women

I am so happy the starters arrived safely.

Peter Reinhart mentions this site in his blog, I thought I'd post the link:

http://pinchmysalt.com/the-bba-challenge/

A group of 300+ participants are making their way through Bread Baker's Apprentice and blogging their results and findings. Fun stuff.

Tricia - I hope you are safe and sound and not floating away! ? ?
I would refrigerate the culture until you are ready to use it. I'll look around on the various websites, if I find conflicting advice I'll let you know a.s.a.p.

Beth - Congrats on your culture! Yay! How exciting.

Suzanne - I answered your question. :)

Janie - I hope your modem problems are permanently solved. I haven't activated my Oregon Starter yet - I am going to do that today. Now on to baking, baking, baking!:D
 
Janis,

The modem problems is solved! Yah! That was awful not being able to connect with my favorite people.:confused:

The link you gave, reminds me of the movie "Julia". A person cooking every one of Julia Child's recipes up to a year. "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", I think the name is. Great concept! What a truly wonderful way to get experience and knowledge of all sorts of ways to master bread baking. Also a likely way to meet people who has an interest as we do.

Enjoy,

Janie
 
Janis - thanks for that website, that really does look fun, and thanks for answering my question and I'm doing the visual equivalent of fingers-in-ears going "lalalalalalalalala" about the Reinhart pizza book. Must.resist. :D

I'm going to attempt to post pics of my first attempt here. This is from Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads - the recipe is 100% whole wheat sandwich bread.

As I plopped the gloopy mass into the pan...



After baking...



Oooh, it worked! I'm so proud! I'm so un-technical. So, you can see it didn't rise. I'll do another attempt soon - maybe Friday if I can get organized. I want to feel comfortable with one thing before trying others.
 
Evening everyone!

As you can see, we have NOT floated away! Most of the rest of our State has, but we were left high and dry - thank God and all the other powers in the Universe! Even our office was flooded in the basement! We have tenants down there too and they had to be evacuated to other offices today. There's tons of water down there and the whole basement is going to have to be torn out and redone!

I'm so excited!

Janis - I did read one site that said to refrigerate the dried starter, so I put it up right away until I can get to it! I saw that link on Peter's blog, but have not checked it out yet! I started reading BBA last night right after it came.

Janie - I would have to camp out at a Starbucks or something if I lost my wireless! Of course we have before and it's so difficult! Amazing how addicted we are to our computers and ability to connect with each other! Glad you're up and running again! I loved Julie & Julia! What a great movie! I don't think I could ever do that!

Suzanne - You loaf doesn't look too bad! Of course, I've never seen how it should actually look!

Time to go cook dinner! It's an asian beef recipe from one of my Clean Eating magazines! I love that mag!
 
Suzanne, For a whole wheat loaf of bread that one is looking really good. You did a great job! Whole wheat is so much more denser than white bread. I bet it tastes wonderful too.;)

Tricia, Glad to see you are not floating away. LOL


Thanks for the addresses everyone, I only need one more. Beth?

Talk later,

Janie
 
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