Sourdough Starter

I am trying to make my own 49'er flapjacks ala Walker Brothers and need sourdough starter for the recipe. Does anyone know where the starter might be purchased or do I need to make my own from scratch? Does anyone have a recipe for Walker Brothers 49'ers or tips on the starter? I'd like to compare another 49'er recipe to the one I have.

http://www.sourdo.com

I don't know if I taste sourdough in those pancakes so much as the whipped butter slathered on top. I describe very few things as melt in your mouth. In fact, only this dish. Damn good pancakes, these.

To your query: I have thought about sourdough starter and bread-baking in general a number of times without ever really willing myself into action. There are a many resources out there. But if I were going to choose a starter to start with, it would be this one.

Step back into your wayback machine to when the web was just a bunch of links slapped together with hideous backgrounds. If you ask me, that's exactly what the web page of a 161 year old sourdough starter should look like.

You have to love a hobby where the initial costs are water, flour and a $0.42 self-addressed stamped envelope.

Dear saluki68 and anyone else, but I hope not too many of you,

I have quite a good sourdough starter--don't know its origin. it was given to me by a friend who had it for long time. I live in Chicago and, if we can get together, I'd be happy to share it with you. Email me at [email protected]

Jane

I am trying to make a sourdough starter from King Arthur Flour. The directions say use non-chlorinated water or bottled water. I have two questions. Does my Brita pitcher and filter remove chlorine. or am I better off using bottled water? If I use bottled water do I always need to use this when feeding the starter?

Most filters do not remove chlorine, from what I know. I personally use tap water. The best advice that I read on water for starters was "if it smells right and tastes right, it'll be fine". Some people advocate the bottled water to start, and regular tap water to maintain the starter.

Hope that helps.

Put a pitcher of water in your fridge, uncovered. It will outgas nearly all of the chlorine overnight.

If you're reviving your starter after a long period without feeding, then bottled water is best.

If you're confident that your starter is active and have been refreshing regularly, filtered water will work fine. I also use Brita for starters and have never had problems with it.

This is my first experience with a starter. I got the starter free with the purchase of the container from King Arthur Flour and since I make bread all the time I thought it would be fun to try sourdough. Thanks for the help. I wiil leave a pitcher of brita in the frig overnight and I think I'll be covered all the way around.

paulette wrote:This is my first experience with a starter. I got the starter free with the purchase of the container from King Arthur Flour and since I make bread all the time I thought it would be fun to try sourdough. Thanks for the help. I wiil leave a pitcher of brita in the frig overnight and I think I'll be covered all the way around.

I use regular ol' tap water without any problems. If you should need a live, healthy starter, I'm happy to share some of mine. The stuff recently made a trip all dried out in an envelope halfway across the world (Tasmania) and came alive without any problems.

Thanks Binko, I have a starter kit from King Arthur Flour and I read Reinhart today on his starters. I have to decide what week do I want to start this and I really need to shop for flours so I have what I need before I start. I'll let you know if it works.

The pH of the water can be critical during the initial activation while the culture is still in a weakened state. Alkaline conditions, in particular, can promote contamination by undesirable critters. I always use bottled water (my household water comes from a well with mildly alkaline water) for activation.

Bill/SFNM

Chicago water is slightly alkalinic, with a pH of about 7.5-7.8. I personally have never had any problems using tap water for a starter, but it certainly can't hurt to be safe.

I've never had any problems using regular tap water or water that has gone through a Brita filter.

Hi folks!
I'm just learning how to make bread and I hear that you need a starter to make sourdough. Anybody know where I can get a starter? Anybody have a fabulous recipe that they'd like to give me? Tips for a bread newbie?
Thanks,
Jessica

I used the method outlined in the link below last summer with great success. Basically, you combine equal weights flour and water then add a few leaves of red cabbage which hosts wild yeast. Feed it equal parts flour and water every 12 hours or so until you get bubbles.

http://blog.ruhlman.com/2009/07/simple- ... arter.html

Peter Reinhart's instruction for sourdough we're published in the NY Times this week. It's given as part of a recipe for pizza dough but can be used for any dough (a starter is basically a fostered colony of yeast). He uses pineapple juice to curb the growth of unwanted bacterial strains.

I ordered several different sourdough culture's from Sourdough International. Each did have a slightly different flavor and strength. Currently, I am using the good old San Francisco strain, which is really vigorous. I intend to get one of the Eastern European ones which are supposedly better for rye (altho the San Francisco has done pretty well.)

I vote for any of the cultures from sourdo.com. I've got 4 of them and they all beat any of the wild cultures I captured over the years.

I agree. I've always had much better results with an established starter vs. starting one from rye and/or wheat and water. (Most of the wild yeasts you capture are present on the flour itself--you're not really capturing much from the air.) If you want some starter, I'm happy to dry and mail some off your way if you PM me.

Or go to Bennison's and ask if you can have a small amount of their starter. (Or some other places that makes their own sourdough bread.)

I don't think it is worth the time to make your own starter from scratch. Plus, beginning with an established one eliminates one source of error in your bread-making process. In any case, I started one using just water and flour. As Binko said, most of the wild yeast is in the flour. You don't need to add things like grape mash, potatoes, etc. I also have a starter that I acquired from The Cheese Board in Berkeley, California and another that I acquired from a guy on eGullet. Frankly, it is very difficult to tell the difference in the finished product from these different sources. I would just get a good starter any way you can and focus your attention on other aspects of the process.

Hey, found this on a search and was wondering if we have any current LTH folks who work with their own sourdough starter. I'd love to host a tasting party where we can share our trials, tribulations and success stories.

Hi,

This week's Chicago Tribune had an article on Sourdough No-Knead bread.

In the article there was a discussion of sources of sourdough starter. The one that captured my attention was free from Carl's friends. This is a starter with some pedigree: authentic Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter. It is available for the cost of two stamps and two envelopes. I sent mine in yesterday.

Regards,

I saw this article and was excited to try until I read the recipe which called for a cast-iron Dutch oven which I don’t have. Does it matter?

I used to bake bread (BC –before children), but since, I’ve only made quick breads. The article made me feel that I could try this and have some success. If any type of Dutch oven will work, let me know and I’ll find some stamps and send my request for Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter.

HI,

Karen Keb Will's recipe will work on a standard issue Dutch oven. I have two Dutch ovens: enamel over caste iron and a pyrex. I use the pyrex for making no knead bread.

Go ahead and mail your request for this starter.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:This week's Chicago Tribune had an article on Sourdough No-Knead bread.

In the article there was a discussion of sources of sourdough starter. The one that captured my attention was free from Carl's friends. This is a starter with some pedigree: authentic Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter. It is available for the cost of two stamps and two envelopes. I sent mine in yesterday.

HI,

Sourdough starter arrived and now I get down to the business of activating it. I went to Bill-SFNM's favorite sourdough starter source to find their activation instructions.

In the Tribune article, they suggested making three different sourdough colonies: wholewheat, rye and white flour. I have a feeling I should just begin with a white flour, then later make varietals later as I gain experience.

Any thoughts are welcome.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:This week's Chicago Tribune had an article on Sourdough No-Knead bread.

In the article there was a discussion of sources of sourdough starter. The one that captured my attention was free from Carl's friends. This is a starter with some pedigree: authentic Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter. It is available for the cost of two stamps and two envelopes. I sent mine in yesterday.

HI,

Sourdough starter arrived and now I get down to the business of activating it. I went to Bill-SFNM's favorite sourdough starter source to find their activation instructions.

In the Tribune article, they suggested making three different sourdough colonies: wholewheat, rye and white flour. I have a feeling I should just begin with a white flour, then later make varietals later as I gain experience.

Any thoughts are welcome.

Regards,

I agree that you should start with white flour-- otherwise you will be using a lot of flour maintaining three cultures. Then, once you decide on your favorite bread, you can adapt the culture to that flour. I just keep a white flour culture, but I use it for all my breads. Happy baking, I look forward to seeing what you make!

Cathy2,

Rather than multiple colonies of the same culture, I prefer multiple cultures from unique sources - each with different flavor and leavening profiles.

Bill/SFNM

Bill/SFNM wrote:Cathy2,

Rather than multiple colonies of the same culture, I prefer multiple cultures from unique sources - each with different flavor and leavening profiles.

Bill/SFNM

Bill, do you archive these in some way, such as by freezing? I wonder if they maintain their unique natures, or if, during maintenance, they evolve to be more similar.

Pie-love wrote:

Bill/SFNM wrote:Cathy2,

Rather than multiple colonies of the same culture, I prefer multiple cultures from unique sources - each with different flavor and leavening profiles.

Bill/SFNM

Bill, do you archive these in some way, such as by freezing? I wonder if they maintain their unique natures, or if, during maintenance, they evolve to be more similar.

I maintain 4 distinct starters in the fridge - all purchased from sourdo.com. Most of these have been used in commercial bakeries for a couple of hundred years and are prized for their flavors, leavening power, and resistance to contamination when properly maintained.

The conventional wisdom that all cultures eventually devolve, overcome by stronger local strains, applies IMO to weaker, more vulnerable ones. The starters from sourdo.com that I have used for over 7 years have maintained their unique characters. They are "strong like bull".

Out of an abundance of caution, I never have more than one culture out of the fridge at a time - not out of fear that one may launch an aerial attack on the other, but to avoid a stupid mistake on my part.