Sourdough!

Are there any other sourdough makers on here? I've just started experimenting and I love it so far. Not too sure how to maintain my starter though, would love to chat with anyone else who makes their own.

Anyone? :D

YES!!!! I am another sourdough lover here!!!

What flour are you using for your starter?? After you use the starter to add to your bread you 'feed' the starter a few scoops of flour and water to make it paste like again... Keep it in the fridge and feed every 2-3 days if you aren't cooking any bread, everyday if you are making bread. Check out the book Wild Sourdough, it's amazing!

Yay LBF!

So. Don't want to buy a book ;)

I got some starter off a friend - she made it from rye I think. I've been feeding it with plain old baker's flour. She wrote down this very complicated regime of feeding for me that just seemed way too complex - feed 50g water, 50g flour on day 1. Next day, 100g/100g. Following day 200g/200g. Following day, reduce starter - make paste of 50g/50g, then add 100g starter. Tip rest of starter down the drain ( :( ). Then feed 50g/50g, 8hrs later 100g/100g, then 8hrs later 200g/200g, 8hrs later ready to use.

I was a bit confused, not to mention taken aback by the waste of tipping it down the drain! I cheated and made a loaf of bread with some of it before tipping it. It tasted the same as the next loaf I made with the entirely fed starter.

So then I started just feeding it random amounts, still making a paste of equal parts water and flour and feeding it up. I've not reduced it since then.

Do you reduce yours? Friend seemed surprised that people don't reduce. How much do you feed it? Just a few scoops? It sounds like I can be a bit more careless with it, that is, not so fussy about when and how to feed it. That right?

I'm keeping mine on the bench at the moment. Is it ok in the fridge, if I'm using it every other day?

I have never heard if feeding it like that, the only times I have built up like that is when I want to share some with friends of make extra bread, pancakes, cakes etc. I just would feed about 100grms of the amount I took out... it was not scientific at all, just fill the jar(my starter lived in a jar) with flour and water same level every day. Using rye flour it doesn't get as starchy and stretchy, i found plain flour a little bit frustrating compared to the rye, and the rye seemed to thrive better but the white flour made better holey sour dough looking bread... does that make sense?? I have a friend that swaps between rye and wheat flour to feed her starter every time. Yes just feed it the day you use it and it will be fine two days later to make bread and feed again, the fridge slows the whole process down.I would let the starter sit on the bench after I feed it and pop in the fridge after a few hours.

Are you getting into a good baking rhythm? I find making the loaf in the morning, it sits all day and I pop it in the oven when I am making dinner. Another friend does her overnight and bakes first thing in the morning.

Are you part of a food co-op to buy bulk flours?

I used to have a starter, George, if you remember.... lol. But I got rid of him. Biggest mistake!

I made him successfully on the second attempt using only plain flour and tap water, and fed him the same every other day or so (more like the "or so"!) when I wanted to use him, discarding some whenever I fed him. He used to live behind the tv where it was nice and warm. When he got warm, he used to bubble up and grow, when he was cold, he was just like a really thick pancake batter. He never smelled funky or had that black liquid (or any extra liquid in fact), it just looked like perfect pancake batter. The very top used to dry into a bit of a crust if I didn't stir him every day (the kids thought it was hilarious, but still loved "George" who lived in a jar, lol), which I would just take off and discard (I had him in one of those clip-down jars, 1L size, but with the lid slightly open. Enough to keep the dust and bugs out, but enough to let a bit of ventilation so he could breath.) Oh, and contrary to some instructions I have seen, I never disinfected anything! I just used to wash everything normally in the sink and go.

Unfortunately for the life of me, I cannot make another George! :cry: :cry: :cry: So, good luck!

I did one back when George was around, and I miss mine too Netix! I'm thinking of starting one up again to use the bread for DD's birthday party. I did mine really simply, and kept it on a subwoofer that was by a heater. In Summer it was always warm anyway, in Winter it had the heater. That feeding and reducing regime seems way too full on for me! I was obviously quite lazy with mine lol.