How to make a great sourdough starter?

[Changeling]

Reading this "Bread section" is driving me crazy, I'm all in!

How do I make/start a really great sour dough starter?

I have read that there are places to buy one's starter that are supposed to be AWESOME!
However on the otherhand, I have read that these starters will quickly loose there effectivness and be taken over by the the taste of the "local" bacteria.
That's why the famous sour dough bread made in some places in California can't be reproduced constintly in other parts of the world.

So, how do you guys make a really good starter? Please be explicent because I am trying to learn.

[SoEzzy]

You make your own!

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/SourdoughStarter.htm

I've not made one, though I do a lot of baking, I used a commercial starter for about a month then forgot about it and one of the kids threw it out thinking it was bad... they didn't realize it always smells sour!

This was 4 or 5 years ago and we have bought sour dough bread when we needed it instead.
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[Changeling]

Now that is funny as heck, I've smelled the sour dough starters though, and in defense of the kids, I can see them making the mistake, LOL!

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.

[ComradeQ]

It's pretty easy to start your own. At the simplest you combine two cup bread flour and two cup water, a package of active dry yeast, and a small dollop of honey. Stir well and leave for the first two days or so in a large container, it will bubble up and over flow if in a small jar. Cover with a dish cloth (plastic wrap will fill with gas and possibly pop - I did it once). Transfer to a smaller container and leave out for 5days or so, stirring daily. It should be pretty sour and you can try it at that point in something. Once it is at a good sour refrigerate it and once every week or two, empty out half, feed it with equal parts flour and water, and leave out on the counter overnight again. I had one sour starter that lasted for about 5years until I went away and forgot to have someone feed it. The alcohol took over and killed off the yeast so much that I couldn't revive it.

Also you are right about regions affecting the types of yeast. If you use a starter from san fran in say Toronto where Im from, the local yeasts will take over and you will not be able to maintain the original yeasts. Originally you would not add yeast to your sour you would just let the natural yeasts enter and ferment it. You can try that but I say use the extra guarantee that active dry yeast brings, it will eventually take on a unique regional distinction after enough local yeasts feed.

[ComradeQ]

[Changeling]

Thanks guys, I believe I'm going to give this a go.

[Changeling]

Hello to all. I'm about to start making a starter, but some questions first, if you guys have the time.

Can I use a plastic type container like a reused (cleaned) potato salid container, or should it be a glass container?

When ComradeQ said a active yeast, does that mean one from the supermarket like the brand "Fleshmans" or others ?

[Jarhead]

Changeling, I've made it before, a long time ago.
You are better off using glass. You can sterilize glass better than plastic. You won't get unknown critters hiding in the scratches like plastic will give ya. 1 gallon glass Pickle Jars are great.
Active Yeast all of the way. Not Instant Rise.
Check the expiration date on the package before you buy it. (don't ask)
IIRC, it ran the dog out or was that the EX?
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[patruns]

I still have that package of free starter that was making the rounds here a couple of years back. Anyone use it with success?
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[1buckie]

Never got around to sending for this, but I bet it's good...

http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=48431


I had a simple home mix going for about 8-9 years & did all kinds of stuff w/ it

Pretty fun & tasty hobby
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[patruns]

[jrbergen]

"Sour Dough" can pretty much mean any bread where the fermentation occurs naturally. Many use the term 'sour dough' when they really mean San Francisco which infers a particular yeast found in the flours of that region.

When I learned to make bread, I believed all the voodoo and religion of bread making. Ancient starters passed down through the ages, spit in it and offer it sugar, all that stuff. I did the pineapple thing, apple cider vinegar etc.

I still keep many starters alive, the old SF sourdough among others, but the scientific proof is that the 'wild yeast's' arent collected from grape vines and on your window sill. Thats where the contaminants come from.

The repeatable success I've had comes from the Tartine bakery. A great read if you enjoy books. It's a mix of cook book and story telling.

Take a 50/50 mix of bread flour and whole wheat flour, add water to make it feel like a pancake mix. When it expands for the first time (2-3 days), dump 80% of it and feed it the same mix. Volume doesn't matter. Just make it like pancake mix. Pour off the hooch. Mixing the hooch back in makes it really sour. Keep feeding and watching. When it gets predictable, expanding within 2 hours of feeding...is time to make bread. Pour off all but a couple tablespoons. The day before baking, dump all but one tablespoon, add 200 grams of warm water and 200 grams of 50/50 flour mix.

This method makes awesome bread. You can make rye, wheat, white, whatever using this mother dough.