K: Sourdough?
This month, the challenge for Daring Bakers was to make a sourdough starter, and then make a loaf.
I admit that this challenge didn’t really appeal to me. First off, I don’t really like making bread (that’s more of D’s thing). Second, while I don’t personally work with bacteria at work, a number of my coworkers do, and I don’t really like the smell of little bugs working their way through my flour. Third, maintaining a sourdough starter is a bit like taking care of a plant, and I don’t even do that overly well. =]
But… I finally went out to our local co-op and purchased some nice, organic, local, whole-wheat flour. It looked delicious, and I was excited to see what kind of lactobacilli I could culture out of it.
To cut to the chase, I had to throw the starter out. You’re supposed to culture in a warm place (~80*F). Is now a good time to remind everyone that I live in the Midwest, and the highest my place gets in the winter is 69*F? On a warm day? So even after several days, the starter was a thick and nasty paste instead of a gloopy, carbon dioxide-producing machine. There were some other problems too, and it eventually just became too much of a hassle to bother with. Maybe another time D will try to make a sourdough, but for now, I’m not sure it’s for me.
Any tips from the cold weather bakers out there? Is there something I should have tried? I’d rather not leave a space heater going all day in the house, but I don’t know of any other way to get the starter going!
I can’t say I have experience with sourdough myself, but I know my dad will put it in the oven with the light on to keep it warm. Just an idea!
Not a bad idea. I’d probably want to look into how to change the oven light if I did that, though. I didn’t realize your dad made his own sourdough.
Sourdough-based waffles and other yeasty things, anyway!
Yum – sounds tasty!
Hmmm. I started a sourdough starter last fall (2010) so I didn’t have quite the temperature difficulties you do.
I mixed equal weights of flour and water. Then I panicked and threw in a few granules of instant yeast. Then I let my starter sit out on the counter and refreshed it once a day or so for a few days. (Throw out ~1/2 – 2/3, then add equal weights flour and water; mix.)
After that, my starter lived in the fridge, so that it only needed to be tended once a week — like having a pet that only was around when you wanted it!
Then eventually I got tired of only making sourdough and of finding sitters when we went on vacation, so I dehydrated it. (I could bring some powdered starter at some point, if you’d like.)
A starter should smell yeasty, not bacterial. (And agreed about bacteria smells in the lab.) Maybe if you do need warmer room temperatures to start the process, you could put the container next to whatever heating elements you have? Or place it in a warm water bath which is wrapped in an insulating towel?
Good luck! I did end up liking the sourdough flavor I got from my starter, but it did take a couple of months to get there. It might not be worth making your own just for one batch of bread.