14. Starting A New Starter From The Local Atmosphere
Description
This article is from the Sourdough Starters FAQ, by Brian Dixon briandixon at hotmail.com.
14. Starting A New Starter From The Local Atmosphere
Starting a new starter from the local atmosphere (try it, you'll like it!):
* Combine in a GLASS bowl, 1 1/2 cups warm water (80-85 degrees) and
2 cups of white all-purpose flour. Use no sugars and especially, use
no commercial yeasts! Mix well being sure to incorporate a lot of
air into the mixture. Commercial yeasts merely result in the
cultivation of commercial yeasts! It won't be sour (unless you're
quite lucky) and it won't behave like normal sourdough so none of the
above starter usage and maintenance instructions will apply! Some
people have reported that their commercial-yeast started starters do
get sour eventually, but that just means the starter has finally
converted to the natural microorganisms (including the slower growing
natural yeast). You might as well start it out right in the first
place and avoid months of using so-so starter while you're waiting
for it to get good. Your sourdough will only be sour if your starter
allows the lacto-bacillus cultures to reach their highest levels, and
that can only happen with wild yeast. Commercial yeast has been bred
and crossbred for speed, lack of flavor ... oops, I mean 'neutral
flavor', and for manufacturability. Just like store-bought tomatoes,
it "looks good, but tastes bad."
* Place the bowl in an 80-85 degree location. Leave uncovered so the
natural microorganisms can settle on the surface. Fan air onto the
surface using a magazine or something similar. This helps to drive
more microorganisms (yeast and lactobacilli) into the surface.
Grapes (I prefer red seedless) crushed to remove their insides can
also be mixed into the starter. For whatever reason, grapes seem to
breed wild yeast and lacto-bacillus quite well, so their skins tend
to carry a lot of it on them.
* Let the mixture proof for 24 hours. Stir the mixture well once or
twice during the 24-hour first proof. Before and after each
stirring, fan the surface with air again.
* At the end of the 24 hours, examine for bubbles (use a glass bowl).
It's unlikely that there will be any yet, but you never know. Stir
well and fan again.
* Repeat the 24-hour proof as described, including the brisk stirring
and fanning.
* At 48 hours total time, once again examine, stir, and fan the
mixture. Continue to leave uncovered. Any skin that forms should be
stirred back in as soon as it is noticed so no microorganisms will be
kept out of the starter by the dry skin. Remove 1/2 cup of the
starter, and replace it with 1/2 cup warm water and about 1 cup white
all-purpose flour.
* Continue this 48 hour cycle very carefully until it's obvious that
the first bubbles are definitely appearing in the starter. Then,
refer to the section entitled "new starter" for further instructions.
It typically takes from 3 to 7 or 8 days for the starter to begin to
work. Late spring, summer, or early fall are best times to do this.
Winter air may not contain enough yeast spores to get it going, but
it's always fun to try. One of my best starters ever (best tasting,
best raising ability) was started during December one year in the
Willamette valley area of Oregon. Starters that I started in that
same area and same time of year after that never did as well as that
first one! The raised the bread fine, but the taste of that original
one was out of this world! But don't count on having starter for
bread when starting a new starter like this because it takes about 3
or 4 weeks minimum for the entire process of developing a vibrant,
healthy starter suitable for your recipes.
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