isaac's NEW starter

hey all.

so, i was bored during class today and i felt left out since i dont have my own starter. so i decided to to start my own. i had to make it small since my little refriderator at school will only hold so much

i took half a pound of rye flour and a half a pound of water and mixed it. then i covered it. i will let it sit outside (in my room) for 4 days. i will take it to school with me and feed it about the same time i did today. it will get one feeding a day.

on the 5th day, i will probobly add 1/4 pound of rye flour, 1/4 pound of white bread flour and then 3/4- 1 pound of water and something like 1/4 pound sead or something like that and let it sit out for 8 hours and then refer it overnight. i will feed it once a day.


what do u all think? i know it will work...(crumbs crossed). i made osmehting like this while i was at the hotel.

i need a name... any one have a good name for it?

thanks

kimmie,

i meant seed. sorry.



i like that name... doughminique. he he he

we will say that doughminique is female... a lovely name it is really

kyle: we have kept a rye sour going for ages at the hotel where i did my externship at.

i will, however, after four days, on day 5, i will feed it with 1/4 pound rye flour, 1/4 pound white flour, 1 pound water and 1/4 pound sead from the culture.

i learned that rye flour is great to make sough dough starters becasue it contains more natural yeasts.

i do have a question. my room is slightly cold, at about 67 degrees. is that to cold for my starter? i plan on taking it to class where it will be warmer..about 70 to 80 degrees. i havent checked the smell or taste of it today. when i woke up this morning, i said hi to doughminique as i was walking out the door and it didnt look like it rose much. i am not sure if rising is much of importantce at this stage. i think that what is important is for the natural yeasts to be attracted and convert the flour to sugar so it can eat and create the lactic and acidic acids needed. sound right?

thanks...

day two:

well, i thought that maybe since my room is about 68 degrees, it might have slowed down the activity. i took it to class with me today and let it sit out for about 4 hours. after dinner, i went back to the enmtie room to feed it. i noticed some bubbles and a little smell to it. Doughminique was so pretty. i fed her with fresh water and flour.

anyone know how to put pics on here so i can show you all? all i have is a digital camara. help anyone?

the big hat: YOU ARE AWESOME!! thanks a million.

the morning of the third day:

as i was slowely waking up at 6am this morning, i looked over on my desk where doughminique was sleeping and i was amazed. she GREW. my baby is growing up so fast :).

i opened the lid and wow...IT REALLY WOKE ME UP. the smell was wonderful. it was near the top of my container and i think any warmer my room was, we would have had a little problem. he he ... so i stuck it in my referiderator and it will stay there until i go to class today.

i think i might start seeding it today if it tastes sour. if not, i think i am going to have to move it to a diffrent container or we will surely have a problem tomarrow.... well maybe not... maybe i will put her in the refer over night. what do u all think?

oh guys, i am really upset.....disapointed at myself for the most part.

i really thought my starter was doing good, i really did. it was getting good volume and the smell sucked... which i thought was a good thing.

so, i took it to class today and my fav teacher came into class...chef gumple. he is awesome. he is all about bread. he is a master chef and a dean at the culinary school. i was so happy with my starter that i showed it to him. he opened the lid, smelled it and jolted back in grossness. he said that there was somethign seriously wrong with my starter. i sorta agrued with them. then he went over to the other bread class and got a little sample of there sour starter and brought it back. it smelled great.. like apple vinegar. then we smelled mine and it wasent good...at least compared to that.

i asked him what happened. i told him thati fed it once a day and brought it back to my dorm and left it in my room tell the next day. he explained to me that there are bad bacteria too that might try to invade the sour dough starter. it made since... speically since i trasported it back and fourth to class to my dorm. then he noticed a little peice of dryed fruit puree on the lid inside and he said that might matter, meaning that i should have santaized the sour dough container.

so, today i made a new one.... 1/2 pound rye flour, 1/2 pound water.

then i tried to save doughminique. i tok 1/4 pound rye flour, 1/4 pound bread flour, 1 pound water, and maybe 4-5 oz of doughminique. maybe that will help try to save her .

it was hard to desribe the smell of the old doughminique. it was like bannana smelling.. somewhat rotten banannas. i am not sure if this makes since.

i left them in the bake shop in hopes they will collect the right bacteria and yeasts needed .

any thoughts?

kyle,

it kinda erks me but i am doing better. some of the books say to add a pinch of fresh yeast to it. that is supposed to attract wild yeasts but if u add fresh yeast... it is not a sour dough starter.. it is a pre ferment.

i hope by not transporting it at all and that everythign was very clean, it will start to grow the right kind of bacteria and attract yeast.

did u do your starters at home? did u add a pinch of fresh yeast? do you refer yours at al or just let them sit out? what ratio are you using for your feeds?

kyle,


yes, last night i was thinkning of your starters and how it would really sucked if mine exploded. i prayed. when i got up this morning, i saw it and it was nearly to the top. it would have made a mess if i left it out any longer. so tonight, it will go on a sheet pan or paper. i think today or tomarrow, i will start seeding it.

also, u can shoot it in your referiderator overnight. u dont have to leave it out. tonight, if i dont seed it, then i will put it in there. it wont prohibit the yeast from eating, it will just slow them down.

just a thought