SC - Re:sca-cooks V1 #2706 (Out of the Office)

[Nicholas Sasso]

Does it smell sour or decaying?  Is the color dull and beginning to gray?
If it smells decaying, looks dull and is beginning to gray, the yeast is
probably dead.  If not, then you may be able to save it by feeding it, as I
will describe later.  If you try to save it and there is a surface crust,
remove that and discard it, because it makes a good culture for molds.

The starter should have mild sour odor which is odd but not unpleasant.  You
may not even notice it, unless the cover is off the starter container.  In
an older starter, a heavy odor of alcohol says that the yeast is overactive
and there may be a die off in progress.  A decaying odor similar to that of
a refrigerator science project, says the starter has serious problems.

Sourdough starters work because when you mix flour and water, there is an
amylase reaction which frees sugars from the starch.  Wild yeast and
lactobacilli use different sugars to propagate and make the sourdough
starter.  The lactic acid from the lactobacilli make the sour taste while
the yeast causes the bread to rise.

When you beat the flour and water together, air is introduced into the
mixture.  The lactobacilli are aerobic in nature and begin to reproduce
first, when the air in the mixture is used up, the anerobic yeast (most
often a variety of Candida milleri, which is suited to an acidic
environment) begins to reproduce.  When the sugars are used up, the yeast
begins to die off.

Sourdough starters use equal weights of flour and water which by volume
measure is roughly 1/2 cup water to 1 cup flour.  To begin the starter, I
usually use 1 cup of water and 2 cups flour.  The starter is then left in a
bowl on the counter, covered or uncovered.  Covered works because milling is
not a sterile process and wild yeast and lactobacilli are common in flour.
Where I am at, I use the covered method due to the high concentration of
local molds, which are among the few things that will attack a starter.

The starter should show visible fermentation within a couple of days.  Once
the fermentation starts, the starter needs to be fed 1/2 cup water and 1 cup
of flour about every 12 hours, if you leave it on the counter, or the same
amount once every 2 or 3 days if you seal the starter in a jar and keep it
in the refrigerator.  The warmer the ambient temperature, the faster the
starter uses the sugar.  Giving the starter a good stir when you feed it
re-aerates the starter and allows the lactobacilli to go back to work.  

Sometimes a starter won't begin to ferment, which usually points to a lack
of wild yeast in the vicinity.  But that is obviously not the case here.

Once the starter begins bubbling, it can be used, but I tend to feed it a
couple more days to get several cups of starter.  If you leave it on the
counter, you will need to bake about every three days.  If you leave it in
the refrigerator, you will need to bake about once a week.

BTW, whose instructions were you following?

Bear



> I am coming out of lurkdom once again for some assistance.  
> Sunday night I 
> whipped up some sourdough starter.  The directions said to 
> let it sit for 
> 10-12 days.  Two days later, it was frothy and bubbly and 
> smelled a little 
> sour, but since the recipe said to wait 10-12 days, I didn't 
> do anything 
> with it.  Now it is 4 days later and it is flat and no longer 
> bubbly.  Is 
> it ruined?  Should  I feed it or is it supposed to be like this?  It 
> definitely smells sour, it just looks dead.
> 
> Marsaili:-)