[Sca-cooks] sourdough and hooch

[Patricia Dunham]

I haven't had my starter long this time, about a year???,  but have been keeping it in the fridge, feeding about once a week.  This particular starter (google: Carl's 1847 Oregon Trail) is sort of mild but works good, smells kind of like apples.  

Anyway, THIS starter will develop almost an inch of hooch in a week!  (between feedings)  That is, in a 4-inch diameter jar, a 3-inch column of starter will develop a half-to-3/4 inch layer of hooch in a week.  There is no sign of bad smells or floating clumps of "stuff" developing, in the course of just a week.  

I don't know if this is unusual with starters generally, or usual with this particular starter.  I stir it back in, pour off the excess (to use, or down the kitchen sink), feed, and return to the fridge, as standard.  FYI, I'm using a 36-oz Adams peanut-butter jar, it's nice to be able to see what's going on, eh?  I have also put markers on the side of the jar, blue painters tape(!), at the one-cup, 2-cup, 3-cup levels, which helps a LOT when pouring off the "excess".  That way you don't have to try to guess, by eye, when you have the one-cup to feed!  I do NOT close the lid tight, but leave it "breathing-room" loose.  I do keep my fridge pretty well clean, and we eat BLAND, so it hasn't picked up anything odd from the other contents so far.

I only use it about every 10 days to 2 weeks, as I can't get through a 3# batch of bread faster than that by myself, but I haven't (yet) lost track of the feeding schedule by more than, maybe a week (so, 2-week interval).  I do remember having had trouble with maintaining previous starters, but that was so long ago that that is about all I do remember.  Decades.

Hope this helps,
chimene


On Jan 26, 2011, at 6:17 PM, freyja wrote:

> Hello all.
> 
> Please forgive my ignorance!  Question:
> 
> Do you just stir your hooch back into your starter, even if it's spent
> a very long time in the fridge and produced a proportionally fair
> amount of hooch?
> 
> -Kitta
> 
> p.s. cross-posted to "SCA Bakers" list
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