Comments on: How to Acquire a Sourdough Starter

By: wren

wren — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:59:30 +0000

It’s not that unusual. I’ve seen that happen a couple times, especially with rye flour involved. For whatever reason, you just “caught” the wrong kind of organism or perhaps cross-contaminated the starter when it accidentally came in contact with something that had those mold spores on it.

Generally, the old rule of thumb was that any starter that has pink liquid or mold is bad and should be tossed out. Daniel Leader’s book claimed that this wasn’t necessary. Personally, I wouldn’t touch it. I don’t know enough about microbiology, and I still remember those theories about molded rye and the Salem witch trials. I figure “neon” is not a color found in healthful foods.

By: Ursula Lundgren

Ursula Lundgren — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 20:36:19 +0000

You have to use bottled water. Tap water has chlorine in it, which kills the bacteria. I hope this will help. I have my starter going already for 7 years. I refresh it every 2 weeks. I am even taking it on vacation in order to keep it alive.The starter is very potent and smells wonderful. I created the starter from freshly ground rye and bottles water, let it stand 3 days, than took inner core and mixed it with 1/4 c water and all-purpose flour to make a stiff dough. Take half of the dough and add 1/4 c water and again make a stiff dough. Keep than in cooler to develop the flavor. the starter will get more potent as it matures. Have Fun. Let me know how it turns out.

By: ANN FERNALLD

ANN FERNALLD — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 17:06:28 +0000

I WOULD LIKE TO GET SOME OF THE STATER THANK YOU ANN

By: Steve Mckee

Steve Mckee — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 04:24:39 +0000

Well, finally success, I finally got some wheat berries, (actually out of a pre-bagged whole wheat chili recipe) and some rye berries, ground them into flour and started my starter. On the safe side, I tried the starter with the pineapple juice, and low an behold they both took off. So kept both going for about a month, made a loaf of bread from both, and decided I liked the Wheat berry starter better (more flavor) So the pineapple one went away. Think the house was too cold, the warmer weather definitely added to the growing I’m sure.

By: Kirsten Parris (just use KP)

Kirsten Parris (just use KP) — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 13:12:03 +0000

I love to bake bread, and decided to try my hand, once again, at making sourdough bread. I have tried other commercial starters, and have made my own, but something was always lacking. The starter that I got through Breadtopia is by far the best starter I have encountered. When the owner says it is the best on the planet, he is not kidding. I was making my first loaf within a week, and it was the best sourdough bread I have ever tasted. The starter was so vigorous that it only took three days to achieve an intense sourdough aroma and a week of TLC for the starter to produce a superior boule. I used the no-knead method and used a dutch oven to make my bread. Yummm. Thank you Breadtopia!

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 16:23:05 +0000

I make my own starter (best to use rye to begin, I think) and have had good luck for a couple of years. However, the last time I stored my starter in the refrigerator it was covered with a mean looking mold on the top. (it had been in the fridge for only about 2 months.) I’ve never seen this before and wonder what went wrong? I skimmed off the mold and used the started without problems. Is there any health hazard to suing this starter?

By: Milo Osbun

Milo Osbun — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 18:49:29 +0000

I’ve been using my sourdough starter for about three years now. I made it exactly according to the video instructions. It didn’t work very well for me until I learned that for best results feed the starter eight to twelve hours before using it, and when you feed your starter put it into a clean container – every time. I use one pint canning jars with screw-on lids. I have several, so transferring the starter to a clean container is not a problem, and I only make enough for immediate use, keeping an equal amount on hand to feed to meet my need for the next batch. Good luck.

By: Steve McKee

Steve McKee — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 14:31:14 +0000

Ok, I’m frustrated, either I don’t know what I’m doing or my house is so clean I don’t have airborne bacteria. I’ve tried the Oregon trail starter, it failed to grow, I bought whole wheat and rye berries from a health store, ground them into flour and did the flour/water method to no avail. As a last resort I just threw in a package of active yeast into that brew, Is that going to help? Cause I got bubbles now.
But next step is to try the pineapple route, any advice ??
Steve

By: Breadtopia

Breadtopia — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 19:33:51 +0000

Hi Ellen,

Yes! And yes!

Most rye bread recipes are less than 1/2 rye flour anyway. So using a wheat based starter in those cases to make rye bread to totally fine.

By: Ellen Richardson

Ellen Richardson — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 19:28:29 +0000

I have a good basic sourdough starter going but, wanted to do a rye sourdough starter. Can I take a cup (or other measure) of my basic sourdough, add rye flour and water to it to form a rye sourdough starter? Or, can I just use this starter to make a nice rye sourdough bread? I’m confused!! Thanks in advance for your help!