Sour Dough Culture

[JohnT]

So, I found this 150+ year old sour dough starter on ebay for about $5 delivered. I remembered how much I loved the stuff when eating crab on fisherman's warf in SF.

Has anybody ever tried this at home? Did I just get ripped off or was it worth buying the sourdough starter?

Any personal experiences we be much appreciated!

(I put this thread here thinking that more people would see it).

 

[BernardSmith]

How do you determine that the starter is not 150 days old rather than 150 years? Sourdough is sourdough and a starter is a starter so if it is alive and healthy it will make your bread rise but how did they show you it was as old as they claim it to be? And how would you have assayed their claim? Five dollars for a healthy starter seems a reasonable amount to pay but the claim may be rather more poetic license than literal : seems to me that if you collect yeast spores from the area where the famous SF sourdough spores are to be found then I guess you could claim that the "starter" is as old as the original SF sourdough... but the starter may literally only have been started the week before ...

 

[Boatboy24]

You got ripped off!! I found this one for $3.99!!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/150-year-ol...349?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35d22995b5

 

[Kraffty]

Didn't anyone find the description of 150 year old yeast as "new" amusing?
Mike

 

[JohnT]

How do you determine that the starter is not 150 days old rather than 150 years? Sourdough is sourdough and a starter is a starter so if it is alive and healthy it will make your bread rise but how did they show you it was as old as they claim it to be? And how would you have assayed their claim? Five dollars for a healthy starter seems a reasonable amount to pay but the claim may be rather more poetic license than literal : seems to me that if you collect yeast spores from the area where the famous SF sourdough spores are to be found then I guess you could claim that the "starter" is as old as the original SF sourdough... but the starter may literally only have been started the week before ...

They were not saying that the starter (itself) was 150 year old. They were saying that the starter is from a strain that has been in use for 150 years.

 

[Jericurl]

Last year I just made mine at home from scratch. Takes several weeks/months to get that super tangy taste, but makes bread just fine from the get go.

 

[LoneStarLori]

I also made my own starter a couple of years ago. It is a sweet-sourdough. Really tasty for rolls and regular bread. I ALMOST threw it out just last week because we are low-carbing right now. I couldn't do it. I spent too much time feeding and loving it.

I'm sure that starter is just fine. It very well can be 150 years old but I doubt there is any way to prove that. King Arthur flower sells one that is older, from the 1700's. I had it for about a year before I tossed it. I just never had good results with that bread. It is VERY tangy starter so you might consider it if this one doesn't work out.

This is from their website: Where else can you find FRESH sourdough starter – not dried? And what a history this has; it’s descended from a starter that’s been lovingly nurtured here in New England since the 1700s. When you feed it, it quickly becomes your own, adapting itself to your own region and climate. Generations of bakers before you have made wonderful bread with a bit of this same bubbling brew. Join the ranks of satisfied sourdough bakers.

 

[Winenoob66]

Sourdough Starter

3 tablespoons instant mashed potato flakes
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

Directions

1. Combine instant potatoes, sugar, water, and yeast
in a covered container. Let the starter sit on a counter
for 5 days, stirring daily with a wooden spoon.
2. On the morning of the fifth day, feed the starter with
3 tablespoons instant potatoes, 3 tablespoons sugar, and
1 cup warm water. In the evening, take out 1 cup of the starter
to use in a sourdough recipe. Refrigerate the remaining starter.
3. Every five days, feed the starter 3 tablespoons instant
potatoes, 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 cup water. If starter
is to be used in a recipe, let the fed starter rest at room
temperature 6 hours before use. If starter is not being used
in a recipe, keep refrigerated and discard 1 cup of starter
after each feeding.

SOURDOUGH BREAD

1 cup sourdough starter
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup corn oil
6 cups bread flour

Directions
1 Mix sugar, corn oil, salt, water, and 1 cup of starter
together in a large bowl. Sift the flour and add to the mixture.
Grease or oil the dough. Place the dough in an oiled bowl,
cover, and let rise overnight.
2 The next day, knead the dough for 10 minutes. Divide in half,
and place into two greased 4 x 8 inch bread pans. Allow the dough
to double in size.
3 Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 40 to 45 minutes,
or until bread is golden brown and taps hollow. Turn out to cool
on wire racks.

I also like to lightly brush some melted butter on the crust when it
comes out the oven to give it a more professional look.

 

[Snafflebit]

I could swab the crab cracking table at Tarantino's and mail you a sample for 47¢.


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making

 

[BernardSmith]

I could swab the crab cracking table at Tarantino's and mail you a sample for 47¢.


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making

Not sure I fully understand what every means when they talk about sour dough starters. Seems to me that there are two (possibly three) very different versions of "sour dough starter".
1. The use of wild yeasts to inoculate the dough - could be from the surface of fruit or from the yeasts inhabiting a bakery or winery.
2. The use of cultured yeasts (bread flour yeast) that are then aged in an increasingly souring stew of fermentable simple and complex sugars.
3. The use of specific strains of cultured yeasts (eg SF sourdough yeast) .

 

[Snafflebit]

I looked up what is happening in sourdough starter. It's interesting. There is a symbiosis between bacteria and yeast cultures. Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis is the bacteria that can metabolize maltose in the flour while also enzymatically reducing it to simpler sugars. This bacteria produces lactic and acetic acids in the process. The yeast then metabolize the glucose and fructose from the bacteria action. Sounds a bit like wine making.

 

[JohnT]

My sour dough culture arrived last Wednesday.

Following the instructions, here are the highlights..

Wed night - make sourdough mother by mixing culture with 2 cups of warm water and 2 cups of flour.

Wednesday through Friday - stirred the sour dough mother twice daily.

Saturday - started the process of making a couple of loaves of bread. step one is to make a sour dough starter by taking 1 cup of the sour dough mother, 1 cup of warm water, and 1 cup of flour. Mixed this until smooth and let ferment in a warm place for 14 hours. I also added another cup of water and one cup of flour to the sourdough mother to "replenish" it.

Sunday - took my sour dough started and added 3 cups of flour, some salt, and some sugar to form a nice stiff dough. Kneaded the dough for about 15 minutes. Formed it into a ball and let it rise for about 2 hours on a wood board until it doubled in size.

I then punched the dough down, formed 2 loaves (in bread pans) and let it rise for another 2 hours.

Baked at 400 for 30 minutes.

Man, this was fun and the bread was unbelievable. If you like doing this sort of thing, it is well worth the $4 for a culture...

Pic 1 is the sour dough starter (after rising)
Pic 2 is the stiff dough (before rising)
pic 3 is the finished product and yes, it did taste as good as it looks!



I then punched

 

[BernardSmith]

Bread making is an incredibly satisfying activity. And it is just like wine making in that the amount of time that you need to devote to making your loaves is just minutes although the process itself can take many hours