On Wed, 2 Jan 2013 14:24:42 -0700, "graham" > wrote:

>
>"zxcvbob" > wrote in message
...
>> graham wrote:
>>> "zxcvbob" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> ERSHC wrote:
>>>>> On Thu, 20 Dec 2012 15:34:24 -0600, zxcvbob >
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> ....
>>>>>> I started another loaf last night. I used almost a cup of very active
>>>>>> starter to a pound of flour (and a cup of water and a tsp of salt),
>>>>>> and it is rising just as slowly as the previous batch. I'll bake it
>>>>>> tonight whether it's fully risen or not.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Any suggestions? What about taking a golf ball sized piece of dough
>>>>>> to keep it going instead of feeding the remnant of starter, so the
>>>>>> culture becomes salt tolerant? (I think you call that a "chef"
>>>>>> instead of a starter) I don't dare pinch a piece off of this batch
>>>>>> because it'll deflate.
>>>>>>
>>>>> How warm is your home? I find my starter more sensative to temps than
>>>>> packaged east. It will double in 3 hours at 80 degF, 6 hours at 75 degF
>>>>> and Way Too Long at 68 degF.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> House is pretty cool; even the kitchen. I put the dough in the oven
>>>> with the light on (I turned the burner on for about 1 minute first to
>>>> get it nice and warm) a few hours ago and it still hasn't done anything.
>>>>
>>>> I feed the starter and within an hour or two it's foamy. I make dough
>>>> and store it at the same temperature and it just sits there. AFAIK,
>>>> salt is the only variable.
>>>>
>>>> Bob
>>>>
>>> Try the poolish method. Mix your starter with half the flour and all of
>>> the water and leave overnight. The following morning add the salt and the
>>> rest of the flour and go from there.
>>> Graham
>>
>>
>> Great idea, but it didn't work. I tried that -- it wasn't overnight but
>> about 6 hours -- and it rose even less than dumping everything together at
>> the beginning. It tasted good though.
>>
>> This starter is so much different from my old starter, which was created
>> from the same bag of rye flour! I think I need to add salt to the
>> starter; the dominant yeast seems to hate salt, but it's inhibiting any
>> other yeasts from taking over. Whatever lacto-bacteria is in there just
>> takes it all in stride.
>
>Don't salt it!!!!

Correct!


>I think that you just have to wait until it builds up strength after
>multiple refreshments. So many baking books imply that you can make your
>first loaf about 3 days after starting a culture and I think that is wrong
>and gives many a false impression and they give up too soon.
>Graham
>

And correct again. I think it takes about 2 weeks of decent
refreshments to get to the baking stage.

And if his new starter is from the same bag of rye than the old,
perhaps the flour is just old. Rye can go off more easily than AP.

Boron