doughwizard wrote:
> Why is it that the Carl starter tastes so funny. I followed all the
> instructions to the letter and made the billow loaves on this site.
> Well nobody likes them. They are o.k. for normal bread but do NOT taste
> like the sourdough I grew up with (I know a little about sourdough as I
> grew up in San Francisco!).
>
> I think that the possibility here is that this starter may contain
> commercial yeast rather than wild yeast cultures so it will NEVER taste
> like sourdough. I've looked at older posts here and it seems to be
> common that this culture is infoererior to most others in terms of
> taste, but is a good riser. Which also makes me think that yes this
> culture does contain *some* commercial yeast.
>
> Help!! I need you ppl!
>
I doubt very much that Carl's friends are putting commercial yeast in
the starter they are sending out. Perhaps you prefer the taste of other
starters. I have eaten sourdough in S.F. and it is nothing like the
stuff that I fondly remember from the '50s in San Francisco. I suspect
that both it and I have changed. I think that there are many
sourdough tastes that people feel are "authentic". Depending on how
you make and rise your bread you can get many different tastes.
Ellen