I activated Carl's Oregon Trail starter last week, had it 30C for 3 days,
moved it into the oven and used that to jump-start the culture after feeding
(i.e. I turned the coil on for 30 seconds then turned the oven off, the temp
rose to perhaps 35C which then declined before the starter ever got too warm.
It's going very strong, I followed the brochure's advice to add a few potato
flakes (~1/8), and toss in about 5cc of sugar for about a half liter of
feeding mixture. Now it's only a room temperature, I don't zap it, and my
work schedule allows me to feed it every 12 hours.

My problem is it doesn't taste sour. I tasted the starter itself and there
is no tang at all. Is this something that develops with maturity or did
something happen to the Lactobacillus in it?

Also, since most of my bread recipes use milk or allow for it, I decided to
test the starter with a feeder containing milk. I mixed in some dry and
whole milk along with water and flour and sugar, and it didn't proof. The
mother culture fermented nicely while the test milk culture stayed flat.
But today it had risen somewhat, but was not noticably active. I would
have thought the Lactobacillus would have thrived on it, did it affect the
yeast in some way?

Also, what's the limit for salt? My favorite bread recipe using ordinary
yeast uses 1.5tsp salt per 3 cups flour (7.5cc/750cc) yields good results,
is that proportion of salt in sourdough too much?

"la gripa colombiana" > wrote in message m...

> I activated Carl's Oregon Trail starter last week, had it 30C for 3 days,
> moved it into the oven and used that to jump-start the culture after feeding
> (i.e. I turned the coil on for 30 seconds then turned the oven off, the temp
> rose to perhaps 35C which then declined before the starter ever got too warm.
> It's going very strong, I followed the brochure's advice to add a few potato
> flakes (~1/8), and toss in about 5cc of sugar for about a half liter of
> feeding mixture. Now it's only a room temperature, I don't zap it, and my
> work schedule allows me to feed it every 12 hours.

It may be less complicated than you think. Check out these links:

http://home.att.net/~carlsfriends/revive.txt
http://www.nyx.net/~dgreenw/howshoul...tarterfor.html

> My problem is it doesn't taste sour. I tasted the starter itself and there
> is no tang at all. Is this something that develops with maturity or did
> something happen to the Lactobacillus

The starter should not taste sour if it is properly maintained. It is possible
to make sour bread with Carl's starter, but not everybody has succeeded to
do it, and, for those that have succeeded, not everybody wants to do it
every time.
>
> Also, since most of my bread recipes use milk or allow for it, I decided to
> test the starter with a feeder containing milk. I mixed in some dry and
> whole milk along with water and flour and sugar, and it didn't proof. The
> mother culture fermented nicely while the test milk culture stayed flat.
> But today it had risen somewhat, but was not noticeably active. I would
> have thought the Lactobacillus would have thrived on it, did it affect the
> yeast in some way?

Milk does not belong in a sourdough starter. Some people think it does,
but they are nuts.

> Also, what's the limit for salt? My favorite bread recipe using ordinary
> yeast uses 1.5tsp salt per 3 cups flour (7.5cc/750cc) yields good results,
> is that proportion of salt in sourdough too much?

1.5% to 2% of the flour weight. If a cup of flour weighs 5 ounces and a
teaspoon of salt weighs 1/5 ounce, you are in the zone. Maybe some
school kid in your family can help work that out more exactly.

--
Dicky

la gripa colombiana wrote:
> I activated Carl's Oregon Trail starter last week, had it 30C for 3 days,
> moved it into the oven and used that to jump-start the culture after feeding
> (i.e. I turned the coil on for 30 seconds then turned the oven off, the temp
> rose to perhaps 35C which then declined before the starter ever got too warm.
> It's going very strong, I followed the brochure's advice to add a few potato
> flakes (~1/8), and toss in about 5cc of sugar for about a half liter of
> feeding mixture. Now it's only a room temperature, I don't zap it, and my
> work schedule allows me to feed it every 12 hours.

All of the extras they advise seem totally unnecessary to me. But I've
never used Carl's starter. I just know that, in my own experience,
sugar and potato flakes weren't needed at all.

> My problem is it doesn't taste sour. I tasted the starter itself and there
> is no tang at all. Is this something that develops with maturity or did
> something happen to the Lactobacillus in it?

I would want to develop a starter for several weeks to let it develop
character.

> Also, since most of my bread recipes use milk or allow for it, I decided to
> test the starter with a feeder containing milk. I mixed in some dry and
> whole milk along with water and flour and sugar, and it didn't proof. The
> mother culture fermented nicely while the test milk culture stayed flat.
> But today it had risen somewhat, but was not noticably active. I would
> have thought the Lactobacillus would have thrived on it, did it affect the
> yeast in some way?

I think your experiment is already telling you something: Don't add all
of that other stuff.

> Also, what's the limit for salt? My favorite bread recipe using ordinary
> yeast uses 1.5tsp salt per 3 cups flour (7.5cc/750cc) yields good results,
> is that proportion of salt in sourdough too much?

I use about the same amount of salt for about the same amount of flour
in my sourdough and it's just fine.

"birddog" said about Carl's starter.

> I would want to develop a starter for several weeks to let it develop
> character.

Carl's starter can be ready to use in two days, maybe less, after you
receive it.

For diddling around, it is not the best choice. It is for bread makers,
not startermuckers.

--
Dicky

Dick Adams wrote:
> "birddog" said about Carl's starter.
>
> > I would want to develop a starter for several weeks to let it develop
> > character.
>
> Carl's starter can be ready to use in two days, maybe less, after you
> receive it.
>
> For diddling around, it is not the best choice. It is for bread makers,
> not startermuckers.

Yeah, well, count me among the startermuckers (obscene as that sounds).
But the starter I made now produces an excellent sourdough that has a
fast and consistent rise from week to week. Besides, I don't understand
why making your own starter is just "diddling around".

On 8 Jan 2006, at 08:24, birddog wrote:

> Besides, I don't understand
> why making your own starter is just "diddling around".

Some people just need something to make themselves feel superior.
What it's got to do with them and why they even care is beyond me.
I've got bigger fish to fry : -)

TG