Mesquite flour starter
 

Has anyone started a wild yeast starter using mesquite flour? I'm
giving it a shot for the heck of it. I'm adding about a cup of all
purpose flour to a few tablespoons of mesquite flour because I don't
think the mesquite flour has much in the way of sugar and starch. I
assume that mesquite pods must have some yeast on them, so would that
be the type of yeast that will also work for bread? And if so, will
it affect the taste at all?

Mesquite flour starter
 

wrote:
> Has anyone started a wild yeast starter using mesquite flour? I'm
> giving it a shot for the heck of it. I'm adding about a cup of all
> purpose flour to a few tablespoons of mesquite flour because I don't
> think the mesquite flour has much in the way of sugar and starch. I
> assume that mesquite pods must have some yeast on them, so would that
> be the type of yeast that will also work for bread? And if so, will
> it affect the taste at all?
>
I don't know why some people "here" are mostly yeast oriented?

It's half the story - actually less than that under some perspectives.

And - if you mix a cup of flour and a few TB's together, what do you
think the ratios of critters is?
Even by assuming the same germ count/gram on both, what do you think
will prevail?

Chances are that the mesquite flour may be less "fertile" - thinking on
that environment - desert and very dry.

As for sugar and starches in mesquite flour - look at the bottom of this
page:

http://www.desertusa.com/mag06/may/mesquite.html

- it's sweet.

and the

http://www.desertusa.com/web_cart/db/pages/9105.html

plenty of sugar and "carbohydrates" - probably starches if sugars are
listed separately.

So - if you want to play with SD from mesquite flour - take it pure, get
it going until it's sour and then port it over to wheat flour.

If something sour grows from it before going putrid.

Sam


> _______________________________________________
> Rec.food.sourdough mailing list
>
> http://www.mountainbitwarrior.com/ma...food.sourdough
>
>

Mesquite flour starter
 

I have to agree with Sam,

if you want a flock of sheep why buy cows or in your case a couple of
sheep and a herd of cows? The best you'll get is cows and a few sheep
but unlike a farmer you won't be able to do a head count. You wouldn't
have a clue what thrived making your experiment meaningless.

Jim

On 4 Aug, 21:53, wrote:
> Has anyone started a wild yeast starter using mesquite flour? *I'm
> giving it a shot for the heck of it. *I'm adding about a cup of all
> purpose flour to a few tablespoons of mesquite flour because I don't
> think the mesquite flour has much in the way of sugar and starch. *I
> assume that mesquite pods must have some yeast on them, so would that
> be the type of yeast that will also work for bread? *And if so, will
> it affect the taste at all?

Mesquite flour starter
 

On Aug 4, 3:53 pm, wrote:
>... I'm adding about a cup of all
> purpose flour to a few tablespoons of mesquite flour because I don't
> think the mesquite flour has much in the way of sugar and starch.

You won't know until you try. But try with Mesquite only and don't
make a lot. You want to make a little dough-ball about the size of a
golf ball. Then refresh it every couple of days by peeling off the
exterior "skin" and combining the interior with fresh mesquite +
water. If it's going to work, it will start fermenting within 6 or 7
days.

I googled the flour, sounds interesting. Good luck.

Mesquite flour starter
 

Will wrote:
> On Aug 4, 3:53 pm, wrote:
>
>> ... I'm adding about a cup of all
>> purpose flour to a few tablespoons of mesquite flour because I don't
>> think the mesquite flour has much in the way of sugar and starch.
>>
>
> You won't know until you try. But try with Mesquite only and don't
> make a lot. You want to make a little dough-ball about the size of a
> golf ball. Then refresh it every couple of days by peeling off the
> exterior "skin" and combining the interior with fresh mesquite +
> water. If it's going to work, it will start fermenting within 6 or 7
> days.
>
>
How do you know something grows? Ever tried mesquite and know it gets
sour and does not get stinky?

If you ask me - anyone starting with anything but full grain rye is
counterproductive.

As for your method - there are many ways to start a starter. Go to a
library and look through bread books, makes (my) hair stand up so much
crap is in there.

(not saying your's is - the potato water moon cycle method is)

IMO, best method is to keep the hydration in a way it is stirrable and
can be watched through a glass container for gas bubbles.

In addition, as much as possible keep notes on weights used, time,
temperature, so it's in some way repeatable and can be compared - if you
want to do something good and report it here.

The dough ball skin method achieves nothing of that, only a it
works/does not work result.

Sam

Mesquite flour starter
 

Sam wrote:
>
> If you ask me - anyone starting with anything but full grain rye is
> counterproductive.


Why is that?

I ask because all I have ever used is freshly-ground whole white wheat,
and it works quite well. Granted, I live in the San Francisco Bay Area,
but....

Mesquite flour starter
 

On Aug 5, 11:07 am, Sam > wrote:
>
> IMO, best method is to keep the hydration in a way it is stirrable and
> can be watched through a glass container for gas bubbles.

I've done it that way... but prefer the doughball because it's easier
to guage the ferment via smell when I open the doughball. I don't know
how many times I've made starters with doughballs, quite a few, but
they've always worked and I trust my nose more than bubbles or foam.

Mesquite flour starter
 

Samantha Hill - remove TRASH to reply wrote:
> Sam wrote:
>
>> If you ask me - anyone starting with anything but full grain rye is
>> counterproductive.
>>
>
>
> Why is that?
>
> I ask because all I have ever used is freshly-ground whole white wheat,
> and it works quite well. Granted, I live in the San Francisco Bay Area,
> but....
>
Higher germ count for sure. Grown in wetter areas than wheat, probably.

In EU, it's in south - IT, RU-Ukraine all wheat and in north - SE, NO,
FI, NO-DE, N-RU more or all rye.

They have yearly crop reports on rye (probably also wheat) conditions.

The rye kernels I get here in US-CO are from CAN.

Maybe "counterproductive" is an overstatement but if I remember right,
there were several folks here which had problems with wheat flour and
rye did it.

S.


> _______________________________________________
> Rec.food.sourdough mailing list
>
> http://www.mountainbitwarrior.com/ma...food.sourdough
>
>

Mesquite flour starter
 

Thanks. You learn something new every day.

Sam wrote:
>>
>> Why is that?
>>
>> I ask because all I have ever used is freshly-ground whole white
>> wheat, and it works quite well. Granted, I live in the San Francisco
>> Bay Area, but....
>>
> Higher germ count for sure. Grown in wetter areas than wheat, probably.
>
> In EU, it's in south - IT, RU-Ukraine all wheat and in north - SE, NO,
> FI, NO-DE, N-RU more or all rye.
>
> They have yearly crop reports on rye (probably also wheat) conditions.
>
> The rye kernels I get here in US-CO are from CAN.

Mesquite flour starter
 

I have had the same results both from wheat and rye, I've had a bad
starter that I gave up on with rye and wheat, I've had good starters
from both and each individually, including white flour, (wheat).

I agree that you are better off with a batter, use as little as you
can handle so as not to waste flour. (The method Will describes does
work but the batter method is easier and quicker, after a few days
your enthusiasm will wane and you might be busy, you’ll want something
quick you don’t have to think about) add water to the batter at feed
time, about equal parts batter to water, then mix well, tip all but a
small bit away and feed that small bit with enough flour to make
another batter. There really is no need to measure anything (I know
Sam didn’t say there was but it you could get that impression) That
works well not to waste flour. It could take 1 to 2 weeks to get the
starter how it should be to bake with. I just made one it's taken 10
days to get the starter so that I feel it's normal.

You’ll read so many times, ‘… It sure does smell sour, yay!’ In my
experience that ‘sour’ is more like the smell of PVA rather than an
vinegar, I don’t use a starter til that’s gone.

So, Will is right too, trust your nose not the bubbles.

Good luck.

Jim


On 6 Aug, 04:17, Samantha Hill - remove TRASH to reply
> wrote:
> Thanks. *You learn something new every day.
>
...

Mesquite flour starter
 

Well...?!??? Did the mesquite work??? I am in Tucson and have just harvested about a half pound of pods. I am anxious to try and make a sourdough starter with it!

To whomever posted about yeast in the desert... we have it. I have a whole wheat starter that I have been running for several months. I think that I will take some of the mesquite flour and try feeding some of my whole wheat starter to see if it thrives/survives the change in diet before I trial a native starter using my precious (a bit of work to harvest, pick through, dry and grind pods to "flour") mesquite flour.