I am looking to make a liquid starter like I used for about 10 years
before it was neglected for a long time and no longer revivable like
it had been before.

I'm not talking about a runny doughy type of starter, but a true
liquid one. The liquid had in it water, some sugar, some instant
potatoes, and of course, some left over starter from a previous time.
You used roughly 1/2 the liquid in your recipe and replaced the water,
sugar, and instant potatoes to top off the container. I used a
Tupperware type container with an airlock to keep the starter pure,
but I don't suppose that's all that important and letting local yeasts
and lactobacillus bacteria into it might not be a bad idea.

Anyway, will any of the sourdough starters available for purchase work
with this setup, or do I need to stick with the "Amish friendship
bread" type starter I was originally given to make a liquid starter.

What I really liked about this starter was that it didn't turn brown
or black and moldy like a dough type starter when left alone for
several weeks or months. This would last for months at a time without
problems, as long as I would put it through at least one feeding cycle
before using it after an extended stay in the refrigerator.

I did get a starter from someone here named Igor, and it was a decent
replacement for what I had been using. It kept it going a year or so
longer before that died from neglect. If he reads this, I hope he can
post a reply here so I can contact him to buy a replacement for the
Russian sourdough starter he sent me before.

Thanks for any feedback on this.

Don

>I am looking to make a liquid starter like I used for about 10 years
> before it was neglected for a long time and no longer revivable like
> it had been before.

http://home.att.net/~carlsfriends/ for free flour based starter culture you
can experiment with. It's been around a long time.Your starter description
contains no flour at all? Was this culture meant to leaven bread?

There is allot of grey area on whether or not local yeast and stuff has an
impact on your starter, the consensus being that everything is already
present in the flour. Not everyone agrees on that, but most agree that a
starter only needs flour and water. The same goes for the addition of
potatos, grapes, sugar or whatever else you might want to put in the mix, it
really isn't necessary. In fact, I would not be surprised if adding all this
extra stuff is the cause of many starters eventual demise.

I myself am not fond of refrigerator stored starters, which even if you
take care to not let them turn to moldy glop, eventually evolve into
something that likes living in the cold, and to my experience is less likely
to produce a flavorful bread. If you go long periods without baking, you
might want to use a more conventional starter, and make yourself some fridge
flakes. I originally learned of this procedure in this forum as bakers
prepared them as emergency back-up in case the main culture was lost for
whatever reason. In a long hiatus from baking, such as hot summer months,
your starter can be completely and safely dormant as dried flakes in the
freezer.

Good luck in finding your original starter, but if you have none, experiment
with one of the many others or try making your own. You may find something
you like even better!

hutchndi

On Tue, 29 Dec 2009 06:44:04 -0500, "hutchndi" >
wrote:


>Good luck in finding your original starter, but if you have none, experiment
>with one of the many others or try making your own. You may find something
>you like even better!
>
>hutchndi

I think I've narrowed it down to two possible starters. I'll try one
or both of them and see what happens. I am sticking with the liquid
culture, though, since it lasted 10 years with little maintenance,
just occasional use.

I might also just leave mine out on the kitchen counter instead of
storing in the refrigerator between uses. It is possible that the
yeast and bacteria could adapt to the colder environment and slow down
the starter while it adapts to the warmer pre-baking environment.

Thanks for the suggestions.