Do you know where to get sourdough starter or a fairly simple explanation of how to do it? I love a good sourdough, but as you say some "do it wrong" because a few of them have been fairly sour... and not in a good way.
Thanks!
Personally I would never buy a starter. They seem like kind of a rip-off for what you get. Every region has it's own native 'bugs' (wild yeasts/bacteria) so each is going to have it's own flavor signature. Even if I bought some of that infamous San Francisco starter, it's going to change over time with the bugs native to here anyways, as they find their own symbiotic balance.
The first place people tend to go wrong is with the ingredients. Many will tell you to add a sugar source to get it going - table sugar, honey, dry malt extract, etc. Don't add any of that. There are many types of sugars out there that can be categorized by their molecular structure. Glucose is a monosaccharide (note mono-, 1) Sucrose is a disaccharide (note di-, 2), the list goes up and up and up. Think of a monosaccharide as O-O-O & a disaccharide as O-O-O-O-O. The carbohydrates found in wheat flours are much more complex than a chain of 1 or 2, think O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O, etc. Why does this matter? The 'bugs' are only eating from the ends of these chains. Something that can handle a short chain such as a monosaccharide is essentially going to eat one of the O's of each end of that long chain & poop out. Short version: adding simple sugars into your culture may attract some more 'bugs', but they're not going to be useful to your culture in any way & could upset the balance between the bugs you want in there. Ingredients you need: flour. water. Period.
The next place to go wrong are the conditions. Each bug has it's own happy place. You need to find the correct balance of a number of variables - temperature, pH, consistancy, etc. all play a part. In general bacterias & funky yeasts like warm (30-40C). Your more tame yeasts are going to like it a little cooler (20C). The pH needs to be low, but not too low. The natural activity of the bugs will lower the pH & you shouldn't have to do anything, however a pH reading that's quite off (< 4.0 or > 5.4) is an indicator that your culture is out of balance. Consistency can be explained by kids in a pool. There are a set number of bugs in your culture. If your mixture is thin, they're more spread out, thick, they're squished together. So we have a set number of kids, let's say 10. There's a set amount of food for the bugs... or beachballs for our kids. Now if those 10 kids each want a beachball, it's going to be very tough for them to each get one if we have a pool the size of an ocean. They all won't get to play (the bugs starve). Same goes if we put them in a backyard kiddiepool, only now they're so squished together they're going to be fighting over the closest ball & other balls are going to be ignored. They all won't get to play.
Sorry for getting into a little science, but I find if people have a basic understanding of the 'why', the 'what' becomes easier & they become more successful at it. Cultures are like kids. Each one might need to be treated a little different to ensure success. Knowing why these individual things matter will help you catch issues before they ruin your culture & also help you make adjustments as you go.
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Start with 250mL each of flour & water. Use a regular grade baking flour, not a high protein or high gluten flour. Keep your water at about 25C. Mix it together fairly well - it doesn't have to be perfectly smooth, but everything needs to get wet... a few lumps aren't going to hurt anything. We want to keep it small, because we don't have many kids in the pool yet. Keep it warm, but not too warm. Throw a towel over the top of it for the first few days, but then you can start to put a normal sealing lid on it.
For the first week to 2 weeks, twice per day, mix 125-150mL water/flour & add in half of your existing culture. Throw the rest of the existing culture away. You can slowly work at getting the mixture a little more smooth as you go. Don't be overly concerned with the taste at this point, but I'd still give it a taste every day to help you understand what's going on in there.
For the next few weeks continue to feed it twice a day, throwing some of it away each time, but increase the amounts you're using slightly each day to build a bigger culture. For a typical at home culture, you want your volume to be 750mL to 1L when all is said and done. Get it up there slowly. Keep the amounts of flour/water roughly equal, but you may have to add a touch more of one or the other to keep the consistency in check. It should be thick, but still pour easily. Make sure the water is roughly the same temperature as the starter. Drastic, quick changes can shock the bugs.
At a month or so, you should be able to using it with some level of success. Keep in mind, it's still young at this point & out of balance. But the bugs you want are in there, eating well & happy. It will probably still be rather tart at this point as well. It will balance out with time & care. I still like to feed mine twice a day to keep the activity up, but you can scale it down to once per day. The first month or two is the most critical with a culture. I certainly wouldn't skip a day with them in that fragile stage. After they've matured for a while, you can stick them in the fridge to slow down the activity, but the younger they are, the harder it is on them.
A basic recipe to use it in:
120mL starter
190mL water
400g flour
You may need to make some adjustments to the individual amounts, but that will put you in the right ball park. After you mix together your starter, water & flour for a few minutes to make a ball, allow it to relax for 10 minutes. Add in 1.5 teaspoons (7.5mL) of salt & mix further for another 5-6 minutes. Allow it to proof before shaping & baking.
And most importantly... don't forget to name it. Many look past this crucial step. Always name your culture. My culture at home is Gertrude. The culture at the bakery is Vincent, but I like to call him Vinnie.
P.S. Any microbiologists/chemists out there, I'm aware there are nits to be picked in my explanation of the science side, but in order to not get too technical I left out/generalised information that I wouldn't consider necessary or useful to a non-scientist trying to be successful in this particular activity.
) & turning, but my passion in life is zymurgy - the science of yeast & bacterial fermentation. I love brewing beer, baking bread & making cheeses. The new gig is in a small artisan bakery, where I'm in charge of all the breads 4 days a week. Pan loaves, baguettes, focaccias, hand-tied bagels, rolls & buns. There's 2 of us baking there, but never at the same time. It's in a small village/resort town on a mountain at the base of a ski area. I supply the restaurant up front, several other restaurants in the area & the local grocery store. It's hard work, but it's so fun & rewarding.
