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Tried sourdough from scratch in my tiny Seattle kitchen last weekend - total flour bomb
I followed this online guide to the letter but my starter never bubbled up right, ended up with a brick that could probably patch drywall. Has anyone here actually gotten a good first loaf or are we all lying about it?
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the_laura1mo ago
Did you try feeding it twice a day at the same temperature, or did you just leave it on the counter and hope for the best? Because that first part is where most people mess up and what makes or breaks the whole starter situation. I made three separate attempts before mine finally got that sour smell and actually doubled up on me. What kind of flour were you using too, because I swear the bleached stuff from the big grocery stores is useless for this.
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caleb26229d ago
You know, this whole starter thing reminds me of how people give up on stuff too quick in general. Like with plants or even learning a new skill, they try once, it flops, and they say it's impossible. But it's almost always the little details that matter, not luck. With the starter, it's the temp and the feeding schedule, with a plant it's the water and light, with a guitar it's practicing the same three chords over and over. People want quick results and get frustrated when it doesn't work the first time. I messed up my first starter because I was using tap water without letting it sit out, which I guess kills the good bacteria or something. But once I got the routine down and used unbleached flour, it was like night and day. It's just a matter of paying attention to what you're doing instead of hoping for magic.
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jesse99420d ago
Agree with @the_laura on the bleached flour thing, I think that's a solid point. But just to gently push back, letting tap water sit out doesn't really kill the good bacteria - it mostly gets rid of the chlorine, which is the issue since chlorine can mess with fermentation. Switching to unbleached and dechlorinated water made a huge difference for me too, so you're on the right track there.
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