Is it possible to make a sourdough starter from actual seeds?
Hello All!
I’m still super new to sourdough starters and I remember reading something cool about yeast water and thought it was super interesting how it all worked. So, in my adventures reading up on it, I asked myself a question and I really couldn’t find any answers. I tried googling but I’ve had no luck. So I thought maybe the community here might have some ideas?
Has anyone ever tried making a sourdough starter out of ground seeds? Like ground flaxseed meal or ground pumpkin seeds mixed with water? I got the idea since fruit works and I wondered if maybe seeds would as well (might have to add some sugar or something?)
But I wondered if anyone here has ever tried it or has any thoughts on whether it might work? (Or if using seeds is a bad idea because it might cultivate a dangerous strain of yeast maybe...?)
I’m thinking I’ll try with flaxseed and water and see what happens just for the sake of experimentation! I’m very curious if it can be done...
Thanks in advance for any input!
Well, yeast water works by cultivating yeast supplied by some source. Seeds, being in a shell and with what amounts to an impervious coating, wouldn't be a place I'd expect to find a good source of this yeast. But, you won't know for sure unless you try it, so give it a shot and see what happens. Let us know how it goes. Enjoy!
This may help with inspiration.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/60982/my-experiment-world-yeast-water-bread
Cheers,
Gavin
You're half way there with your idea of using seeds,
An easier route that produces good results every time is by using organically grown whole wheat flour. Lactic Acid Bacteria and Wild Yeast are naturally present on the surface of the whole wheat berries. When the wheat is ground these components naturally mix in with the flour (endosperm) providing the means for obtaining a natural starter when water is added.
Mix one-half (by weight) distilled water with one-half) by weight organic whole wheat flour. Cover your container and place in a warm place 77dF is ideal. After 8-12 (maybe a little longer) hours you should see yeast activity in the mix.
There's a lot more on growing and maintaining your new starter on TFL that you can search out, but this is the basic step to get one going from the gitgo...,
Best, Wild-Yeast