Questions: Whole grain starter, vitamix milling
Background: I have successfully cultivated and baked sourdough breads with all purpose flour and water starters from scratch. It was a crazy process and I was glad to have a good guide because days 3-5 looked like something that may kill me.
Purpose of Post: I’m now looking for advice from people who have successfully cultivated wild starters using rye and wheat berry (both in one starter), and also people who mill flours using the Vitamix dry container.
Specific Questions:
1. Do you have a good recipe for cultivating a wild whole grain starter using rye and wheat berry?
2. Do you have general wisdom/advice about how long to cultivate these whole grain starters and what to expect? (e.g. How fine should I mill the grains, what phases will it go through…)
3. If you use a Vitamix dry container to mill, what advice do you have about how to be successful? My only thoughts are slow batches for no more than 5 seconds at a time with ample rest in between to prevent over-heating.
I’m sure many will think a Vitamix is sacrilege, but it’s what I have and I’m sure it can be fine.
I hate to say it but you might want to weigh the risk of increased nanoplastic and microplastic consumption from milling in the vitamix. The shear forces of the food against the vessel sidewalls are very powerful, and it's starting to look like this kind of kitchen tool [plastic blenders and food processors) create a lot of tiny invisible plastic in the food. Microplastics are endocrine disruptors, implicated in cancer etc etc.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304389423006866
I'm sorry to rain on the blender parade! Normally I'm all for using the tools we have and I like to encourage people, not be negative. But I just stopped using my plastic blender so... uh.. maybe I'm like an annoying ex smoker who wants everyone to quit. Anyhow.
With that said, I would think you would have to experiment with baking with blender-milled grain. You might want to start with a percentage of the whole grain at first, like 10 or 20, and then increase over time.
Sourdough starters like to eat whole grain. and they get more active and so havr to be fed more. They don't care if the grain is fine or coarse miled. There are lots of ways to create a starter, and they will all work as well or better using whole grain. Rye is especially great for starters. They love it.
The last time I started a sourdough culture from scratch I used this simple non-recipe and it worked perfectly. It has the advantage of being able to bake with it right away. The whey provides acidity, which the commercial yeast tolerate and the wild yeast enjoys. It basically starts as an acidified poolish and becomes a sourdough over time.
24 hrs before baking, add a 150 grams flour, a pinch of commercial yeast, some yogurt whey (watery stuff in the yogurt tub) and enough water to make it loose. let it sit for a full 24 hrs, stirring at least 3 times a day. Save out 10 or 20 grams to use as seed/mother sourdough culture. Use the rest to make the bread.
I am sorry to hear you are having anxiety about plastic.
Your starter recipe doesn’t sound pertinent to my project — seems more like a generic starter that relies on commercial yeast.
Hi,
I grind all my whole-grain flour in the Vitamix until it's silky-smooth, with no grittiness to the touch.
I usually check halfway through, feel the flour, and then grind some more until it reaches the desired texture. The flour will be hot, but all my whole grain bread turns out just fine.
The starter I make with whole rye, wheat, spelt, durum, buckwheat berries, etc., respectively, is called Concentrated Lactic Acid Sourdough (CLAS).
It takes about 24 hours to make. You add it to your dough as is, like seasoning; there's no need to build a levain for each bake. When you've almost used it up, you can refresh it in just 12 hours.
You can see my routine for making and refreshing it here:
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/65966/how-i-bake-concentrated-lactic-acid-sourdough-clas
You can see how I make (lots of) 100% whole-grain bread with CLAS and freshly milled flour on my blog.
Yippee
Do you use the vitamix to mill the flour for your starter? I just worry the heat will destroy the microorganisms I’m trying to cultivate.
Thank you so much for your reply!!!!!!
I use it all the time! There's nothing to worry about.
Yippee
P.S.
Some folks freeze their grains before grinding to keep the temperature down. You could give that a shot, but honestly, I don't think it's necessary for what you're worried about.