What about it? Same thing. Keep it covered... just enough to prevent dehydration and yet, let gases equalise. I would be more worried about the egg whites shrinking. (seriously) Refrigerators are also good dehydrators of foods and starters.
Not tight but I do have a screw on lid. Mind you, my main starter sits in the fridge on a permanent basis. I just take some from it when I want to bake and build it up to what I need. I keep that in a screw cap jar too.
OK, here was my thought yesterday when feeding my "pet". Bear with me......
Every guide I read said the container should be vented in some way, some saying to cover with cloth held in place with an elastic, a glass jar with a hole in the cover, etc. I used a mason jar, with the lid upside down and the retaining ring on loose.
I know from my tobacco (legal, of course) storage that there is an amazing amount of moisture exchange from this type of arrangement.
Because my starter is 100% hydration, the air inside the jar will have an extremely high Rh while the surrounding air will be low in moisturge. So even with a loss of 0.5% a day, over time that will drop the water / flour balance significantly.
Like I said, maybe I'm overthinking and being too picky.
My guide (maybe not popular though ;-) says to keep starters in kilner jars with rubber seals.
So that's what I do - I have 3 of them. They live in my fridge and come out daily when I use them and top them up. they often go "Pssssht" when I open them, but they also sometimes do that on their own - the rubber seal gets pushed out of the way.
If anyone has first hand expensive of these exploding, I'd like to know...
I'm obviously still new to this but I would think there's no way it would build up enough pressure to explode. I'd also love to know if anyone has experienced this.
So you keep a mature starter sealed (and maybe everyone does) but what about a fresh one, like mine, a couple of days - a week old?
My understanding is that these jars are designed to hold a vacuum - or near. So you fill them with hot stuff which you're preserving, cam the lid down, it cools down and enhances the seal... The seal isn't designed to work the other way, so any excess pressure just causes it to "burp" out. And this is what I have observed - I've even opened my fridge door and wondered what the occasional gurgle was - the rye (which is the most active) trying to escape through the seal... (the jars sit in a tub, just in-case!)
When I made my first starter from scratch it made bread a week later, but it didn't settle down to what it is today for a month or so. It seemed to go through a few changes but for the past 6 years it's been more or less the same. Its consistency changes when I change flour, but that's about all. If you're worried then loosely cover with a freezer bag and a big rubber band... That'll give it "breathing space" and keep anything unwanted out.
I've used the same jar(s) for mine since day 1... They do get a wash once a year or so with a new rubber seal - I think the acid causes them to perish quicker than normal...
Unless you need to maintain a very specific quality to your starter, don't sweat too much the details. Yes, it will lose a little bit of humidity, but just freshen it up every now and again and you'll be fine. There are enough bacteria and yeast in that little kingdom that they'll get on in most conditions that are habitable for us too. So as long as you go on living, so too will your starter have the necessary (but not sufficient) conditions for living, too.
Even mathematically, at a loss of 0.5% humidity per day (which wouldn't be 100% constant, let's be real) you'd have to forget about your starter for a long while before it shriveled up and dried (DRIED, not DIED). And then, you pinch off a little dry starter and feed it normally and you're back in business.
but be aware that what's bubbling probably isn't what you ultimately want - there's a veritable maelstrom going on in there with all sorts of beasties and bacterias competing ... Eventually (hopefully!) the acidity will rise which will kill off those that can't survive leaving the one that can - and it's those you want to use to make your bread with.
However it's very encouraging to see stuff starting to work - keep going with whatever starter build method your using and look forward to making your first loaf with it next weekend.
and proofing. You don't want your dough forming a hard skin that will impede rising.
But what about starter?
What about it? Same thing. Keep it covered... just enough to prevent dehydration and yet, let gases equalise. I would be more worried about the egg whites shrinking. (seriously) Refrigerators are also good dehydrators of foods and starters.
Not tight but I do have a screw on lid. Mind you, my main starter sits in the fridge on a permanent basis. I just take some from it when I want to bake and build it up to what I need. I keep that in a screw cap jar too.
OK, here was my thought yesterday when feeding my "pet". Bear with me......
Every guide I read said the container should be vented in some way, some saying to cover with cloth held in place with an elastic, a glass jar with a hole in the cover, etc. I used a mason jar, with the lid upside down and the retaining ring on loose.
I know from my tobacco (legal, of course) storage that there is an amazing amount of moisture exchange from this type of arrangement.
Because my starter is 100% hydration, the air inside the jar will have an extremely high Rh while the surrounding air will be low in moisturge. So even with a loss of 0.5% a day, over time that will drop the water / flour balance significantly.
Like I said, maybe I'm overthinking and being too picky.
My guide (maybe not popular though ;-) says to keep starters in kilner jars with rubber seals.
So that's what I do - I have 3 of them. They live in my fridge and come out daily when I use them and top them up. they often go "Pssssht" when I open them, but they also sometimes do that on their own - the rubber seal gets pushed out of the way.
If anyone has first hand expensive of these exploding, I'd like to know...
-Gordon
I'm obviously still new to this but I would think there's no way it would build up enough pressure to explode. I'd also love to know if anyone has experienced this.
So you keep a mature starter sealed (and maybe everyone does) but what about a fresh one, like mine, a couple of days - a week old?
My understanding is that these jars are designed to hold a vacuum - or near. So you fill them with hot stuff which you're preserving, cam the lid down, it cools down and enhances the seal... The seal isn't designed to work the other way, so any excess pressure just causes it to "burp" out. And this is what I have observed - I've even opened my fridge door and wondered what the occasional gurgle was - the rye (which is the most active) trying to escape through the seal... (the jars sit in a tub, just in-case!)
When I made my first starter from scratch it made bread a week later, but it didn't settle down to what it is today for a month or so. It seemed to go through a few changes but for the past 6 years it's been more or less the same. Its consistency changes when I change flour, but that's about all. If you're worried then loosely cover with a freezer bag and a big rubber band... That'll give it "breathing space" and keep anything unwanted out.
I've used the same jar(s) for mine since day 1... They do get a wash once a year or so with a new rubber seal - I think the acid causes them to perish quicker than normal...
-Gordon
Unless you need to maintain a very specific quality to your starter, don't sweat too much the details. Yes, it will lose a little bit of humidity, but just freshen it up every now and again and you'll be fine. There are enough bacteria and yeast in that little kingdom that they'll get on in most conditions that are habitable for us too. So as long as you go on living, so too will your starter have the necessary (but not sufficient) conditions for living, too.
Even mathematically, at a loss of 0.5% humidity per day (which wouldn't be 100% constant, let's be real) you'd have to forget about your starter for a long while before it shriveled up and dried (DRIED, not DIED). And then, you pinch off a little dry starter and feed it normally and you're back in business.
In a word, don't sweat the small stuff.
for your replies and advice.
The good news, is that my starter is happily bubbling away at less than 48 hours old.
but be aware that what's bubbling probably isn't what you ultimately want - there's a veritable maelstrom going on in there with all sorts of beasties and bacterias competing ... Eventually (hopefully!) the acidity will rise which will kill off those that can't survive leaving the one that can - and it's those you want to use to make your bread with.
However it's very encouraging to see stuff starting to work - keep going with whatever starter build method your using and look forward to making your first loaf with it next weekend.
-Gordon