I am a student at loughborough university and need to conduct primary research on sourdough starters. I was wondering what the main problems are when making and maintaining a sourdough starter and how you try to overcome them? Any information will be much appreciated.
Here you go.
How did you do that?
lmgtfy.com
.. just the right amount of sarcasm balanced with practical advice..
Would be to make one yourself. In how long is your research due?
I completely agree! I made a loaf last weekend and experienced a lot of issues with the sourdough starter but wanted to find out whether anyone else experiences the same issues.
And Suave has pointed you in the best direction. Lots on this site on this very topic. You just need to read through the questions and troubleshooting. You've come to the right place.
Starters are living things and the first thing one should know is that there is no one recipe or formula for making one. Patience, keeping warm and feeding at the right time (according to the rhythm of the starter and not the clock) is the key. When first starting off this is a lot to take in, it's over whelming and will test ones patience. First issue(s). It's just like trying anything for the first time.
The main issues I noticed were that you are unable to control the activity of the sourdough starter because it depends on the temperature and humidity within your environment. Its also hard to know when the starter is fully active, when it needed feeding and generally what condition its in. It would be great to know if anybody else has these issues as well?
You are sort of answering your own question here. Part of what makes predictable and consistent bread is controlling the activity. Personally I think it is probably the biggest factor in artisan bread.
We ARE able to control the activity. We start with a known entity and then change certain factors to develop a consistent product. The starter is held to that same scrutiny. Those of us who try to dial in a consistent product, be it a starter or the resulting bread, try, fail, change one factor, fail, change another factor... better... You get my point. It's all about control. Once we get a successful outcome we replicate our processes in an effort to strive for consistency.
I may play with a starter or bread formula for a month or two, 3 days a week, before I get close to a consistent result.
Jim
and being turned loose in a room of unknown size and asked to find the door out.
The main problem is we cannot see the bacteria and yeast we want to grow and maintain. We have to figure it out growing, feeding and maintaining a sourdough culture by the way the culture behaves and that itself is a delayed reaction having more to do with an accumulated effect of thousands if not tens of thousands of tiny microscopic organisms.
On making a starter:
On maintaining a starter:
Paul
What do you mean about too little instructions given on the effects of temperature and acidity? Would be interesting to hear more about this as it links to my project!
Temperature has a very strong effect on a starter's activity, whether it is in its infancy or well matured. Cooler = slower and warmer = faster. By warmer I mean above 70F. Below that, starter activity levels are progressively reduced as temperatures fall. Once you get away from TFL, very few of the instructions for launching a starter mention that it will progress much more quickly if the temperatures are in the 75-85F range.
Acidity matters, too. Search the site for the "pineapple juice solution" for an extended write-up of how and why acidity affects a starter. In brief, the first several days of a starter's development are marked by successive regimes of bacteria as the pH drops, until it finally is acidic enough that the yeasts and beneficial Lactobacillus bacteria dominate. Again, most starter instructions make no mention of this.
The fact that you needed to ask points up just how woefully inadequate most starter incubation instructions are.
Paul
How do you go about creating the right temperature for your starter? I found it very hard to control this variable.
If you want to spend some money, you could spring for a Brod & Taylor proofer. They work very well at keeping things warm.
If you want to minimize or eliminate any cash outlay, there are numerous threads here on TFL about do-it-yourself proofing boxes. Just search for "proofing box". Even easier, put the starter container in the oven, switch on the light, and leave the oven door propped open slightly. Or put the starter container in a microwave oven along with another container of hot water and close the door. Or put the starter container in a picnic cooler with another container of hot water and close the lid. Or put the starter container on top of your water heater / geyser. Or put it on top of a piece of electronic gear (cable box, modem, computer, stereo components) that is constantly on and gently warm. Or put the starter container on top of your refrigerator if that spot stays warmer than the surrounding room. Or put it near a radiator, although you'll want to be careful that it doesn't get too hot. If you want to go really low tech, feed the starter enough flour to make a firm dough, tuck it into a plastic bag, and carry it in a pocket or somewhere else close to your body to keep it warm, just like the old prospectors (aka 'sourdoughs') were reputed to do.
In short, any place that you can find or create that will stay warm is a great place for your infant starter. Do make sure that your starter container has enough empty space to allow the starter to expand by 3 or 4 times its original volume. You don't want it to overflow into some pricey piece of electronics, for instance.
Paul
Dear Researcher,
I agree the best way to research is to experience it yourself. I started my starters six years ago when I "retired from my day job and decided to fulfill one on my Life's Agenda items of making Sour Rye bread that I grew up loving in NYC. I found a book by George Greenstein "Secrets of a Jewish Baker and he provided a recipe (pp.163-165)for making a Rye Starter that I've been using since 2011. Also important is using a good scale. I measure my starters out in grams. It makes for more consistent results. The recipe is .5 cup of rye flour (66 grams) 1 gram of active yeast and 1 cup (232 gms) of water. George suggested adding 1 TBLS of crushed caraway (12 gas) and 1 TS (3gms) of minced onions, These he stated at to the flavor. I didn't do that. Ingredients are combined in a large bowl and mixed until smooth. It should be a thin, soupy consistency. Let it stand in a warm spot (for m 70-80F) up to 24 hours. Then comes development which is feeding. Mix 148 gas of rye flour and 116 gms of water. Add all the starter and mix until smooth.Put in a warm spot fro 4-8 hours. Sprinkle some rye flour over the top and cover with a cloth or clear plastic wrap. When the top shows cracks and fissures repeat the step twice more. Refrgerate with a film of cold water over the top. untilRepeat twice .
After that feed your starter regularly. In a bakery George states that is every day. I feed mine once a week. When making bread I build the rye starter up to 1025 gas in 3 states. I mix 1/1 ratio of flour and water until I have the desired amount. By building in stages my starter comes to a peak when I do my mixing. George also give a recipe for white starter on pp 166-7. When I feed I clean off the top of my starters throw a few tables away. Starter can be fed up to 4x the amount of starter remaining. They love to be fed. Once I've fed them I have a proofing refrigerator which keeps them at 43-5 F. They've stayed very happy for six years now and get better with each feed. As others have said this is "live" and there is a lot of art. Try baking with it. I use only natural starters now for my signature breads and like bakers have found out for the last 10,000 years it works and the results are tasty.
I found Greenstein's book loaded with practical advice. Also, Jeff Hammelman's "Bread" was excellent for process information and recipes as well. This blog is great. There are some highly skilled and experienced bakers out there and I'm lucky to be in this blog.
Best of luck with your research.
Big Crusty
bacteria and yeast that we want to grow, thrive in the same temperature range that our human body prefers. You may find it convenient to start up your starter in a vest pocket next to your body.