My wife was going through the cabinets last week and hauled out two packets of dried starter. One was a survivor from our move from South Africa to the US, dating back to October 2011. So, just a couple of months away from being 14 years old. Mind you, this has received no special treatment, having been tucked away in one cabinet or another at room temperature. It has also survived a second move in 2020 when I retired and we moved from Kansas back to Michigan. The natural question was "I wonder if this is still any good?"
The packet, still looking like it did when it was first made:
There were 7 grams of starter in the packet. I mixed it with 43 grams of AP flour and 50 grams of water:
Room temperature was about 75F. Twenty four hours later, it looked like this:
There's maybe just the tiniest bit of expansion. The bubbles are the same ones that were visible in the "just fed" photograph, above.
At 48 hours after feeding, it looked like this:
It had peaked a few hours earlier and is already starting to recede in this photo. There's some free liquid at the bottom which has separated from the main body of the starter. Top view:
I discarded most of it and gave it my typical feeding: some whole wheat, whole rye, and AP flours with enough water to make it a soft dough. It is sitting on the counter and I'll see how it responds.
Overall, I'm both surprised and pleased that the starter was still viable after all of these years. While not abused, it certainly hasn't had kid glove treatment, either.
The new question is "What am I going to do with a second starter?" Maybe I'll have to pit the two clones against each other to see which performs best, just in case the other offshoot I've been using since 2011 has lost some oomph along the way.
Paul
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I think, as you have suggested, a bake off is in order. Best of 3 rounds? I'll be interested in the results of whatever you do!
Best of 3, and perhaps under very different conditions for those 3 loaves? Maybe one starter performs way better for a specific kind of flour, hydration or schedule.
I think it will take a few more feeds to get the starter on an even keel. It's still slow to expand, so I want to tweak it so that it cycles faster (less than 12 hours to double). It also has a whole lot more tang than the starter I've been using regularly, even though both are offshoots of the same starter. That could indicate that the LABs and yeast are somewhat out of balance, which also tilts me toward trying to build yeast activity.
I'll definitely try the bake-off between the two starters, once Thing Two is at fighting trim. If there's a clear winner, I'll keep that one. If there isn't, I may just merge the two.
Paul
I wonder if they won't both stabilize to something very similar after a few feeds. I used to have two distinctly different starters that I think are now identical, even with taking care to feed and stir with separate spoons etc.
Still, when it comes to a battle of your starters, you know which one I'll be rooting for. The Springboks!
-Jon
I’ll see how it plays out.
Hmm, should I call one of them Springboks and the other Bafana Bafana? Note that I won’t get another one going just so I can name it Proteas.
I would have thought you’d be an All Blacks fan.
Paul
Eventually - they will become what is available - and what's available depends on the environment. Enjoy!
The fact that the newly reconstituted one is noticeably more sour than the one I’ve been using here in the US for the past 14 years would seem to support that theory.
Paul
I was also super surprised at how good my dried and frozen starter flakes worked recently after my long trip away when my starter had mould growing on it. I expected to have to do several days of feeds before baking with it, but it was great after only a couple of feeds.
Great to know such an old dried starter can survive for so long.
Benny
Always nice to know that the insurance policy actually does pay off when it’s needed, without any foot dragging.
Paul