sourdough starter?

[carriewintermeadow]

I'd like to bake my own sourdough rye bread, as I can't find one in the shops I like.

Anyone know where is the best place to buy sourdough starter and has anyone got a great tried and tested recipe?

I don't have a bread machine, so I'll be making it by hand.

Thanks, that's great Looking forward to trying it out.

Thanks Desperately, I've ordered rye flour and the sourdough starter. I'll see how I get on. I hope I can keep the sourdough starter alive!

Ooh great tip, thanks.

Do you just use flour, sourdough and water and salt?

Thanks Can't wait to get started..

My sourdough starter arrived today! I've fed it and it's stood in the kitchen. I hope the house isn't too cold for it - no heating on yet.

Today the sourdough had grown like crazy so I've made some dough which is now proving. I have also frozen some.

As the first proof will take till about 9 pm, then the second proof will take till 1.30 in the morning, can I leave it to stand overnight or will it rise and then collapse? If it's not the final proof and I'm going to knock it back and let it rise again, does that really matter?

I proof my sourdough rye bread in a bowl because it can go quite flat otherwise and I always do it overnight. It depends on the temperature how quickly it rises.

I've got it in a glass bowl with cling film over the top. The kitchen isn't particularly warm, as I haven't got the heating on. Fingers crossed it will be OK till tomorrow morning.

How is your bread looking this morning, carrie?
This thread has given me an idea in case my mum asks me what I would want for Christmas. I'd love to have a proper bread proofing basket, ideally in a loaf shape.

It looked good! I've put it in a loaf tin for its final proof. I'll let you know how it turns out.

So I baked the loaf. The crumb seems OK but it is very sour. I read somewhere that if the sourdough starter dies it becomes very sour. Could it be that I've killed it? (When I first received it and fed it I used room temperature rather than hand hot water as instructed, would this have caused a problem?)

I don't think it's the starter dying. I would assume it's rather too much/long fermentation. The longer the cells have time to grow the more starch/sugar are converted to lactic acid, the more sour it gets. Once the pH drops too much the yeasts in the starter will slow down or stop growing altogether because they grow better at more neutral pH and the lactic acid bacteria will grow better because they prefer lower pH. Yeast produces the biggest share of the CO2 that puffs up the dough so once the yeasts stop you don't get an increase in size anymore but the dough still gets more sour due to the LAB. Actually that might be what people mean when they say that the starter dies, the yeast going dormant.
All sourdough starters are different, mine is from my grandmother (who died in 1996, I have had it for a long time), You might need to play around with the conditions a bit.

Thanks. I will try shorter times at warmer temperatures.

I tried many times to make Sourdough and couldn't get it right. I got Richard Bertinet's book Crust 4 years ago, followed his Sourdough recipe, it came out just right and I've been making it ever since. Would highly recommend it.

I googled last night and was scared by how technically some people explain the process I'm not sure I'll ever get it right!

You can also get sourdough starters from the Village bakery in Melmerby. It's the one started by Andrew Whitley.