Buying mum a sourdough starter - ready bubbling online.

[Redheadedstepchild]

My mum has been trying to make her own sourdough starter for months now. I live abroad so can't see the problem with my own eyes but she's determined to make her own sourdough bread with homemade starter despite things repeatedly going wrong.

We've gone through Youtube tutorials a plenty, tried all sorts of flour. Boiled the water. Used bottled water. It always dies.

She's a proud woman but could I just buy her a ready done bubbly thing in a jar? Nobody need know that she cheated.

It might seem a bit of an unconventional Mother's Day gift but I think she would really like it. I've looked at Daylesford Organic, Get Sourdough, Amazon, Bakery Bits, Forge Bakehouse, you name it - and now I'm overwhelmed.

Has anybody got any experience of buying such a thing?

I could always add in some sourdough bread making tools and whatnot to bump up the present and hide the shame of accepting second hand fungi.

If you buy them I think most come dried and need rehydrating
Give it a go though.
I made a lot of sourdough during lockdown. You just reminded me to do it again!!

Thanks! Did you make the starter yourself, in which case, what did you do?

The Daylesford Organic site and a few of the others seem to feature an actual mason jar of gloop but is that only for marketing purposes?

Personally, I think she overfeeds it or gets tired of the idea too soon and throws it away. She's tried all the supermarkets for dried starter, including Booths.

She's always been a good cook and gardener, so this is making her very frustrated not being able to grow this little organism.

You can buy starter from local bakeries near me OP. Has your mum tried that?

If you make it yourself you have to discard some and feed it. If you Google it or look out up on YouTube there are numerous guides and videos how
It's fun to make your own though!

@thinkfast I did suggest that but the old style bakeries around her way seem to be long gone.

@Legolaslady How long does it really take? We've tried Youtube tutorials but I think she's too impatient. Also, there seems to be conflicting advice about discard.

I could just try to do it myself. Just to make the starter and see if I can tell my mother how to do something.

No. I'm being silly.

@Legolaslady Oh, go on, go on. Tell us!

Just a basic recipe. We're sick of Youtube and Google. We don't want Bruin the Clumber Spaniel of award winning sourdough breads, just something vaguely edible.

Honestly I haven't done any since lockdown so I've forgotten. But I followed something like this for my starter.

https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2019/03/beginner-sourdough-starter-recipe/

The Daylesford one is on the chilled shelf in a glass clip top jar, in the Farm shop just like the image on its website. Two friends still have their ‘starters’ going from using an original Daylesford starter as their ‘mother’ during one of the lockdowns.

If your Mum has tried and failed to start one from scratch, it is a good idea to buy a ready made ‘live’ starter like the one from Daylesford.

I was going to link to this one too. After many failed attempts this worked for me. It was back in the summer so I don't know if the warmth of the kitchen also helped.

The sourdough bread recipe on that site is also very good; really low effort and comes out well every time

I third this. I did it following this link in the summer and it was very straightforward. Key I found was temperature, a nice consistent 24 degrees or so.

@Coffeetimes3 @Coffeetimes3 @PlatinumMoon

Thankyou all so much. I'll send her the Clever Carrot recipe and in the meantime, I've ordered her a basic starter from Daylesford Organic to be delivered.

They have promised me:

"Your order will arrive in a Daylesford branded, 100% recycled cardboard box, packed with shredded spruce from Britain and Sweden, natural sheep's wool insulation and non toxic chilled gel packs."

Oo-er.

V posh. Id love this gift.

I’ve just bought this for my DS birthday and it arrived today. It is indeed gloop. Sadly the jar is not branded.

I would love this!

I make starter at least 4 times a year as either the dc or I manage to accidentally bake it every so often.

I have never had any problem and it always happens within 2 or 3 days. I do nothing special, just put some flour and some water in a mason jar and leave it slightly open in the kitchen.

Someone once told me that it is better to do it near a lot of trees, as there will be more yeasts in the air, and that people who live in very urban areas sometimes struggle. I've always lived with near forests, so I can't say if my method works in a city with no trees, but a friend prepared hers and took it to another friend who lives next to a forest, then picked it up when it was done and swore that when she had done exactly the same in her house it hadn't worked.

@CatherinedeBourgh That's interesting. My mum lives on a windswept bit of Irish Sea coast. Not many trees and very salty air.

Although I think that she messes with her starter too much, wants things to happen fast and stresses it out.

I've noticed that some sourdough starters have a name to make them feel loved.

I wish I'd done the, "Being Nice To Rice" experiment with my boys when they were younger.

Y'know, the one where you take three jars of cooked rice, talk with love and kindness to one jar, ignore the second and shout insults at the third over thirty days.

The insulted jar goes rotten first. Allegedly.

We'll have to think of a lovely name for our Daylesford Organic Sourdough Starter when she arrives so she doesn't get homesick or ailing.

@CmonBobby He doesn’t want it in a branded jar! That gives the game away!

But could you get the Swedish spruce and natural sheep's wool?

*did

It took me three weeks to get mine going and I live in the north west by a beach. So yes probably patience was her problem. All the online recipes seem to be from people who live in hot non-salty places!

@CmonBobby Out of interest, did you ever get notifications of Daylesford Farms posting the gloop or did it just turn up?

I haven't had any, "It's on its way" messages yet.