Sourdough Starter

angel404, Mar 2, 8:38pm
Ive come across a recipe using whey and white flour. I've just mixed up a batch of the starter and will wait and see what happens. Has anyone else used whey before! Ive never had much luck making sour dough starters with water before so i figured ive got nothing to lose with this recipe!
vmax2, Mar 2, 8:56pm
Interesting angel.Whey generally helps to kick start fermentation.But I've only heard it used in veges not in sourdough.Let us know how it works.
angel404, Mar 2, 9:13pm
Those were my thoughts as well. Thought it unusual but worth a go. Will def let you know how it goes! Do you make sourdough vmax!
buzzy110, Mar 2, 9:24pm
Whey does not contain the bacteria that thrives on flour. However, lots of sourdough starters have been created using a variety of things to get them going. Eventually you will have to stop using the whey and just use flour as food.

As a piece of useless information, commercial bakers yeast is synthesised from a single strain from the wild yeaststhat were once a part of brewing.
vmax2, Mar 2, 9:31pm
I occasionally make sourdough angel.Too busy making and doing other things which I prefer over eating bread anyway.
angel404, Mar 2, 9:52pm
Buzzy - that must be why using whey isnt common then. This lady swears by it so will give it a go anyway.

Vmax - i very rarely eat bread as well. My parents like sourdough so will try and make it for her. Im scared if i make it i will eat it too often lol.
buzzy110, Mar 2, 10:32pm
In the early stages you will have a yeast that will rise the bread but will not do what sourdough is supposed to do and that is eat up all the sugars and protein (gluten and gliadin), in the same way that commercial bakers yeast provides plenty of rise but has no effect on the sugars or protein.
buzzy110, Mar 2, 10:34pm
My major problem is that I love the breadmaking process and would make it every day if I could. I love the kneading and forming. It is such a peaceful, relaxing thing to do. My freezer is stuffed with sourdough bread and I do have to stop making it. I cool it, slice it up and bag it up, then freeze it.
angel404, Mar 2, 11:54pm
Once I get it the starter going I was just planning on using flour and water from then on - u reckon that would be ok! Because I do want all the gluten and sugars eaten up.
amourette, Mar 3, 5:49pm
oooh interesting, good luck angel404.I hope to start some sourdough one day when I have more time.
angel404, Mar 3, 7:12pm
Theres a lot of whey sitting on the top - should I give it a stir or just leave it be!
buzzy110, Mar 3, 7:15pm
Yes I do. Once your starter has begun to produce the correct strains that thrive in the flours you are using it will work like a charm. It won't take much to create the right bacteria communities either, just one, maybe two refeeds and it will be fine. I was more concerned about repeated use of whey to keep the starter going and to inject it with extra bacteria and yeasts before making your initial sponge or, as uli calls it, the second sour.
buzzy110, Mar 3, 7:16pm
Hi amourette. I can show you all about sour dough as well and when you are ready, give you a starter.
buzzy110, Mar 3, 7:20pm
It doesn't really matter. The liquid is more likely to be acetic or lactic acid. Stick your finger in and give it a taste. Mine separates in the fridge. There is the solid part at the bottom with clear liquid at the top. That means it is just dormant. When I want to use it, I take it out of the fridge and it slowly reincorporates itself as the yeast begins to grow, produce gas and starts to inflate the solids sitting on the bottom.

If you like you can take a couple of tablespoons of the starter and use it to innoculate the next feed. If you are still in the early stages of starter making, mix it up, throw half away and make up half a cup of flour and half a cup of water and add that into the reserved half.

You'll get used to it. It doesn't stay the same. It changes all the time but it is still alive and working, just in various stages of growing.
figjamto, Mar 4, 1:34am
I am very much a beginner/novice and also trying to make a Sourdough starter.first effort was a complete disaster so got thrown away.am on day three of second attempt so keeping my fingers crossed on this on.
04redsox, Mar 4, 6:21pm
Hi angel404. My sourdough starter had milk, sugar and flour in it. It has been working fine for a little over a month now, and I have only ever fed it water and flour since it started, so I think yours should be fine, too :-)

I gave mine a stir every day when it was starting.