> A bakery in my neighborhood makes excellent sourdough bread. I tried
> getting some starter from them but they told me they get their ready made
> dough in bulk. I wonder if I got a few ounces of this dough could I use it
> to make a starter?
It is probably possible, but not a very good idea. A starter has a
different composition from dough. Starters never contain salt, and dough
always does (I'm sure you could find exceptions, but 99.9%...). Depending
on the bakery, they probably also have many other additives that make the
dough work better for them, but would not make for a very good starter. The
best choice is to get a starter somewhere else and try to get their recipe
from the company that actually makes the dough - at least an ingredient
list so you know what all they are adding besides the basic flour, water,
starter, and salt. Hope you find an acceptable substitute (or maybe
someone else knows more about this than I do.)
Ben McGehee
UnAuthorized Type
http://uatype.faithweb.com