"ROWAN, TODD (PETCARE)" <rowant@petcare.nestleusa.nesusa.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
Can anyone suggest a method to keep sourdough starter warm (i.e., 70 -
85 degrees) in a house that remains in the low 60's for the winter? I
would like to "reactivate" my dried starter, but don't have a place in
the house that reaches the appropriate temperature range. I don't have
a pilot light in the oven, so I can't place it in there.
<<<<<<
I recently purchased a new GE pilotless gas range with less than perfect
facilities for sourdough. With some success, I turn the oven on for a few
minutes for letting my sourdought bread rise. Keeping the oven light on also
helps. All in all, these are not fully satisfactory.
The oven itself is well made. If the electronic control were only changed,
it can be made into a great oven for sourdough--both for starter and bread
proofing. The oven was purposely designed to prevent running the oven at
sourdough temperatures. The reason is that GE appears to be shy about
getting sued because microbial growth caused someone to get sick.
Temperature cannot be set for less than 175 degrees F. For very little
development cost and practically no additional production cost, GE could
modifiy the electronicsproduce a great sourdough oven. I plan to write an
extensive summary of how the oven should be modified. I am willing to
include suggestions from digest readers.
My own suggestions inlude:
1. Display the oven temperature even when the oven is on.
2. Allow temperature settings as low as 80 degrees F.
3. Allow a multistep cycle. That is set temperature and time for a rise
cycle to be followed by a bake cycle.
4. Allow turning off the completion signal for those of us who want fresh
bread in the morning without having to turn off the sound in the morning.
I have others as well.
It certainly is possible to get all these improvements by merely substituting
a new control panel for the old. In fact, many of these could be achieved by
just using a new ROM in the old panel. Aren't computers wonderful?
William Buchman