If the starter smells sour but the products you bake with it don't, there are
a couple of possibilities I can think of. One, you have to allow sourdough
PLENTY of time. A long slow proof and then a long slow rise before your final
shaping into loaves or rolls is imperative. Two, don't add commercial yeast!
I've seen many recipes for "sourdough" both in books and on the Internet that
call for added yeast, particularly for recipes trying to adapt sourdough to
bread machines. When you add a domestic yeast to a wild sourdough yeast, the
more aggressive commercial yeast will almost certainly overwhelm your "wild
child" and there goes your sourdough flavor.
Char
> From: qoe@sna.com
> Subject: sourdough starter is not sour!
> Date: Mon, 06 Mar 2000 22:43:49 -0800
>
>
> I've got a wonderful smelling sourdough starter.....started. It looks
> great.....smells so sour doughy....I get all excited about using it after
> keeping my little pet going for 3 weeks. Then my bread and rolls I've
> tried to make don't taste like sourdough at all. They taste almost like
> regular bread. Any suggestions?
>
> Regards,