I had several home-generated starters bomb out, die out, or just be
wimpy. Finally I bought the King Arthur starter, and have had no trouble
since. Over time its characteristics have drifted a bit, but it is still
strong and reliable. Well worth the low cost and the minor dent in my
baker's pride.
As for the Rose Levy Beranbaum book, nearly all of the errata listed are
easy for an experienced baker to spot. Where I've had trouble is that some
of the flour weights seem off. 11 or 12 ounces for two cups of flour is
pretty high. Not sure whether that was a misprint or an author error, but
when I went back to measuring the flour instead of weighing I got good
results again.
I've had some great successes with her recipes, and a few duds. I've even
been able to double the single-loaf yields successfully - one loaf is not
enough product from all that time and gas, at least not for me.
Now for a question: has anybody in the Washington DC area been able to
find Pillsbury Medium Rye flour or any other brand of rye that is not
wholegrain with lots of bran? A couple of chains carried it as recently as
November, but I have not seen it since. Alternatively, does anyone have a
mail order source for rye flour in bulk? I know KA carries a rye blend,
but I don't want to pay shipping for it.
Many thanks,
Jessica Weissman