Thanks for your note Jay. Here's the reply I received from Dan Lepard, a
baking expert here in the UK (see the forum on his web site
www.danlepard.com for more detail). Steven Leof
Hello Steven,
I wasn't aware you can kill all yeasts and bacteria simply by leaving them
undisturbed at 4C. I believe it takes a bit more aggressive action to wipe
them out.
This is what I would do. Place 1 tablespoon of the presumed dead leaven in
a clean jar. Add 150g flour (your choice) and 150g water at 20C, and stir
vigorously together. Leave for 12 hours, then remove all but 50g of leaven
from the jar, whisk in 200g water then stir in 200g flour. Leave another 12
hours then repeat until you have fermentation.
What you are doing here is:
(a) making sure that the new refreshment of flour and water is each at a
ration of 1:4 or 1:5
(b) refreshing after 12 hours for maximum yeast activity.
Sounds like there is a lot of bacterial activity (the strong smell of
alcohol) and very little yeast activity (no visible sign of fermentation)
Regards
Dan
Jay Lofstead <jay.lofstead@mindspring.com> wrote:
>My experiences with leaving the starter that long is that it does take a
>bit longer. I may be naively thinking I am reviving rather than making a
>new culture, but it does come back eventually. I have had to wait 18-24
>hours to get movement before. I do pour off the alcohol before doing
>anything. I'm not sure if that will negatively affect your starter if you
>stir it in.