Re: Digest bread-bakers.v106.n014
Bob the Tar-Heel Baker wrote:
Blend a cup of warm water and a cup of flour, and pour it into the
jar. That's the whole recipe! I use plain, unbleached bread flour
most of the time, but I've had good results with all-purpose and
whole-wheat flour, too. If you want, you can add a little commercial
yeast to a starter to "boost" it. If you do this, sourdough snobs
will look down their nose at you - but who cares about snobs? I
personally find that (at least here where I live) no yeast "boost" is
necessary, and I can make "real" sourdough with no trouble. But if
you are having trouble, go ahead and cheat. I won't tell. Note that
starter made with commercial yeast often produces a bread with less
distinctive sour flavor than the real thing.
I was going to ignor his disdainful remarks about us 'sourdough
snobs' but I decided to make a comment anyway.
If you are going to add commercial yeast, you might as well forget
playing with the sourdough altogether
One more comment: It isn't necessary to keep your sourdough starter
in the refrigerator. If you use your starter everyday then it isn't
necessary. I affirm that the old trail cooks and sheep herders never
owned a refrigerator to keep theirs in.
Enough said!