I am a novice baker and decided I wanted to give sourdough bread ( a favorite of mine) a try.
I started some sourdough starter according to a recipe book I had ( just a simple flour, water, sugar, yeast mix) and put it up in a dark warm corner to ferment. Now I was wondering is there anything I should be worrying about or keeping track of? The recipe said cover with a towel and stir it 2 or 3 times a day..OK, that's easy, and it should be ready to use for the bread in 5-10 days. But how do I know when the starter is ready? How am I sure it fermented right and didn't just go bad? CAN it go bad?
I am a novice baker and decided I wanted to give sourdough bread ( a favorite of mine) a try.
I started some sourdough starter according to a recipe book I had ( just a simple flour, water, sugar, yeast mix) and put it up in a dark warm corner to ferment. Now I was wondering is there anything I should be worrying about or keeping track of? The recipe said cover with a towel and stir it 2 or 3 times a day..OK, that's easy, and it should be ready to use for the bread in 5-10 days. But how do I know when the starter is ready? How am I sure it fermented right and didn't just go bad? CAN it go bad?
Enquiring minds would like to know...
That's not a very good starter recipe. You just mix water and flour until it looks like thin pancake batter, and let it sit for a few days. (it works best if you use bottled water (no chlorine) and at least a little rye flour instead of all white flour.) It takes a week or two, and several feeding for the starter to stabilize into something really useful. Check out rec.food.sourdough for more details.
I am a novice baker and decided I wanted to give sourdough bread ( a favorite of mine) a try.
I started some sourdough starter according to a recipe book I had ( just a simple flour, water, sugar, yeast mix) and put it up in a dark warm corner to ferment. Now I was wondering is there anything I should be worrying about or keeping track of? The recipe said cover with a towel and stir it 2 or 3 times a day..OK, that's easy, and it should be ready to use for the bread in 5-10 days. But how do I know when the starter is ready? How am I sure it fermented right and didn't just go bad? CAN it go bad?
Enquiring minds would like to know...
Yes, sourdough starter can go bad. It's been a long time since I've been settled enough to raise some sourdough starter, so I can't remember how you tell when it's ready. I'm sure someone else will be able to.
-- Siobhan Perricone "I ain't afraid of your Yahweh I ain't afraid of your Allah I ain't afraid of your Jesus I'm afraid of what ya do in the name of your god" - Holly Near
I am a novice baker and decided I wanted to give sourdough bread ( a favorite of mine) a try.
I started some sourdough starter according to a recipe book I had ( just a simple flour, water, sugar, yeast mix) and put it up in a dark warm corner to ferment. Now I was wondering is there anything I should be worrying about or keeping track of? The recipe said cover with a towel and stir it 2 or 3 times a day..OK, that's easy, and it should be ready to use for the bread in 5-10 days. But how do I know when the starter is ready? How am I sure it fermented right and didn't just go bad? CAN it go bad?
