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Sour Dough Starter Explosion!

cavebat@spectra.net (George and Joyce Allen)
Fri, 26 Apr 1996 20:09:39 -0400
v096.n007.11
Many thanks to all of you who sent me suggestions on making my own sour
dough starter.  I am happy to report, that I finally have a nice starter
that makes very big loaves of delicious bread....however, I didn't make it
myself.

A dear friend stopped by the other day (she is an excellent cook and baker)
and told me that she was getting a batch of sour dough starter from a
relative in North Carolina. Would I want some of it.  Of course, the answer
was yes!

This starter apparently has been in the family since sometime in the 1800's.
It originated in California and now is with those few family members who
make their own bread.  On Sunday, two weeks ago, my wife brought back a
refrigerated bag with 1/2 pint of starter that was on ice. Voila!  I had my
starter; but, I needed to extend it a bit.  I thought that if I were to
extend it to about a quart, I would be able to make bigger batches of bread
and have some to share with friends.  In order to do this, I had to first
bring the starter up to room temperature.

The starter was in a large jelly jar with a mason cap. I took it off the ice
at noon and set it on the kitchen counter to come to room temperature. Oops!
I promptly forgot about it.  Later that afternoon, I came into the kitchen
and heard this funny hissing sound.  The starter was bubbling furiously and
starting to creep out the top of the jar.  Without thinking, I started to
open the jar to release the pressure.....BOOM! The lid flew off the jar and
hit the ceiling, starter spattered against the wall and on me too!  Powerful
stuff!

Fortunately, I didn't loose all of it and was able to sucessfully extend it.
I just made to very large loaves with it this morning.  It is very fast
rising and tastes great!

Yes, I did clean the kitchen!

George
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* cavebat@spectra.net     co-owner of cancer-l, the cancer support list server
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*George Allen, Binghamton, New York - the garden spot of New York State
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