>From: Mike Avery <mavery@mail.otherwhen.com>
>Subject: Re: old starter
>Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 09:21:46 -0500
>Dr. Ed Wood wrote that he's never had a starter he couldn't
>revive. A number of rec.food.sourdough folks have wondered if he's
>always revived the same starter that he started with. Kinda like
>Stephen King's "Pet Semetary".
I don't know what that is, enlightenment, please?
>The idea is.... Discard all but 1 cup of starter (Mary - it's not
>good starter or good food at this point
Well, Mike, I think you know in what esteem I hold you but that
phrase is tantalising. Why is it not a good starter? And why is it
not (potentially part of) good food? If it's not mouldy what's the
problem? I've never had a starter grow mould, interestingly.
>Add enough warm (not hot) water to the quart container to just about
>fill it, stirring vigorously. Discard all but one cup of the diluted starter.
But WHY?
>Add 1 cup of unbleached all-purpose flour and 3/4 cup of
>water. Stir, cover and wait 12 hours.
>
>Repeat the steps above until the starter takes off. In some cases,
>Dr. Wood says, it can take 5 or 6 days. This is a thinner starter
>than I usually use, which means that it will respond more quickly
>than my usual starters would.
It won't take any longer if you start with the complete starter though ...
>I'm trying this technique on a starter that turned bad on me, and it
>seems promising. Notes at http://www.sourdoughhome.com/breadblog.html
I'll have a look but I can't think what would make a starter 'bad'.
OK, I looked. As an aside, I spotted one or two typos, I'd be happy
to proof your blog for you, you've given so much to so many including
me. I know someone already does it but two heads are better than one
and I've done it professionally (although nobody's perfect!)
You said: Slashing can help prevent the loaves from tearing themselves apart.
I started slashing a few years ago but occasionally I forget or
events overtake the baking. When I don't slash and the loaf tears
itself apart the result is better received than when it's more
beautiful. The reason is that the tearing produces a very crisp and
irregular crust at the bursting-out point and this crust is extremely
popular with the family. They fight over it. So I'm thinking of
deliberately not slashing.
The main problem with that is that the crisp tear crust has very
sharp point, the feature most enjoyed, and it can pierce freezer bags.
Why can't Life be, if not perfect, then easy?
:-)
Mary