Rolling in Dough....

sort of.

I am a failed sourdough starter person. I have tried to make a sourdough starter several times and for various reasons, it just didn't work.

While at Real Foods last week, I picked up a commercial sourdough starter packet. And I also had just bookmarked a sourdough starter recipe from one of my favorite bread people, Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.

Basically, I have 'dueling dough' going on.

This is an experiment to see if (1) I could actually get a starter 'started' and (2) what the difference in taste would be. One is from a commercial starter and the other is from wild yeast in the air. Already I can tell a difference in the smell of the starter.

The one of the left is from Cultures for Health and is in my recycled pickle jar. It starts out with only one tablespoon of flour and water plus the starter packet, adding more every 12-24 hours. 

So it's not a pretty container, but it's working. 

And then my Artisan Bread sourdough starter in the bigger jar. You use 1/2 cup of flour and water every 24 hours, with a skip on day 3.

I am going to have to 'beef up' the starter in the pickle jar so I will have enough at the end of a week to make a loaf of bread. The Artisan Bread starter will be good to go for dough at the same time.

Monday morning was Day 4 in the process. Bubbling along and starting to bubble almost immediately after being fed. They will be ready (if all goes according to plan) for making bread the end of the week. I will make up the dough and let it set for 24 hours to really get the sourdough taste (hopefully). There will be a taste-off this weekend to see which one I like best.

Unfortunately, Savvy will be out of town for the first tasting and she is my real bread taster. 

I am thrilled so far with the results. Usually something happens and it doesn't even get this far. On one occasion Texter 'baked' my starter which I had put in the oven to keep warm. Of course, for some reason, I always want to start trying in the winter when keeping the starter warm is an issue.

But we are bubbling right along and I can't wait until this weekend!