Just as I asked in title. Is the KA sourdough starter decent to get? Should I try to make my own? I've been wanting to learn how to do sourdough bread for a long time, just never started as I wasn't sure about a starter.
I looked kinda quickly through all the threads here and didn't find the answer in my short check so that's why I'm asking. 😀
I use the KA starter more than some of the other ones I have. I like it a lot. KA claims the culture has been maintained and used since the 1700s - I recall seeing a date of 1757 on their site awhile back.
If you want a 'free' culture send a self addressed stamped envelope to: Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter - https://carlsfriends.net/ This is also another good one. I usually include a $5 bill to help them keep the culture going.
I've got 5 different cultures. Whichever flour you use will have yeasts that most likely will supplant the ones in the culture you order but the lactobacillus species will hopefully remain the same - all of mine smell and taste different from each other.
Last edited by 58limited; January 13, 2022, 07:35 PM.
Should be fine although I got mine from a local bakery and have nurtured it. You can also start one yourself, all you really need is flour, water and patience. I'd get some distilled water so your new yeast don't have to fight the chlorine or chloramine in tap.
I dried my starter a few years ago using information on the KA Site. I should get it out and resurrect it. I've been baking bread just not using starter.
Weber Summit Kamado with SnS and Vortex.. Broil King Baron, Primo Oval Junior. Primo XL. Love grilling steaks, ribs, and chicken. Need to master smoked salmon. Absolutely love anything to do with baking bread. Favorite cool weather beer: Sam Adams Octoberfest Favorite warm weather beer: Yuengling Traditional Lager. All-time favorite drink: Single Malt Scotch
KA starter is fine, but I always make my own. I had to toss one recently, because I had neglected it, but I made a new one from some starter that I had dehydrated and frozen.
I make a 50 % white, 50% whole wheat starter, with 100% hydration. Very easy to do.
Don't the wild or feral yeasts in your area invade these "imported" starters such that it becomes a Darwinian competition, which may be won by the invaders?
So the school of thought that I have read, and tend to believe, the real yeast work is coming from wild yeat in the flour, not our air, like the lore says. I’m not an expert
Richard Chrz I have read that as well, and after reading that it does seem to be intuitively true. However, in my VERY unscientific opinion, I think there are far too many variables for it to be an absolute truth.
I've read the same as Richard. The thing to remember is that the starter you keep isn't left uncovered. You feed it, cover it, etc. BUT... even if that's 100% correct, the yeast in the flour you use to feed it will influence your starter. And as MBMorgan notes, it's complex
> Weber Genesis EP-330
> Grilla Grills Original Grilla (OG) pellet smoker with Alpha/Connect
> Grilla Grills Pellet Pizza Oven
> Pit Barrel Cooker (gone to a new home)
> WeberQ 2000 (on "loan" to a relative (I'll never see it again))
> Old Smokey Electric (for chickens mostly - when it's too nasty out
to fiddle with a more capable cooker)
> Luhr Jensen Little Chief Electric - Top Loader circa 1990 (smoked fish & jerky)
> Thermoworks Smoke
> 3 Thermoworks Chef Alarms
> Thermoworks Thermapen One
> Thermoworks Thermapen Classic
> Thermoworks Thermopop
> Thermoworks Square DOT
> Thermoworks IR-GUN-S
> Joule Turbo Sous Vide Circulator
> Searzall torch
> BBQ Guru Rib Ring
> WÜSTHOF, Dalstrong, and Buck knives
> Paprika App on Mac and iOS
The short answer is "Yes, KA starter is OK to get". It'll start just fine and work great for you. After a while, however (maybe a year, maybe more, maybe less) it will morph into exactly the same starter that you would have had if you had just started one from scratch using just flour and water.
If you're interested in starting from scratch, there are a ton of references and "methods" to which I and others would be happy to point you. If not, go for the KA starter; either way, in a year or so you'll arrive at whatever starter is "normal" for your locale.
Regardless of which approach you choose, have fun with it ...
Last edited by MBMorgan; January 14, 2022, 10:22 AM.
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
I've really WANTED to make sour dough bread after seeing all of the fantastic creations that Richard Chrz is turning out, but have always been reluctant due to not knowing where to get a starter, then having to deal with maintaining the starter, even if I don't feel like baking bread every week.
I remember a big sour dough fad came through Georgia back in the 70's or 80's and my mom baking sourdough bread every week for about 6 months, then she just got tired of doing it just to keep the starter going, and let the starter, which lived in a big mason jar, die.
So far for me its been easier to just deal with a jar of yeast in the fridge, versus keeping a starter alive.
PS: Sourdough doesn't NEED to be the boules etc. I make sandwich bread every week or so. I mean, I eat sandwiches. I need bread. So I just make that mostly.
To build on rickgregory 's point ... and pancakes (don't forget the sourdough pancakes) ... and pretty much any other leavened bread (or bread-like) product that would benefit from just a little tang.
Thanks! There is a wealth of knowledge in this group and it goes WAY beyond just smoking meats, I appreciate it. 😊 I was talking to some friends last night and found that one of them have a starter. I was told I should be able to get one from them. I will also look into creating my own.
Another question I have since distilled water was mentioned and not to use tap due to chlorine. What about well water? We are on a well.
Chlorine will inhibit the yeast etc but won't kill a healthy starter. The thing with starting one from scratch is that you have few yeast so you want to preserve as many as possible. You can use tap, it just might take the starter longer to develop initially.
> Weber Genesis EP-330
> Grilla Grills Original Grilla (OG) pellet smoker with Alpha/Connect
> Grilla Grills Pellet Pizza Oven
> Pit Barrel Cooker (gone to a new home)
> WeberQ 2000 (on "loan" to a relative (I'll never see it again))
> Old Smokey Electric (for chickens mostly - when it's too nasty out
to fiddle with a more capable cooker)
> Luhr Jensen Little Chief Electric - Top Loader circa 1990 (smoked fish & jerky)
> Thermoworks Smoke
> 3 Thermoworks Chef Alarms
> Thermoworks Thermapen One
> Thermoworks Thermapen Classic
> Thermoworks Thermopop
> Thermoworks Square DOT
> Thermoworks IR-GUN-S
> Joule Turbo Sous Vide Circulator
> Searzall torch
> BBQ Guru Rib Ring
> WÜSTHOF, Dalstrong, and Buck knives
> Paprika App on Mac and iOS
Sanitation is crucial to keeping your starter healthy ... and it's a bit of a Catch 22. You want to eradicate all of the nasty bacteria and yeast that might contaminate and ruin your starter, while at the same time, doing no harm to the "good" bacteria and yeast that make your starter what it is.
Basically, it's exactly the same problem facing beer brewers and wine makers ... so I like to use the same sanitizing solution for sourdough that I use for brewing beer. In my case, that involves an inexpensive 1-step (no rinse) sanitizer that won't leave any residue behind:
FWIW - Personally, I just can't quite make myself believe in the "no rinse" claim. I always rinse anyway ... call me superstitious ... or at least a skeptic. I'm sure the claim must be true ... but still ...
Hmmm. I've not seen that particular cleanser. Technically the information I see on it says it is a cleaner (like PBW, Oxyclean, etc), but is no rinse. But Northern Brewer and others seem to say it can be used a sanitizer with 2 minute contact time.
I use PBW or Oxyclean for cleaning and soaking stuff like kegs and fermenters, and use Starsan to sanitize. I usually keep a 1 quart spray bottle of Starsan around for sanitizing all sorts of things in the kitchen, in addition to when brewing.
) ... Stinky Water = Stinky Bread
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