1214 Sourdough Starter

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Dave70

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Has anyone experimented with using beer yeast in baking? I was going to go the traditional leave it on the window and sit method, but since I've some Belgian Abbey sitting in the fridge thats run it's course, I thought I might use a little in my starter rather than chuck it down the sink.

Silly?
 
Has anyone experimented with using beer yeast in baking? I was going to go the traditional leave it on the window and sit method, but since I've some Belgian Abbey sitting in the fridge thats run it's course, I thought I might use a little in my starter rather than chuck it down the sink.

Silly?

No. That will give it a good start. Once it gets going though you will probably find that the brewing yeast dies off in favor of the wild yeasts that are present in the flour. After a dozen or so feedings of the starter it will be mostly wild bugs. The brewers yeast will get it started quicker though and will help prevent molds etc getting a foothold.

Interesting fact - a flour/water mix will start fermenting even in a sealed container as the flour contains heaps of wild yeasts and lacto bugs. You don;t even need to leave it open on the windowsill.

Cheers
Dave
 
I thought sourdough culture was a mix of yeast and bacteria. I made a sourdough starter by just leaving a mix of flour and water out uncovered till it started fermenting. You need to make bread regularly and have plenty of time to do sourdough. They say it is healthier than yeast but it's a lot easier to just use a couple of teaspoons of dry yeast.
 
I've made bread with leftover yeast. It was good, I liked it, the wife and kids not so much. It was made from an IPA and I just took a cup of slurry and threw it in in place of the regular yeast. It tasted heavily of beer and hops, which is why I liked it I guess. And why the wife didn't. Took a while to rise, much longer than dry yeast which I normally use.

It's very easy to start a sourdough from water and flour. Wholemeal is a bit better than white flour, but both will do the trick. Google 'sourdough pineapple juice' for a more surefire method. The pineapple juice acidifies the the environment, making contamination by moulds and wild yeasts less of a problem.

Of course, if you're just making bread from a cup of slurry, it's not sourdough, but I assume you know that.
 
Best thing about proper sourdough is that the bread lasts a lot longer than supermarket bread
 
I was under the impression, the u tube impression, that you needed to use 50% rye 50% plain, but I guess not. I'm hoping to get a little spicy flavor from the yeast like it imparts in the beer.
Of course, using the slurry kind of makes a starter redundant.

If it turns out rubbish, at least it'll be a change of pace the parrots and magpies who visit the bird feeder..
 
I was under the impression, the u tube impression, that you needed to use 50% rye 50% plain, but I guess not. I'm hoping to get a little spicy flavor from the yeast like it imparts in the beer.
Of course, using the slurry kind of makes a starter redundant.

If it turns out rubbish, at least it'll be a change of pace the parrots and magpies who visit the bird feeder..

Nah, I made my starter with plain old woolies wholemeal flour and it worked awesome. It now has rye, spelt and oat flour in it and the bread made from it is brilliant. I pretty much add whatever I've got in the cupboard. It just turned 1.

If you're keen for good starter instructions check out http://www.sourdoughbaker.com.au/

I used this fellas method and it worked very well.
 
. It just turned 1.

Fred, my sourdough starter is 16 now. I'm a bit fussy with what I put into the starter. For my method, the starter is all plain flour with any specialty grains being added to the main dough.

Cheers
Dave
 
Fred, my sourdough starter is 16 now.

Holy cow! That's awesome! Mine is around 5 years old, but has only been entrusted to me in the last few months. I am less fussy than you, but I really do notice the difference in activity with different types of flours.
 
Slurry>flour>pizza

One of the things I love about bottling day. Sorry, somewhat OT
 
Holy cow! That's awesome! Mine is around 5 years old, but has only been entrusted to me in the last few months. I am less fussy than you, but I really do notice the difference in activity with different types of flours.

Yep. I've been baking sourdough for about 18 years now. Had fred for 16. In the last few years I have gorrent a bit serious about it and now make all the family bread. Haven't bought bread at the shops for nearly 3 years now.

I find that even changing brands of flour changes the flavour and activity in the starter as it changes the mix of bugs you are putting in when you feed it. I noticed quite a diference when I switched from Kialla to Demeter flours.

Cheers
Dave

P.S. If anyone wants a chunk of starter shoot me a PM. I usually have a little left over after each bake to share. I think Fred has about 20 colonies now all round the country.
 
Postscript:

Turned out like a brick. Looked fine and the crushed almonds gave it nice texture.

Managed to get a few few slices down after slathering with butter, then tried toasting, then gave up.

All said and done, messy, time consuming and disappointing. As a ptissier , I make a good brewer..
 
Postscript:

Turned out like a brick. Looked fine and the crushed almonds gave it nice texture.

Managed to get a few few slices down after slathering with butter, then tried toasting, then gave up.

All said and done, messy, time consuming and disappointing. As a ptissier , I make a good brewer..

What was your method? There are many reasons for heavy bread. Some to do with technique, some to do with ingredients.

My money is on under rising due to low yeast amount but I could well be wrong.

Cheers
Dave
 
What was your method? There are many reasons for heavy bread. Some to do with technique, some to do with ingredients.

My money is on under rising due to low yeast amount but I could well be wrong.

Cheers
Dave


I agree with the yeast idea. Loafs I've made with Fleischmann's have turned out great even when chock full of bacon bits and cheese.
Actually, I think I just re kindled my enthusiasm for baking..
 
Dave, I had an issue with under-rising when using brewing yeast too. Regular times went out the window. It took nearly the whole day to do a double rise and then bake. But the results were beery and delicious, so definitely give it a go again.
 
Dave, I had an issue with under-rising when using brewing yeast too. Regular times went out the window. It took nearly the whole day to do a double rise and then bake. But the results were beery and delicious, so definitely give it a go again.

Yep.Just remember that when using bakers yeast you are adding the equivalent of a whole packet (or more) of dry yeast to the dough. A little bit of yeast slurry just doesn't have the cell count. You would need an entire smack pack or vial of liquid yeast to match that amount.

Any less and you get a lag phase just like you do in brewing. Your rise takes much longer. You can bake that way (I do with my sourdough) but you have to accept the longer rise times. My rise is between 9 and 18 hours depending on the weather.

Cheers
Dave
 

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