activating sourdough culture from sourdo

[maui420]

hi, here is my culture at 4 days old. how can i tell it is ready to be placed into the refrigerator? it hasnt change much since yesterday. i did however have a small amount of hooch in the center on monday, but it seems to have disappeared, not sure what to make of that. also,

some say to wait till the whole culture is full of tiny bubbles, however in the directions it states to wait for 1-2 inches of foam and mentions nothing about the rest of the cultures appearance. also, should this culture be kept at 85degrees or at 70-72 room temperature? i am going

thanks for any help! i hope to join the bread bakers thread!

Edited February 25, 2009 by maui420 (log)

[melamed]

hi, here is my culture at 4 days old. how can i tell it is ready to be placed into the refrigerator? it hasnt change much since yesterday. i did however have a small amount of hooch in the center on monday, but it seems to have disappeared, not sure what to make of that. also,

some say to wait till the whole culture is full of tiny bubbles, however in the directions it states to wait for 1-2 inches of foam and mentions nothing about the rest of the cultures appearance. also, should this culture be kept at 85degrees or at 70-72 room temperature? i am going 

thanks for any help! i hope to join the bread bakers thread!

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I made sourdough starter once about 2 years ago and keep it in the fridge. My major mistake was not feeding it properly and after the first couple days it became contaminated (stinky). On my second try, I fed the dough as soon as I began seeing bubbles in it, throwing half out and replenishing. I didn't bother with checking temperatures. When it began to bubble nicely a few hours after feeding I moved it to the fridge. Also use your nose! does it spell like sourdough? that's the best indication that you are doing the right thing. I am not an expert but I hope this helps.

[andiesenji]

There can be a lot of variables - how warm is your kitchen? Things go more rapidly when temps are between 70 -80 degrees F.

I keep my home quite cool during winter (thermostat set at 65 F.) and now the winter temps are low so it takes longer than in the summer when it is much warmer here in so.Calif. desert.

I have had some take a week to really get going, others perked up in a couple of days but I refreshed and replenished them and separated some to store before I ever used them for bread.

I also was careful to develop and use only one culture at a time to avoid cross-contamination or culture mixing.

Did you get your starter from Sourdoughs International? If so, which did you get.

They usually include the essential information and it is also available on the site.

Click here and scroll down to Use an active culture.

You can also find a lot of information and answers to almost any question at Sourdough Home.