Age
22Years
Color
Country of origin New Zealand
Taste
& Flavour
Mixture
Unknown
Liquid
Flour
Other
Dorothy
Since 2002
I had been interested in it for many years, mainly because of reading about it in old novels. After a few false starts, I got it going in 2002.
Characteristics
Best thing about it is the caramelised flavours in the crust. I make a 100% wholemeal and an 85% white, as well as English muffins and sourdough pancakes. It has a mild, fruity flavour, not at all sour but quite rich.
Taste & flavour
Recipe
Starting ingredients
Feeding ingredients
- % Water
- % Flour
- % Temperature
1
Add water and stir in till it's runny
% Water
2
Add flour and stir in till it's medium-to-stiff
% Flour
3
We live in temperate Sydney (houses typically don't have central heating), so my fermentation temperature is quite variable--23 C is about average, but can go up to 30, or down to about 10 in winter.
% Temperature
Working method
1
Mine is very ad hoc. I can't tell you percentages. I started it by mixing flour and water, and waiting--but it's so long ago I can't remember quantities.
2
Back when I started it, my little boy was still alive, and in the child Wellington climate he needed a heater on in his bedroom at night, so I used to leave the starter, and whatever I was making, in his room with him to rise. (He was blind, and enjoyed smell.)
3
Now I feed it with a variety of flours--white, rye, wholemeal, whatever is around.
Result
English muffins
My first successes, now family staple: substituting sourdough for commercial yeast into Elizabeth David's muffin recipe.
Bread
85% White bread adapted from Vermont sourdough in Jeffrey Hamelman
Baps
Overnight, single-rise, white milk rolls
100% wholemeal, 100% hydration
Made in loaf tins
Sourdough pancakes
Raised with sourdough overnight, then I fold in beaten egg whites next morning--extra fluffy.