Sourdough bread hot from the oven -- now that's something to look forward toThis is my second attempt to keep a sourdough starter; the first one fell over in the cooler and took on some contaminated ice melt. You're supposed to store it in a container that allows a little air, so we had punched two holes in the jar lid. So you have to take care that it doesn't fall over, feed it regularly and dispose of half of it regularly, preferably by giving it away. I found a lot of information about sourdough starter, including how to make it from scratch without adding potatoes, sugar and a lot of other fuss, at S. John Ross's web page.
John says it's almost impossible to kill a sourdough starter, once it's going well, and that a some starters date back hundreds of years. Like the cockroach, it'll be around long after I'm gone. But you're not supposed to stir it with a metal utensil or in a metal bowl; stick with glass or plastic, he adds. And the murky liquid that forms at the top is called "hooch" -- right, just like you'd refer to alcoholic beverages except you can't drink this stuff. Somebody has already tried, I'm sure, but regretted it. Anyway, you just stir the hooch back into the starter when you feed it. I don't know how people kept it in the days before refrigeration, but all the instructions I've seen insist you keep it in the fridge.
I've talked to a number of first mates here and in La Cruz who keep sourdough starters, and given the lack of good bread to be found here in Mexico, I thought I'd try making my own, at least until it gts too hot to use the oven. And there's always sourdough pancakes.
Nobody I know has named their sourdough "pets," but I thought if I did, it might help me remember that it's another entity that needs feeding and maintaining. Bubbles?