Sour Dough Starter

I was given a some sour dough last year by a neighbour. She called him Herman as he was from a German stock!

I have used him to bake cakes and bread. Some of the more unusual things I have done is use him as yeast in brewing both beer and ginger beer. With different results, not entirely unpleasant! The ginger beer was the best though.

When you get given some sour dough he requires upkeep. You need to divide him into quarters. give away three quarters and then keep one quarter and feet it.

I fed mine with wholemeal strong flour, water, and sugar. He will then munch away until his heart is content. He likes a warmish temperature to be kept active. But he can be kept in the fridge where he will go dormant.

Whilst he is in the fridge he is still supposed to be fed once a fortnight and kept clean to keep him turning over. At this point he will develop a dark coloured liquid as he starts to settle and separate out. This is OK. This liquid is called Hooch. I have been told that this is a sort of alcohol. (That is what started me thinking about using him for brewing.) This is the by product of him eating.

Herman is a bacteria that lives naturally on wheat. He is a sort of yeast. He needs food - sugar and flour, water, and air - a good whisk. He needs all this special attention to be coaxed into large enough numbers to become useful to us. He is not like the modern yeasts that have become refined. He is a very primitive type of yeast.

When he is healthy he will multiply. He will expand and bubble. He needs to be very active to be used in baking. He can not be used direct from a dormant state.

Well, my Herman has been in the fridge for at least 6 months with no attention at all due to my health. But on Friday I thought it was about time he woke up. It has taken until today to revive him. I kept feeding him once a day and whisking him two to three times a day keeping him at room temperature. Of course in that time I may have spawned a completely new Herman rather than revived the old Herman, there is no real way of knowing.

I found giving him junk food -white sugar- the best. I did also add flour and water to give him a good consistency. He needs to be no thinner than a thick pancake batter but a more porridge like consistency seems best. I also found that whisking him with a plastic spoon rather than a metal one seemed better.

I came down this morning expecting to have to throw him away. But there were signs of life... little frothy bubbles!

So it looks like some sour dough experiments are on the cards....