Proofing - raising questions???? Hearth Bread and Flatbread Discuss Proofing - raising questions???? in the Brick Oven Cooking forums; Sarah, Okay, so you're not a patient type; neither am I. You gotta send me your address if you want ...

[CanuckJim]

Sarah,

Okay, so you're not a patient type; neither am I. You gotta send me your address if you want me to send you some starter. Still don't have it. Shoot me an email.

Jim

[sarah h]

Hmmmm ... I did, as an FB 'Private Message' that you responded to, so I thought you had it - no problem, I'll send it again - should be there in a few minutes.
Jim, I hope you didn't think I was suggesting I was impatient with you, I just meant that once I get an idea in my head, well, it just doesn't rest till I act on it, so I thought I'd play with some various options in the interim.

[CanuckJim]

Sarah,

Nope, not at all. My fault. You did send it previously, and I did lose it immediately. Now the info is safe in my inbox. I'll feed the starter over the next two days to make sure it's at the peak before I send it. Expedited mail, even to Ottawa, would be a good idea, because I don't want it hanging around in a sorting machine somewhere.

Apologies; brain burn.

Jim

[sarah h]

No problem, and I doubt it's you - the technological age, for all it improves things, does have its glitches. Your starter will be particularly welcome because the stuff I'm playing with here now looks and smells nasty! I stirred it this morning, then chucked it in the fridge. I haven't had the nerve yet to haul it out for another look.
As for the mail, please don't overdo on postage as things coming from your direction (at least, from north of Belleville) seem to routinely arrive in just a day or two.
Thanks, Jim!

[CanuckJim]

Sarah,

Workin on it. Should be soon. I'll let you know when I pull the trigger.

Jim

[sarah h]

Jim's starter arrived on Friday! I fed it yesterday - lovely and active, it's now in the fridge, whispering 'Come bake with me' ... but I have a full slate over the next few days, then I'm away for a week, so it will have to wait.

The family says that Jim's stuff smells like the real deal, while the stuff I had made smells like baby barf, and are adamant that they will only eat bread made from Jim's starter. That said though, I'm still going to nurture both of them over the next while, to see if the difference is just that regional difference in yeasts that I keep hearing about (mine had developed ... 'hootch'? ... and after stirring it in a few times, I poured it off this morning).

Anyway, huge thanks, Jim! And the rest of the family thanks you too !

Sarah

[CanuckJim]

Sarah,

You're very welcome indeed. It will be an interesting experiment to work with both, side by side. Any starter, left to sit for a week or two in the fridge, will develop hootch. That's a natural thing, because starter fementation, like any organic fermentation, develops alcohol as a byproduct. Just stir it in before feeding.

Jim

[Frances]

...I always thought baby barf smelt surprisingly nice - compared to the grown-up variety anyway.

Good luck with the yeasts Sarah, let us know how it turns out!