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  • High altitude sourdough

    From notbob@21:1/5 to All on Sat Jul 22 20:44:30 2017
    I usta buy George's Killer bread, but it's gotten waaaay too expensive.
    Like, $5.50-$6.00USD per loaf!

    No mas!!

    I've tried to make a true sourdough mother, but didn't know what I was
    looking at (I've got that 7 qt proofing container so popular with some
    hot new book - shrug). I've got two different kinds of organic flour
    (pastry, whole wheat) and can get more.

    I'm pretty new at baking, but have mastered pie crusts. I live at
    approx 8K ft elev. All the sourdough experts suddenly become real scarce
    when I mention my altitude. I've even read where some expert baker (sourdough.com) claimed he moved from a Texas town to a high altitude environment (CO), yet he never posted any usable info.

    Let's talk. ;)

    nb

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  • From Dick Adams@21:1/5 to All on Sat Jul 22 21:12:45 2017
    On Saturday, July 22, 2017 at 4:44:32 PM UTC-4, notbob wrote that he seemed to be having a problem starting a SD culture on account of high altitude.

    I have never heard of altitude is a problem for SD, assuming enough air to sustain animal life.

    It is simply a matter of making a paste or slurry of any kind of wheat flour, or rye even, adding some granules of dried SD culture, stirring, letting sit, and adding more flour and water when bubbling starts and so forth until a sufficient volume is
    obtained. Household temperatures are fine, but 85°F. is better. Any old jar will do as a container,loosely covered.

    You can still get free dried starter for a SASE at http://carlsfriends.net and some uncomplicated instructions as well.

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  • From Eric Graham@21:1/5 to All on Sun Jul 23 12:15:24 2017
    I agree with Mr. Adams, I think the problem will not be with your sourdough culture but perhaps with just baking bread in general. The CO2 generated by the yeast will have a larger volume because of the lower pressure at altitude, making rising faster
    and over-proofing something to watch for. Flour (and everything else) may be drier at high altitude too, so liquids in recipes will have to be adjusted. Otherwise, the yeasts and bacteria in the sourdough should do just fine if you are doing fine.

    Keep practicing is all I can say. I have come up with a few methods that are specific to my culture (I like it wet) but still produce variable results (I am also impatient). Keep baking and you'll come up with something that works for you and your
    culture and your conditions. And in the meantime, you'll have plenty of breadcrumbs from failed loaves for frying chicken, plenty of croutons for salads, and maybe even enough leftover less-than-perfect bread to start making kvass (my favorite recipe
    here, but using stale homemade sourdough bread instead of rye, here: http://www.gourmantineblog.com/do-you-know-what-kvass-is ).

    Let us know how it goes!

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  • From Shadow@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Thu Aug 3 13:33:06 2017
    On Sat, 22 Jul 2017 21:12:45 -0700 (PDT), Dick Adams
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    On Saturday, July 22, 2017 at 4:44:32 PM UTC-4, notbob wrote that he seemed to be having a problem starting a SD culture on account of high altitude.

    ...
    I've tried to make a true sourdough mother, but didn't know what I was
    looking at (I've got that 7 qt proofing container so popular with some
    hot new book - shrug).

    A 200ML glass container with a plastic top should be more than
    adequate to make your own starter. I use an old instant coffee jar.

    I have never heard of altitude is a problem for SD, assuming enough air to sustain animal life.

    Well, that's valid for animals, but yeast is optionally
    anaerobic, so it does not need all that much oxygen.

    It is simply a matter of making a paste or slurry of any kind of wheat flour, or rye even, adding some granules of dried SD culture, stirring, letting sit, and adding more flour and water when bubbling starts and so forth until a sufficient volume is
    obtained. Household temperatures are fine, but 85�F. is better. Any old jar will do as a container,loosely covered.

    +1
    And you don't even need a third party culture. The flour
    already contains the proper yeast and bacteria, so all it takes is
    flour, water, adequate temperatures and patience.
    2-3 weeks and the OP should have a thriving culture.
    []'s

    You can still get free dried starter for a SASE at http://carlsfriends.net and some uncomplicated instructions as well.
    --
    Don't be evil - Google 2004
    We have a new policy - Google 2012

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  • From Boron@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Thu Aug 3 16:39:54 2017
    On Sat, 22 Jul 2017 21:12:45 -0700 (PDT), Dick Adams
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    On Saturday, July 22, 2017 at 4:44:32 PM UTC-4, notbob wrote that he seemed to be having a problem starting a SD culture on account of high altitude.

    I have never heard of altitude is a problem for SD, assuming enough air to sustain animal life.

    It is simply a matter of making a paste or slurry of any kind of wheat flour, or rye even, adding some granules of dried SD culture, stirring, letting sit, and adding more flour and water when bubbling starts and so forth until a sufficient volume is
    obtained. Household temperatures are fine, but 85�F. is better. Any old jar will do as a container,loosely covered.

    You can still get free dried starter for a SASE at http://carlsfriends.net and some uncomplicated instructions as well.


    Good to see your name here. Hope all is well. Any interesting travels
    lately?

    Boron

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