These days it seems like the vegan blog world is a flame with sourdough posts. Perhaps it is because it's spring and that's when folk feel creativity urging them along. After all, it is the season when new things are born. After being inspired by Kittee's injera experiment last year, I finally got around to making my own sourdough starter last week. I haven't done a day-by-day posting on the happenings in my starter jar, simply because it looks the same every single day. It's been bubbly and stinky since day two, and that's about it. I owe my happy starter to using freshly squeezed orange juice instead of water in the first few days. I also used whole wheat flour, which apparently is not always the best to use in starting out with making a starter. But I've had fantastic results. I got the inspiration for the orange juice from The Fresh Loaf while looking for some direction on how to begin. Today is day 7, and I think there's a little while yet to go before I am sure it's ready to use. I think the weekend will have me doin' some bakin'! Yay!
Here's a low-down on the last few days:
Day 3 (picture above)Still the same. Lotsa bubbles and a bit more of a beer smell. The starter got quite bubbly again just an hour after I fed it. I keep peeking at it as if something different is going to happen and I don't want to miss it. I did notice that overnight into day 4 the starter seemed to rise and then fall. I guess this is a good thing.
Day 4
Time to stop adding the orange juice. I'm supposed to remove a 1/4 cup of the starter, discard the rest and then feed it with plain water and flour. Seems like a waste of starter to me! But I'll follow the directions...
Day 5
The starter looks happy, but I messed up when I fed it. I didn't take out the 1/4 cup of starter and discard the remainder before I fed it. I just added the 1/2 cup each of water and flour. There's a bit of water on top of the starter and it still rose back to the top after I mixed it back in. I hope I didn't ruin it!
Day 6
It's not dead yet. There's still some bubbles. I'll add a few tablespoons of flour to soak up the excess water and then leave it alone for another day. And cross my fingers.
Day 7
It's alive! It's alive! And stinky! It's starting to smell like sourdough. And there's a heck of a lot of bubbles, not to mention actual starter. My boo-boo ended up in me having twice the amount of starter. Now I have two jars of starter. It was a shame to take out the 1/4 cup and toss the rest, and there was enough of it to divide it in two and have two starters going at the same time. Oooh! The possibilities!








