Before you tell me I should post this in the Natural Medicine community, or maybe that it's TMI and I shouldn't post it at all, my problem isn't too much yeast in all the wrong places, my problem is I Cannot find the shit ANYPLACE! And I'm not the only one experiencing this problem, it's apparently affecting many countries..
Of course I'm referring to dry active yeast. I use it all the time for baking my buns, I do around 60 buns per week. The grocery stores around here haven't had any for over a month, and now, they don't even have flour.
Oh but of course they're stocked to the tits with Wonderbread and other nasty, processed, chemical ridden garbage I can feed my family.
I managed to find flour through a local restaurant, and they did have yeast, for 1 day...and then it was all sold out. Word travels damn fast right now.
I've always been very afraid to try and create my own starter. I've read before that it's pretty fickle. Needs to be at exactly 70 degrees F all the time, takes a week etc etc.
I started almost 2 weeks ago. I can testify that it is indeed fickle. It doesn't help that I'm trying it in a cool month. We don't get anywhere near 70 F in my house. Which is 22 C.
Day 1: The first recipe I tried starts with 3/4 Cup + 2 TBSP white flour and 1/2 Cup Water.
Mix it up, cover loosely with plastic wrap or towel and leave in a warm place (70 F) for 24 hours.
I decided the top of the fridge would possibly be the warmest and most consistent temperature in my house. After 24 hours I saw some bubbles and got pretty excited!
The recipe says to continue on doing this until Day 5-7 where you will finally have your finished product...
I've had sourdough starter before, I got it from a friend a couple years ago, and managed to keep it alive for a long time until one dreadful day when I accidentally killed it by making pancake batter, in the effing sourdough starter container!
I was so tired I forgot to set a little of the starter aside first 😱 The point of this rant is, that I know what an active sourdough starter smells like and behaves like.
This goes on and on for days, until I have so much inactive starter that I decide I'm going to bake biscuits with it and try a new strategy...
My new strategy was to say fuck it to using recipes and just go by look and feel with my flour/water mixtures and experiment with some variables!
I switched to using glass. One container has a metal lid, one has plastic wrap.
I have one container with white flour and a smidge of whole wheat, and the other is whole wheat flour with a tad of white.
And probably the most important thing I changed was to stop being such a cheap bastard and get some consistent heat by my starter babies!
Lo and Behold the whole wheat starter grew today! It is becoming active y'all!!!!! Oooh such a good feeling. After I fed it, it grew about 1 centimetre! AHHAAA!! I know it doesn't seem like much but that's the best result I've had by far.
I'm thinking that after I feed it tonight, and tomorrow morning, I may have the longed for DOUBLING! (When it doubles in size, it is finally active.)
Thank you for coming on this rambling journey with me today #HIVEfam. I know I don't have a recipe for you, or any expert advice. I guess if I have any advice it's to just go for it! I was scared for so long to try and create sourdough starter, yet it's really kind of fun experimenting and trying to get it to become active.
I know once I reach success it will be one of the best feelings in the world.
I am naming my starter this time too! (The one I had all those years ago, had no name.)
Do you have any name suggestions, or is it bad luck to name a starter before it is born? 😂
