Friday, 24 April 2009

Feeding... and feeding... and feeding...

Open the box. Examine contents for signs of life. Stir the mixture. Pour away 200ml of it. Combine 100g flour and 150ml water. Mix into mixture. Close box.

Twice a day. For two weeks. Apparently this is what it takes to get a sourdough starter to a stable existence, when one can actually make bread out of it. It'd better work.

I'm a bit less concerned about it now than I was, as it's still alive and bubbling, just very slowly. It's behaving a bit like a sulky teenager, responding only to the odd poke and regular feeding. I think the problem is that it's got a bit colder of late, and so our inside temperature is a bit lower than the required 20C (central heating has apparently not made it this far south), and so my little yeasts are working very sluggishly indeed. From what I can tell, this isn't a bad thing necessarily, but it might mean it'll take a while to get stable. I've been placing it in what sunlight our flat gets during the day, and feeding it with slightly warm water to try to keep it cosy.

Hmmm. Ten days or so to go, possibly more.

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