gmilner wrote:If I remember correctly, it was the smell that really told me mine was ready. It should give off a very strong, kind of sweet smell. Also, there will be lots of bubbles, and it should be pretty thick, almost like cake batter, but stickier.

thanks. i think mine's got quite some time to go then.
she's not thick, her bubbles are tiny and only beginning to form.
but the smell is getting sweet. and it's thickening up. slowly.

a day or two ago i added tap water and am now wondering how they treat water in spain.
hopefully my starter isn't dead or retarded.

i should stress that this is the easiest, cheapest, dirtiest starter that i could possible make.
i didn't want to go to the fancy flour store yet, so i just used standard run of the mill cheap flour.

also, mineral is cheap and plentiful here, what do you(all) think of using this for the water in a starter?

also, i love the sauerkraut digression.
it's definitely on my list of things to make. that and pickles
right after buffalo mozzarella.
and of course, the sourdough.

thanks for all the advice.

r0ck1r0ck2 wrote:
a day or two ago i added tap water and am now wondering how they treat water in spain.
hopefully my starter isn't dead or retarded.

i should stress that this is the easiest, cheapest, dirtiest starter that i could possible make.
i didn't want to go to the fancy flour store yet, so i just used standard run of the mill cheap flour.

also, mineral is cheap and plentiful here, what do you(all) think of using this for the water in a starter?

I've never used anything but tap water and regular white bread flour for my starter. I've read a lot of stuff about how you should make sure the water is very pure, no chlorine, etc., but I've found that it really doesn't matter. Starters are remarkably robust. And each one is different, depending, on things like altitude, temperature, and type of yeasts in the air, so yours may be ready. The starter recipe I used said the starter would be ready on the 14th day, and I think that's pretty much how it worked out.

zom-zom wrote:Tell us more.. I know I did get a recipe from Rog that I still need to try. Maybe I'll get a load of cabbage at the Farmer's Market this summer.

Do you like Kimchee? That could be fun to make.

I always wanted to try making that. I cannot smell anything, so I don't care. However, my neighbors can.

burun wrote:I always wanted to try making that. I cannot smell anything, so I don't care. However, my neighbors can.

I had a coworker with a Korean bride. Always "fresh" kimchee for us at lunchtime. I ate it at first because I'm a cheap bastard and it was free but I developed quite a taste for it.

Kimchee is not allowed in my house however.

I made sourdough starter, and I use it in that no-knead bread recipe that was published in the NY Times a while back. Mmm. Bread.

fancyjamtime wrote:Kimchee is not allowed in my house however.

Your house sucks.