We have a new addition to the household!
Born on the 27th February 2014 we would like to introduce you to …. Bob!
Bob is a sourdough bread starter, or will be providing I can keep him alive for long enough!
I’ve made bread starters before but I’ve never kept them after they’ve made their first batch of bread. Bob however I intend to feed and nurture and see how long I can keep him going.
I have to say I’m not feeling confident. You see it’s all a bit scientific. Flour to water ratios, temperature, how much flour to feed, blah blah blah. I can’t be doing with all that so I’ll be truthful and say… I’m winging it!
For those of you who fancy having a go at ‘winging it’ too you will need some flour. I used some strong white flour and a little malted grain. I used the malted grain because it has whole grain in it which, if I understand right, has more of the natural yeasts present which are needed to get your bread going. The malted grain also contained rye which again is supposed to make a good starter.
I put the flour in a tall kilner jar and then added water to make a paste the consistency of single flour. I then put the lid on and left it.
A couple of hours later he looked like this…
This is not good…
If I was a puritan I should probably have ditched the mixture and started again. However I’m ‘winging it’ so I chucked in a bit more flour, gave it a mix and left it.
On day 2 it looked better but still had water separating so I added more flour again. It did smell nice, a bit like beer, which is good… I think?
On day 3 he’s looking like this…
Now to me that is looking quite healthy…
I guess only time will tell, watch this space…
Please do not get Bob confused with Viking Bob! Sourdough bread starter Bob has no interest in cars or bikes and is nowhere near such a dude as Viking Bob. Sourdough Bob could never do Superman impressions on his bike @ 70mph down the motorway!
6 days in and still alive. Really ought to split him and make some bread I suppose!