Sourdough Starter

April 3rd's science lesson was creating a Sourdough Starter, organized virtually by Jen & Avery (who live in Calgary). It was dead easy: add 1/2 cup of water to 1 cup of flour in a 1 L jar which you cover with cheesecloth. To liven things up a bit, Trevor used whole wheat flour to compare with Fiona's white flour.

Now we wait to see if it works......

Day 3 Notes (April 5th):

• both had grown a fair bit (the white flour grew more)
• both had a film on the top (the whole wheat flour one was thicker and darker) 
• the white flour one was a bit frothy, bubbly and puffy
• the whole wheat flour one had air pockets that you could see from the side but looked dry and lumpy
• stirred and added a bit of water to both

Day 4 Notes (April 6th):

• both had grown a cm since Day 3
• both were bubbling and frothy looking
• both were stretchy and stringy when stirring

First Feeding: April 6th

We took out half of each of the starters. Then added 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of room temperature water to each. Both got a good stir. And now we have to do this every day for a few days.

Day 5 Notes (April 7th):

• The white flour one had grown 3cm, smelled like pickled onions and looked doughy, slimy, puffy & a little bubbly.
• The whole wheat flour one had hardly grown at all, smelled slightly salty, was light brown, grainy, chunky and a bit dry/crusty looking.
• Both were very stretchy when stirred and became stinkier.
• Both were fed 1 cup of flour & 1/2 cup of water after half their volume was removed again.