“Is local bacteria making my sourdough starter go off?” That’s the question on today’s #AskWardee. I’m sharing my answer below!
I broadcast #AskWardee live each Wednesday at 10am Pacific (1pm Eastern) on Periscope and Facebook Live. Both the podcast and video replay of this week’s show are below. Enjoy!
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The Question
Connie L. asks,
“I have tried wheat sourdough a couple times in the past, and it eventually went the way of the dodo bird because the taste went off. My theory is that the local bacteria up here in Northern Ontario aren’t conducive to good sourdough. Is that possible? I thought that perhaps next time I would buy a San Francisco starter culture or something, but it seems to me that it would eventually be overpowered by the local bacteria with the same end result. Am I correct?”
#1 – My Sourdough Starter’s Story
Several years ago, I started with a New England sourdough starter from Cultures for Health. Then my daughters started their own spelt starters. Mine took a nose dive. It smelled bad and wasn’t as active due to the competition next door.
After a few days of TLC, mine bounced back to a “new” normal. We combined all three of our starters and it worked great — albeit it had changed a bit.
Finally, I now feed it with einkorn, and it adjusted through that.
My starter has been through many changes, and that makes it what it is today!
Prior to all this, we lived in the Central Valley of California, where, for the life of me, I could not get a starter to start without going moldy. It was very frustrating!
There I concluded it was geography and gave up.
So yes, it is possible that geography can cause a sourdough starter to go off.
Yet, it could also be other things (see my story above) and not necessarily fatal influences.
#2 – Before concluding that local geography is causing your starter to go off, first make sure:
Are you giving it regular feedings?
Is the room temperature not too hot and not too cold?
Is your starter away from other ferments (cheese, Kombucha, other starters)?
Is your flour fresh, whole grain?
Is your water pure/filtered without fluoride and chlorine?
If you answered yes to these, then you might say it’s local geography, but you also might try a few more times during a different season (like spring instead of winter, or fall instead of summer, etc.).
If you answered no to any of these, first try improving these conditions to see if your starter does better.
You can also simply “wait it out” and see if the “off” will go away as the starter achieves stability and maturity.
#3 – Will local bacteria overpower an acquired, mature starter?
Yes, local bacteria can affect your starter; though that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s finding a new normal.
Usually an established starter will weather these changes better than a brand-new starter that you’re still getting going.
San Fransisco starters have a very strong bacterial component (lactobacilli). That’s why SF starter and breads are so, so sour. They actually are hard to change, especially the bacteria balance. The lactobacilli culture is very strong. Other starters without so strong a mother culture will certainly change.
#4 – What instructions are you following?
Here are the instructions I recommend: Free Sourdough Starter Instructions 🙂
Links Mentioned:
- Free Sourdough Starter Instructions
- Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter (donation-based)
- Einkorn Baking eCourse at Traditional Cooking School
What Is The #AskWardee Show?
The #AskWardee is the live weekly show devoted to answering your niggling questions about traditional cooking: whether it’s your sourdough starter, your sauerkraut, preserving foods, broth, superfoods or anything else to do with Traditional Cooking or your GNOWFGLINS lifestyle.
I share tips and resources, plus answer your questions about Traditional Cooking!
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Ugghhh … I sooo wish I would have learned this a couple weeks ago:)! I purchased San Fran starter from Cultures for Health – but really wished I would have purchased New England with less sour taste. I think I rushed my San Fran getting it established … I’ll stick with it and see if I can make it work. Then maybe I can request the Oregon Trail one. Really excited to get a starter going!
Lisa — Don’t feel like you’re stuck with it. It’s going to grow and change with you. Enjoy the process! 🙂
Thanks so much, Wardee. You answered all my questions thoroughly and gave me much food for thought. I did follow your instructions because I had purchased your Sourdough course–years ago! There are a couple of things I think I might have done wrong. It was years ago, so I don’t remember for sure. I’m going to guess my water wasn’t the best. I wasn’t declorinating it then like I am now for my kombucha and water kefir. Also, I probably used bleached flour sometimes. And my kids were young so, who knows, they might have messed with it. 🙂 I just watched the video and am glad you explained about throwing half of the starter in the compost because I was concerned about waste. Instead of throwing half of it away, I simply split it and had two cultures developing. Who knows, maybe one stole all the bacteria from the other. lol. What I do remember is that I had way too much sourdough and had to make pancakes a lot, and my gang got too tired of that! I do have another question, but I will post it separately. Thanks for being there, Wardee; you are an awesome teacher. 🙂
Connie — Fantastic. I’m glad you found this helpful and that it goes you hope that you can get a sourdough starter going. Please keep me posted how it goes! God bless you!
My daughter and I have been transitioning to gluten free for a couple of years now and I have FINALLY found a recipe that works–that holds together and tastes decent (depending on what combo of flours I use) so I want to keep using it. But it would be great to have a sourdough option, too, especially since she’s not really supposed to be having yeast. It’s a yeast recipe that uses a chia/psyllium gel mixture to hold the flours together; that’s the aspect I don’t want to lose. How would I figure out how much sourdough to use in place of the yeast/water/flour? The recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups water with 2 1/4 tsp yeast for the 3 cups flour (plus 1/3 cup each of chia and psyllium and 1/4 cup oil/syrup); would I just use 2 1/2 cups sourdough plus the chia/psyllium/oil/syrup plus a quantity of flour–how much? Is it simpler than I think it is to substitute sourdough in a yeast recipe, or am I trying to mix things that are not supposed to go together? Many thanks. 🙂
Connie — I’m not totally sure, but here is the general rule of thumb (which is more of a starting place than a guarantee). Sub 1 cup of sourdough starter for a package of yeast. You also have to reduce the liquid and flour because of the flour/liquid in the starter. For every package of yeast, that’s 1/2 cup of water reduced and 3/4 cup of flour reduced. This is the starting place for gluten-based recipes and it might be completely different for gluten-free. But I’d start there!
This info came from:
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/index.php?content=convert
Hi Wardee,
First, thanks for the great work you’re doing ! ????
I just wanted to say that in addition to my spelt sourdough I also have an oat-based one which I use for baking (not bread, but other goodies:) and which once helped boost my regular sourdough when it was being challenged by other cultures that were probably too close to it. I feed that oat sourdough coarsely milled oat grains as well as steel-cut oats. And it behaves almost like a wheat or spelt-based one (the texture is a bit different, but the organisms living in my kitchen seem to enjoy it !).
God bless you and your family,
Carole from France
You have such a sweet personality. I like to get right to the nitty gritty of things, so my only suggestion would be to keep moving with pertinent info. I have never yet found a sourdough that my husband likes but I’m ready to start trying again.
Hi Wardee:
Thank you for this video. It is full of great tips! I am having an issue with my starter and would love your thoughts. I recently began making my starter with freshly ground whole wheat. I followed your instructions and it is bubbling away. However, it has an odd smell, something like vomit. Yuck! I am on day 6. Should I keep going or start over with my starter? Thanks for your help.
Hi Blair,
Keep going. This has happened to Wardee. It needs more time to adjust most likely. 🙂
~Millie, TCS Customer Success Team
Thanks, Millie. I will keep going. I fed it this morning and just smelled it. The bad odor is less noticeable now. I think it is moving in the right direction. I am hopeful!
Blair