Make your own sourdough

I had a starter for several years that was descended from the one kept by Dick Proenekke [1]. He lived alone in a cabin that he built himself--by hand--deep in the Alaskan bush. He made sourdough pancakes daily and his original starter came from a friend of his back in town. Someone related to this person sells the starter (on a wooden spoon) that you can buy [2] and use to create your own descendant.

There's a fascinating PBS documentary on him that you can watch on YouTube, if you're interested: [3]

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Proenneke

[2] http://richardproenneke.com/heirloom_sourdough_starter_spoon

[3] https://youtu.be/iYJKd0rkKss

Re: Make your own sourdough

#5

Post by hendricius » Sat, Apr 28, 2018, 6:09 AM UTC

chrissnell wrote: post #4

I had a starter for several years that was descended from the one kept by Dick Proenekke [1]. He lived alone in a cabin that he built himself--by hand--deep in the Alaskan bush. He made sourdough pancakes daily and his original starter came from a friend of his back in town. Someone related to this person sells the starter (on a wooden spoon) that you can buy [2] and use to create your own descendant. There's a fasci…

Really interesting, thanks for the links. I would be curious to see how that starter behaves differently then mine.

I really need a good microscope to analyse the different doughs in detail.

Re: Make your own sourdough

#6

Post by rhcom2 » Sat, Apr 28, 2018, 6:09 AM UTC

chrissnell wrote: post #4

I had a starter for several years that was descended from the one kept by Dick Proenekke [1]. He lived alone in a cabin that he built himself--by hand--deep in the Alaskan bush. He made sourdough pancakes daily and his original starter came from a friend of his back in town. Someone related to this person sells the starter (on a wooden spoon) that you can buy [2] and use to create your own descendant. There's a fasci…

That is an absolutely incredible combination of food and history. How did you like the results?

Re: Make your own sourdough

#7

Post by hendricius » Sat, Apr 28, 2018, 6:10 AM UTC

poulsbohemian wrote: post #3

Nicely done, excellent pictures.

Thanks. I usually do the baking, my fiancee does the pictures :D. I love to bake and a/b test the different doughs.

Re: Make your own sourdough

#8

Post by chrissnell » Sat, Apr 28, 2018, 6:13 AM UTC

rhcom2 wrote: post #6

chrissnell wrote: post #4

I had a starter for several years that was descended from the one kept by Dick Proenekke [1]. He lived alone in a cabin that he built himself--by hand--deep in the Alaskan bush. He made sourdough pancakes daily and his original starter came from a friend of his back in town. Someone related to this person sells the starter (on a wooden spoon) that you can buy [2] and use to create your own descendant. There's a fasci…

That is an absolutely incredible combination of food and history. How did you like the results?

The starter was great but it's just sourdough starter. My palette is not refined enough to taste the difference between various sourdough cultures. Use the instructions in OP's link and it will probably be just as good. I think it's neat to have a starter from a place that's special to you. You could make one in your hometown, or in a favorite vacation spot, a place famous for its sourdough (like San Francisco), etc.

Re: Make your own sourdough

#9

Post by slimbods » Sat, Apr 28, 2018, 6:14 AM UTC

Nice article, thanks. Losing your starter can be painful as it takes at least a week to build a new one. So it's good to have a backup; build a bit extra then freeze it. Should you lose your starter, you can defrost the backup and carry on right away. Especially handy if you go on holiday or can't bake for a few weeks.

Re: Make your own sourdough

#10

Post by hendricius » Sat, Apr 28, 2018, 6:24 AM UTC

chrissnell wrote: post #8

rhcom2 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is an absolutely incredible combination of food and history. How did you like the results?

The starter was great but it's just sourdough starter. My palette is not refined enough to taste the difference between various sourdough cultures. Use the instructions in OP's link and it will probably be just as good. I think it's neat to have a starter from a place that's special to you. You could make one in your hometown, or in a favorite vacation spot, a place famous for its sourdough (like San Francisco), etc.

Here in Germany many people trade starters across villages. It would be interesting to have a scientific study on the differences. Maybe there is different bacteria/yeast in the different villages?