Sourdough Starter Experiment

Sourdough Starter Experiment : Time Comparison

I have four separate starters that I bake with. For this experiment I fed each one the evening before the experiment. Next day I added 8 oz water, 8 oz bread flour and 4 oz each different starter to a wide mouth quart jar.

Here they are at the start:

One hour later:

Two hous later:

Three hours later:

At 3.5 hours the Alaska starter reached the top(doubled):

Four hours later the Alaska starter peaked:

Five hours later :

Still at five hours a view from the top:

Six hours later:

Six hours a view from the top: At 6.5 hours the NW starter reached the top and peaked.

Seven hours later: Aussie Starter peaked and almost reached the top. Alaska Starter is starting to rise again.

Eight hours later: The three starters to the right have peaked and fallen the Barley starter has not yet peaked and is taking a long time to reach the top.

8.5 hours later: The NW starter is rising again.

8.5 hours still, a view from the top:

Nine hours later: NW over the top, Aussie rising again,Barley starter still rising very slow.

Ten hours later:

10.5 hours later:

The Barley starter is still rising slowly and has not yet peaked. The Alaska starter was at the three hour level. The Aussie starter is almost at the seven hour level. The NW starter is blowing huge bubbles and starting to deflate. I took a couple more pictures before going to bed and then again this morning:

11 hours later:

12 hours later:

The next morning:

Last Picture:

This morning the Aussie starter looks ready to go with froth and bubbles. It is sitting at about the 4 hour mark. The NW starter is also frothy and bubbly and is almost to the three hour mark, but lost so much over the side, who knows where it would be. The Alaska starter is only a little frothy, not too bubbly, looks spent and is at around the 1 hour mark. The Barley starter is at about the 3 hour mark, and looks quite bubbly. Thats all folks, it was fun. I was thinking it would be interesting to do a photo diary about a starter with salt included, one with sugar, and one plain to observe the affect on the starter by sugar and salt during rising.

Note:

How fast a starter is does not mean it is the "best" starter. Some other variables that need to be considered are, the flavor, the effect on the breads texture, how much "sour" you desire, stability, how easy it keeps on going (some starters die out very easily), etc. The fast Alaska starter really would make the best starter for the quick sourdough breads that it is famous for like, flapjacks, waffles, biscuits, muffins, focaccia, Shepherders bread, etc. It makes a great camping starter.

The average sourdough starter peaks at around 6 hours, and you have to have that time for a really good fermentation of the dough to get a terrific bread with the sour flavor. So the crusty, sour, chewey loaves of Artisan style breads, need a longer lasting starter that won't fail when you are ready to put it into the oven. This experiment can help you choose which sourdough starter would be best for you. I don't sell the Barley starter right now, because of it's extremely long peaking time.