The Boris, Sourdough Starter

I got my sourdough starter from a friend, using a handed down starter seems to me the best way to go, chances are it's good and strong, and proven in use.

It's named The Boris and it's strong and sour.

The Boris is a straightforward, white bread flour based starter.  I hope to start experimenting with other flours and create other starter(s) in time.

Alternatively, starters can be made from scratch.  I have no experience of this.  Kits are available online; San Francisco sourdough starter kits seem the most popularly used.

The starter can be of various consistencies.  Bakers refer to the 'hydration level' of the starter, meaning how watery or stiff the starter is.  I don't know the hydration level of the The Boris, but try and keep him like a stiff batter consistency.

The starter can be seen as a living yeast which needs to be fed.  Feeding makes the sourdough larger, and so you will either need to use, store, discard or share the starter as it grows.

This is where I skip the science bit.

I keep the Boris in a glass jar with the lid just left loose.  I like to keep it about 2/3rds full so I have enough to use, and enough left over to grow again for next time.  Maintaining this quantity is easy enough using the steps below and so I don't find I need to do any calculations or weighing to keep the little fella alive and kicking.

I think a glass jar works well - I can easily see the bubbles to know that The Boris lives, and there's no deep scratches like you might get in plastic for bacteria to grow.

The Boris Diet

The Boris on the Shelf Diet:

At room temperature, Boris is a regular eater.  He has 2 full shot glasses of strong white bread flour every morning.  He then has 1 shot of water and a good mix with a spoon.  The is probably supposed to be room temp or even lukewarm but I use cold fresh from the tap and have had no problems.  My theory is that it will come to room temp eventually anyway and I'm in no hurry.

Boris bubbles away quietly on the shelf, and grows up quite large after feeding, and then regresses a little till the next feed.  Just like belly.

The Boris Fridge Diet:

When Boris has reached a good size, he goes into the fridge which effectively slows down his metabolism, like hibernation I guess.  When in the fridge, his diet is the same as above, but only once a week.

Changing the levels of food (keeping the rough ratio the same), and storage method lets me keep a suitable quantity of sourdough at any one time.  This way I can grow if I want enough to share, or have a big baking weekend coming, or store for a while if life gets in the way of the bake.

Leaving in the fridge for a while usually leads to The Boris splitting and liquid collecting on top.  If I spot this I give it a mix, but have left like this for some time and doesn't seem to cause a problem.

(Will update with pictures soon)