My first loaf with Australian sour starter

I am in OZ and would like to know where you got that starter from
Thanks?

This is a US source, but you may be able to use it to figure out where the Tasmanian and New Zealand cultures originate:

Sourdo.com

sPh

I don't quite understand the sour dough stress. When ever I start new, I just follow the cook book recipe. My home town baker (professional) once let me get a good wiff of his sourdough and it litterally took my breath away. So when I mix mine, I give it a few days fermentation and bake combining some baker's yeast. About the third time or three weeks down the line, I notice a deffinite change in smell ( I believe it picks up local yeasts) good ol' sour. I have known of some who add a teaspoon of apple vinegar to their dough, just to make it taste sour. But this works for me albeit longer: 3.5 cups flour (sometimes part rolled oat flour), 2 soup spoons sugar, 2 teaspoons Baker's yeast, 2 cups of water. Large bowl cover with a wok lid and give the mixture plenty of room to rise. After about 5 days, remove 1.5 cups of starter for recipe, replace with 1.5 cups flour and 1 cup warm water, beating before and after use. All at room temp on top of book shelf. When it gets warmer, I send it on holiday or confine to the refrigerator.

If I used it everyday, I think it would become less sour. In the good old days, we would break off and save normal dough from the fresh batch to start the next batch, Sour dough had it's own place. When there was no time to let it sour, there was no sour dough. I've never tried replenishing sour starter every day, something in the deep recesses of my brain keep me from doing it.

There is one quick way of getting your local baker's sour dough yeast. Buy a hunk of dough from him/her, take it home and give it water and flour and let it alone for 3 days.

Since I wrote the above, I have found and visited articles here on Sour dough and sour bread and beginning to grasp the termonology. Interesting and this is an interesting site. Always something to learn. Guess I've been growing my own local yeasts with the help of baker's yeast. I do notice a difference at sea level. Mini Oven

The bacteria that you are trying to start are fairly delicate to begin with. If you can actually smell the chlorine in your drinking water that is probably too much, which is why people are recommending bottled spring (not distilled) water. You could also leave a glass container of tap water out for a few days, stirring it once or twice per day - that should allow the chlorine to dissipate.

Once you have the starter going I think you can use tap water for your doughs. You might try one with tap and one with bottled spring to see what the difference is.

I did have one guy who worked at a "spring water" bottler in upstate New York State tell me that in fall and winter you were possibly getting real water from the spring, but in the busy spring and summer seasons, well, let's just say that the night shift was VERY productive compared to the day shift when the QC inspectors were on-duty.

sPh

Yes, I start out with baker's yeast but after a couple of weeks I reduce the yeast in my bread recipe as the natural yeast grows in my starter. When I first landed here in Feb. I was ready to produce my own yeast but as baker's is available here for just 10 cents a 15 g package, I buy what I need. I love the sourdough but my hips don't. My husband likes plain white baguettes. So....

Chlor will evaporate quicker if poured into a shallow glass pan, say 1 cm, for a day ought to do it. I used to have to sanitize my vegetables in chlor water and leave them out to "air" to get rid of chlor. You must go through clothes like crazy, the Chlor wears them out faster.

One question, If I use Australian rolled oats, ground as flour in my sourdough starter, Is my starter then Australian sourdough? :) Mini Oven