June 1, 2009 - 12:34pm
Bahrain starter from Sourdough International
I'm a complete newbie to baking and of course sourdough baking. I have planned to use the no knead method to start my endeavor. I ordered 2 starters from Sourdough International, one San Franciscan and one Bahrain. The Bahrain is supposed to the most sour which is why I bought it. However the San Fran starter came with activation instructions but the Bahrain did not. Accorrding to the web site you need to buy Ed Wood's book for activation. Can the activation be any different for other starters ?
Mike
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Mike,
I think you should be able to use the same instructions. I wouldn't worry to much about which one you activate. The way you feed it will determine how sour the culture is.
If you want to make the No Knead Bread, you can just use a small amount of yeast and let the dough sit for overnight (18 hours) I think is the time. Try 1/2 teaspoon for a 1 or 1.5 Lb loaf. There are many threads here you can search for and find all you need on the NKB.
Eric
Mike, The activation process for Ed Wood's cultures are all the same and I have made many of my own variations of bread from recipes in his book. I actually enjoy his book as well as all my books by Peter Reinhart and many others I see here at TFL. I have never used commercial yeast with my wild cultures and Ed has a recipe for a no knead bread on his website which I plan to try soon. The Bahrain culture is one of my favorites and it was always easy to activate and maintain. I am currently using the San Francisco culture which is another one of my favorites. I have never tried to capture my own wild culture but now that I found this group it is high on my list after our move the end of this month. I will be baking Saturday and Sunday since several of my co-workers have requested bread so maybe I will try out the no-knead recipe he posted. I will let you know what I do and probably post pictures. Melody in Santa Fe, NM