January 10, 2010 - 3:25pm
is 355 grams enough?
Hi I was at the supermarket today, I saw this glass sugar shaker that looked cool. It was the last one had no price on it the manager gave it to me for $2.39. It is round glass with ribs. Ill take a pic when my batteries charge. It has a S/S top screw on with the little flap to shake the sugar out. It holds 355grams of water to the brim. Would this be big enough to get a useful amount of starter going?
Thanks for any help
Will
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Yes. I have made a starter with only 40 grams before. I imagine that some people have done even less.
Hi, Will.
355 gms of water is 12 fluid oz (30 gms H2O = 30 cc = 1 fluid oz), so that's 1.5 cups.
Lots of folks keep just 2-3 T of starter as their stock starter, so your sugar shaker should work. To keep such a small amount, your routine should probably be to build your levain preparatory to making bread with enough extra to store a bit. The stored starter should be refrigerated an hour after the feeding, while you let the remainder of the levain mature before mixing the dough.
That's one good routine, but not the only one.
David
Buying the container was just the first step I want to do some more reading before I get into sour dough. Soon I will take the plung. If I can convince my wife that the starter is a pet, She will feed & care for it and I will have a very heathy starter! LOL
Or it might also like a fancy glass.
From the practical side, I like to use wide mouth jars with lids and a large coffee cup with plastic & rubber band. A salsa jar (mine holds 250g water) and an old peanut butter jar...graduated markings on glass are favorites. They are easy to stir in, clean easily and I can get my fingers to the bottom of the glass. Their lids are easily replaced for they're standard size and the metal is sealed inside the lid. I don't drill a hole in the lids and don't put them on tight. A rye starter requires less space than a wheat starter because wheat can rise much more given ideal conditions. I have a rye starter.
A sugar jar lid might start to rust, even if stainless. It would be too narrow for me. The biggest danger in the beginning is that the starter gets dumped when cleaning up the kitchen. Label it well! Don't expect your wife to "feed & care for it" if she doesn't bake. Mister, it's your project!
Mini
And my latest Maltese Bread. I am going to use the shaker for sugar, I will have to wait to buy a mason jar. You can not buy anything in this neighborhood with out getting ripped off. Well I did get a deal on the sugar shaker.