Questions on San Francisco Sourdough Starter

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• From Kathy at 2/3/11 8:42 PM
  • I bought San Francisco Sourdough Starter and have lost the directions on how to activate. Was hoping to find directions online. I also have the Parisian started and have started it. Are the amounts of water and flour the same? thx...
  • You can find the instructions for any of our products on the product description page. For sourdough starters, the instructions are pretty much the same regardless of the strain.
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• From dee at 4/26/11 8:25 PM
  • i have two boxes of the sourdough starter. I went through the first steps where it sits for 12-18 hours, then you discard all but 1/2 cup and start feeding every 12 hours with 1/2 water and 1 c flour.
    question: the instructions say that to cover loosely as it might "bubble over" what level of bubble are we talking about? My mixture never rose nor did i see bubbles above the surface. However, the mixture looked like it was bubbling beneath the surface, sort of. there was no "bubbling over" to be had in either batch.
    Is it dead perhaps? please let me know as I dont' want to commit to days of feeding/stirring only to find a lifeless blob of dough.
    thanks!
  • The note about "bubbling over" is a precaution - not all sourdough starters will bubble over. If your starter looks active - as you say, bubbling under the surface - it is working and you should continue with the feedings. Be sure to email us at customersupport@culturesforhealth.com if you run into any difficulties!
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• From dee at 4/26/11 7:01 AM
  • I just had to follow up...thank you for the quick answer! I was about to give up on this whole project but this morning I awoke to a lovely blob of starter on the counter - finally some bubbling over action :) The stuff is cooking away beautifully now so I'm glad I stuck with it. Looking forward to making some pancakes with the leftover starter!
  • Hello Dee,
    
    Yay! So glad that it is working for you!
    
    Enjoy,
    
    Erin
    
    Customer Support
    Cultures for Health LLC
    13023 NE Highway 99 Suite 7-4
    Vancouver WA 98686
    1-800-962-1959
    customersupport@culturesforhealth.com
    www.culturesforhealth.com
    
    Information provided in this communication is not designed to and does not provide medical advice, professional diagnosis, opinion, treatment or services to you or to any other individual. This is general information for educational purposes only. The information provided in this site, or through linkages to other sites, is not a substitute for medical or professional care, and you should not use the information in place of a visit, call consultation or the advice of your physician or other healthcare provider. Cultures for Health, LLC is not liable or responsible for any advice, course of treatment, diagnosis or any other information, services or product you obtain through Cultures for Health, LLC.
    
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• From Lisa Renich at 6/26/11 6:25 PM
  • Is your SF Starter Gluten-free. I have a sneaking that it isn't so I need to know how to wash out the wheat flour & make sure it becomes GF. Also, what kind of GF flour would be best to use? Thanks.
  • Our SF sourdough starter is not gluten-free, as it has been grown with regular wheat flour. The only gluten-free sourdough starter we carry is the Brown Rice Sourdough. Whether or not your starter contains gluten as you work with it would depend on the kind of flour you feed it. You could use any gluten-free flour and convert the starter to work with that flour. We have an article on how to convert sourdough over to a different flour: http://www.culturesforhealth.com/blog/2011/06/30/switching-sourdough-starter-to-a-new-type-of-flour/
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• From Sharon Anne at 8/21/11 10:53 PM
  • How many feedings can I expect before the starter totally converts into just the wild yeasts of my local area?
  • If you feed the San Francisco sourdough regularly, and store it properly, the culture should be strong enough to maintain its integrity. This is an heirloom variety starter, that has been propagated for many years.
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• From Troy at 3/2/12 12:34 PM
  • Is this product vegan?
  • Our sourdough cultures contain no animal byproducts.
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• From Sarah Mulholland at 5/7/12 2:45 PM
  • Would it be alright to use fresh ground hard white wheat flour with this starter?
  • Feeding your sourdough culture with freshly ground flour is problematic as sourdough culture prefers aged flour. Therefore we recommend placing your freshly ground flour in a bowl on the counter covered lightly with a dish towel for several weeks before using it to feed your sourdough culture. Once it is time to bake bread, you can use freshly ground flour as the flour portion of the bread recipe.
    
    Hard White Wheat Flour is a whole grain flour. White flour typically refers to refined flour. If you have just received your sourdough culture, first get the culture going (feed it a few times) using the flour the culture is accustomed to (white flour for San Francisco Sourdough Starter.)
    Once the culture is clearly healthy and flourishing, split the sourdough culture in two. Place one half in the fridge and work with the second half. Sometimes there is a bit of a learning curve when switching a sourdough culture to a new type of flour. The half starter in the fridge serves as a back up just in case. Start feeding the second half of the starter with the new type of flour.
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• From Heather at 7/21/12 3:28 PM
  • Can this starter be used with white whole wheat flour, or should I stick with regular white flour?
  • The San Francisco Sourdough Starter should be fed with regular white flour. Once your starter is well-established and active, you can switch a portion of it to a different type of flour, such as white whole wheat flour. Always retain a portion of your master starter as a back-up.
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• From RickF at 11/16/12 7:44 PM
  • Hi.. Just wondering if these Sourdough starters are in a dried form or in a ball of dough of some sort? I've tried other cultures from elsewhere that came in a dried format and I'm likely not going to be around when they arrive in the mail.. I just need to inform the neighbor kid to put it in fridge or a cool spot if required (since it's almost winter here).. Thx!
  • They are in fact dried! The sourdough starters are fine at room temperature for 6+ months. So even if your neighbor simply put the package in your home where it's room temperature, it would be fine!
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• From Ira at 2/4/13 12:30 PM
  • My starter come up very sour. And the bread was very sour as well. I used the right proportions but somehow it's really VERY sour. Should the proper starter be sour?
  • The San Francisco Sourdough Starter makes a traditionally sour bread. To reduce or increase the sourness of your bread, there are several tips in this article: http://www.culturesforhealth.com/how-to-make-truly-sour-sourdough-bread
    
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