Questions on Spelt Sourdough Starter

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• From Sarah at 6/10/11 1:02 PM
  • Hello,
    are the sourdough bread starts organic?
    
  • Yes, we use only organic, non-GMO flours in growing our sourdough starters.
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• From Marci at 11/2/11 7:23 PM
  • Are all the starters equally as sour? Also, I will use spelt, but maybe also wheat sometimes. Can you interchange the flours?
  • 
    The primary differences between the sourdough cultures are the types of flour they were created using (white, rye, or whole wheat) and the different wild yeast from their respective geographic regions. Several cultures do have some unique properties:
    
    Ischia tends to be a bit more sour when allowed to fully ferment
    New Zealand Rye sourdough is our fastest proofing culture (generally just under 3 hours--adjust your recipes accordingly)
    Alaskan has an uncharacteristically short proof period
    Austrian has a longer proof period than most other sourdough cultures
    Many people claim the San Francisco sourdough culture has a particularly unique taste
    New Zealand, Swedish and Danish cultures are made with rye flour
    Flemish-style Desem is made with whole wheat flour
    ​
    All of our sourdough bread starters can be converted to be used with a wide variety of flours. We recommend that you initially activate the starter and establish the starter with whatever type of flour it is accustomed to (generally white, wheat or rye flour). Once the sourdough starter is clearly healthy (bubbling happily) and has gone through at least a week of regular feedings, split the sourdough starter in two and put half in a safe place in the refrigerator. Start feeding the second half with the new flour. Within a few days/feedings, the sourdough starter will be fully converted. This method of splitting the sourdough starter allows you to convert the sourdough bread starter over to a new flour type but also gives you a back up in the refrigerator as there can be a learning curve when working with new flour types.
    
    Please note, the best flours for feeding sourdough are white flour, whole wheat, spelt and rye. Brown rice flour can be used but starters fed with brown rice starter tend to be less robust and require more regular feedings (minimum 2-3 times a week).
    
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• From Jennifer at 7/30/12 11:15 PM
  • Can the sourdough cultures be used for sprouted flours? Also- I'm about to begin GAPS (a variation of the SCD) and no grains are allowed for a long period of time (not even rice)- so almond and other nuts are used for flours- is it possible to culture those?
  • Yes, the sourdough starter can be used with sprouted flour. For "culturing" your nut flours, you might consider soaking them in whey, yogurt or kefir. You will find a great recipe here: http://www.cheeseslave.com/gaps-almond-bread/
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