Sourdough Starter: Day 04

I walked into the kitchen this morning while getting ready for work and my mom was making a face. It was her something-stinks-in-here face. I smelled it too. She spied some ravioli on the top but she was pretty confident that ravioli were to blame. I didn'tof the trash and decided that was the source of the stink. It did smell a bit like cheese, afterall. I suggested maybe it was my vat of rotting stuff, argue.

I was pretty nervous when I saw my pitcher of goo this morning. It had really bubbled up a lot overnight and I was afraid it was going to overspill its bounds. Unfortunately, the Long Island Rail Road waits for no one, and I had no time to transfer my muck to the one-gallon vessel Silverton suggests using in the first place. I asked my dad if he would do it, or at the very least, put it on a cookie sheet or something. He put it on a dinner plate. Good enough.

When I came home from work, I saw the bubbling had subsided a bit. The volume had actually decreased slightly. Everyone kept touching the plastic wrap I had on top, so I'm not sure if the volume decreased on its own, or because of all the poking and prodding. I don't think it matters. Since I had to add another 4 ounces of flour and 8 ounces of water, I was definitely going to move to a larger container. The best I could do was a 4-liter Pyrex mixing bowl. Good enough, though I'd have preferred something taller.


I knew taking off the plastic wrap would expose us to the funky aroma, and I was kinda looking forward to it. Then I did it. I removed the wrap. Wow, was that vile smelling goo. It smelled like rotting cheese, really. And the texture was spongy, but very sticky -- not too wet

I mixed up my flour and water. My scale has the pesky habit of losing mass if you leave something on it for a minute or two. For example, when I first added the flour, the reading was precisely 4 ounces. When I went to add the water, the reading was 3 7/8 ounces. Damn! So I added flour until it read 4 1/8 ounces, then added the water to 8 1/8 ounces -- which then dropped down to 8 ounces. Beautiful. But really annoying.

I dumped the whole lot of culture into the bowl with the fresh flour and water and saw that my cheesecloth sack-o-grapes was inflated just as Silverton said it might be. That means the grapes are still actively fermenting, thus filling the bag with gas (presumably CO2 and maybe some methane). The grapes themselves were very plump -- surprising because I squeezed each grape individually when I added them to the paste. Silverton says one must add new food (flour) on day four to keep the balance between yeast and bacteria. Apparently, if one does not feed one's culture, the bacteria out-compete the yeast, which is a bad thing indeed. I'm not sure about the logic here (why don't the bacteria eat the flour also, or is it that the bacteria would gang up on the yeast with no other food source available, or something else entirely?), but I do believe it works. I trust Silverton. Bread is her life.

I mixed everything thoroughly, though I did not stick my hand in and mix everything up, swooshing around the grapes. I relied on my trusty green spatula to do that. I may have done it if I didn't think my spatula was up to the task, but I had no reason to doubt him today. He performed beautifully. Then, despite my better judgment, I licked the spatula. I made sure I was next to the sink, just in case... Well, I had an audience (just my mom -- she was both repulsed and attracted to the stink, and her curiosity got the better of her), so I dramatically licked the spatula, then flipped it over and licked the other side. Truth is, the second lick was completely unnecessary. The mixture still tastes kind of raw (although I did add fresh flour today, so it probably still should) and had a mild fruity flavor. I could definitely taste the grapes. I got a hit of alcohol, and still fish. I decided the fish must be acid -- probably lactic -- because it also reminded me of vinaigre.

I'm still really optimistic about this. I can't wait for that first loaf of bread. Though Silverton says it won't get really good until about the fifth loaf. Is that because of the culture or improved technique, or both?