(sorry I posted this as a comment to another question, and I think I should have started a new discussion). I started my mother sponge with starter I got when I was in San Francisco. I made one loaf and it turned out kind of flat (I think it's because I misread the recipe and used one cup less flour and 1/2 cup less water than I was supposed to). THEN, I left my mother AND baby sponge in the oven to keep them warm in a cool country house and when I preheated my oven to over 400 degrees, I forgot to take them out. I think they were in there for about 10-15 minutes. There hasn't been a lot of bubbling, but I don't think I killed them. I made another loaf out of the baby sponge (with the still wrong proportions--one cup less flour and 1/2 cup less water), but a little bit more commercial yeast. It came out a little less flat, but still pretty flat (like a flying saucer). I cut it in half and made a pizza out of both sides and it was mighty tasty. What should I do? I took a cup of the mother sponge out this evening and fed the mother sponge and started prepping the baby sponge with the right amount of flour and water. Should I give it one more go? Should I add more yeast when I make the dough? Should I not be using any yeast at all, is that the point of sourdough bread?
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What I've learned from six years of using a home made starter is that they are much more forgiving and flexible than I ever imagined...so, don't give up! Also, I like using a small amount of yeast in most of my sourdough breads, to give them an extra "ump" and speed up the rise time --- you can still get a nice sourdough texture and crumb if you add yeast...I promise!
I used Nancy Silverton's recipe for the home made starter and followed the instructions and continued to feed the started every week for quite a while. Then, I waited two weeks, then three weeks, and even four weeks to feed --- every time, it's turned out fine! I've also experimented with the dry starters you can order on-line, and activate in your kitchen. The best thing I've learned from all this baking and experimenting is that you really don't have to increase the amount of water and flour with each feeding, unless you want/need more starter! For example, I used to feed the starter with 1 1/4 cups of flour and 1 cup of water. Four to six hours later, I'd add 2 1/2 cups of flour and 2 cups of water. Four to six hours later, I'd add 5 cups of flour and 4 cups of water. Then make the sponge/dough within 8 hours of the last feeding. Now, since I don't routinely need a large amount of starter, I use 1 1/4 cups of flour and 1 cup of water for each feeding. I still feed it three times, and do everything else the same --- it really does work!
You might also like to try from vital wheat gluten, that's available through Bob's Red Mill, or maybe at your local grocery store. I add this to my breads, even if using bread flour.
Aside from a variety of breads, I use the starter for sourdough English muffins, waffles, and anything else I think would be good by adding about one cup of starter to it!
I hope you find this info helpful! New Year's Greetings from the Midwest! Cheryl
well, it depends on heat penetration. If your culture got to 400 F it is all over, but of course it can't get over 100 C while it is still wet, and if the bits in the middle managed to stay below about 60 C, you are in with a chance.
Also, some bacteria can form endospores, which are very hard to kill, so you might have got partial regeneration from that.
I would keep giving it small feedings so as not to overwhelm them but not let it stagnate either, and hold off on any more baking till you are getting some healthy bubbles. In any case, regular feeding will introduce new bacteria and yeasts with the flour, and you might get a whole new culture happening.
Good luck!