We have an international bulk food store near us and I've started using some different grains to feed my starter each time I do a "rebuild" after a loaf. (I feed my starter without discarding until I have enough for 2 or 3 loaves at a bake.) My current grain of choice is Russian buckwheat. I purchase some raw grain and run it through the food processor until I get flour. I've been using that for my feed for a week and I'm getting some vibrant bubbles and looking forward to some nice loaves. So fun to experiment! Anybody have any ideas about new grains to obtain culture from? BTW, this is buckwheat that's really from Russia so I'm getting some really different additions to my "culture". I have some frozen starter in case it all heads south.
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Hi Jeannie, nice to meet you. I go to the healthfood store each month and pick up a different flour that I have never used before, to make bread with. I am really addicted to the flavour of Spelt. It seems I can't get enough of it. Today I made bread with Millet, but I have also used Kamut, Quinoa, Buckwheat [which made a very dense bread] Cornmeal which is delicious with Spelt.
I don't change my starter, I keep that as it is. I add the flour into the recipe, and reduce the amount of other flour I use.
I have dried some of my starter just in case, but I find that the starter is pretty hearty I just have to make adjustments every now and again.
It's fun to use a variety. Next month I will be trying chick pea flour, and whatever other flour I can find.
Take care!
... is that the basic characteristic of the starter is primarily determined by the ingredients used to get it going. Once a starter is vigorous, then what you add to it mostly just feeds it rather than changes its characteristics. Well, I don't think it's quite as simple as that... clearly a starter can change over time, if the feeding regime and temperatures change for example. And I also think it's possible that introducing different organisms from different flours can change the starter over time - presumably if the new organisms are stronger, or symbiotic with the existing organisms.
Kym.