Starter Questions

 I'm not the right guy to ask about this.

If your starter is from a batch from the 1800s, you don't need more than water and flour.

If your saying you are using a recipe from the 1800s, then I'm guessing that there either were no "organic" grapes or that all food was "organic", if by that you mean, not sprayed with pesticides.

The white "dust" that forms on grape skins is pichia yeast. It's not for bread fermentation, in my OPINION.

Sourdough starter should be wet. By wet, I mean you can leave a cloth on it as it's not going to dry out before you both use part and replenish part. If yours is dry, that's not a recipe I know.

Honey is somewhat antiseptic. If something "bad" was able to grow, I'ld be surprised. But it's possible. If you don't like the smell of your starter, don't use it. I have used starters with truly rancid odor and find the bread to be delicious. Yet, you must use your own best judgment.

Lastly, in my post, about the 70 lbs of starter, I use water and flour. My facts are from reputable bread scientists.

 I'm not 100% clear on what you mean by San Francisco starter - did you use an existing starter as a basis for your starter, or do you mean that you followed a recipe for San Francisco starter?

Lactobacillus Sanfranciscensis is the lactobacillus first identified in the sourdoughs made in San Francisco, but it's not unique to that location - it can be found in many sourdoughs all over the world. There are many strains of lactobacillus and wild yeasts which will produce sourdough.

The bad smell also happened to one of my starters - but after reading more about it I decided to persevere and it disappeared after a couple of days. It's probably leuconostoc, which can thrive in the early stages giving the bad smell, but is despatched rapidly by a healthy starter. My starter soon developed the lovely fruity smell of a healthy starter, and is vigorous and healthy.

There's a very good guide to creating a starter here on Sourdom's blog:

sourdough.com/blog/sourdom/beginners-blog-starter-scratch

I agree with Secret_ingredient - the organic grapes won't do much as the yeast is not the right kind - the yeast is actually already carried by the flour you use. Some people recommend using pineapple juice to help get it started, but I didn't find it necessary. Mixing a very little honey in wouldn't hurt (the sugar feeds the yeast) but again is not strictly necessary.

When you're getting a starter going, it should have a fairly runny consistency (like batter).

Kym.

You don't need grapes to create your own starter.  All you need is flour and water.  You expose it to the air for two or three days and feed it more flour and water.  There are recipes all over the web.  Just follow one.

make sure all your equipment is sterilised. any form of bacteria can contaminate your starter.

my started is in a jar which i sterilised with steam and i pour boiling water onto my spoon before i stir it. and the water i add has been boiled and cooled.

your starter should be runny like batter. i've been adding a couple of drops of maple syrup each time i feed it just to aid the growth of yeast.

and lastly because it's winter here and NOT the optimal temperature for the starter to grow, i've been sitting my jar in a warm bowl of water to raise the temperature.

i hope this could help. good luck.

On the other hand, you can use water straight from the tap, spoons and utensils straight from the drawer, not clean your container for years, use your finger for clearing surplus etc etc and still get good results.

Go figure.

Farinam

I'm with farinam. I do use filtered water, mostly to avoid chlorine smells, but my starter jar in the fridge gets incredibly messy and all my bowls and utensils go through the dishwasher with everything else. You have to work EXTREMELY hard to kill a starter once it is established. Just follow Sourdom's tutorial recommended by Panfresca earlier and in a fortnight you'll have a lovely jar of bubbly, fresh smelling starter.

If you don't think the yeast on grape skins is suitable for building a starter, you may be interested in the following quote from the Brasserie Bread website

Brasserie Bread’s starter is 16 years old and was originally created using organic grapes, organic flour and water.

BB is one of the better known artisan bakeries in Sydney. 

I never sterilized any of my utensils or containers when I started my sourdough. I didn't use water from the tap though as I wanted room temperature water and I was hoping to remove the chlorine, so I stored previously boilied water in a jar and used it (still continue to use this this once it has cooled to room temp) once it's cooled to start my sourdough. 

Flour, water and 4 - 6 days of daily feedings at room temperature is all my starter needed.

Also, I don't keep a liquid starter. My starter is at about 70 to 80% hydration as I incorporate the whole 200g in my recipes, allow them to ferment overnight and then take 200g of the dough out, replacing it in the fridge until the next time I bake (rarely ever sits for longer than 7 days but I read that a 'sponge' starter can survive longer without being fed). I find my doughy starter to be much easier to maintain and I never throw any of it in the garbage. I've even salted my dough before remembering to take my starter out with no problems.

My best starter is a cross that was started in Colorado, then stealthily transported into Eleuthera, Bahamas and refreshed there.  That climate and perhaps the different flour sure did wonders.  It's still a happy little starter.  

The point is, try taking a bit of starter on vacation to see what you can gather for wild yeastie beasties somewhere else.  I put a couple of tablespoons into a quart sized ziploc, sealed it, rolled it up but kept the profile flat, then put that in another small ziploc and tucked it in my checked luggage clearly marked.

I believe you want clean containers and utensils when beginning your starter, but sterile isn't necessary or desirable. 

I do use bottled spring water instead of tap water, because our municipality uses chloramine instead of chorine and letting it set out does not get rid of the chloramine. I keep a white, rye and wholewheat starter going all the time.  I started my first with a box of 'San Francisco' starter, a gift from my step-daughter who lives in San Francisco, water and white flour. After establishing that over several days, I made bread.

Later used some of that starter to begin my rye and whole wheat starters. I find it fun to feed my starters. I even talk to them. :)

I maintain a ratio of 60g. old starter, 60g. water and 60g. of flour. This mixture, once it becomes bubbly, goes into the refrigerator. I feed it weekly or bi-weekly when I am not making bread. When I am ready to bake, I remove it from the refrigerator, let it warm up and become bubbly again, sometimes overnight, and feed it 3 times, the first at 60g., second at 100g. and if I am baking two loaves, the third at 200g. This give me plenty to bake with and some to put back in the fridge for next time.

I have found no need for any enrichments like grapes, honey, pineapple juice, etc.  To me that is the beauty of sourdough. All you need is flour, water, salt and your levain.

If it doesn't smell gross it's probably just very active and needs to be fed. Unless it smells like vomit it's probably not contaminated with anything that will make your bread taste bad.  Feed it and see if it grows.  Really active starter can need feeding twice a day.  Once you're sure it's growing well you can use some, then feed the rest and store it in the refrigerator in an area where it's safe from spills and freezing.