Recommend Sourdough Starter

[MightyPizzaOven]

Please recommend a Sourdough Starter, and where to buy online or locally in Houston.

Thanks

[TXCraig1]

www.sourdo.com

I'd go with the Italian unless you want something noticeably sour and then go with the San Francisco.

CL

[MightyPizzaOven]

@ www.sourdo.com, they have 15 different cultures... I will go with the Italian culture... Has anyone experimented with the other starters? what is the difference?

[Bill/SFNM]

@ www.sourdo.com, they have 15 different cultures... I will go with the Italian culture... Has anyone experimented with the other starters? what is the difference?

I also have the French, Austrian, and Russian starters. Although any starter can be tweaked to deliver different flavors, here are some generalizations:

French - mild, but complex flavors. I use for baguettes, croissants, and pizza.
Austrian - moderate to strong tang. I use for rye breads and pizza.
Russian - mild with powerful leavening. I use for dense breads and pizza.

As you can see, all of these, including the Italian starters make great pizza. Each one ferments differently, depending on temps and time, obviously. Tweaking each one to bring out the best flavor is a blast.

[MightyPizzaOven]

Tweaking each one to bring out the best flavor is a blast.

How do you tweak each one...

[Bill/SFNM]

How do you tweak each one...

By varying:

Amount of starter
Feeding frequency
Fermentation temps
Fermentation times
Fermentation steps
Proofing time
Proofing temp

Each culture responds differently. Small variations in time/temp can often make a big difference.

[MrPibbs]

Bill,

It sure seems like a lot of notes and tasting details to keep track of for a non-professional.  Also it sounds like you have a bunch of separate cultures running at the same time?  I think my head would explode keeping them all straight!   

[Bill/SFNM]

Bill,

It sure seems like a lot of notes and tasting details to keep track of for a non-professional.  Also it sounds like you have a bunch of separate cultures running at the same time?  I think my head would explode keeping them all straight!   

It was great fun exploring the behavior of each starter in depth, especially after I found a way to precisely control the temperature during long fermentation stages so I could get repeatable results. These days I take no notes and go pretty much by whim based on experience. I have five starters and rotate among them using only one starter at a time for 2-4 weeks for all breads and pizzas. One advantage I have is that my head exploded long ago so I don't have to worry about that.

[corkd]

I use the French starter from sourdo.com  for everything. I really like it.
As Bill points out, tweaking one starter in different ways can produce myriad results, certainly enough to keep you occupied (& significantly cut into your work time, if you work from home as I do  )

~clay

[MightyPizzaOven]

A kind member of this site is sending me some dried Ischia starter. I am looking forward to try it out.  Hopefully I can keep it a live.