No Hooch in the sourdough culture

[schwollo]

Does that mean my culture was never activated properly? I thought I saw lots of bubbles before I put it in the fridge. THanks!

[2stone]

You are getting into voodoo territory,
I have babied dead starter along for
a week or more and brought it back to life.

willard

[toddster63]

How long was it in the fridge?

Hooch is only formed after the exhaustion of feeding of the flour's sugars, when the culture is starting to slag--to go dormant. With some of my cultures, hooch will not form for almost two weeks, whereas some (more active) like the Carl's Orgeon trail will form hooch within a week or so. It really varies from culture to culture and on how thick or thin you are keeping your culture IMHE...

[schwollo]

I guess when I try to activate it again after taking it out of the fridge, I will see if it is actually dead or not? 

[klown]

What is hooch?

[Pete-zza]

klown,

It looks like we forgot you. Hooch is that layer of liquid on top of the starter, as shown in the last photo in this post: http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,2025.msg36702.html#msg36702 (Reply 63). It's when the hooch layer is somewhere in the middle or the bottom of the starter that one can expect problems unless corrective action is taken.

Peter

[klown]

Ahh, I've always called that the alcohol.  I didn't know that it could appear anywhere but on top.  Any starter that I've had, it's always on top.

[sourdough girl]

klown!
You are the lucky one!  Those of us who play with sourdough regularly... and multiple cultures... I'm sure have had hooch problems!  I captured one yeast a few years ago... no matter how many times I washed it, fed it, nutured it, kept it warm and cozy... it refused to behave!  It was an evil child who had to be sent away!!   

I wish you continued success with no evil cultures in the future.  It's sad when a good culture goes bad!   

~sd

[klown]

klown!
You are the lucky one!  Those of us who play with sourdough regularly... and multiple cultures... I'm sure have had hooch problems!  I captured one yeast a few years ago... no matter how many times I washed it, fed it, nutured it, kept it warm and cozy... it refused to behave!  It was an evil child who had to be sent away!!   

I wish you continued success with no evil cultures in the future.  It's sad when a good culture goes bad!   

~sd

Well I've never tried to capture my own.  My current culture is from sourdoughs international.  It's the San Francisco culture.  I grew up in the bay area, and the bread this stuff makes is very good.  The only other culture I had before this one was an established starter that was captured from this area many years ago.  It was given to me by a friend.  Made really good bread, but not sour enough for my taste.  This SF one I have is excellent!