Author Topic: How to culture a dough (Read 1626 times)

s00da · « **on:** November 16, 2008, 04:14:04 PM »

How can I create a starter culture out of a ready-to-bake dough?

I would appreciate if someone could also share with me the knowledge on how to maintain it and use it.

Thanks in advance and I really appreciate the amazing amount of knowledge shared on this forum.

Pete-zza · « **Reply #1 on:** November 16, 2008, 04:42:58 PM »

s00da,

The question you pose comes up from time to time, especially in light of Jeff Varasano's experience with the Patsy's dough. See, for example, http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,5575.msg47184.html#msg47184 and http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,4975.msg42100.html#msg42100.

I personally remain unconvinced that one can take an existing dough using commercial yeast and culture it to produce a starter that can then be fed and maintained to achieve the same ultimate dough characteristics as the dough that was cultured. As I noted at Reply 9 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,5741.msg49183.html#msg49183, I believe that wild yeast ultimately take over and that the commercial yeast dies because it can't survive the acidic condition produced by the wild yeast and lactobacillus. You might read the entire thread in which Reply 9 appears for contextual purposes.

Peter

s00da · « **Reply #2 on:** November 16, 2008, 05:41:40 PM »

Thanks for the reply Pete-zza...

Was it confirmed that Jeff's culture from Pasty's dough was simply using commercial yeast?

At any rate, what I am trying to achieve here is different. I live in Kuwait and one of the most famous traditional breads used is Persian bread which is actually Afhgani! Regardless of the origin, this bread is so tasty and sour with a strong aroma that it cannot possibly be just commercial yeast. It's even baked similarly to pizza in terms of heat requirement and distribution, see below images. Of course if you try to bake pizza like that, you will need super glue in the sauce

Since I am currently using ADY consistently, I am really just stuck with the flavor I get from bread flour until my cultures arrive from sourdo.com. So I though I should really experiment with this until then.