What Happens if I Start My Starter With Commercial Yeast?

[pftaylor]

Digging around the internet, I was able to uncover more fully the issues surrounding the above topic. Here is an interesting take:

Many people believe that a starter started with commercial yeast will eventually be "taken over" by wild yeast. This is a good thing, and the quality/predictability of the resultant bread should improve as this happens, since commercial yeast isn't really designed to be used that way. Until that process is completed, the starter is in a state of transition toward a desired end-state where wild yeast and bacteria maintain a balanced, stable, symbiotic relationship. It follows that an evolving starter will produce breads with differing characteristics as the nature of the starter changes. Only a stable starter will produce consistent results.

It can actually take quite a while for a starter (even one that began without commercial yeast) to reach a good balance of microbiological life. This is one of the reasons why many bakers use cultures from long-established starters (why go through all the time and trouble to nurse your starter to a balanced state when there are lots of already-balanced starter cultures out there with proven characteristics?).

There was an experiment done by a Dutch group: baker's yeast didn't survive more than two refreshments of a sourdough culture. I think that it's the acetate that kills the yeast as it is less acetate tolerant than sourdough yeasts.

I can't wait to try the Patsy's culture...

[canadianbacon]

interesting stuff .

on the topic of starters, I joined the Yahoo Jeff posted ( mixers group ) it's all about mixers I guess, like the Kitchen Aid, Botch, and the DLX 2000, which Jeff now owns, but since I joined 90% of the discussion is about starters ........... in fact sourdough starters and breads etc.

There are a number of websites giving away FREE starters - yes free ! .... just send them a SAE ( self-addressed envelope ) with postage on it
and they will send it to you.

Anyway cool !

Btw, many bake amazing breads WITHOUT any yeast and the rise they get is just amazing...... I just made a simple starter today
and will see how it goes.

Anyway a great group and lots of "starter " chat.... these people know their stuff.

Mark

[canadave]

Mark, would you mind posting some of those "give away free" starter websites?

[canadianbacon]

Hi Dave,

okie dokie, I gotta go search thru those posts to the Yahoo group and see 

Mark

btw, that Yahoo group is here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mixer-Owners/

Here is a very GOOD site that shows how to *make* a sourdough starter from scratch :

http://samartha.net/SD/MakeStarter01.html

*** Websites that offer FREE sourdour starters ***
http://home.att.net/~carlsfriends/source.html
the website entrance with good info and more links and info is here: http://www.carlsfriends.org/


somebody posted on the sourdough forum this info also:
And this one too, Mr. Bakers, is cheap and good, if you do want a San
Francisco style starter:
http://www.yankeeharvest.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=SDSYEAST&Category_Code=

if the link is too long, and won't work in your browser,  click the "tinyurl" link
http://tinyurl.com/5ura2