-Unexpected Surprise- Any Ideas?? Ischia SD Starter First Timer....

[SlackWaterPizza]

so i took the plunge and started my Ischia Starter yesterday at 3 pm...
That Makes This Fermentation Friday...
5 or 6 hours ago there was no noticeable change from going in the proofer... i checked it just a bit ago 3 hours from the 24h time... i wasnt expecting this full activation.. i will admit and i dont know it it mattered, but i bumped up the 90f to 91f for a few hours.. turned it back to 90 for about an hour or so before i couldn't resist taking a peek and wow!
so cool...

i started with and will be feeding it AP (old, very old) that i put in the oven at 250f and left it for 40 min then let it cool down to 190f for about 1 1/2 hours then jared.
4 cups of de-yeasted, de-molded and de-fungied feeding flour..
lol, (i dont want to add any yeasts beside the unavoidably airborne stuff til i get a fully working Starter going!) to it so ill do the same cooking on the HW and Cuputo from time to time...
kept below 266f so i didnt denature the proteins....
Boiled Well Water, and kept my fingers crossed...

I Mite just feed a 30g/30g mix and go back in the proofer at 80f for 12h? (low sixtys here in june up here on this mountian) , then feed, and start the every 12 hour feeding, till i get close to full then half it in to a back up jar feeding both and start the discard in to a toss jar to use, till the 2 are ready for quite frige time so i can start up another 2 starters......
most say do the resapie for at least the first few days to get it going according to the norm... but i literally see and hear a different way being done most every time after the initial blume... got a few hours left for the first 24 to figure it out... lol...
all i know is it far better then i ever thought it would be...
wish me luck and ill keep updating here up till i cook up some pie's n bread's with it...

Slack...

[SlackWaterPizza]

---Fermentation Friday---
 
4 cups of de-yeasted, de-molded and de-fungied AP feeding flour..
2 Poolish Taste Tests
1 active Ischia SD Starter after 24h at 90f..
fed 28g/28g and back in the DIY proofer thats cooling down slowly to 70.

ill check it an hour or so to see if its bubblin back up...
the 4 shiny lids are jars of water for heat sink, the heat mat sits off the btm of the food shipping cooler on a bread rack, another one on top of the mat so the mat isnt touching anything but air, above that is a cast iron griddle skillit with the grill side up and everything sits on the grill fins....
so far so good...

Slack...

[parallei]

How does it smell?

[SlackWaterPizza]

How does it smell?

smells good, "deep pungent slight cheesy yeasty smell" if you ever smelt that smell before.....lol

3 hours after the first miny feed its almost dubbled and is sitting at 82f falling slow to 70f over the next few hours...

ill be up all night like a father with a new born...

[SlackWaterPizza]

3 hours after the first miny feed its almost dubbled and is sitting at 82f falling slow to 70f over the next few hours...

ill be up all night like a father with a new born...

the almost dubble up after the mini feed was as tall as it got, layed down and rested...
bout 1 am i peeked and was the same back at its starting point...
so i saw almost 1" + rise in a 3 or so hour time frame...

smells Yeasty... I Like It..

this morning i Split the Jar it to 2 new ones and fed a 1cup/1cup each for a nice creamy batter.
back on the proofer at 71f....

i'll check every hour......tonight's feeding ill do my first discard/feeding 1/2c/1/2c going on the 12n12feeding.... ill do 2 or 3 discards before i start saving it.....

So Far So Good....

Slack...

[Bill/SFNM]

FWIW: Marco, the originator of the Ischia culture, recommended allowing a couple of weeks of activation for all the organisms in the culture to reach equilibrium. IIRC, the term he used was to let the culture "mature". It took several months of regular use of the culture before mine developed a consistent behavior.

[SlackWaterPizza]

the term he used was to let the culture "mature". It took several months of regular use of the culture before mine developed a consistent behavior.

Thank You Bill,
I was actually planing on just that time frame before i even try baking (Real Loafs) with it.....
ill dump the first 2 or 3 maybe 4 discards, then start saving them (depending on how things go) to add to breads and try some in pie's just as in " im not wasting any" and in doing all this will help me set my time so it'll be a "want bread?" its a 1, 2, 3, Bamm....
 so my plan after reading and waiting, and you just reinturaited it (Thank You), was basically what you described...

cpl weeks at least.... just getting started.
cpl months regular use.... letting it Mature.
then start Using it for a Regular Loaf or 2, a week, and some addition to my Pie's...

took a peek and i have a small bubble froth, with some clear hootch starting..
smells good... yummy good, but i like stinky cheese and i leave the heads on the trout i cook up so i can eat the eyeballs..(wife thinks im gross:)... any ways..
thanks for the help, info, and the confidence boost...

Man This Is Fun...
Slack...

[SlackWaterPizza]

"""It Is Alive"""...... update day 5, --Ed Wood Ischia SD Starter--
I'm like a father coddling a newborn...!

The last few days saw ups n downs, lil stinky like cheese, some hooch, bubbly n good, slow n lethargic...spiting jars and watching, then picking the best ones to keep going. i did a Whole Wheat instead of the All Purpose Fed on night of day 2 and it seemed to really slow it down, probably to strong for it yet... from the looked n smell i saw it was a lil under fed and low in temp.. changed it up and now i have a much better brew going on.....
---This morning.6-21 HAPPY SOLSTICE......
last night almost trippled up after after yesterdays morning feeding (a good 2") and had a good rise last night after its dinner feeding it first night out on the counter at 71f or so less rise over night as it really seems to like 75 to 80f more then the recommended 70f...
""all places and set ups will be different""...

I split one jar in to 2 again, and is now on the table with the back up at RT-70f the other split jar is sitting at 75/76.. soon to be the temp here every morning, so im checking the difference now.. in a day or so ill have to pull the heat mat and start putting a small ice block in to keep it 70-75 or so..lol

Good bubbly caps on all 3 and the smell has gone from the tangy sourie smelly cheesey smell ( it never got really bad or gross), to a yeasty bready smell with a hint of good sour starting to form.....

I think its time to start saving the discard for SD flap jacks so i can start sensing the "flavor and taste" --building n growing "Mature"-- for a good month before i try to do a Loaf or add to Pizza's....

Time Will Tell, But its going good so far...

Slack...

[SlackWaterPizza]

2.5 hours after this mornings feeding....... day 6.....

i think its starting to get its grove on.....

[tracy]

I relatively recently activated the Ischia culture from sourdo.com as well.  Once I got the culture established, I then spent the next several feedings transitioning it from the flour I activated the dried culture in to the flour I maintain it with (I'm not sure if this is strictly necessary, but I was trying to be cautious).  Once it was established, I started refreshing it every 14-15 days.  The duplicate entries are because I decided to split the initial culture in two after the second feeding.  Depending on the ambient temperature, the refreshed cultures usually double or triple in the 6 hours before they go back into the fridge.  I've really been enjoying the Ischia, hope you do so as well.

Ischia Culture from sourdo.com            
Water Used is Pitcher-Filtered Tap Water at Refrigerator Temperature            
Established Using Gold Medal Unbleached All-Purpose Flour            
Date   Time   Culture+Flour+Water   Temperature   Comments
2022.02.14   2000   30+105+180   90°F (proofing bowl)   Cambro
2022.02.15   2000   151+140+180   RT (low 70°Fs, thermostat set to 68°F)   Cambro
2022.02.16   0800   157+157+157   RT (low 70°Fs, thermostat set to 68°F)   Cambro
2022.02.16   0800   164+164+164   RT (low 70°Fs, thermostat set to 68°F)   Cambro
2022.02.16   2000   159+159+159   RT (low 70°Fs, thermostat set to 68°F)   Cambro
2022.02.16   2000   163+163+163   RT (low 70°Fs, thermostat set to 68°F)   Cambro
2022.02.17   2000   150+300+225   RT (low 70°Fs, thermostat set to 70°F)   Cambro
2022.02.17   2000   150+300+225   RT (low 70°Fs, thermostat set to 70°F)   Cambro
2022.02.19   2000   200+200+150   RT (low 70°Fs, thermostat set to 68°F)   Cambro
2022.02.19   2000   200+200+150   RT (low 70°Fs, thermostat set to 68°F)   Cambro
2022.02.20   2000   200+200+150   RT (low 70°Fs, thermostat set to 68°F)   Cambro
2022.02.20   2000   200+200+150   RT (low 70°Fs, thermostat set to 68°F)   Cambro
Began Gold Medal /All Trumps Bleached and Bromated Flour Transition            
2022.02.21   0700   200+150/50+200   RT (low 70°Fs, thermostat set to 68°F)   12 hours,
2022.02.21   0700   200+150/50+200   RT (low 70°Fs, thermostat set to 68°F)   12 hours,
2022.02.22   1630   200+100/100+200   RT (low 70°Fs, thermostat set to 68°F)   6 hours, Cambro
2022.02.22   1630   200+100/100+200   RT (low 70°Fs, thermostat set to 68°F)   6 hours, Cambro
2022.02.23   0700   200+50/150+200   RT (low 70°Fs, thermostat set to 68°F)   6 hours, Cambro
2022.02.23   0700   200+50/150+200   RT (low 70°Fs, thermostat set to 68°F)   6 hours, Cambro
2022.02.24   0650   200+200+200   RT (low 70°Fs, thermostat set to 68°F)   6 hours, Cambro
2022.02.24   0650   200+200+200   RT (low 70°Fs, thermostat set to 68°F)   6 hours, Cambro
Maintained Using All Trumps Bleached and Bromated Flour            
2022.03.10   1545   207+207+207   RT (low 70°Fs, thermostat set to 68°F)   6 hours, Cambro
2022.03.10   1545   207+207+207   RT (low 70°Fs, thermostat set to 68°F)   6 hours, Cambro
2022.03.24   1700   100+100+100   69.7°F, then refrigerator until next feeding   6 hours, Weck jars
2022.03.24   1700   100+100+100   69.7°F, then refrigerator until next feeding   6 hours, Weck jars
2022.04.07   2100   100+100+100   71.3°F, then refrigerator until next feeding   6 hours, Weck jars
2022.04.07   2100   100+100+100   71.3°F, then refrigerator until next feeding   6 hours, Weck jars
2022.04.21   1700   100+100+100   75.7°F, then refrigerator until next feeding   6 hours, Weck jars
2022.04.21   1700   100+100+100   75.7°F, then refrigerator until next feeding   6 hours, Weck jars
2022.05.05   1645   100+100+100   73.8°F, then refrigerator until next feeding   6 hours, Weck jars
2022.05.05   1645   100+100+100   73.8°F, then refrigerator until next feeding   6 hours, Weck jars         
2022.05.19   1815   100+100+100   76.1°F, then refrigerator until next feeding   11 hours, Weck jars (alarm did not go off)
2022.05.19   1815   100+100+100   76.1°F, then refrigerator until next feeding   11 hours, Weck jars (alarm did not go off)
2022.06.02   1700   100+100+100   75.1°F, then refrigerator until next feeding   6 hours, Weck jars
2022.06.02   1700   100+100+100   75.1°F, then refrigerator until next feeding   6 hours, Weck jars
2022.06.16   1745   100+100+100   77.0°F, then refrigerator until next feeding   6 hours, Weck jars
2022.06.16   1745   100+100+100   77.0°F, then refrigerator until next feeding   6 hours, Weck jars

[SlackWaterPizza]

I relatively recently activated the Ischia culture from sourdo.com as well.  Once I got the culture established, I then spent the next several feedings transitioning it from the flour I activated the dried culture in to the flour I maintain it with (I'm not sure if this is strictly necessary, but I was trying to be cautious).  Once it was established, I started refreshing it every 14-15 days.  The duplicate entries are because I decided to split the initial culture in two after the second feeding.  Depending on the ambient temperature, the refreshed cultures usually double or triple in the 6 hours before they go back into the fridge.  I've really been enjoying the Ischia, hope you do so as well.

and the wife calls me "Captain Overkill"
and.... her golfing nick name it "Power-house"
anyways, ill add your reply to my story...sounds like your going to be enjoying yours and as well you should...unfortunately my 3 jars got dropped from a small glass table break from a rambunctious neighbors puppy........
Ummmmmm.....so i recorded the Italian set for the Ischia Starter and ill be starting over... it just showed up today... ill fire it up in the morning....
wish me luck....
#RoundTwo.......