The one about my hardworking sourdough starter

 

So my sourdough starter Blossom and her posse live in my fridge (a few small jars). Every few weeks, one of them gets a massive feeding 1:5:5 and starts to work hard for me. *winks*

I know a lot of bakers tend to feed their starters a few times (over a few days) before they start using them if the starters have been hibernating in the fridge. But I find that a massive feeding one day prior to using it works for me. Especially since I'm using the starter as the base for my levain so it does get another feeding before I use it to bake.

I will usually try to make a variety of bakes once I feed my starter...to maximize the "effort". :) I don't want to feed my starter every day and keep the discard for something else because of fridge/freezer space constraints. Plus I live in a hot and humid climate...my sourdough starter ferments in a few hours and gets a tad too sour for my taste if it lives at room temperature.

Anyway, a whole chunk of it goes to make sourdough pancakes.

And 2 free-standing loaves to practise my dough shaping and oven spring skills. :)

And some sandwich bread for the old folks who find the standard sourdough crust too hard to bite.

Lots of bits and bobs from some happy mail I got recently. 

Playing along with Stick It Down.