It's aliiiiiiiiiiiive! Part 2

Okay, so things got out of control.

I was just going along my merry way, feeding my little seed culture daily and watching it bubble and foam.  Finally, it was the last day for feeding the seed culture.  Now, good ol' Reinhart warned me that it should double in six hours or so, and that it might even triple.  But I didn't really believe him.  I sort of imagined that I might get a double rise but surely nothing bad could happen if I left the culture out overnight.  Well, see for yourself:

This is after six hours or so.  See the saucer?  This was my overflow insurance.

In a related note, sourdough starter, once dried, is surprisingly difficult to clean up: tacky, gooey, but also slightly crusty at the same time.

This was the next morning.  Whoops!  I guess I didn't think the wild yeasties had it in 'em.

Luckily, the culture survived, I made the barm, and then finally--after a week! I was ready to make bread.  Reinhart's recipe makes a huge bowlful of dough, so I got two baguettes and two smallish boules out of one recipe.  I made mine with half whole wheat and half bread flour, and the resulting bread...well, it had great flavor but I'm not sure that it tasted any better than Reinhart's other bread methods, like pain à l'ancienne.  But, now that the starter's made, I can keep it in the fridge, let it mellow out for a little bit, and feed it again when I want to make bread the next time!  Plus, this is perfect timing--I was just about to run out of yeast anyway.  Good thing my apartment air obliged!

Love,

Lindsey