From 2a5ddeae48d15c620911e6bb3824759eb11f492c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Neil Trodden Date: Sun, 21 May 2023 10:33:42 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] docs: :art: restructure making first starter instructions (#95) This crucial paragraph on starting your starter was quite dense with information so just refactoring it a bit to improve how it parses --- book/sourdough-starter/sourdough-starter.tex | 37 ++++++++++++-------- 1 file changed, 22 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-) diff --git a/book/sourdough-starter/sourdough-starter.tex b/book/sourdough-starter/sourdough-starter.tex index dd130ea..6c14976 100644 --- a/book/sourdough-starter/sourdough-starter.tex +++ b/book/sourdough-starter/sourdough-starter.tex @@ -100,21 +100,28 @@ contamination of the microbes you are trying to cultivate in your starter. More of them live on the hull compared to the endophytes living in the grain. -Simply weigh around 50 grams of flour and add another 50 -grams of water. It doesn't have to be exactly 50 grams of both -water or flour. You could also use less and/or simply eyeball it. -The values are just shown as a reference. Don't use chlorinated -water to setup your starter. It should be bottled water ideally, -or here in Germany we can just use our tap water. Chlorine -is added to water to kill microorganisms. You will not -be able to grow a starter with chlorinated water. The hydration -of your dough is 100 percent. This means you have equal parts -of flour and water. Stir everything together so that all the flour -is properly hydrated. By adding water many of your microbes' -spores become activated. They exit hibernation mode and -become alive again. Cover your mixture with a lid. I like to -use a glass and place another inverted one on top. The container shouldn't -be airtight. You still want some gas exchange to be possible. +Start by measuring approximately 50 grams each of flour and +water. The measurements don't have to be exact; you can use +less or more, and just and eyeball the proportions. These +values are just shown as a reference. + +Don't use chlorinated water when setting up your starter. +Ideally, you should use bottled water. In certain regions +like Germany, tap water is perfectly fine. Chlorine is added +to water as a disinfectant to kill microorganisms, you will +not be able to grow a starter with chlorinated water. + +In this process, the hydration of your starter is 100 +percent. This means you're using equal parts flour and +water. Stir everything together so that all the flour is +properly hydrated. This step activates the microbial spores +in your mixture, drawing them out of hibernation and +reviving them. + +Finally, cover your mixture but make sure the covering is +not airtight. I like to use a glass and place another +inverted one on top. The container shouldn't be airtight, +you still want some gas exchange to be possible. \begin{figure}[!htb] \includegraphics{figures/fig-starter-process.pdf}