Starter.

[Dutchoven]

Re: Starter.

In my experience starters with bleached white tend to be sweeter but other than that you should be ok. With subsequent feedings you can change the composition of the barm.
Best
Dutch

[CanuckJim]

Re: Starter.

Kulas,

I'm with Dutch here. The only real problem with bleached flour is the methods used for bleaching. Some are not very nice at all. Depends on your location and gov't regs. Down the road, I'd try to get hold of unbleached bread flour if you can. Over time and successive feedings, what you start with initially doesn't matter all that much. Try to make sure your flour, whatever sort, is fresh. That's more important than type.

Jim

[Kulas]

Re: Starter.

Thanks Dutch and Jim, so great to know that I could use bleached white bread flour for starting a sourdough culture. I'm still looking for unbleached white, but I'll be starting with what I have now... organic rye, honey, and bleached bread flour. I am following the instructions from Hamelman's Bread book but there weren't any info in there if I could substitute bleached flour for unbleached. Thanks again.

[CanuckJim]

Re: Starter.

Kulas,

The real proof is whether it's growing or not. If it's bubbling, smells sharp and clean, you're there. True, using hard, unbleached bread flour will give you a stronger, stringier (is that a word?), tastier result, but what you're really after right now is a comfortable environment for wild yeast and the good bugs and enzymes that like it, feed off the byproducts. A ripe soudough/levain is a very complex mixture, but it's also very forgiving, and definitely does not notice your presence. How you get there doesn't matter all that much. Temperature management is more significant; don't let it get above 80 F. Down the road, for peak performance, flour choice will make a difference, but so? Sometimes, there's a bit too much mystery attached to sourdough or levain development. Really, it's not that difficult or mysterious. Bakers have been doing it for thousands of years with zero technology. Depending on the source of your bleached flour, there might be some additives that should be purged, but over successive feedings this will happen as a matter of course. It's definitely not permanent. "No sweat in the Arctic," as a First Nations friend of mine used to say.

Jim