Welcome back Everyone!
If you have made it to this blog, then you must be here to witness the trials and successes in my caring for a second batch of starters that my household has named Larryboy in honor of Larry, with my successes only present due to what I learned during my time attempting to grow and revive my original set of starters. So I hope that you guys are ready to experience a roller-coaster of ups and downs, smells, bubbles, threats of failure and promises of success and growth. Lets science!
Day 1: August 30th at 10:45am
Today, the next batch of starters, that in which my household named Larryboy in remembrance of the original starters, were born . . . or what other people would just say as thrown together. Just as in the original starters, both starters consisted of two scoops of the bread flour from the La Farm Bakery brand as well as two scoops of water that had been sitting out for 24 hours to allow for dichlorination. Just as before, I cut up a chunk of cucumber and a slice to add to the experimental starter. Once I had labeled the cups, stirred together the starters and covered them with a paper towel secured with a plastic lid, it was time to let the young starters begin their journey of growing while I kept an eye on them to ensure their survival.
Below is a picture of the starters moments after their birth and the cucumber used in the experimental starter . . .
Day 2: August 31st at 11am & 10:30pm
When they tell you every child is different, they do not lie. When I got around to feeding Larryboy, my starters, the next morning, while there was a slight amount of hooch on the surface, there was not a measurable amount as there was on my original starters, however hooch was still present in the areas that dipped lower on the surface of the starters. Both starters had numerous large bubbles as well as divots on the surface where air pockets had travelled over the course of the night, but if it were a race between the two sibling starters, the starter with the cucumber had a noticeably larger amount of bubbles and air pockets present throughout than the control starter. Now, what about the smell? The smell was completely different than that of the original starters. The control starter smelled like nutty bread and almost salty and buttery on some whiffs; weird right? The cucumber starter smelled like cucumber and nuts. Neither really smelled like a starter at all. So how about some pictures . . .
After the morning feeding, I kept an eye on my starters and sure enough, just as Larry had risen over the first 12 hours of Day 2, so did Larryboy. The control starter rose from 2.6cm in height to 4.8cm in height over the course of the 12 hours and the cucumber starter from 3.5cm to 6.4cm in height, thus essentially both of them doubled in volume. After learning what I did from Larry, my original starters, I decided to switch to a 12-hour feeding schedule on their second day; they were growing so fast and you know how children and teenagers always need to eat, especially when they are growing! Again, just as Larry, the Larryboy starters developed a layer of hooch that rather than being on top of the starter was underneath most of the starter (.5cm for the control and .75cm tall for the experimental starter). Even more than in the morning, both of the starters were completely ridden with bubbles, divots, and air pockets as air had clearly travelled around the surface and sides of the starters. Even when stirring them together, they actually felt like bread batter and one could hear the air escaping them as stirred! At this feeding they both smelt nutty with the cucumber starter smelling like, well, cucumber.
IMG_1304 (video for a more up close view on the starters at this stage)
Day 3: September 1st at 10:45 am/pm
Well, I can honestly say that on this morning when I woke up, I was devastated. When looking at the starters, it was clear that over the previous night, even though they rose and bubbled for the past two days, that they had not risen at all. Just as Larry had, they both formed a layer of hooch on their surface of about .5cm thick, and rather than being riddled with bubbles, their surface and throughout appeared smooth. In the experimental starter, the cucumber had risen to the top of the hooch. When stirred, the starters did not stick together as they had the day before, rather again they were both like stirring watered down glue; come to find out that again, the cucumber had been completely broken down by the starter except for its skin, which had been left in a weakened form. Now for what you all have been waiting for: the smell. What made these starters very different from my original starters at this stage was their smell. While both starters smelled similar, the control starter was a sour, nutty batter smell while the cucumber starter, still smelling rather nutty, also smelled acidic, like stomach acid mixed with cucumber. So while they smelled gross, they were certainly not as potent as my original starters. Unfortunately, later that night, the state of the Larryboy starters had not changed. While over the day I watched the starters slightly bubble, the bubbles were quickly erased by the layer of hooch, which was about .25cm thick for both starters, that lay across their surface. The starters were still like watered down glue to stir and by this evening, the cucumber had been broken down even further.
What a disappointing day. Can one say that I was nervous that my teenage starters had died? Yes (very sad face). Here is what they looked like . . .
September 1-3 (video of stirring the control starter to show consistency, above is the cucumber starter) (this is the morning feeding)
Day 4: September 2nd at 11:45am and 12 midnight
At this point I was thinking to myself “if I can not even keep a sourdough starter alive, and I’ve made FOUR!!!, how am I supposed to be able to keep a plant alive, let alone my future dogs or myself!” Why was I thinking that you may ask? Again my teenage starters did not show much change; my only hopes were that there are still slight differences between the Larryboy starters compared to my original Larry starters. Over the night, both starters had again developed a thin layer of hooch on their surface. When stirred, they both felt like watered down glue, with the cucumber starter feeling slightly thicker than the control starter, which was incredibly watery, and the control starter still smelled like nutty bread while the cucumber starter smelled like rotten fruit which to me smelled like stomach acid, an absolutely nauseating smell. At the nighttime feeding, they appeared the same as they had in the morning and also were the same consistency, however what was left of the cucumber skin had become clear and also the starters smells were less pungent.
So here is what they looked like on day four (the picture on the right has the control starter on the top and the experimental starter on the bottom – the image on the right is the morning feeding and the image on the left is the nighttime feeding, both look almost exactly the same)
Day 5: September 3rd at 1:30 pm and 11 pm
Soooooo, well, I had a organic chemistry exam this morning and in all of my panic for that I totally spaced on feeding the moody teenage starters until 1:30pm . . .and surprise, surprise, when I finally remembered that my starters existed, I took one look at them and they looked the exact same as they had the day before. They smelled the same, with the control smelling nutty and bread like and the cucumber starter smelling like stomach acid, however the smell had clearly faded in intensity and continued to for the nighttime feeding, which made me nervous because Larry had never lost their smell. The hooch was about .6cm thick on both of the starters for both feedings, and no rising had occurred over the night or the day. When stirred, they were both still incredibly watery. But, even though I worried about the status of my starters, I decided to not give up on them! So I learned from Larry and again slightly changed the procedure for taking care of my starters by increasing the amount of flour to a heaping scoop while reducing the amount of water to about 3/4 a scoop. If the starters were watery, I was determined to revive them by changing that, maybe I was not feeding the starters enough flour, so that is what I did. Below is more proof of how much it looked like my starters were not changing from the outside (control is always on the left and the experimental on the right or top – top left image is at the morning feeding and the other two are at the nighttime feeding).
Day 6: September 4th at 12 noon and 11:15pm
Okay, so are you guys ready for a twist. This morning was weird as the starters looked and smelled very different than they had the past couple days. When I fed the starters at noon, while they still had produced some hooch and a few bubbles, there were like these little mounds somewhat spaced out across the surface of both of the starters; they looked like little rolling hills, even though no rising or falling had appeared to happen over the course of the night. When stirring the starters however, they still felt very liquid or watery to me, as if even though my proportion of water to flour had changed, the consistency of the starters had not. But what I found weirdest about this while morning feeding is that the starters had completely lost their smell! Like I am not joking or kidding, nor am I sick, neither of the starters had a smell, their smells were almost nonexistent. Below is an image of what the starters looked like during the morning feeding . . . (control on the left and the experimental on the right . . . weird right?
Now, what was even crazier is that over the course of the day, I was astounded and so excited to see that the starter formed actual bubbles throughout their entire surface and seemingly throughout the starter as they both rose a significant height over the day while I was out and fell throughout the afternoon/evening. The control starter obviously rose slightly higher than the experimental starter as at the end of the day after having fallen, the control starter stood a little higher than the experimental starter, and neither had formed hooch. When I went to feed my starters for their nighttime feeding, at that point they were riddled with bubbles and little holes throughout their entire surface and down their sides and the surface of both starters was hilly again. Even when stirring the starters, they felt slightly thicker to me than before and had almost switched roles with the control being slightly thicker than the experimental starter. At this feeding they even smelt like sourdough starters with the experimental starter smelling slightly more sour than the control! Here are some pictures! Please join in on my enthusiasm and excitement!
sept 4-33 (This is an up close look at the consistency and bubbles found within the control starter)
Day 7: September 5th at 12:15pm and 12 midnight
Prepare to be amazed! My Larryboy starters have grown up as over the course of the night and into the next morning, the starters both rose an impressive amount. While they did rise while I slept, when I woke up, the cucumber starter had already fallen, but even at its fallen height, it had still increased in height, however, the control starter was still almost double its original height and its bubbles were massive compared to that of the experimental starter. While the starters did rise and fall over the course of this day, they did not reach the heights that they had reached over the previous night (5.3cm to 7.7cm for the control and 5.7 to 7.3 for the cucumber starter). At both feedings during this day, when stirring both the starters, it felt as if I were stirring light and bubbly, foamy batter as the starters clung to themselves as well as they could with how light and fluffy their consistency was; the control starter was still slightly thicker than the experimental starter. And to me again, after smelling so many horrific smells with my original pain of starters and throughout the first few days of these starters, am so happy to announce that throughout both feedings, my starters smelled like sourdough bread, and nothing else, with the cucumber starter smelling a little more sour than the starters without anything in it other than water and flour.
For your reference, the top two pictures are from the morning feeding and the bottom is from the nighttime feeding. The control is either the top cup in the picture or the one on the right.
Day 8-11: September 6th-9th with twice daily feedings in the morning and the evening
I think it is time for me to announce that my starters, while young, have graduated into adulthood; they follow the same routine and have not changed that routine over the past four days, so while boring you all with these uneventful but exciting days could be done separately, I thought I would explain all the important things that have happened over the course of these days in one little chunk. Our Larryboy starters rise and fall at least two centimeters twice every single day, no longer make hooch, and are riddled with bubbles every single time I go to feed them. So what has happened or changed? The starters have become thicker and of a more bread like consistency that sticks to itself which for a starter is of huge importance. Also, the sour smell for both of the starters continued to get more sour and sharper and almost turned into like a sharpie or alcohol smell over the course of the past few days, of course with the cucumber starter still having the sharper smell out of the two. One thing that did happen is that I did switch flours on Day 10, September 8th, to the Pillsbury Bread Flour as I ran out of the flour provided for the experiment, and it has seemed to have no effect on the starters and their growth. Our baby Larryboy starters have grown into routine based fully functioning adults!
Right before I wrap up this post, while I have characterized the differences between the starters in terms of smell and appearance over the course of the blog, it was after these few days in which I also was able to notice another significant difference between the starters as they became more mature and their rising and falling routine. So far, I have come to know that the cucumber starter smells sharper and more sour than the control starter does, that the control starter, once the starters started to rise, became the thicker starter to stir, and in terms of bubbles and rolling hills along their surface, they have both come to look the same. What I have noticed over the past few day, while I have been busy out and about and working, is that when I get a chance to watch them, while the control starter seems to rise higher than the experimental starter over the course of the day, the experimental starter seems to rise at a faster rate . . . . interesting right? (P.S. if you guys come back next week, I should actually have some data that can show the differences in rising rates between the two starters so stay with me!)
Feeding Schedule: September 6th (11:30am and 11:45pm), September 7th (11:15am/pm), September 8th (11:45am/pm), September 9th (1:15pm and 12:15am)
Here are some pictures of the starters over these four days, each pasted in order from left to right is a picture from each day with the bottom two pictures being both from day 11; all the photos are of the nighttime feedings.
