My friend gave me some 700 y/o starter, and damn was it active!
My friend gave me some 700 y/o starter, and damn was it active!
by VintalOneQ
16 Comments
VintalOneQ
I have been using my own starter for the past 14 months or so, but my friend gave me this 700 y/o Dutch starter, and it is super active and complex! As a result, I overproofed a bit.
35% W/W Bead flour 65% White bread flour 7% wheat germ 2.3% salt 14% levain 85% hydration
Fed the starter at around 11, came home at 5 to peak activity, so I just did a 30 minute autolyse with the salt and full hydration, then added levain, and mixed it in the stand mixer until it balled up nicely, then set it on the counter near the stove to proof. Gave it 2 stretch and folds at 45 minutes apart, and a total bull fermentation of about 5 hours. Benched, divided, shaped, and sent it to the fridge for the night. I was tempted to bake at 9am, but that was only 9 hours in the fridge, so I decided to wait a bit longer. Wound up baking at about 14 hours into the cold proof, and knew I had pushed it a bit too far.
I preheated the Dutch oven for 45 minutes at 500. The boule went in, along with 2 ice cubes, and I turned the oven down to 450 for 20 minutes. Turned it back up to 500, another 10 minutes in the Dutchy, then onto the Stone for another 15 minutes at 500.
For the batard, I baked it on the stone with the steam tray, and covered with a large bowl which still let some air circulate through. 25 minutes covered, 15 uncovered.
The crumb is great, but I didn’t get the spring I am used to.
sanitybreak69
You verify that assertion with carbon dating? 😬😳
ckreutze
Cool bro
Impressive-Leave-574
Deng!! Looks great!
Glittering_Star_3505
Out of curiosity – how did you / your friend know it was 700 y/o? Was it passed down through their family?
TotallyNotARedditMod
I always wonder this. I occasionally see 300 year old sourdough etc and wonder about it. Reddit also hate to thinks anything is true so it’s a conundrum.
jellybeans_over_raw
Ain’t no way
OneCow9890
Maybeeee you meant 70 years lol
Simple-Purpose-899
In my opinion once you’ve fed a starter with different flour long enough the natural yeast in it I’ll be all that’s left. Cool story though.
ElJefePinche
I actually just ordered some 10 thousand year old starter off Etsy. I am excited for my first loaf.
WIJGIA
Been around since before Constantinople fell! That starter was probably blessed by a Roman emperor…
jplowman
This is an honest question, is there a noticeable taste difference on old ones?
augustrem
Y’all are taking OP too literally.
40ozT0Freedom
700 years?! pfft. Mine is 13.7 billion years old.
BEARDBAR
The loaf of yeastseus. If you replace all of the yeast one by one, is it the same starter?
GamerGrl11701
Just FYI, even IF the starter is technically that old (highly doubt it is) it will never be the same starter. After using it a few times and feeding it, it is 100% different. It will never be the same. As flour, environment, etc changes so does the starter. I’m glad it’s strong for you, though.
16 Comments
I have been using my own starter for the past 14 months or so, but my friend gave me this 700 y/o Dutch starter, and it is super active and complex! As a result, I overproofed a bit.
35% W/W Bead flour
65% White bread flour
7% wheat germ
2.3% salt
14% levain
85% hydration
Fed the starter at around 11, came home at 5 to peak activity, so I just did a 30 minute autolyse with the salt and full hydration, then added levain, and mixed it in the stand mixer until it balled up nicely, then set it on the counter near the stove to proof. Gave it 2 stretch and folds at 45 minutes apart, and a total bull fermentation of about 5 hours. Benched, divided, shaped, and sent it to the fridge for the night. I was tempted to bake at 9am, but that was only 9 hours in the fridge, so I decided to wait a bit longer. Wound up baking at about 14 hours into the cold proof, and knew I had pushed it a bit too far.
I preheated the Dutch oven for 45 minutes at 500.
The boule went in, along with 2 ice cubes, and I turned the oven down to 450 for 20 minutes. Turned it back up to 500, another 10 minutes in the Dutchy, then onto the Stone for another 15 minutes at 500.
For the batard, I baked it on the stone with the steam tray, and covered with a large bowl which still let some air circulate through. 25 minutes covered, 15 uncovered.
The crumb is great, but I didn’t get the spring I am used to.
You verify that assertion with carbon dating? 😬😳
Cool bro
Deng!! Looks great!
Out of curiosity – how did you / your friend know it was 700 y/o? Was it passed down through their family?
I always wonder this. I occasionally see 300 year old sourdough etc and wonder about it. Reddit also hate to thinks anything is true so it’s a conundrum.
Ain’t no way
Maybeeee you meant 70 years lol
In my opinion once you’ve fed a starter with different flour long enough the natural yeast in it I’ll be all that’s left. Cool story though.
I actually just ordered some 10 thousand year old starter off Etsy. I am excited for my first loaf.
Been around since before Constantinople fell! That starter was probably blessed by a Roman emperor…
This is an honest question, is there a noticeable taste difference on old ones?
Y’all are taking OP too literally.
700 years?! pfft. Mine is 13.7 billion years old.
The loaf of yeastseus.
If you replace all of the yeast one by one, is it the same starter?
Just FYI, even IF the starter is technically that old (highly doubt it is) it will never be the same starter. After using it a few times and feeding it, it is 100% different. It will never be the same. As flour, environment, etc changes so does the starter. I’m glad it’s strong for you, though.