Cultured my homemade sourdough starter onto dextrose agar (nutrient plate for fungi). It smells like bread! 😊. Probably looking at at least two different species. I also have another plate going to isolate the bacteria. That one’s in the fridge right now because I’m trying to see if the bacteria really do grow better in the cold. Yea science!

by swaggyxwaggy

25 Comments

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  2. swaggyxwaggy

    Stay tuned for gram stain/microscopy photos. Gonna try and get some next time I’m in class

  3. BeetenBlackAndBlue

    Awesome! Very interested in the results. Please update when you know more. And I’d love to send you some of my starter to experiment on!

    Happy baking!

  4. Conleycon

    Well now i know what im doing at work tonight 🤣

  5. HugeNefariousness452

    This makes me wish I had a sourdough starter when I took micro in 2nd year.

  6. UnicornGlitterZombie

    Did you just help me figure out what my 7th graders science fair project is going to be??

  7. Finally something other than a does this crumb look right post.

  8. rodriguezandy1

    Whaat, that is soo cool — brings me right back to my Environmental Classes. I’m following for updates!

  9. Nice! This is really interesting. I’ll be watching for your updates.

  10. DoubleMerlin

    I want to see a viable cell stain on months old unfed starter! My mother always bounces back no matter how many months I keep it in the fridge under hooch.

  11. akira7799

    Do agar plates have the ability to isolate yeast and bacteria? Or just bacteria?

  12. Caffeinatedat8

    Once again, I have to question whether or not I’m actually smart enough for this sourdough hobby! Most of the time can make great bread, but envy those who actually understand the science and can really experiment beyond recipes.

  13. AffectionateYoung300

    It’s so preetttttyyyyy! It looks like a tiny Milky Way😍

  14. Spellman23

    So I believe the theory about the bacteria is that different strains can still operate in the fridge, so the balance of the types of acid change relative to at room temps. Acetic vs Lactic acids are produced in different relative concentrations depending on the temp.

    And that they can be relatively more active than the yeast, but still slowed down relative to the room temperature activity. So in the fridge they potentially can out compete the yeast.