From: julie@eddie.jpl.nasa.gov (Julie Kangas)
Subject: Re: Sourdough Jack pancakes
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 19:56:49 GMT

In article <1992Aug27.183708.1313@henson.cc.wwu.edu> pamhall@henson.cc.wwu.edu (Pamela Hall) writes:
>
>Hello everyone,
..
>wonderful the next morning when I made the pancakes.  However, I've got
>a couple of questions:
>    1.  If I have some batter left over, is it useless?  I mean, if I 
>        put it in the refrigerator, won't the "beasties" go dormant (or
>        whatever)?  Or, if I leave it out, the eggs and stuff I added
>        may go bad, or the "beasties" will basically be proofing for
>        much longer than they are supposed to!  At any rate, I threw
>        away the leftover batter :-(

Good for you!  You shouldn't keep leftover batter once sugar, eggs, etc
have been added.  Yeast only needs water and flour and that's all
that should be in your culture jar.  Anything else may contaminate
it and cause it to change over time.

>
>    2.  I like to proof my starter in my oven.  I turn it on low, turn if
>        off, let it cool a bit, wrap my starter container in a towel and 
>        place it in the oven.  However, what if I baked bread that used
>        commercial yeast in the same oven a few days ago?  I am under
>        the impression that cooking the yeast kills it, so I don't think
>        proofing my starter in the same oven should be a problem, but am
>        I mistaken?

I hope this too.  Another note on the positive side is that once
you have a stable culture it should be resistant to other strains
of yeast.

>
>    3.  My starter isn't quite as sour as I would like for it to be?  
>        What should I do?

What kind of culture do you have?  Some are mild, some sorta sour,
others are Sour, and some (like the Russian) are ***SOUR***.  It
has also been observed in this group that cultures get more sour
with age.  (As a side note:  has anyone done any of the experiments
being discussed during the last few days before the creation
of this newsgroup?)
>
>    4.  The Sourdough Jack recipe calls for baking soda.  Could someone
>        explain to me the purpose of baking soda?  Is it similar to baking
>        powder?  What are the distinctions between Baking soda and baking
>        powder?  Why would a recipe call for both ingredients (the pancake
>        recipe did not, BTW)?  

Both act to leaven the batter.  Beyond that, I'll let Dave answer the
question.

>
>And finally!  I really enjoy this bboard--it's a great deal of fun and 
>I really enjoy the sourdough.  My husband even read the sourdough FAQs,
>which was amazing (that my husband had an interest in them!).  But, I was
>wondering if the bboard is also a forum for making yogurt?  It seems to
>have a yogurt thread (or two) running through it!  Not that I mind, I 
>may want to make my own yogurt, too!

This group's name is somewhat of a misnomer.  It covers anything
that uses yeast and lactobacilli cultures, except probably beer
and wine.  I think cheese making discussions would also be
ok here.  In fact, I would really like to see some cheese
recipes!  

Julie
#include "std_disclaimer.h"
#include "witty_sig.h"
Newsgroups: rec.food.sourdough