Pioneer Sourdough Starter - 4 oz.

A month ago or so I posted a review saying this was not a sourdough. I kept it in the fridge and fed once a week to keep it alive. Just last week I smelled it and it had a bit of a wine, tangy scent, so I fed it a little more and made a pancake with it to test the flavor. It now tastes much more like a sourdough culture. It’s possible it needed a few feeding cycles to develop. It didn’t behave like a sourdough at first. I just want to correct my first review and give it another try in bread making. It seems to be coming along!

I've had this starter for a couple weeks. It is very mild. I've started using whole wheat bread flour to feed it to make it a little more robust. I take some out to use and feed the remainder flour and water and leave it out of the fridge a couple hours to get going--then put it in the fridge for a week.I've used it to make bread, pita bread, waffles and pancakes. I love the flavor and I'm sure it will get stronger with time. I strongly recommend this. I've had no trouble with it, except for the time I put it in too small a container after feeding it and it puffed over the top of the crock and over the counter. Don't do that-- sticky yeast is hard work to clean up.

Been having a lot of fun with this starter, have made multiple types of bread including plain, cheddar and jalepeno, and have even made NY style Everything Bagels a couple of times. Everything has come out delicious! Suggestion....For those just getting started, look up "no Kneed" sourdough bread recipes online to begin with. Some of those instructions out there are very complicated and intimidating, the No Kneed versions are easier to start with. This has been a nice quarantine distraction, its like an art and science project all rolled into one!

The starter was easy to use and was ready in 24 hours. The directions were easy to follow to grow the starter. I tried to make the first bread recipe provided, however, and it had a lot of steps and took a long time. The bread was tasty but didn't taste like sourdough. There was no tang to it. I'll try it again with a different recipe. But after yesterday's attempt I told my self that it's easier, tastier, and cheaper just to buy fresh sourdough bread.

I need to practice more with the recipe.

Excellent flavor, healthy, vigorous starter that made 'sponge' in just a few hours. Impressive! The resultant bread was delicious--finely textured and so much like Grandma's bread that delighted her children and grandchildren in the 50's. I was too young when she died to get a 'start' of her starter, but would like to think that it was related to this one. (She lived not so very far from Albany that it's possible.) Next on the menu: sourdough flapjacks! (Anyone who has trouble with this robust starter must not have followed the directions--try again--you'll love the results.)

I found both the directions for use and the recipes disappointing. I mixed it but I never did use it.

I was expecting to have to feed this for a couple of days to make it strong enough to lift a loaf, but it was ready right away. The loaf I made had a wonderful flavor. I look forward to many years of this bread.