Amish Friendship Bread Starter: How to Keep a Starter Healthy
Nov 21, 2001 -
© Jennifer Pitt
There are many different ways to handle a bread starter. Properly maintained, a starter can last for years (even decades) developing a more distinctive flavor as time passes.
One method is to remove three cups and bake the bread (one cup for each loaf) after the 10-day cycle. If the starter was not used to bake the bread then it would be put into three different containers which each got feed with a cup of sugar, a cup of flour and a cup of milk every five days or so.
This method can be time consuming when you have more than one starter to care for. Also, it can get rather expensive adding a cup of flour, sugar and milk to separate starters every five days. You also need to have room to store the containers.
Feeding Your Starter After the Ten Day Cycle
Unless you want to have a lot of starter on hand or you are going to be baking the bread in volume, after you complete the initial ten day cycle, it is not neccessary to feed the starter (see Making Amish Friendship Bread) as often as you did to begin with.
Feeding a starter just frequently enough to keep it alive, usually about every eight to ten days, should be fine. Remember you are "feeding" the starter to keep it "alive" and "healthy."
Instead of separating the starter into different containers after a ten day period, you can remove a third of it once every ten days and either bake the bread or freeze the starter. It takes about three hours for the starter to thaw. You do not have to wait until the end of the ten day cycle to bake the bread. As long as your starter is alive you should be able to remove some and bake whenever you feel like it.
Some people seem to think the starter will "go bad" if you don't remove some every ten days. Any starter that turns orange or pink in color and develop an unpleasant odor should be discarded.
This is only one alternate method, and may not work for everyone. The environment will have a lot to do with how flexible you can be with your starter. If you keep your starter in the refrigerator, it is advisable to bring it to room temperature at least once a week, remove a third of it to either bake in bread or discard and then add a cup each of flour, sugar and milk.
One method is to remove three cups and bake the bread (one cup for each loaf) after the 10-day cycle. If the starter was not used to bake the bread then it would be put into three different containers which each got feed with a cup of sugar, a cup of flour and a cup of milk every five days or so.
This method can be time consuming when you have more than one starter to care for. Also, it can get rather expensive adding a cup of flour, sugar and milk to separate starters every five days. You also need to have room to store the containers.
Feeding Your Starter After the Ten Day Cycle
Unless you want to have a lot of starter on hand or you are going to be baking the bread in volume, after you complete the initial ten day cycle, it is not neccessary to feed the starter (see Making Amish Friendship Bread) as often as you did to begin with.
Feeding a starter just frequently enough to keep it alive, usually about every eight to ten days, should be fine. Remember you are "feeding" the starter to keep it "alive" and "healthy."
Instead of separating the starter into different containers after a ten day period, you can remove a third of it once every ten days and either bake the bread or freeze the starter. It takes about three hours for the starter to thaw. You do not have to wait until the end of the ten day cycle to bake the bread. As long as your starter is alive you should be able to remove some and bake whenever you feel like it.
Some people seem to think the starter will "go bad" if you don't remove some every ten days. Any starter that turns orange or pink in color and develop an unpleasant odor should be discarded.
This is only one alternate method, and may not work for everyone. The environment will have a lot to do with how flexible you can be with your starter. If you keep your starter in the refrigerator, it is advisable to bring it to room temperature at least once a week, remove a third of it to either bake in bread or discard and then add a cup each of flour, sugar and milk.
The copyright of the article Amish Friendship Bread Starter: How to Keep a Starter Healthy in Baking Recipes is owned by Jennifer Pitt. Permission to republish Amish Friendship Bread Starter: How to Keep a Starter Healthy in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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