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A comment on Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter. Parent comment

Re:Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter by deaddodo on Saturday February 10, 2024 @04:41AM (#39324887)
The only way you can keep a "pure" influence would be to use the entire sample donated to you by the company (and even then, there will be local influence).

Bread doesn't pick up a ton of bacteria during it's fermentation period, it's the feeding cycle where it will. If you split the culture into many small ones, you're just guaranteeing all of them will be supplanted the moment they're fed.

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Re:Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter by bongodongobob on Saturday February 10, 2024 @03:54PM (#39330105)
Can't you sterilize what you're feeding it? I don't get it.
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Re:Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter by deaddodo on Sunday February 11, 2024 @08:07AM (#39334730)
Sterilize it how? There's inert yeast and bacteria on your flour at all times. That's what allows you to create a starter from scratch. What do you want to do, bleach raw flour every time you're about to drop it in your starter?

I'm sure if you were in a lab environment and absolutely needed to, there are options to do so. But not for most home bakers.

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