Let's begin Day 2! Baking is truly about using all of your senses to create a final product that uses the ingredients within, to their fullest potential! With that being said, open up your container, look and smell! See what is happening? Observe any changes in appearance, smell. Also touch the culture and see what it feels like. When you get used to using all your senses, in the future, it will allow you to rely on more than just sight when a problem arises.
Just from looking at this mixture, I can tell there are many changes since we last took our photos. There is a distinct color change; also, notice the formation of bubbles on the surface. These are all early signs of yeast activity. Now, if you are not seeing any bubbles or activity, do not fret. This exercise is all about giving it time. The culture might also have an alcoholic smell, which is a great sign! Alcohol and carbon dioxide are produced not only in cultures but in bread and beer as well when sugars are broken down by yeast enzymes, they produce those two ingredients as a by-product You are really looking for just a hint of alcohol. If there is an overwhelming aroma of alcohol, that means the culture is over-fermented. If that is the case, try using colder water and compare your results.
Today's step is very difficult and requires a lot of detail work. Stir the culture and put the lid back on. Now, we just wait until tomorrow. Whew! I told you it was gonna be tough!
We want to give the culture, more precisely the wild yeast cells, more time to eat and produce. Tomorrow, we will feed the culture a different ratio of flour and water. What we are really doing boils down to us just giving the yeast more food to consume and produce!
Starting tomorrow, if you so desire, you can add another type of flour to the mix. Different flours add different flavors and acidity levels. There are two types of acid present in the culture: acetic and lactic. Lactic acids, will add more of a sweet flavor to your culture, whereas on the other hand Acetic acids will add more of a tangy bite to the culture. Adding a flour such as Whole Wheat or Rye will add more acetic acid, while flours such as Durum will add more lactic acid.
It is also a possibility to add different types of fruits or vegetables into the culture. I personally do not do this because I do not feel it adds enough flavor to warrant wasting fresh strawberries or grapes. It does add some flavor, but these additions have to be added every time you feed the culture. If you do this once or twice and never again, what little flavor is in there will work its way out, little by little every time you feed it. But if this idea piques your curiosity, I encourage you to give it a try. After all, baking is all about trial and error, and learning on your own. If you do start a fruit/veggie culture, I would suggest keeping this current culture going and starting a second one, using whatever additions you may want to add. Just be sure to do some research on what you're adding before you just toss it in.
Respect the culture, and keep in mind that you want to take care of it as a living thing. Let me know if you have any questions!
Keep Baking that Bread,
Josh
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