persistence can be a good thing..but it can also be counter productive..sometimes you don't know if you should persist with something or not..if the thing you're persisting with has a positive outcome you think your persistence was a good thing and you might give yourself a little pat on the back for not being one to give up easily..on the other hand you might persist and persist and then realise that you've just wasted a lot of resources (like time, money, emotional energy) on something that didn't work and you then might blame yourself for not realising earlier that it would have been better to ditch the whole thing in the first place..
my thinking here is all about my sourdough starter which developed a case of black mould while i was overseas in may this year for two weeks..at the time i wondered if i should throw it away but i removed the mould, fed the starter, and it sprang back to life..great..life moved on..loaves were baked and i forgot about the mould..but one day i made my usual baguettes and they were dense..tried again a few days later..same thing..and once more..same..i thought i'd lost my mojo..a while later i thought my starter might be the problem so razzed up the feeding and gave it some intensive care..
i tried every regime possible..all rye..some white and some rye..filtered water..boiled, cooled filtered water..tepid filtered water..warmer environment..cooler environment..but all rye flour is all it likes..even introducing tiny increments of white flour sends it into a funk..i can't tell you how much discarded starter i've had to deal with in the process..couldn't waste it..some of you know what i'm like about waste..i've chucked it in yeasted bread..made too many pancakes for one person..but after all the persistence it's time to take it off life support and arrange the funeral..i now realise that it was on its way out all those months ago..hindsight's funny like that!
see you..it's time for me to desist..x
my thinking here is all about my sourdough starter which developed a case of black mould while i was overseas in may this year for two weeks..at the time i wondered if i should throw it away but i removed the mould, fed the starter, and it sprang back to life..great..life moved on..loaves were baked and i forgot about the mould..but one day i made my usual baguettes and they were dense..tried again a few days later..same thing..and once more..same..i thought i'd lost my mojo..a while later i thought my starter might be the problem so razzed up the feeding and gave it some intensive care..
i tried every regime possible..all rye..some white and some rye..filtered water..boiled, cooled filtered water..tepid filtered water..warmer environment..cooler environment..but all rye flour is all it likes..even introducing tiny increments of white flour sends it into a funk..i can't tell you how much discarded starter i've had to deal with in the process..couldn't waste it..some of you know what i'm like about waste..i've chucked it in yeasted bread..made too many pancakes for one person..but after all the persistence it's time to take it off life support and arrange the funeral..i now realise that it was on its way out all those months ago..hindsight's funny like that!
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| although i've started another starter it will be a while before i can bake sourdough again..so it's yeasted bread in the meantime |
see you..it's time for me to desist..x
Kudos on desisting Jane. Sometimes it really is as important to know when to give up and get started on the next phase...next phase appears to be new sourdough starter. Give it a good funeral and move on :).
ReplyDeletedone..
DeleteStrange isn't it Jane? I wonder what upset it? I had this very conversation with someone yesterday who had chucked her starter out and started the process all over again. In the meantime I am sure you are making some delicious yeasted bread. Those rolls are picture perfect x
ReplyDeleteproblem..the new one has developed the same problem..mind you i had the old one next to it..time to pitch the old one..letting go isn't easy after 3 years..
DeleteJane, my heart bleeds for you ... When I went away last year I dried my wheat and rye starters. The wheat starter was as happy as Larry to be re-hydrated but the rye starter would not play. Luckily, I had given some of my starters to a friend who had frozen his whilst he was on holidays. His rye starter bounced back from being frozen.
ReplyDeleteglenda..i've given quite a lot away as well but unfortunately none have kept theirs going :(
ReplyDelete