The Great Sourdough Starter Experiment

Lately I've become obsessed with sourdough starters. There's nothing like growing something from, well, basically nothing, and then having it taste great once you bake it. The concept is so incredible: "harvest" 'wild yeast' and make it grow and multiply; it's like an indoor winter garden. Who can resist that?

Everyone knows that San Francisco has some of the best sourdough bread in the world. But is it the method - or the yeast? What if you have some incredible, and as of yet undiscovered, yeast around you? That alone makes me want to try to cultivate some :)

Although there are many wonderful commercial sourdough starters on the market (Camaldoli (Italian) Sourdough Starter, Real San Francisco Sourdough, ALASKA JACK'S), I just couldn't resist trying to grow my own; one of those "back to basics" things, I guess. During the last month I tried one method using pineapple juice, and another using grapes, both with mixed and unpredictable results. Mostly due to my lack of taking notes, I'm sure. But I learned a few things along the way and now I'm ready to commit to a full-fledged side-by-side comparison trial.

SO, the GREAT Sourdough Starter Experiment begins...