Freezing sourdough starter -and- sourdough pizza

[Fred Manhed]

My friends,

I am on my fourth sourdough starter. I lost one of them to neglect, one to an ex-wife (she must have been angry at me that day), and one to an ex-mother-in-law (she dumped it 'cause she thought it was a forgotten batch of pancake batter). I am determined not to go through the hassle of acquiring a fresh starter ever again so I am wondering if any of you have had success in freezing and later thawing some sourdough starter. By this I mean that I would like to reserve a small amount in the freezer as an "insurance policy" against future catastrophes to my main starter.

The more important question of the day is: Can someone give me some tips on making some sour pizza dough? Please refrain from telling me to add dry yeast to the recipe since I consider that the worst sort of baking heresy!

Get out of bed
Make some bread
It's Fred Manhed!

 

[suziquzie]

I have tried 3 sourdough starters, 2 failed, the last worked but the bread was NOT sourdough!
If anyone can answer his problem I'd love the answer also!

 

[Fred Manhed]

Let me clarify that each starter I have owned was used to make many, many loaves of bread and mountains of sourdough pancakes. Are you saying that you made a "starter" to make just one batch of bread, Suzie? Or are you saying that you tried to capture your own wild yeast? One starter I had was received at a sourdough class, one was a little extra from Whole Foods (I'll never try that again- long story), and I've ordered two from King Arthur Flour. Did this post make any sense?

 

[suziquzie]

My attempts were to try to appease the bread snobs in both my husband and I. We may live in the midwest, but we know good bread!
I grew up in NY, he in CA. I am on a life's quest to make a decent... not perfect... loaf of crusty Italian bread. The other quest is to make him some equally great San Fransisco sourdough.
The first was fron the BHG cookbook, I've learned in old age that it's a great guide but not a bible, everything followed to a T is bland. That one didn't work.
The second was an Emeril recipe. I figured he was from a coast and knew his bread. He doesn't. It was sweet. I'm not knockin my Emeril, I still love him.

Yes they were for single (rather 2) loaves to start, and keep a bit for the next with more things added.
Am I making sense? I'm on the 2nd glass of Shiraz.....

 

[Constance]

I kept a sourdough starter going for over 10 years. Even if you don't use it, you need to feed it once a week. I let it go sometimes until it really looked bad, but I just took out a little bit, and got a new batch going.

 

[Walt Bulander]

I've tried it, with minimal success. You need to pay attention.
I remember reading from one of Anthony Bourdain's books (probably KItchen Confidential - can't check - I've loaned it out) about a bread baker in his New York restaurant that was a total druggie and often wouldn't show up for work, but was so dedicated to his starter, that he would call in and plead that Tony would "feed the beast". He would continually get fired, but his bread was so good that someone else would immediately rehire him.

 

[tropical cooker]

Check this out. There is a video on how to dry starter. (among other videos)

Bread Baking Instructional Videos and Baking Supplies.

He is one of the better sites on the subject. I learned a lot from his site. Nothing like pictures and videos to get the point across.

 

[Barb L.]

Check this out. There is a video on how to dry starter. (among other videos)

Bread Baking Instructional Videos and Baking Supplies.

He is one of the better sites on the subject. I learned a lot from his site. Nothing like pictures and videos to get the point across.

Thanks, enjoyed the videos - now I want to make some no knead bread.

 

[Fred Manhed]

Hey Tropical Cooker!

You're link made my day! That guy is amazing and his website answered my sourdough insurance question AND my sourdough pizza question beautifully.