It's Alive!

Well Frank had a very good nights sleep. He cam out of the fridge ready to rock 'n roll. He was slightly seperated but no where near the amount of seperation on the previous days. Don't know if I should have, but I stirred it to make it more homogenious. I poured off 16 Oz. of Frank and mixed him with 9 Oz. of unbleached bread flour.

After kneading for 4-5 minutes I ended up with what you see at left and above. Chef Reinhart refers to this as a "firm starter" and is the next step towards my first sourdough. It needs to rest @room temp for 6-8 hours. The 2 pics below are Frank before and after that rest. He is a growing boy!

Here's Frank before that rest. Let's hope...

...he's a growing boy! Frank has had a very hard day. He has worked all day and is now twice his original size. I have decided to reward him and so he is asleep in the fridge for the night.



I guess the fact that he did double means that something is alive in there. I am assuming this is a good thing.

On the other hand, Ernest is taking his sweet time. After his Day 4 refreshments he has settled in (litterally) for the long haul. The seperation is nearly 50-50. Chef Silverton says this is normal.

One major development that indicates that Ernest is not dead but merely in a coma. I don't know if you can see them in the pics but, there are lots of little bubbles in his solid section. If you watch for a few seconds you can see one break off the solid surface and rise through the liquid. Signs of life!