Tartine Bread, Day 7: Bringing in the designated hitter, Cavanagh
by Adam Kuban
From left: The Tartine Bakery starter and 'Cavanagh,' a starter I made a long time ago.
Again, not much to report on the starter front these days. The Tartine Bread starter is less stinky and shows a small to almost-moderate amount of bubbling after feeding.
The book mentions that it’s supposed to double in bulk a couple hours after feeding. I’ve not seen this to be the case. But, as I said, patience. I’m sure it’ll start eventually. That’s what happened with my “Cavanagh” starter. Speaking of which …
I don't have a 'before' picture to show, but trust me when I say that it has doubled in bulk after I fed it earlier today.
I’ve brought Cavanagh up from off the bench (i.e., the refrigerator) and have revived it after months of neglect. Which is first-hand proof for me that you really can resuscitate a starter you’ve all but left for dead.
I brought Cavanagh back to life a couple days ago, stirring it up, adding some warm water to it and some flour. I’ve fed it regularly the last couple days, and today it doubled in bulk nicely.
'Cavanagh, is crazy bubbly.
What I’m going to do is keep feeding the TB starter and see if I can get it to take, but if not, I’ll use Cavanagh next weekend to make my first loaf of the Basic Country Bread.
