Carl Griffith "oregon trail" sourdough 1847

Has anyone tried using this sourdough starter? http://home.att.net/~carlsfriends/

I've been using this sourdough yeast for the past year with good results, but I’m wondering if anyone else has tried it. It has a fun story behind it (it came across the Oregon trail) and it’s FREE. However, I’m wondering, should I broaden my sourdough experience and get a new starter? Maybe I don’t know what I’m missing in a good starter.

Here’s an idea, anyone that wants to trade some sourdough starter? Share opinions on each other sourdough starters, that would be fun.

I guess my topics are too specific. Nobody ever responds.

I guess I could simplify my request. What are some major differences between different starters? What are characteristics of a good one?

There was a discussion once, I think on egullet, where someone who knows a lot more about sourdough than I do said that over time the local wild yeasts, which are better adapted to the local environment, take over the starter from whatever yeast were originally incorporated. So eventually all starters maintained in Chicago will have the same characteristics and will be different from those in San Francisco. I don't know if this is true or not, but I have two starters I purchased from sourdo.com, one French and one Italian, and I am hard pressed to tell the difference in flavor, except the Italian one seems more active.

I agree with Rickster.. Eventually your sourdough will either be taken over by local yeasts or be inoculated with yeasts already present in the flour used for feeding. Starters made from scratch usually depend on yeasts present in the flour to get a culture going.

Rather than having starters from different sources, why not maintain starters with different flour types? You only really need one starter, though, since any starter can be easily converted to another. I have a white and 100% whole wheat starter. I usually feed the whole wheat with rye flour if I need a rye starter.

Thanks, that's the exact kind of information i figured i'd find on LTH as opposed to other internet sources. You guys are so smart!

I've made sourdough starter simply by mixing a little flour and water into a very loose slurry, and leaving it out (typically in warmer weather, with the windows open). After about a week, I've been able to take a portion of it, and it will serve as a nice (although, rather slow-acting) yeast. But a sourdough starter doesn't get much easier.