Starter Update

So, I have been tending my new baby starter made with the pineapple juice, and just not much has been happening with it. Twelve hours ago(at 84 hours), I decided that maybe it was my flour. It's whole wheat, but it isn't brand new, and it was purchased from a store where it was probably kept on the shelf a good long time.

I opened a fresh bag(from the big store with high product turn over) and fed my little cranky baby. And then I started two others, one with pineapple juice(as this one had been) and the other with water. Only twelve hours later, they're all showing signs of life. My 96-hour starter doubled in volume and was full of bubbles. The other two produced hooch and developed gluten after only twelve hours.

Lessons for the day:  

• Catching yeast from the air is a myth. It comes in the flour, so it has to be the kind of yeast you want because all yeasty-beasties have a favorite food. The yeast that likes grain, comes with the grain(so long as it's fresh and not bleached to death). 
• Flour has a shelf life--who knew! And if you want it to have many of those delightful little microorganisms, the fresher, the more intact it is, the better. I used a Kroger brand whole wheat flour this morning, but if I ever try to start my own starter again, I'm going organic stone-ground...