Sourdough edits

Author: jericson

_posts/2020-03-30-sourdough.md

@@ -5,13 +5,6 @@ comments: yes
 tags: community
 ---
 
-Originally [published on
-Twitter](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1242203741517799425.html). I've
-added a few images and footnotes. I expect this post will have a
-sequel soonish.
-
----
-
 I let my sourdough starter die several years ago because I just didn't
 have the energy to bake. Last week I got the urge again and got a
 starter going. My previous starter was from a family culture I brought
@@ -32,13 +25,13 @@ yeast spores that are found in the air and in the flour. I put my
 starter between the toaster and the oven to encourage them to
 reproduce.[^2] Yeast consumes the sugars found in flour to product
 carbon dioxide (useful for leavening) and alcohol. We use alcohol in
-drinks, of course, but its primary function is as a
-disinfectant. Brewing was an important discovery for civilization
-because it provided germ-free hydration.  Alcohol in starters fends
-off most other microbes. But it doesn't deter lactobacilli, which are
-bacteria that convert sugars to lactic acid. They thrive in
-environments with alcohol. Their waste product increases the acidity
-of the starter and that wards off other microbes too.
+drinks, of course, but it also serves as a disinfectant. Brewing was
+an important discovery for civilization because it provided germ-free
+hydration.  Alcohol in starters fends off most other microbes. But it
+doesn't deter lactobacilli, which are bacteria that convert sugars to
+lactic acid. They thrive in environments with alcohol. Their waste
+product increases the acidity of the starter and that wards off other
+microbes too.
 
 ![Sourdough starter mixed](/images/sourdough_mixing.jpg)
 
@@ -51,26 +44,27 @@ such as glucose. Together the yeast and bacteria convert moistened
 flour into carbon dioxide, alcohol and lactic acid. It's a symbiotic
 relationship with one missing piece: a baker.  At some point sourdough
 culture runs out of sugars and starches to digest. And the alcohol and
-acid can even harm the culture which is especially comfortable
-there. If allowed to go freely, the culture would consume itself and
-the yeast would form spores to survive starvation.  Therefore on day
-2, I added another equal parts (by weight) flour and water. This
-allows the yeast and bacteria to thrive. I started to see bubbles of
-CO2 rising to the top of the starter and making it less dense. This is
-what I want out of the process.
+acid can even harm the culture if allowed to accumulate. On its own,
+the culture would consume itself and the yeast would form spores so
+that it will survive starvation.  Therefore on day 2, I added another
+equal parts (by weight) flour and water. This allows the yeast and
+bacteria to thrive. I started to see bubbles of CO2 rising to the top
+of the starter, which is what I hope to get from tending the culture.
 
 ![Sourdough starter growth](/images/sourdough_growth.jpg)
 
 
 On day 3 I made a batch of pancakes. They don't need much leavening
-(and I added some baking powder to help out). I'll need to take out a
-fair amount of starter regularly or it will get too large for my
-jar. From now on, I'll need to feed it regularly. Hence pancakes.  The
-first batch isn't terribly sour. It's mostly the bacteria that gives
-sourdough its unique flavor. Typically it takes a week after reviving
-a starter to get a stable culture. At the moment, it smells and looks
-kinda gross before I feed it. The balance isn't right yet.  My
-pancakes were on the boring side. (We ran out of milk yesterday and
+(and I added some baking powder to help out). Since I'm adding more
+flour and water to the culture, I'll need to also take out a fair
+amount of starter regularly or it will get too large for my jar. Hence
+pancakes.
+
+The first batch isn't terribly sour. It's mostly the bacteria that
+gives sourdough its unique flavor. Typically it takes a week after
+reviving a starter to get a stable culture. At the moment, it smells
+and looks kinda gross before I feed it. The balance isn't right yet.
+My pancakes were on the boring side. (We ran out of milk yesterday and
 nobody has wanted to go to the store for more.) But in a few days I'll
 be ready to bake bread. That's the ultimate goal, of course. That and
 waffles, pretzels, English muffins, dinner rolls, etc. and so on.
@@ -84,32 +78,38 @@ organisms growing together. But we usually think of culture in human
 terms. It's the medium in which groups thrive.  Successful human
 cultures are symbiotic. The interdependencies are far more complex
 than the symbiosis between yeast and bacteria feeding on wheat flour
-and water. Think of the complex culture required to produce a TV show,
-for instance, and multiply that by everything we make.  On the one
-side there's an industry full of specialized workers producing 20 to
-60 minute sequences of images and sound. On the other are thousands
-and millions of people with similar cultivated preferences. And in the
-middle are curators and distribution channels.  If we want more of the
-the product (TV shows) we need to have a stable environment so that
-some people will spend the time needed to be really good at, say,
-making sound effects. It's no good learning to do that if the market
-for that skill dries up.  I'm convinced, by the way, that California
-has thrived as an entertainment center because it has generous
-unemployment benefits. When a show ends its run, everyone has a stable
-source of income while they look for a new gig. It's not the only
-possible solution,[^3] but it works.
+and water. 
+
+Think of the complex culture required to produce a TV show, for
+instance.  On the one side there's an industry full of specialized
+workers producing 20 to 60 minute sequences of images and sound. On
+the other are thousands and millions of people with similar cultivated
+preferences. And in the middle are curators and distribution channels.
+If we want more of the product (TV shows) we need to have a stable
+environment so that some people will spend the time needed to be
+really good at, say, making sound effects. It's no good learning to do
+that if the market for that skill dries up.
+
+I'm convinced, by the way, that California has thrived as an
+entertainment center because it has generous unemployment
+benefits. When a show ends its run, everyone has a stable source of
+income while they look for a new gig. It's not the only possible
+solution,[^3] but it works.
 
 ![Sourdough boule](/images/sourdough_boule.jpg)
 
 
 All this brings me to online community management and a mistake I've
 seen far too many times: misinterpreting hostility. The easiest way to
 think of snark, rude comments, grumpiness and so on is that some
-people are just mean and we should get rid of them.  Now to be clear,
-some people _are_ mean and we should get rid of them. But that group
-of people tend to be a small percentage of even unhealthy
-communities. We call these people trolls and they exist to cause
-problems. Most of the time they go way beyond the occasional snark.
+people are just mean and we should get rid of them.
+
+Now to be clear, some people _are_ mean and we should get rid of
+them. But that group of people tend to be a small percentage of even
+unhealthy communities. We call these people trolls and they exist to
+cause problems. Most of the time they go way beyond the occasional
+snark. We do need to remove them or they will spoil the culture.
+
 Think back to the yeast and bacteria in sourdough. They produce an
 environment hostile to other microbes as a natural byproduct of
 digesting sugars. It's not because they are being mean; it's just what
@@ -126,20 +126,28 @@ specific school on College Confidential.  In some cases people come to
 a community once or twice and leave. That's a bit like the flour I add
 to my starter. In other cases, people don't leave. They are committed
 to the community itself. Remembering they are instrumental in this
-analogy, they are like yeast and bacteria.  It's easy to dislike the
-flavor of a community and blame the part of the community that puts a
-sour taste in your mouth. "I wish all those lactobacilli would just
-find some other place to go. Why do we allow lactic acid anyway?"
-It's a straight line from identifying the problem, spotting the cause
-and formulating a solution. It's also a big mistake. If there's a
-functional community, it's likely each part (other than the trolls)
-serve a useful purpose. Perhaps lactic acid protects the culture
-somehow?
+analogy, they are like yeast and bacteria.
+
+It's easy to dislike the flavor of a community and blame the part of
+the community that puts a sour taste in your mouth. "I wish all those
+lactobacilli would just find some other place to go. Why do we allow
+lactic acid anyway?"  It's a straight line from identifying a
+perceived problem, spotting the cause and formulating a solution. It's
+also a big mistake. If there's a functional community, it's likely
+each part (other than the trolls) serve a useful purpose. Perhaps
+lactic acid protects the culture somehow?
 
 ![Sourdough bread sliced](/images/sourdough_slice.jpg)
 
 
 
+---
+
+Originally [published on
+Twitter](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1242203741517799425.html). I've
+added a few images and footnotes. 
+
+
 [^1]: I used [The Clever Carrot's sourdough starter
     recipe](https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2019/03/beginner-sourdough-starter-recipe/). In
     the past, I've use [Nancy Silverton's feeding