Ask Allie

What is “Ask Allie”?

Ask Allie is our fermenting-related advice column, where you can ask all your fermenting, cooking, baking, and pantry-related questions to get digestible answers! No question about food is off limits!

Due to the overwhelming volume of submissions, I will be answering more than 3-4 questions per post as needed until I’m not lagging more than a week behind during the pandemic. Many of you will also get an email from me as soon as I see your submission, if I think your question needs an immediate reply.

For those of you who are still having some trouble finding the activation pages, please use this link for those pages. “Where are my activation instructions” is the one question I am no longer answering when it’s submitted, because we have links for it all over the website now, including the announcement section (where you get the promo codes) at the top of the homepage. Don’t forget, also, that if you’re having any sort of trouble, you should first check both the activation pages and the FAQ pages. All of the most common troubleshooting needs are addressed in those documents.

To have your question answered in Ask Allie posts, please use the form on our website. If you prefer to be anonymous, just say so in the form and we’ll leave your name out when we answer it in the blog!

For troubleshooting active issues with a culture you’re working with, please write us at support@positivelyprobiotic.com - you’ll get your answer faster that way!

Hi! We recently got a few of your sourdough starters, and I had a question about making brownies with the amount we are setting aside each day. On the activation instruction page, you mention adding this to brownies. Do you have a recipe for this? Can you just add to a boxed brownie mix? Thanks so much!

— Christine

If you’re using a mix, definitely just add it. If you’re using a homemade recipe, you can either add it without changing the recipe, or you can replace the baking powder and let it have an hour or so to rise. If you’re of the mind to prefer recipes over how tos, this recipe looks tasty!

I purchased the [starter type] sourdough culture. When I activate it, should I use a [flour type] flour if I plan to make a [flour type] sourdough bread culture? Thank you!

— Many of you

You can use any flour for any culture. If you may later want a “pure” starter, make sure you save half of your packet in the freezer!

Is the sourdough culture only meant to be used with the same flour over and over? In other words, once I've used my starter for a wheat bread recipe and then feed my starter to build it up again, can I then use a different flour for the next bread recipe?

— Anne

Yes, this is what most people do. In general, the average person just has one starter, which they feed with the flour they bake most with. If they’re using another flour for a different kind of bread later, it’s totally fine to use that same starter. Most people who use sourdough are shocked that I’ve got 40 or 50 starters in my house, until they find out where I work!

Can I use a Mason jar for the activation of the skyr?

— Allan

Yep, you can! I mostly use Mason or Weck jars for my yogurts and sourdoughs, but you can use any container you would like to!