Habaneros are probably my favorite fruit. It may seem to be a weird choice to some, but I absolutely love them. I’ve found that they have a really unique, floral taste to them that is unlike any fruit or bell pepper I’ve come across. I incorporate them into almost all the food that I make, and I’ve even made jam with them. I quickly grown used to the heat, and now it’s something I enjoy. They’re surprisingly versatile and when I saw that we could pick any fruit we wanted, they were my first choice.
I wish I could say that I obtained my habaneros from the plants I’ve been cultivating since we were dismissed from NC State in March but they weren’t ready yet. It’s a shame because that would certainly have made the experiment more interesting but alas, I had to resort to the orange habaneros at Harris Teeter.
This blog is long overdue for an update, and I haven’t forgotten about it. I’ve been recording my notes every night on the notes app on my iPhone. Obviously that was not the best option but these past weeks have been especially hectic and it was the simplest thing to do. So here we go:
- A starter is a vessel holding flour and water that is used to culture wild yeast to be used for baking. This yeast can be obtained off of the surface of fruits.
- The kinds of bacteria growing in sourdough starters are yeasts and lactic acid bacteria.
https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-your-own-sourdough-starter-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-47337
https://www.seriouseats.com/2020/05/sourdough-starter-science.html#:~:text=In%20the%20world%20of%20sourdough,yeasts%20and%20lactic%20acid%20bacteria.
8/30/20 start of experiment.
8/31/20
The habanero starter smells extremely peppery.
My control smells… interesting. I’m not sure how to describe it yet, but there is liquid is at the top.
9/1/20
The habanero starter smells… off. Honestly it smells very similar to the habaneros I used for my jelly; the peppers I used weren’t rotten, they were just very ripe.My younger brother Silas said the kitchen smelled like feet. I wouldn’t say my starter smells like a a fully rotten pepper but I wouldn’t want it in my mouth. Then again not many people want to put a habanero or sourdough starter in their mouth anyway.
The habanero starter.
The control starter.
The control is more interesting. The top layer is much thicker than that of the habanero starter, and the smell is very different. It smells more rotten and although I can’t recognize it it smells familiar. It’s a ways off from sourdough but I guess it somewhat resembles that smell. I guess. It’s rotten that’s for sure. There were distinct layers in each cup but they were much more defined in the control. When I lifted the lid on the habanero they quickly dissipated but this was not so for the control. They were strong and firm until I fed it. They even held together in the scoop.
9/2/20
I was traveling from Wilmington today, so that may have affected them.
The control looks very watery. My habanero starter looks mostly fine. They both smell pretty strong, and I like the habanero smell more.
9/3/20
Habanero starter.
Control starter.
Each of them smells more like bread. They’re still pretty watery, but the control is less so.
9/4/20
They are still watery, so I’ve added 1/3 extra flour in each.
9/6/20
It’s been a day since I updated it my notes. I didn’t forget to feed it yesterday though, and I’ve continued to feed it 1/3 extra dough. I traveled to Raleigh today from Burlington so that may have disturbed it. The habanero starter is thicker than the control, and smells stronger. The control is more faint than it was previously. Weird bubbles are at the surface of both of them. I’m still on 24 hour schedule because they’re watery.
Habanero starter. I’m having issues uploading photos, there should be a photo of the control but it isn’t uploading. I’ll see if I can upload it and the other missing photos in another post.
9/8/20
There’s been great changes! When I took them out of the cabinet today I noticed there appeared to be a slight layer on the top. It didn’t look too substantial on the control but I thought the habanero starter looked larger. And then I opened them! The control looks much the same but good lord the habanero had a layer on the surface that looked to be a centimeter deep. I won’t deny that this COULD be because I forgot to feed it last night but it’s nice to see it’s not totally watery for once. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow when I feed it, because if the growth was due to hunger then perhaps it won’t have grown so much after only 24 hours. The habanero starter smelled peppery but now it smells a little similar to kombucha, which is interesting because I’m pretty sure that uses microbes as well. My girlfriend Lauren would certainly know (in fact she’d probably be a little diappointed that I don’t know the specific kind of microbes used).
Pics:
This is a photo of the habanero. The control photo won’t upload here and nor will the photo I have for 9/10. I’m not sure what’s happening but I’ll see what I can do. I can include the missing photos in an email attachment if necessary.
9/11/20 I fed them on the 9th, they weren’t so large. So I guess it was just hungry. I failed to feed it the night of the 10th because I’d had a pretty big day and was exhausted and forgot. I’ll update this blog with their current condition when I feed them again tonight.
