In my experience when I would use store-bought as a starter, it would only repeat so many times and then it seemed to lose it’s punch, so I just quit buying the store-bought and starting from scratch with plain raw milk.

Rigel — I’ll email you the info.

Shannon — I haven’t tried that recipe. It’s similar to what’s in Nourishing Traditions, right? I use buttermilk enough that I always have some to use as starter. This is an odd time, though, because I don’t have any on hand. Also, I wanted to post a recipe for those who don’t have access to raw milk to be able to use as well. I’d hate for them to get discouraged when they really can easily make something that’s better quality than store bought.

Specifically, the “from scratch” part near the bottom of the page.

I used to buy buttermilk to use as my starter in my raw milk, but it seemed like a waste. I tried freezing the buttermilk in ice cube trays so that I could just pull a couple out each time I wanted to make a batch. But for some weird reason, the batches made with the buttermilk ice cubes turned slimy.

So now I just follow the directions above and clabber my raw milk and repeat until it sours in 24 hours and then keep it in the fridge for pancakes, biscuits and such.

BARF = bones and raw food

…baby steps