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Oven Temp. Too Low
Hello everyone!!.This is my first post at this site. I'm a complete novice to making sourdough and am currently in the process of making my starter. It's on day 3 and looking good so far!! I'm so excited to make my first loaf but today I used an oven thermometer to test whether my oven is properly he... | Not to worry 220°C bakes
bread just fine. I do it all the time! It takes just a little bit longer but works perfectly. (Keep it our little secret.). I bake a lot at 190° and 200° as well when rich breads are involved. Like brioche, strudel, rolls, etc.Those high heats involve heating up stones and pots and turning th... |
Putting my starter to bed
Ok... newby question. A few days ago I had two jars of (the same) starter in the fridge, one being "discard" from the other, about a week earlier... I combined them, fed the result, left it out overnight, and made some lovely buckwheat cakes with most of it the following morning. Then I fed ... | Let it show "signs"
of life and then put it into chill. How long you let it ferment will vary with the maturity of the starter, the quantity, the hydration, and how much flour is fed and the temperature of the starter and the fridge temp.A hungry starter will not last in the fridge as long as a fed one. Use within 24-... |
Different flours for bread and starter?
Hi there! I have a question that I just can't google no matter what keywords I use. I have a gluten free starter that is VERY robust when I feed it with Bob's Red Mill GF flour. However, the gluten free world suggests using GFJules flour for baking bread. I tried to transition my... | gf fermentation gauge
Sounds like you need a way to tell if the gf flour is actually feeding yeast in the starter whether it rises or not. Stretch a thin latex glove offer the starter and watch the glove fill with gas. Then you know it's alive, the yeasty beasties just aren't rising but still munching away and put, pu... |
New to sourdough. Same conditions, not very sour?
Hi all,Long time reader, first time poster.I have been making a few recipes in Ken's Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast book and moved onto sourdough (the overnight country blonde recipe).The first time I made it, I used my new starter that I had been feeding twice daily for 2 w... | Could be the starter
bacteria are more mellow now that yeast numbers are up. Notice any time differences in how fast the dough rises?Anyway the loaf looks great despite banneton sticking. You will find that loaf getting smaller all day long with everyone home cruising thru the kitchen for snacks. Seems like my bread... |
Soft Dough
I'm a pretty new baker but my loaves overall are turning out fine IMO. The problem I have though is that the dough is too wet and sticky so can never really form the ball after proofing. It's airy and fluffy, for lack of a better term. I went with bakers percentages for a recipe yesterday and turned out sa... | Tell us the Weights and method
Hi there - well are a few things it could be:Too much water in your final dough (including the amount that comes from the starter/levain)insufficient development of the gluten structure by stretch & fold etctoo low protein content in the flour usedInsufficient salt in the doughToo high a ... |
Cooking starter and making crumpets....
Hey all, Can anyone help me work out why, no matter how low/long/high/short i cook sourdough starter it looks congealed when you tear into it? What is the science behind that? Per example I am making crumpets, got a decent batter method of cooking is fine, and it is holey. Looks... | First impressions
1. That's a lot of liquid; all of which has to be baked out while the crumpets cook2. Sugar is mentioned twice, but no bicarbonate of soda3. If one of the sugar entries is supposed to be bicarb, then I would hold that back to stir in just before cooking the crumpets4. You may need to lower the tempera... |
My first sourdough loaves
Fairly pleased that these came out as nicely as they did. Crust ended up *very* tough/crunchy, but certainly edible -- just need a small chainsaw to slice... ;) Used recipe from theperfectloaf.com (https://www.theperfectloaf.com/beginners-sourdough-bread/) -- figured this would be appropria... | Congrats!
Congrats! Bon appétit, amigo! Since you paid good money for the sourdough starter (I did too! I have never made SD culture from scratch, but hope to) it would be wise to make a "backup" just in case disaster strikes. Several backups, as time goes on and your starter "matures." ("Ah... Feb 2021! This so... |
Too late for pineapple juice?
I’m in the middle of the Day 3 stink on my whole wheat starter, not unexpected. Is it too late to throw some pineapple juice in the mix to speed things along? Or do you think if you’re going to use that method, you need to start with it on Day 1? Thanks.Steve | Check out these references
Best to read theses, then you’ll know:http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10856/pineapple-juice-solution-part-1http://www.thefreshloaf.com/10901/pineapple-juice-solution-part-2 |
How much sourdough to keep on hand?
I'm a pretty casual bread baker, 2 or three times a month, 1 loaf at a time. I'll be storing in the frig. So for someone like myself whats a good amount to keep on hand? | I keep about 30 grams.
I keep about 30 grams. |
Sourdough Bread suddenly tastes disgusting! HELP
Hello, I have been baking sourdough for about 8 years with no issues. We moved from TX to OK and about a month at our new to us (1980) house, my sourdough starter got some weird bubbles - soapy bubbles, and then the bread tasted absolutely disgusting. The rise wasn't gre... | side note
As a side note, I've been waking up with allergy symptoms every day since we moved in and have been suspecting a mold issue in the home. I'm fine all day - including in the kitchen. But It's the only thing I can think of that could be a possible contributor to my problem. |
To slap or not to slap
I noticed many recipes, from beginner to more advanced actually skip this step. e.g. Maurizio's "best" sourdough recipe skips it or Kristen Dennis from Full Proof Baking skips it in her open crumb recipe.What's the verdict here? :) | I aint no slapper
I dont slap and:
loaf.jpeg
Guess its like life? Whatever works for you. |
Every starter goes bad
Hi, For a couple months I’ve been trying to get a starter going. At first I followed the King Arthur instructions, and more recently the Tartine book.But every starter goes bad. This morning I have three going to test.1. Day 2, water and AP: yellow streak2. Day 2, water, 50/50 AP and WW: smells n... | You use rye flour?
You use rye flour? |
First try at sourdough a success...but why no flavor?
Hi! Total noob here. First post. First starter. First attempt at sourdough. Here's what I used: 10 day old starter (100% hydration doubling and very active for 2 days prior) - used just past peak, but still floatingLet autolyse for 40 minutesLet bulk fermentation ha... | You salt amount
Is right. It could be that your starter is very young. It will develop character as it matures. If you want more sour, do a search here on how to get that, but let your starter get a bit older first. |
Flour Protein Level and making do
Because of flour shortage I have no white bread flour left and no whole wheat or rye. But I do have white and whole wheat pastry flour. And I have a box of vital wheat gluten. According to the box, 1 t of gluten can turn a cup of AP flour into bread flour. I don't have any calculations... | I couldn't do it.
If you find a way, please let me know. I tried and could not, at least not a loaf bread. There are more "characteristics" to pastry flour ( from soft wheat ) than just the protein percent.I was able to make yeasted biscuits and a soft biscuit-y like flatbread from it. But it would be a real stretc... |
A beginner sourdough starter- question about ratios
Hi all- I just began my sourdough starter 9 days ago. On Day 1 I used Ancient Grain flour and water, and every day since I have been doing 113g starter + 113g 00Flour + 113g water. I have been doing this every 12 hours religiously for the last week, but this starter w... | I think
you may want to skip your next @ 12hr feeding. Mark the height of your starter a let it go until it does triple. Take note of the peak and use this amount of time as a guide when the starter is used in a bread. |
When to feed my starter...
It's been 48 hrs since I began my sourdough starter. At his point lots of bubbles and it has doubled in size, it looks great. My questions:1. Should feed now or wait until it falls or does it really matter?2. Should each successive feeding follow the same routine? Thanks | In the best case you feed it
In the best case you feed it just after it has been started collapsing with the same ratio as always.But that is often not the case since we have other stuff to do than watching our starter all day. I have fed my starter at peak maturity or many hours after, still fine. Used different ratio... |
Long ferment in a bread machine...Help?
So - long story short, my son called in a panic - they can't buy bread and the stores don't have yeast. "Could you teach me how to make the beasties?" He has a full time job (from home) and a toddler. I know he has been using his bread machine to make bread for them, I also kno... | My bread machine
Does not give me the option to bake only. Does his?ET |
Cooking starter and making crumpets....
Hey all, What a time to be alive hey? I make light of it because quite frankly being self employed in the film industry is right now, career death and we are completely screwed with no way to film anything for at least the rest of the year. Oh and none of us are furloughed becau... | Crumpets are a British thing
Sorry my Americanos, i forgot you guys wont know what crumpets are... you might know the answer anyway! |
Not getting any gluten development after mixing and folds.
I'm following a recipe that worked well for me about 1 month ago.800 grams all purpose flour600 grams of water at 90 degrees F.Autolyse about 1 hourAdd 200 grams of starter.Add 22 grams of fine sea salt.Hand mix. Final dough temp 75 degrees F.I'm getting poor ... | That is one wet dough!
A few thoughts why it looks so wet:What kind of flour did you use? Not all all purpose flour is the same. My Canadian flour can handle 77% hydration which is what your recipe is but a lot of flour in the USA or in the UK cannot absorb that much water. Try cutting way back on the water. You can a... |
rye starter
Hi folks, I've been using a sourdough starter for many years now usually 100% rye which I grind. This spring, after a winter hiatus, my rye starter which in the past was very robust rises very little and does not pass the float test. I've been grinding my rye from last years grain which is kept at 70f in a ... | Rye starter
I also have a rye starter that I make with home ground rye. I thought mine wasn’t active enough until I increased the hydration to 50% at a min (I keep a relatively stiff wheat starter). Once I did that it was fine. I actually very rarely use the float test, just look for bubbles etc. and that’s been suffic... |
Help with Whole Spelt Loaf from Local Breads
I'm attempting to make the Whole Spelt Loaf from Daniel Leader's Local Breads. The recipe uses a 133% hydration starter at 10% inoculation, whole spelt flour, 55% hydration, and 10% honey. I searched the archives and found conflicting opinions on the success of the recipe. T... | Why not rye starter?
I have the book. It does call for a rye starter in the table of ingredients, and in the text on page 100. But it says "spelt sourdough" in the text on page 101. That's a confusing discrepency.So you may be right about spelt starters not lasting very long after peaking. |
Sourdough starter outside of bread making (bika ambon)
hi! I am currently making Bika Ambon, a traditional Indonesian cake which usually uses commercial yeast to achieve the beautiful strands shown in the picture. I wanted to make a sourdough version and after searching, one source said that 100 gr of sourdough is enou... | The image of your bread is
The image of your bread is absolutely gorgeous!Are you saying that the total flour in the formula is 75 grams including 50 grams of tapioca flour? That is not making sense to me, but as I said, I know nothing about this bread.The slices look a lot like slices of pineapple... |
Water as the single variable
Let's say you have pushed the amount of water in the dough to the point that you end up with beautiful, lacey, creamy, open crumb. Now, let's say you push the amount of water beyond that point. What would the crust and crumb look like?I asked because I made a beautiful Tartine Country Sourd... | It must be 2. unless you used
It must be 2. unless you used way more salt than usually.It looks heavily underpoofed and underbaked. What was the hydration? |
COVID has me all sourdoughey
Hi all,until a couple of days a go I had never contemplated bread being anything but from the bakery, but now I have a 48hr old starter of my very own!initial100g half half flour (it’s all in German, but organic)150 waterquestion....24 hrs in after first feeding (left 70g initial and added ... | Yes, there will be a few days
Yes, there will be a few days where there will be little to no visible yeast activity. I’d leave it for an extra day or two and then continue with regular feedings. It’s a new starter, so the yeast you’ve cultivated is still stabilizing. Starters that are older will have a consistent rise ... |
Black fuzzy stuff on wall of sourdough starter jar
Today is day 6 of my rye/all purpose sourdough starter. Ive noticed some black fuzzy stuff on the wall of my jar- not on top of the starter however. Is this mold? Should I chuck my starter? Thanks!!
20200413_130136.jpg | That looks like mold. And if
That looks like mold. And if it isn't, better be safe than sorry.Carefully try to get a bit of starter that hasn't been affected yet and continue, that should solve it. |
starter
Hello all, my 4 week old starter is rising nicely, well over doubling, quite puffy but has virtually no bubbles, just a few large ones on the surface. It's passing the float test. There are no posts about a non-bubbling but well rising starter and it just seems odd that mine is doing the opposite! I wonder w... | The whole rising thing is
The whole rising thing is about bubbles. Yours are small, probably due to slightly high hydration. |
Seems too active, Smells Very weird
CamScanner 04-20-2020 01.11.09_2.jpg
I could see bubbles going from the bottom layer to the top layer through the liquid in between.Hey, guys. I really hope everyone is at home and okay during these times.So I started the process yesterday and today is the first time I have f... | Relax! It is doing what
It is supposed to be doing. And don’t worry about being exactly on time with feeding. I suggest you read these two link so you know what is happening and what to expect. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10856/pineapple-juice-solution-part-1http://www.thefreshloaf.com/10901/pineapple-juice-soluti... |
Trying to get my inherited starter to start!
Hi everyone - total sourdough newbie here! I got a starter from a neighbor about 2 weeks ago and tried to get it ready for baking after a day or so in the fridge. I followed her advice by using King Arthur's suggested fridge-revival technique here: https://www.kingarthurflou... | Don’t worry!
Honestly rather than bombard you with advice at this stage (and there is so much available, that it’s a bit like trying to drink from a fire hose), I’d just strongly suggest that you call out to your neighbour and ask for some DETAILED instructions of how he or she (a) maintains this starter, and (b) uses ... |
Lockdown loaf success
I’ve been away from the forum for too long! We’ve been in lockdown for weeks now and I thought, with all this time on my hands, I would pull my starter out and really make an attempt. My starter backstory: I got it going almost 8 years ago when we were living in England and I found myself home wit... | For a first loaf of a 8 years
For a first loaf of a 8 years old starter it looks amazing. Actually it looks amazing full stop ? |
New to this. Flat loaf and large holes in crumb
I am entirely new to this. It took forever to get my starter going and I have done two bakes now with the assistance of the Tartine book. The loaves have been a bit flat, with not much in the way of oven spring, and with large holes in the upper half of the loaf...the res... | I'd check out this post and comments...
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/51716/hole-issues |
Neglected starter salvageable and safe to eat?
TL;DR - Left out my pineapple starter at room temp for three weeks, not sure if I can or if it's safe to salvage. This is my first time ever attempting to make a sourdough starter. I used the Pineapple Juice method (using this recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/10... | Give this a try. Pour off any
Give this a try. Pour off any liquids. Take 30 grams of starter and mix in 30 grams of water and 30 grams of flour. Keep it warm, 80F or less and let us know what happens.I bet it can be saved, but it looks like it is in very bad shape. We’ll see if a starter can be killed or not... Your s... |
Once more unto the breach
I am trying the extra-tangy recipe again because the last attempt had so much good flavor. Things I am doing different this time around:1. I will be using a Dutch oven. As a result of this I will not be dividing the loaf into two as per the recipe, nor will I be forming a bâtard. Instead I am ... | Dutch Oven
I just put the dough into the cold dutch oven and put that into a cold oven.I then turn on the oven and set the temperature I want to bake at. When the oven reaches that temperature, I start my timer for the bake. Usually about half an hour for my rye bread before I take off the cover and bake till done.I've... |
Inconsistent oven spring
Hi. I am not a new baker. I have been baking sourdough for sometime now. I have a recipe that I love and that is generally consistent. My question is I struggle with inconsistent oven spring. I never change my process or ingredients and yet my oven spring results can differ significantly. M... | A few guesses here;
1. Shaping is inconsistent? Not tight enough?2. Fridge temperature varies from opening and closing so your bread overproofs some of the time?3. Using time rather than the state of your dough to decide when bulk is done?I think I would try baking the bread after 10-12 hours in the fridge and see what... |
Can I use kombucha to build a starter?
I brewed kombucha recently and using the leftover liquid to build a new starter, has anyone tried this? | I wouldn’t recommend it
My (limited) understanding Is that kombucha is based on leuconostoc bacteria, which will not thrive in the acidic environment of a sourdough starter and would give your bread an ‘unusual’ taste. Leuconostocs also secrete a compound that suppresses other types of LAB so it can take a starter a lo... |
Float test at end of bulk fermentation
Hello! I am pretty new to sourdough bread baking and am still trying to figure out when to end bulk fermentation. Jennifer Latham, Tartine's Head of Bread, recently posted a series of how-to videos for making Tartine's Country Loaf. In addition to recommending the float test for l... | Float test will lie to you
Float test will lie to you half of the time - your starter and dough may float way before they are ready and well past their prime, and vice versa - perfectly fermented dough may not float if it's been recently folded or chock full of water. |
Unbleached flour sold out! Use bleached for feeding sourdough?
Hi All,New to this site, hope everyone is well and safe!I'm having a hard time finding unbleached flour (or whole wheat) in the grocery stores where I live, because everyone is baking in quarantine! I can only find bleached Gold Medal AP flour. Can I use th... | Finding Flour
Do you have a Smart & Final; or a Cash & Carry; or a Smart Foodservice near you? You might be able to find some bread flour at one of those stores, if you can get there early in the day. |
Reviving Old Starter
Hi FolksI pulled out a starter that’s been dormant in my fridge for a few years. It still look good color wise, with layer of alcohol on top, so I stirred it up yesterday and started the refresh process. I refreshed at 1:1:1 with 100g of each using APF - 300 g total. Left it at room temperature i... | A few years....!
Hmmm that’s serious suspended animation territory, but it can be done. At the very least, what you have there is a little jar of acid, which is a welcoming environment to encourage the beasties you want, far better than starting from scratch.So what I recommend is stir it up well, then take a couple of... |
How to keep a starter in the fridge alive?
I understand how to revive a starter that's kept in the fridge for baking purposes. But what is the process if I just want to feed it and put it back?My guess would be: take it out, discard down, feed, wait a few hours and stick it back in the fridge. Is that correct? Also, I ... | Dormant in the Fridge
First, I am no expert on starters, but mine works fine, and if it ain't broke don't fix it, so here's what I do.Whenever I know that there will be a big gap until my next bake, I put my starter in the fridge. The initial process is the same for a standard feeding, which in my case is 1:2:2, meani... |
Using Le Creuset dutch oven
Do you guys use your le creuset dutch ovens for baking sourdoughs?The manufacturer seems to suggest against high heat / empty heating:"High heats should never be used to preheat a pan before lowering the heat for cooking."(above is just an example, the verbiage isn't really clear on this)Som... | Interesting
I’ve only ever used my cast iron Dutch oven. I can kind of see a point to a warning on the enamel glazed ones, but then again, not. They certainly must be empty vessels when the porcelain glaze is being fired. That’s a head-scratcher, for me. I wonder if, to heed their warning, you could partially fill ... |
Sourdough starter need guide
Hi everyone, I'm Dennis from Indonesia. Recently i started making my first sourdough starter. On my first day of making it, It looked fine and it doubled in size in the first 17 hours. After about 23 hours later i fed it. Then, i started to notice a layer of brown liquid in the middle of th... | Oh, and by the way
I used 50 grams of water and 50 grams of bread flour on my starter |
New Starter Smelling Like Acetone, but is Still Doubling in Size?
Hello!I have been reading forum posts on this website so I decided to join and ask a specific question that I couldn't find an answer for. I would appreciate any help you guys could provide.I have been feeding a fresh starter that I started a little more... | Update on Starter
So, after another feeding, I have been checking the starter every few hours and I don't smell the acetone smell now. I will check again in the morning after the starter has matured. I am assuming that the culture is changing and the fast-consuming bacteria/yeast/whatever microbe it is is being kicked ... |
Starter Hit and Miss
I’m two weeks into my sourdough journey. I’ve baked bread with it twice and had a nice rise both times. What I’m not understanding is the rise of my starter. At first I was feeding every 24 hrs, now I’m down to every 12 hours. Finally got it to double 3 days ago, but today it didn’t. And it never r... | Try feeding a higher ratio.
By doing that, it’s not running out of food and you won’t have to feed it so often. |
Forkish’s new book. re: Day 5 mix. Need help please
I am supposed to do the Day 5 dump and mix this evening. The starter has not been rising and falling yet. I’ve been using bottled drinking water and King Arthur organic whole wheat thus far. Maybe a few bubble on top throughout the days but no significant rise and fal... | Keep going.
Starters in good, warm conditions (mid to high 70s) take about 7 days. It's typical of a starter to show a burst of activity, subside and seem to do little, then come back alive. If your temps are 68F things will take a bit longer. |
Question about starter smell
I used to usually follow a recipe for wheat sourdough starter which I got success from the first time I tried. But nowadays, I just don't get it right with the same schedule. Day 1: mix some wwflour + waterDay 2: 24hrs, there's frothing, mix some more wwflour + waterDay 3: 24hrs, there's le... | Very typical quiet stage
but you cannot see that things are happening. It's not dead. Do not start over unless the smells are terrible.First off, what is your room/ starter temperature? 75°F or over? 75° to 77° is a good temp for yeast growth. What is happening is that bacteria are going thru a change of events to r... |
Mother dough troubleshooting.
Hi all, I have recently started a somewhat successful starter after a few attempts in the past. I have used a 1:1:1 ratio, starting with 50g Whole-wheat flour in the beginning and have switched to all purpose white flour for the past two days. Flour is unbleached and has no additives. Afte... | new starters go through various different phases
Hello there!Phew that's pretty hot... I'm in southern England, but in one part of Scotland it got down to -7ºC last night. That said, I'm are your starter will be alright; it may just follow a slightly different path to normal :)I had a few tries too before I was success... |
About homofermentative LAB
Hi everyone.I've read some book about sourdough.If we want more lactic acid flavor, we can encourage the homofermentative LAB in starter at high hydration and temperature(30-35 Celsius).But after we made starter into Levain or dough, do we need to keep at higher temperature?Will the heterofer... | A. You don't know what is in
A. You don't know what is in your starter. It may be entirely homofermentative. It could be entirely obligately heterofermentative. It could be entirely facultatively heterofermentative. Or it could be two or all three in random ratio. Temperature will affect the outcome only if you... |
A few questions from a newbie
Hello, first off I am an experienced baker but sourdough has been something I haven't been able to conquer, but with the quarantine, now is the perfect time. I created a starter that has been going for 4 weeks, I usually do 50% rye flour, 50% whole wheat. I did a country loaf based on one ... | Good questions
Welcome to the SD party ;-)I was pretty experienced with commercial yeast bread myself but it definitely took me a while until I was making SD loaves I was really happy with, and I’m still learning on every bake. So you’re definitely not on your own there!A lot of the difference in technique comes down t... |
Starter/Levain Build Ratio Conventions
It seems that a build ratio of (for example) 1:4:4 means different things to different bakers. I have always worked to the convention of starter:flour:water - by weight of course - but others use starter:water:flour.Of course in the above exampe it doesn't matter, but if the start... | Some years back I asked the
Some years back I asked the same question here. I came to the conclusion that on The Fresh Loaf it is Starter:Water:Flour.Another source of confusion is the percentage of Levain. Many excellent bakers use the percentage of levain just as you would an ingredient. So 10% levain in a kilo of fl... |
How to resolve overproofing
I just moved back to Malta after living in the UK for the winter. Some of you may have been following my blogs where I've been baking 100% wholewheat SD loaves with success.Now I'm in warmer, different atmospheric conditions, and I decided to bake my first loaf using the exact same process a... | Mine take on that shape when
Mine take on that shape when proofed for a longer time* - spreading out to fill the Dutch Oven with a flatter top, whereas normally they don't quite reach the edge even after oven spring (400g flour in a 22cm internal diameter cast iron casserole). Also, that wavy edge I think I can see is... |
Poolish
Hello all!There are many different starters or sponges for the home baker. The poolish is a classic french starter simply made the night before bread and a bit pulled off for future use. I store mine in a quart jar in the fridge. Make every loaf with a new starter to add/replace. It just gets better with u... | poolish
I made a French bread with poolish last night. I think I used 1 cup water to 1 cup flour and it wasn't organic flour, it was whatever the grocery store had in stock. AP unbleached, I believe. It definitely gives the bread a more interesting flavour than if you don't include a pre-ferment. |
Temperature profile from mixing to going in oven?
I'm just wondering if there is an optimum temperature profile from mixing to going in the oven given the time from mixing to oven. My strategy is to do mixing/bulk fermentation at 25C, then keeping it down to about 20C till shaping plus an hour, then setting it to arou... | It's a little difficult to
It's a little difficult to exactly calculate fermentation times since so many factors influence it and every bread is individual. Not only the flour, water, temperature and amount of yeast, but also how is the dough handled and mixed, the type, maturity and activity of your starter etc.There ... |
Scaling down starter size
Hello everyone. New baker here, so please excuse what might be a simple question.I am building my starter. The proportions each day are 75g starter, 50g rye flour, 50 g AP flour, 125 g water. (I recognize this is very hydrated!)If I understand baker's math, that means there is 75% starter, 100... | Seems correct to me. As long
Seems correct to me. As long as you keep the ratios, it shouldn't affect the fermentation rate too much. |
Phenomenal pizza
Big BIG shout out to @DanAyo for pointing me in the direction of http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/60568/community-bake-pizza for my first attempt at SD pizza - and also for the excellent pizza stretching videos which were a revelation.Best damn pizza I ever ate; what more can I say.8g active starter @1... | ?
???. Wait a minute is that pineapple..?!?!?Sacralige!!! Haha! Still that formula was sound and I'm pleased you're pleased with the results. ? |
High elevation help from beginning!
Hello fellow breadians!I recently received a sourdough starter here in Denver, CO.At an elevation over a mile, I know there are a lot of changes that need to be made to recipes.I have been refreshing my starter with:20g starter90g water75g bread flour25g whole wheat Just fed at 11 am... | Welcome back!
Welcome back to TFL!Here ya go:https://stellaculinary.com/cooking-videos/food-science-101/fs-006-high-altitude-baking-cooking-science-tips-trickshttps://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-bakinghttps://www.thespruceeats.com/boiling-points-of-water-1328760Bon appétit, amigo. |
Purple tint to the hooch, is it bad?
Hello, I had to refrigerate my starter just when was becoming established as I ran out of flour. I pulled it out of the fridge after 6 days this morning and it has a puprle tint to the hooch. Do I have to completely throw out the starter because of the purprle tint? It smells... | Looks fine to me
Looks fine to me... Nice looking starter I’d say. Just stir the hooch back in and feed as normal. You are keeping a LOT of starter there by the way... I keep about a tenth of that ! |
Generally, do I remove half of my starter and then add double that back?
I am trying to establish a starter for the first time. As I understand it, I remove half of the starter and then add that same amount back in water and flour every day.So (for example) if I have 100g starter (50g flour/50g water), I would remove 5... | Read these :)
These posts are (a) really interesting and well-informed; and (b) will give you a good idea of what’s going on and what to do.Don’t be put off by the title - you don’t have to use juice, plain water will do, it just takes a few more days and usually goes through a nasty stinky stage but this is nothing to... |
No/little oven spring, doughy crumb
BLUF, TL;DR: first sourdough loaves, no or little oven spring with doughy crumb despite looking good through prepFirst sourdough loavesRecipe:1000g flour - 850g AP, 100g Rye, 50g Emmer800g water (80% hydration)160g starter (16%)20g fine kosher salt (2%)Autolyse for 1.5 hrsStretch and... | Your dough was severely under
Your dough was severely under fermented. You used 7.4% pre-fermented flour and you say it bulk fermented for 3 hours. You left out the room temp during the bulk ferment, but at any reasonable temp the BF was too short.Starters are unique, so it is difficult to know how much fermentation ti... |
Carold Field's Coccodrillo
Just to show that Carol Field has some great bread recipes that work out well, we have the following saga...Everyone here at home wanted Field's croccodrillo bread again. After a year or sowithout making it, and returning to it last week, I remember why Iused to make it so often.I have added... | Thanks for posting this
I had been thinking about making this bread, but I was a little apprehensive due to the very very very high hydration of this dough. I like to work with slightly wetter doughs than usual, but this wet seemed intimidating. Seeing your gorgeous results, I will push this up my "to try" list. BoazMy... |
Starter for croissants?
I asked my local baker for some starter that I intended to use for baking bread pastries. He told me that he didn’t have any available, but he gladly gave me another starter which he specified was “sweet” and that he used to bake croissants. He suggested that I use that one but to add a little f... | Possibly this...
What he gave you is likely something along the lines of pate fermentee viennoise which is commonly used in croissant or danish doughs. Unlike a sourdough starter or poolish it probably has a small amount of sugar and possibly even some butter. I will make a small batch of this the day before mixing a b... |
Simplest Pancake Recipe?
What is the easiest no frills way to make pancakes from the discarded sourdough? Least ingredients?Lazy me doesn't want to mix a dozen ingredients early in the morning, measuring each one as if carefully weighing the feedings every evening wasn't enough ))) | Crumpet pancakes
This is the easiest I found that uses up a lot of discard: KAF crumpets without the metal form rings so turns out like pancakes. https://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2020/03/23/sourdough-crumpets just add a little sugar, salt, and baking soda. I’d be curious what else is out there! |
Advice on using high gluten bread flour for moderately open crumb sourdough country loaves
Hi all, this is my first post! I've been lurking on this site for a long long time and have greatly benefited from your community's brain trust. In these wild pandemic times, I've been maximizing my home kitchen output and suppli... | Flour formulation with KA Sir Lancelot HG
Hi Mike - Welcome aboard!Hilariously, I haven't been on here for years, but I just had a baking thread come up in my homebrewers' club list, which I'd also ignored for years - so I recommended Fresh Loaf to all of them. I'm stuck at home now, so baking more and posting long-win... |
New Starter - Help Please
My 12 day old starter has bubbles. I have been feeding it 1-2x a day. It has never smelled terribly rotten and had never had any liquid accumulate like I have seen in videos. It does float. Smells a little sour but not overly sour. Do you think I am doing ok? | Please post an image of your
Please post an image of your matured starter. That will help, but from what you wrote it sounds good. |
Day 6 Split Starter & Feeding
I'm on Day 6 of my first Sourdough Starter experience and I was told that on Day 5 I should discard/split the starter and feed as normal. I've been using a 1:1 ration of flour (2 oz. Wheat Flour + 2 oz. AP Flour to 4 oz. Water) since Day 1 and have consistently seen bubbling in the starte... | very low temperature
See if you can get the temp up to 75°F or plan to be waiting another week or two with the cold temps. Also with cold temps, most 7 day recipes take 14 days or longer so treat the first two days as one. What you can do is stop feeding for a day or two and then feed every second day if you can't ra... |
Practicing techniques
I've recently begun using sourdough again after a long break, and have had some reasonable successes. The taste is fairly mild, and my husband has been a willing consumer of the loaves!I have been using the formula 100% flour, 75-80% water, 15% starter and 2% salt in my past few attempts, but want... | Should work fine. You might
Should work fine. You might consider dialing back the water to 68-72% hydration. 68% will make very good bread. Prominent bakers such as alfanso like ~68% I believe. It works for me... |
Starter suddenly smells offensive
My starter ( about 2 years old if not more, generally performing well since I learnt to feed it sufficiently) has suddenly developed a really nasty smell. I was building it back up after returning from a 1 week holiday during which it was in the fridge. It was getting there with daily ... | Though you haven't said what
Though you haven't said what flour you use and the hydration level of your starter, here's my take: feed it more.A similar thing happened with my rye starter after I stashed it in the fridge with no feedings for a month. As I tried to get it ready for baking, it became slack and then nasty-... |
Removing starter
I've been away for a time (and most of my old posts appear to have disappeared into the void but oh well).After reading a couple of threads, I clearly need to understand the science and whys a bit more but I'm hoping someone can answer a question.I've always made sourdough starter with great success us... | Here are your old post. To
Here are your old post. To find then go to your profile and click the “TRACK” tab.https://www.thefreshloaf.com/user/esmereldapea/trackDid you see this post? It may help.http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/63172/day-6-split-starter-feeding |
Potato Flake starters...
I just want to find someone who is as knowledgeable about potato flake starters as most of you guys are about regular starters (flour/water). I've searched high and low, watched a large number of youtube videos and come up with nothing that really helps. I'm finding I have a bit more time to me... | What is happening?
You are feeding yeast carbohydrates, that is, sugar and starches. Basic yeast metabolism.A good way to stretch the yeast you already have if running short. This link is interesting and lists various forms of potato starters and different ways of feeding them.https://practicalselfreliance.com/potato-... |
Very active starter in three feedings and 5 days
This is the starter I made in 5 days to test my theory that traditional starter recipes are flawed in that they, calling for 1:1:1 feeding starting on day 3 (sometimes even for 1:2:2), dilute the starter too much too soon, not letting it get sour enough, cancelling out t... | And btw
I revived one of my stalled starters, which was at its 11th day smelling acetone with no growth, with sometimes 1:2:2, sometimes 1:1:1 feedings every 12 to 24 hours, by a SINGLE FEEDING at 2:1:1. Once it is going, it develops enough "correct" LAB and yeast, and can withstand diluting feeds easily. But not befor... |
My bread collapsed overnight in the fridge
I'm new at sourdough. I let my loaves rise during the day and then put them in the fridge so I could bake them in the morning and have fresh out of the oven bread when my kids woke up, but they collapsed! Can i repurpose my dough, can I shape and let rise again to make bread o... | Yes!
Shape and let rise again, then bake. I think your instinct for rolls is a good one, as the gluten may be a little weaker than you'd like for holding up a whole loaf. |
mashed potato starter
Years ago I had a recipe for potato starter made with mashed potatoes. The unique thing about it was that when preparing the bread, the first rise was done with a wet dough left overnight in the 'fridge. In the morning , it was ready to knead and place in the pans. Made perfect white bread. I hav... | How about this link?
https://practicalselfreliance.com/potato-yeast-starter/Often a little ground nutmeg or caraway in the dough or while boiling the potato helps flavour. . |
thoughts on adding commercial yeast
Hello, after years of making reasonable basic sourdough loaves I thought it was time I experimented a bit.I followed a recipe for flaxseed bread from Wild Yeast whcih turned out very tasty indeed (if a little dense - I think I overproofed).Anyway, the recipe threw up a couple of ques... | thoughts
"1. To make the rye sourdough, mix the starter and water, then add the rye flour and mix well. Cover and ferment for 16 hours at room temperature."There's the answer to your first question. It's no longer 17 g of starter. After 16 hours, it has grown into 671 g of starter. 364 + 290 + 17. Second question: why... |
How important is it to mix in the salt separately?
Some recipes put it in with the levain, others don't.How important is it? | In the end salt draws water
In the end salt draws water and slows down fermentation (inhibits in larger quantities). Usually it's recommended to add salt a little time into mixing was added, so that the flour and yeasts have a moment to hydrate properly. |
My first (edible) sourdough bread!
After asking you guys a bunch of questions, I came here to share the results (and ask you some more questions ;) )https://imgur.com/a/b5anU1CWould love to get your feedback on what looks right and what looks wrong. My bread came out a bit dense, and overall the dough felt a bit weak (... | Yummy
Danny, this bread looks so good for the first attempt (and for any attempt, fwiw)! Enjoy! |
2 week old starter not rising
I'm on day 14 and nearly lost all my hope because the starter hasn't risen since day 2. The only active is some small bubbles and a really thin layer of hooch on the top. I used bread flour and spring water to feed it with the 1:1:1 ratio. I would love to feed it with rye or whole wheat fl... | 2 week old starter not rising
april415,Based on my experience you need to just toss the starter and start over. It should typically take 7-10 days to develop a starter strong enough to raise bread. The 1:1:1 ratio is a good guide to go by, however I use a liquid levain with a hydration percentage of 130% I grew this s... |
Peculiar smell from active starter
Hi All,I"m brand new here, but please don't hold it against me. I recently started a third attempt to create a starter, this time using the pineapple juice (substituted with apple cider) from Debra Wink. I've been feeding it 1:2:2 for about four weeks with 100% organic whole wheat flo... | Yet another starter had been
Yet another starter had been brought into this world. That's it! |
The Bread That Ate Maryland
First off, thanks to all of you who posted advice in the previous thread about AP vs. a mix of WW/rye. I have decided to not mess with that at this time and instead have embarked on making bread using the recipe previously posted with just AP flour. I figure baby steps are best till I become... | And here...
...is the dough in my proofing bowl after five hours and change in the oven set on Bread Proof. After gently patting it down at the two and a half hour mark this is what it looked like after proofing for another two and a half hours. It's pretty active and rose considerably. I've now taken it out, divided i... |
Active starter doesn’t smell right
None | Smell
Doesn’t smell right, how? Like a strong alcohol smell? Or something weird, like a musty basement smell? |
>>>UPDATED<<< Isolation Experimentation
Alright, I’ve just recently become quite curious, and there’s no time like being in isolation to test out a curiosity. I have just started a batch of bread dough using a hungry starter. If anyone else is curious, I will post, here, how things went.**I’ve been on mandatory home ... | Livestream
Learn to livestream. And then proceed with the haircut ))) Asking for a friend |
Help when can I power down my starter?
Hello,When can I safely store my starter in the fridge? (and feed it only once a week) I’m only at day 7, but it’s a pretty healthy culture. I’m just not sure if it’s ‘mature’ enough. Lots of activity. I have attempted once more to start a starter after a couple of years, and I go... | Donna, are you aware that you
Donna, are you aware that you can keep your starter very small and have all you’ll need. Many bakers keep starter in the 20-30 gram total weight. Some keep even less.How large are you keeping your starter at this time?A 20 gram starter can quickly be built to 200 grams or more in a day or... |
levain question
I'm using a levain recipe that calls for 60g/60g/60g starter, h2o, flour. I halved that amount to minimize waste and I'm wondering if the 12 hr. time should be halved as well. Does quantity change the fermentation time? I'm not getting alot of action in after 3 days - some but not a lot, and I've been ... | In my experience not, at
In my experience not, at least not with such small amounts.Are you trying to build a sourdough starter or is it just for making bread? |
Is this normal or should I start over? Please Help.
This is my first attempt at making a sourdough starter. I wasn’t seeing much activity except for a few bubbles for the first few days and decided to switch from using King Arthur’s All Purpose Flour to using King Arthur’s Bread Flour for feedings around day six. It is... | Looks like a healthy active
Starter to me. I don’t see any fuzz that would indicate mold. Keep feeding! |
Building a levain from a starter
I went through multiple articles and couldn't quite get an answer to this - for the starter used to create a levain (and not to be used as a levain), do you use a "hungry" or peaked starter? I would assume the former, but would love to get some more insight! | It hardly matters, as a
It hardly matters, as a hungry starter will quickly make up for lost time once it has some food. It depends a little on how much you are multiplying by. Hungry and straight out of the fridge, for example, I would hesitate to go more than three times, but for a second build, you can usually go to... |
What's wrong with my dough?
Followed a beginner recipe from a site with a similar name :)I'm pretty sure my starter is active, it doubles in size and bubbles quite a bit. I did however use it when it's "hungry" to create a levain (again, per the recipe).Here you can see my dough prior to bulk fermentation:As you can se... | That looks pretty normal to
That looks pretty normal to me. Lean doughs like sourdough are usually pretty shiny just due to the high water content. It could simply be that whatever recipe you used had photographs that deceptively edited out or otherwise hid the glossiness of the dough. If you have a picture of what you... |
Newbie looking for advice on bulk fermentation
Hi all, brand new bread maker here. I am looking for feedback on how this sourdough boule looks to people, and ways I can improve. I'm including pictures of the bread I baked this weekend. This is my second attempt at a sourdough bread. Where I keep getting stuck is the bu... | Crumb looks great
I'm a relative newbie as well -- someone with more experience will probably respond to this thread. I also don't have a banneton, and still need to work on getting taller loaves. I think the crumb looks great -- were you aiming for a different size?How does it taste? You didn't say anything about the ... |
1 week old starter was very alive and now seems to be inactive..
Sourdough starter: I made a starter using 50g whole wheat, 50g bread flour and 100g water and let it sit covered for 3 days. After three days it became pretty active and I started the feeding process. See image below, but then....Day 3: After that I sta... | Suggest you try this
Make a single 100+25+25 feeding (for 12 hours), it should be back. |
Adding Wholegrain When Troubleshooting or Making A Starter Might Help
Adding Wholegrain When Troubleshooting or Making A Starter Might Help... but is it always for the reasons we believe. Sure using a wholegrain might help introduce yeast and bacteria in the beginning but once your starter has been made it's got an est... | food and nutrients
I think the yeast and bacteria in the whole grain (rye or wheat) are both secondary to the additional nutrients. By providing a richer environment you encourage growth. Since the starter is heavily populated in a pre acidified environment your favored beasties should easily out compete whatever bad g... |
Uneven air pockets
Hi last couple of sourdough loaves the air pockets have been large underneath the top crust but tiny towards the base. Any ideas how I can get these large bubble more evenly distributed? | No single answer
Paddy - it could be a variety of things. It could be that you're waiting too long before baking - ie: over-fermenting. It could be that the ambient temp is too high and the dough is developing to fast and again over-fermenting even though you thin its not been that long. It could be how you're developi... |
Very sticky, thick starter
Hi! First-time starter-maker here...been following instructions on King Arthur blog using regular old bread flour and some bottled water I found in the fridge. For the first two full days, the starter seemed really active and was stirrable. It bubbled and even began to smell recognizably sour... | here's a good schedule:
Scroll down to the bottom of this post to see the schedule. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/10901/pineapple-juice-solution-part-2Somewhere in the post, before the schedule starts, there is explanation of the four phases of a starter.At some point it tricks you, but you have to keep faith, and "don't... |
Refrigerated too soon
First timer here! Took 10 days to get my starter bubbly and I refrigerated. I then put some in the refrigerator (after feeding then wait 2 hours) and some to bake. Bread was flat! I’m sure the starter was not mature enough. :( My question is: can I further develop my refrigerated starter? I tried ... | When you say "bread was flat"
When you say "bread was flat", did it rise at all during bulk fermentation or after shaping? Especially at the beginning, you need to pay attention to the dough and not to the clock. As for the starter, what ratio are you feeding. With a newish starter you need to avoid overfeeding because... |
What to feed my starter during shortage?
I don't have all purpose and it's very hard to get flour right now. Here's what I do have:Whole Dark RyeWhole Wheat flourBread FlourPastry flourI was feeding it 50% dark rye and 50% whole wheat but it's wayyyyy too thick to even mix together. So I could either change the hydrati... | ideers.
WW and Dark Rye will supercharge your starter. They would be good for the feeding right before a bake.Bread Flour and Pastry flour will work fine for "maintenance" feedings, and even the last feeding before a bake.In my local grocery, I noticed they still had "Wondra" flour for making gravy, and plain "cake fl... |
Oven too warm, did I kill my starter?
2FEA1B03-828D-4959-B77D-76319189D257.jpeg
After some earlier trouble shooting I discovered the reason my starter is not rising. It’s cold where I live so I’ve been using the oven light method for 3 days (post refrigeration). I recently checked the temperature with a meat th... | Wiki
According to this source, your oven temp was absolutely fine for the bacteria and a bit too warm (to the degree of stopping production, but NOT killing) for the yeast.So you must be fine. |
Need help or direction
I have a starter that I just started on Sunday and I am on day 4 and I seek to have lost all bubbles and no growth activity since day 2 ? it’s runny in it constancy and has no body or bubbles.what have I done wrong and can I salvage what I have or should I start over? | Don't start over
It sounds perfectly on track. Don't panic and start feeding it more. Just stick with once a day until it starts expanding. Runny its what it becomes when the pH drops low enough to activate yeast (and gluten-destroying enzymes). You're very close. |
Shaping Sourdough Rye
I searched for this but could not find a thread with an answer. (Probably my lack of skills in search terms). Sorry about that.I've been trying to imitate a simple sourdough rye I used to eat in Germany. I've experimented but essentially all my attempts have been half white rye flour and half AP o... | A Levain is being prepared
A Levain is being prepared for a foray into Rye Bread baking as I write this. Having never mastered rye, I can say that is quite different from wheat breads. In the past my rye breads also cracked. This is because rye grain has very low gluten qualities.Tomorrow’s rye will be baked in a pan. ... |
First EVER sourdough AND Starter ?
Hi all, I am a total newbie and this was my very first sourdough made from my very first starter that I have lovingly been feeding for three weeks now! I just wanted to share because I’m so very proud I know it’s nothing compared to some of you my next goal is to try to get really big... | AA8A13DF-57A6-440A-983E
AA8A13DF-57A6-440A-983E-80B38DDC09D1.jpeg |
The 'fridge starter' ??
I live in Darwin Australia. Temp 33 C (91 F) year-round. I have attempted to make a starter in the kitchen but have encountered trouble developing a viable starter. I am wondering is it possible to make a starter in the fridge. I would be grateful for any suggestions /advice. Thanks in adv... | I think you could do it
We had a member a while back that had a super starter plan. It worked quickly and was made at 92°F I believe. He had the opposite problem of cool weather so he floated his starter in a warm bath. So I don't see why not. The problems, if you call it that, would be constant warm temp, which se... |
Wild Yeast Sourdough Starter in HOT Country
Hi All,I have been reading around this forum, and others as well, about how to start a wild yeast sourdough starter in a HOT country, and found none to be helpful. Room temperature: 91.4 F (33 Celsius). the coldest room temperature we have is 84.2 F (29 Celsius)I followed the... | Same issues
I live in Darwin Australia. Ambient temps 33C. I too are experiencing similar issues to you. I attempted making a starter last year. I didn't feel it was viable. I attempted x2 bakes at different dates. Both produced a very flat / poor crumb / quite dense / and quite an acetic acid flavour - it was ed... |
An Alternative to wild yeasted sourdough
Starter:1/2 cup Rye Flour1/8 tsp Active Dry Yeast1 Cup Warm Water 110F1 Tbl Crushed Caraway Seeds1 tsp minced onion1 tsp live apple cider vinegar========After 12-24 hours, add:1/2 cup Warm Water (Whey) 110F1 1/2 cups Rye Flour========After 4 to 8 hours, add and repeat 1X:1/2 cup... | Rye starter Hybrid
Thank you for posting. A handy recipe worth trying. My curiosity is picked. I don't have active dry yeast but I think it might work with fresh or instant if I adjusted the amounts accordingly. Like the 96° in the first 12 hours. That alone will kick up a rye starter.Have you ever made it without... |
Scoring isn't producing a nice ear. is this an issue with the scoring or oven spring?
Hi everyone,I've been learning a lot and improving my sourdough baking, but one thing that I never seem to get right is the scoring. When I take the lid off the dutch ovens, I rarely see the kind of big open crispy ear that I want to ... | Are you familiar with a roll top desk?
if so, think of the unscored loaf at the desk with the roll top closed. Score where the desk starts to open. If the dough was tightly rolled into a log shape, the desk roll top should open in the oven and the spring should give it that desired look. So you want to score even mor... |
Starter weirdness
Hello all, I am trying to use this enforced home time to get a sourdough starter going. I read an article that said using dried fruit in the initial mix would help boost the yeast present in the starter, so I decided to try it. I thought it was going well, but I'm noticing some weirdness, and I... | I think that your starter
Is that thick layer but not 100% sure as I can’t see it. Right now I suggest taking a break from feeding and just stirring it until the whole thing is active. Don’t worry if it start stinking for a bit as it’s the bacterias battling it out. By the way, the good ones will win once the mixture ... |
Starter refresh very thick
I'm on day 7 of my starter and refresh 2X a day with 50g carryover starter, 50g rye, 50g whole wheat and 100g water. The starter seems overall pretty healthy, rising and falling throughout the day. However, when I make the refresh mixture it is very thick, almost like a paste. Is this normal,... | That's just fine
Because you are using whole-grain flours (also a good thing), they absorb more water than a white flour would. That makes the mixture thicker. Starter hydrations can range all over the map. Some people maintain theirs as a very stiff dough; around 50% hydration. Others prefer a liquid starter; as mu... |
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