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Crater under skin on sourdough
can’t figure this out. Could it be shaping ? Paper thin crust in one spot with a crater under? Thanks!! | AIR BUBBLE?
Could it be an air bubble that was not removed during degassing and loaf formation?Ford |
Need starter stat!
I measured out the flour for the autolyze and discovered that I had forgotten to refresh my 70% starter. There were only 100 grams left in the container, not the 300 that I need. I mixed those last 100 grams with 300 g KA ww flour and 210 g water and set the bowl out in my kitchen. Now I'm wondering ... | I have an answer
The starter tripled in size in six hours. I think it's ready to go. All praise heat and humidity. |
Whole Grain. Red Fife. Rye.
100% whole grain, organic.18% Rye. 82% Red Fife. 83% Hydration. 1.9% Salt. Fresh-milled. 18% flour in levain. 300 SLF. Only about 2 hours in bulk and 1 hour in proof! Bulk at 21c. Proof at 30c. Baked at 500 for 20m 450 10m Uncovered for 10m. 40m total cook time.This was one of my best tastin... | Feedback
Very nicely done. What mill did you use? Only two hours of bulk testifies to the power of your levain. Maybe one day instead of an invitation for feedback there'll be an invitation to 'feed on' - I sure wouldn't hesitate. |
Under proofed over?
Hi all please help , the crumb result from my bread has changed I don’t think I’m doing anything different than usual but my bread doesn’t get as many caves and air pockets. Is it underprooved? I retard over night for at least 12 hours. Please help...Confused baker | 3rd option
Option 3: Amazing LoafBig air pockets is not always sort after but a few factors are involved like hydration and handling. |
Gummy and heavy sourdough bread
HiMy crumb comes out too gummy and my bread heavy in weight. It’s not underbaked, I took it’s internal temp, it was 205F. The recipe for 750g Dough391g Sir Galahad flour (11.7% protein)20% levain, 78g70% water, 273g2% salt, 8gI mixed everything but the salt, let it rest 30m. Add salt, re... | Cooling Rack Time?
Nothing jumps out at me from your description of the process through the bake. How long do you let the loaf cool on the rack before slicing? A loaf will be gummy if not allowed to cool sufficiently.Ted |
Rationale ovens?
Hi fellow bakers was wondering whether anyone has used a rationale oven to bake their sourdough. I will be using one tomorrow but never experience one with bread. Any info would be so helpful!thank you x | It's not the ideal oven for
It's not the ideal oven for baking regular bread, but tt works quite well for viennoisseries or enriched doughs. |
I'm desperate to learn why my starter will not rise past 8 hours.
I am desperate to learn why my starter will not rise past 8 hours. I started a post a week or so ago dealing with this same issue. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/54588/how-can-i-increase-time-between-feeding-starterBut I thought maybe the waters got to... | No whinging about 3x rises allowed!
I'm not the go-to person when it comes to levains of various stripes and colors. Who they are is pretty well established. I have my few that work well for me and I stick with them.That said (or written), when I build a very stiff levain, like 60% hydration or to refresh my existing... |
Starter in winter months.
I know that colder temperatures slow down activity, we keep our house around 65-68F in the winter months. When I bulk ferment my my dough, I do it within my oven with the pilot light on, and I get around 82F in the winter. I could technically do my daily starter maintenance in, but it peaks to... | Anyone?
Anyone? |
Yeast water season?
Hi all,Inspired by the looks of Leslie's Swiss cottage loaf, I thought I'd try my hand again at making an active yeast water. Weather forecasts here say that the next few days will be in the 25°C range, rather unusual for this time of year.So: how warm does it need to be before a yeast water "takes"... | My source for AYW ...
... was Codruta's contributions to TFL, so do a search. En passant, I wonder what became of her? My crib notes read (which I may have copied from her postings - in Hungarian, though I probably compiled this from various sources): Take a clean jar, cut two sliced apples, do not throw the bark o... |
Poor spring + ears on Tartine country attempt
Baking the country bread with a strong more than doubling leaven, easily passed float test.One hour into bulk @78Two hours into bulk at 78Bench rest after pre shapeAfter flip before final shapeAfter final shapingWhat do you guys think I'm doing wrong here? I'm a beginner, s... | Definitely underproofed.
Definitely underproofed. |
Sourdough blowout
Hey guys. Had some blowouts on my loaves today. The taste was very good. 25% whole wheat25% starter2% salt67% hydration1.5 - 2 hour bulk with 2 stretch and folds. Cold proof for approx. 17 hours. Any ideas as to why this happened? Too much steam? Scoring not deep enough? Underproofed? | Good photos esp the cross section
of the blow out.My guess would be... hey, what's the temp in the fridge? Perhaps it is too low. Could be a little underproofed. Try bulking a little longer before shaping (as opposed to extending the time in the fridge) add a half hour next time then shape & chill those babies. If t... |
Can I Press *Pause* on My Starter?
I was going to bake loaves today but had other things come up, so I portioned out and fed the starter again to give it a feeding until it's time to make dough. But given I fed it at around 5pm, instead of making a dough for autolyse..... I'm not into waking up a 4am to make dough! C... | You can put it in the fridge
but it would be best to refrigerate when it is at peak or almost there. It will need to warm up in the morning.What I have done it place my starter in a cool place, like the basement or outside if it isn’t too cold, to slow it down but not stop it completely like will happen if your fridg... |
Accidentally fed sourdough starter wrong kind of flour on day 5
So I saw another post on this forum that discussed a similar topic and people responded that the starter wasn’t dead and to just resume normal feeding. However, my starter is only on day 5 and not fully developed yet, so I’m concerned that the sudden chang... | no worries
Just go back to the original next feed. Not a big deal. |
Rye flake coat
i tried to coat my loaf in rye flakes and the flakes were very firm, is there a way to soften them? Should I be blanching them or cooking them before hand? | Hi 4-color photog
I love coating [edit:] "with" rye flakes, but I admit that they're a good bit cruncher than oat flakes. Do you give your coated loaves a good spritz or three of water before loading? Do you bake with steam?Enjoy Carole |
Hydration and levain
Hello.I have been reading on this forum for a little while now and playing with the 123 method. The loaves are getting better each time.Making a starter was no problem, I used some kefir in the first mix and it's happy and bubbly, 100% hydration.Since I don't like white bread I have been using 100g... | Starter or Levain
It all depends on how you use your starter. There is no problem in keeping a 100% hydration starter, giving it a feed and taking some off to use in your dough.But many here like to keep a starter just as a seed. The way how I like to think of my starter is like a petri dish where a store the yeasts an... |
Please Help my starter! I feel like I've tried everything with no luck!
Hi all! First, apologies. I know this forum gets a million posts just like this one every day but I truly do believe I have tried almost every trick in the book and am fresh out of ideas. I'm no stranger to baking bread regularly with commercial ye... | I suggest you try this
I suggest you try this approach, it has worked for me. https://www.thefreshloaf.com/handbook/sourdough-starters |
Gummy/unbaked line in my dough - please help!?!
Hello!This is my first post here altho I have often found answer on the forum here that have been very helpful ☺️ I have a problem with my sourdough which has started recently. I use only UK grown stoneground flours, the loaf pictures is 85% high extraction white flour wi... | Are you baking from a hot or cold "start"?
Are you putting dough into a hot, pre-heated Dutch oven or other vessel at the start of the bake? Or placing the dough onto a hot baking stone or steel?Or are you starting from cold? Cold oven, cold Dutch oven, cold baking stone? Best wishes. Dave |
3 SD starters-observation on different attributes
I have 3 different SD starters that I equally neglect but still use successfully when I do bake. That is less often these days but still much enjoyed when I do. I have noticed some interesting things about these starters that definitely make them different from each oth... | And here I am wasting flour
And here I am wasting flour and time feeding my starter. The method you’re using is quite unusual and I’m fascinated by it.Is that something you can do only with a very well aged starter or do you think younger starters can handle it also? How sour would you say the bread is? I suppose that ... |
Starter - My First Sourdough Loaf and Maintenance Questions
Hi All:Thanks for several members on here in a previous post I was able to rehabilitate a start that wasn't taking off. It eventually looked as if it were taking off and I decided to bake my first loaf with it. Pic attached. Interesting experience, I have some... | Anthony, nice looking loaf.
Anthony, nice looking loaf. If you ask 1,000 bakers, you will get 2,000 answers on how to properly maintain a starter - so there are no rules. One truth is that there is a ton of activity in 1 gram of starter ( yes I said 1 gram - I have gotten down to that little, and still built it up ... |
Help me understand "builds".
Peter Reinhart touched on this briefly in The Bread Baker's Apprentice, but did not elaborate.I am working on a sourdough recipe. I want a 350 gram leaven in the final dough, so I am starting with 50 grams of 100% starter.If I understand the meaning, my leaven has three builds with a fourth... | Take a look at this
In particular the section on 'Refreshment': http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sourdough |
Still loafing
It's been a couple of years since I posted here at TFL, but I visit very often, reading up on all of the wonderful bakes, experiments, etc. I'm still baking a couple of loaves a week pretty regularly, and though I'm not very adventurous outside of a handful of formulas I like, it's something I look forwa... | fabulous!
A suggestion - post more often! These batards look wonderful, as is the photography. And I love semolina flour, so love to see it featured here.alan |
Using a stiff starter
i tried the NFNM starter and a liquid one. I landed liking something, in the middle- a stiff starter. I feel it is just enough attention and size so that it feels like a pet! I am curious though, how do you use a stiff starter in a liquid recipe?according to the knights at KAF it doesn’t matter. J... | How do you use your starter?
Is it used as a seed only? Or do you use your starter straight into the final dough? I keep a stiff whole rye starter at 70% hydration but from that I keep it mainly as a seed only and build off-shoot starters (levains) to whatever hydration and flour I need. E.g. 150g mature bread flour st... |
Starter life-cycle.
Starter life-cycle.A maintained levain with a vigorous, healthy culture can sometimes pass a float-test after only fermenting for about 2 hours from last feed. Some inoculate their dough with a young levain to develop a sweeter, less sour loaf. But the more common rule-of-thumb is that the levain i... | While said it has to be 12 hours?
I'd watch the levain and not the clock. My levain today was ready in 4 hours. It all depends on how big a feed and temperature. |
Mathematician Needed
I am looking for an efficient formula to calculate the following. Let’s say my starter is 60% hydrated and I want to do a single build to bring it to 100% hydration totaling 100g using a 2 parts flour to 1 part starter. I would like the formula to return the amounts of starter, water, and flour nee... | Ratios
So you have a starter that's 60% hydration16g =6g water + 10g flourForget the 100g starter for a minute and let's see the ratio needed to bring it to 100% hydration with 1 part starter fed 2 parts flour or 1:?:216g starter + ? + 32g flour. Well we have in total 42g flour and 6g water so we will need an extra 36g... |
Sourdough with UK Malted flour from Bacheldre Watermill
Hello Bakers,I anyone else using the Bacheldre Watermill flours for their sourdoughs? I am getting a bit more adventurous now so I thought I'd try the Malted blend strong bread flour (with added wheat flakes :) ) . The protein content of this malted flour is 'only... | Can you post a link to this flour?
Strong bread flour will not be 9.5% protein. Edit: just had a look and indeed they call it strong but do not use the term bread flour. Strong bread flour cannot be 9.5% so I'm wondering on the terminology here. If they do mean strong bread flour then it's mislabelled. One thing you co... |
trying again - whole grain spelt starter
you may know that i've had several starters that made tasty bread for weeks or a couple months, then each one developed a fruity smell that doesn't small anything like yeast and i can't seem to bring them back. none have been overwhelmingly active, btw, but they do rise.so i st... | hmm, what's wrong with fruity
hmm, what's wrong with fruity? A lot of descriptions of good, fully mature, active starters at their peak say "pleasant smell, like very ripe fruit". It doesn't mean that your bread will taste fruity, it just means that the lactic acid bacteria, the beneficial bacteria in your starter, are... |
When I cut my sourdough it flattens. :(
Every time I cut my sourdough bread into slices it smooshes and flattens. I really don't know what to adjust in my recipe.For reference, here is the recipe I use:600g Bread Flour400g Water200g Starter (100% hydration)13g SaltMix starter in water, then the bread flour. Autolyse fo... | could the knife be the culprit?
I can't see it very well from your picture but could it be that it is too hard on the dough, and simply needs sharpening? Because your bread looks fine to me!Just a thoughtSparrow |
Does gluten development speed dough degradation?
Does gluten development speed dough degradation?In an effort to develop sour flavor in my SD, I tend to over ferment the dough. Does fully developed gluten speed up the dough degradation process? I ask this question, because lately myself and a number of other TFL bakers... | gluten
interesting question, but I don't know of a process that would support that being the case...gluten is not like LAB's and yeast that have a growth cycle where they grow and die if not refreshed sufficiently (but as I just posted in the other thread...enzymes will eventually have their way...but I don't see how g... |
How to fix dough that tears before baking?
Hello everyone! It's been awhile since I've posted but I had a question I wanted to ask. I've been baking for some time now and have had some good success. Normally, when I bake a boule I use a banneton with brown rice flour to prevent sticking, which has worked very well for ... | Three fixes
Hello Rickenheimer,There are three ways to fix a tear that I useOne is to reshape the loaf without degassing it too much and let it rest for a few min, then bake as usual.Two is to use that tear as a decorative cut on the surface and design a few more decorative cuts around it, in a pinch, the tear can also... |
A Heads Up for the Upcoming 123 SD Community Bake
This October will be the tenth anniversary of Flo Makanai’s 123 SD formula. We will be celebrating Flo and her bread during the next Community Bake. The post kicking off the Community Bake will be published next Thursday in preparation for the first weekend in October. ... | Thank you for the heads up....
and I think it was aised before but I did not quite understand and would like to clarify with you all as I never have baked with seeds nor done the 123 formula...If I use any seeds like sesame or poppies, does that count to the flour part of the weight of the formula...I also assume that ... |
Baking with a Cloche, Question
I am new to posting to this site, but have been reading the forum for months. So helpful! I have been baking sourdough with really good results for 6 mos now, using Robertson's Tartine book, which is really handy for a beginner. The loaves I have made taste great, but I do not get much ov... | Pretty!
Hi Donna,Good question! I use a cloche, also, since my oven is gas and effectively vents off any steam. I balance mine across burners on my stove top, to provide reliable support, and also to allow air to circulate as it cools.I love your scoring! It looks as though you r getting oven spring - evidenced by the ... |
How to ship Sourdough Starter cross country?
Hi everyone, In 2 weeks I'm moving from San Francisco to the east coast. I'm flying out there and wanted to know if there was any way of shipping my sourdough starter without airport security thinking I"m carrying plastic explosives in my checked luggage. I've heard of dryin... | I guess you could mail some
I guess you could mail some of the powder to yourself (label it "dried sourdough starter"), and ALSO put some of the same (in a very small ziplock, labelled, in both paste and powdered form) in your checked and your carry-on luggage (put the paste in your declared, see-through plastic bag wi... |
Help! For no clear reason my starter smells bad and has lost its strong rise
I have been keeping a sourdough starter for several years, and typically I have had good luck getting a good, predictable rise, feeding once per day. I leave the starter out on the counter. A few weeks ago, I bulked up the starter to make a ba... | wish i could help...
but i've had a similar end to several starters, although they did continue to rise to some degree. but they'd go from being active starters that taste great and make great bread and discard pancakes to smelling bad and tasting bad and lifting less.in my case, i'm also worried. we can't ripen avoc... |
Who created the 123 Sourdough formula?
Who created the 123 Sourdough formula? I was told that this October would be the tenth anniversary of it’s inception. I put a note somewhere and now I can’t find it. We are supposed to celebrate this anniversary at the beginning of October as a Community Bake.I want to get in cont... | Here is a link to her post
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/9346/123-easy-formula-sourdough-bread |
Autolyse with SD Starter
How long can I autolyse with starter? Reason I ask is my starter is at peak and I want to get the process going. Typically I have to either go out or get interrupted between autolyse and stretch and folds. Any idea how long I can go with starter/water and flour?Thanks | no hard rule
FWIW, some baguette recipes use a 36-hour autolyze (mostly cold). For loaves, I typically use 1 hour. So I don't think there's a hard and fast rule for how long to go. I have had a love/hate relationship with autolyze. I never liked doing it because of what I preceived as an extra step I couldn't fit in, b... |
My sourdough fermented too fast
Hello everyone!I have an active starter which I am feeding and baking with it regularly. This morning I fed it at 8am and by 11am it has already doubled in size. The ratio I am using is 50g:50g:50g so 1:1:1 only whole wheat flour.My question is, if I decrease the amount of mature starter... | You can do anything with a starter
There is no steadfast rule and you must adjust to your starters needs and your own schedule.1:1:1 is not a very big feed and if you wish for your starter to take longer to mature then by all means feed it 1:5:5 (or more). You can also use cold water and/or lower hydration. The fridge ... |
Question about different flour blends in your starter
So I'm STILL not having my starter do its job and double but I had a minor breakthrough the other day when I was fed up and I just fed it 1:1:1 but used organic whole grain rye flour. (I had been using organic AP for the feeds, ---this starter was created using 100%... | Hi SourtroutI'm going to
Hi SourtroutI'm going to leave the mixing-flours question for someone else, but on question 2:!could be wrong, but it sounds to me like you're overfeeding this thing, and rushing to feed it too often. How frequently are you feeding it? At each refreshment, we take a small bit of the yeast commu... |
Storing Starter Discard
Hey all -What is the shelf life of stored sourdough starter?Normally, I feed my starter about once week and keep in the fridge, a little more if I am baking that week.I keep a container that holds about 3 cups in my fridge that I can make discard recipes with. I add some discard from my normal f... | Like most things...depends
I keep my discards in the refrigerator for weeks on end. My refrigerator is cold (34F on the top shelf to 40F on the bottom) and I'm sure that makes a difference. I usually use the discard for pancakes or addition to any quickbreads(like banana bread). I discard the discard when it looks too... |
Sourdough Rising problems
hello,I’m having issues with my sourdough rising. The starter is seemingly active and bubbly, passes the float test. I’ve made a few loaves and they all taste great. I used the Vanessa Kimbell basic recipe and the Tartine country bread recipe. Both were quite wet, the tartine one worked better... | The recipe would be helpful
Can't comment on much without the recipe. From what I understand Vanessa does leave a lot open to interpretation. Her recipes aren't always very precise (for a good reason) and does expect the reader to know things like watching the dough and not the clock. We also need to look at temperatur... |
Tartine bread- anyone tried same day bake?
Hello, due to work commitments the only day I’ll be able to bake is in Thursday and I’d like to have the bread ready for Friday morning, if I start early on Thursday eg fermentolyse at 8 am at the latest, is it possible to make a decent loaf? I could put it in the fridge for a... | Very possible
Plus a pleasant change to the flavor, more wheaty and less sour. It also can give you a better perspective on the final proof. The scoring and loading is a little more challenging than a chilled loaf but doable. |
Is this fool's crumb...?
Hello bakersThis is my first loaf with my new (about 10 days old) starter). I have a ton of questions about it. 1. The crumb was super open, and it all tasted good, but it had a slightly wet, tacky feel. Not dense at all though. Is this fool's crumb? Underproofed? 2. Am I correct in my understa... | One fantastic looking Ciabatta!!!
Wow!You did good, and it sounds perfect from the way you describe the crumb. Dont forget to take a bittom shot of the loaf. Congratulations! And yes, it is 80% hydration if the starter is 100% hydration. Beautiful. |
Explanation of Ratio such as 1:2:2
Another question: I have seen this many times, but only have a vague idea of what it means. Could someone explain? Usually, I have seen it in a starter “recipe.” Thanks. | Your example means
one part starter to two parts water and two parts flour. For example, 10 g starter:20g water:20g flour. First number is starter, second is water, third is flour. You may also see a 1,2,3 recipe for sourdough. In that case, it is one part starter, 2 parts water, and 3 parts flour. One usually adds 2% ... |
Trying to learn better scoring techniques | Those are beautiful, Gwen!
Those are beautiful, Gwen! |
I made a time-lapse of my starters
They're both 80% hydration, the one on the right is 100% whole wheat, the left is 20% whole wheat, 80% unbleached all-purpose. They seem to peak, then sort of bubble in place. Are these ready for baking or do I need to let them get more vigorous? The one with UAP seemed to get within ... | They look just fine to me
I think you could have been baking with your starter a while ago already. You seem to have been working on the starter for quite some time but reluctant to bake with it. Whenever I make a starter, and once it's over the quiet period, i'll give it two or three more feeds and then use it. Might ... |
Red Fife and Rye. 100% whole grain, 95% hydration. Toasted sunflower and pumpkin seed.
Hey guys. Looking for feedback. Some questions:At the end of your SLF's would the dough hold any height if shaped into a boule or does it spread? My dough at the end of SLF (before bulk) has lots of extension, some elasticity, doesn'... | Beautiful loaf
I think that's pretty impressive rise for unsifted flour. In my experience 3c vs. 4c does make a difference, because 4c is the threshold where yeast goes dormant. |
Sourdough flour question
Hello fellow bread geeksI've taken a long break from making sourdough as we moved to Mauritius, which has affected my breadmaking in very specific ways:1. This place has a crazy hot, humid climate (frequently above 80% humidity)2. There is no decent unbleached stoneground flour available, so I ... | Search No Muss No Fuss (or NMNF) on TFL
The good news is that you are in a beautiful location. The even better news is that there is a lot of info on TFL about starters. My suggestion is that you go to the thread on the NMNF starter (posted by Dabrownman) and see whether that helps. |
What exactly takes place during cold fermentation
What exactly takes place during cold fermentation, especially as it pretains to open crumb and flavor?I know it works, but I would like to understand why. A number of very excellent bakers are advocating a 30-50% rise during bulk ferment at ambient temps. After that the... | I found this to be really
I found this to be really helpful in understanding what happens during fermentation under various conditions, and why. It's an audio podcast, I took notes that I could refer back to later, as there is no text provided. I just started baking recently, so I listened to the whole series of audios... |
I did something dumb
So. I wanted to give my starter a real nice refresh–I haven't been getting the structure in my dough that I am wanting and have read that rogue enzymatic activity could be the culprit so I figured I'd work at this variable. I WANTED to do a refresh of 1:5:5 (20g starter | 100g water | 100g flour)I... | Given enough time
A small amount of starter will inoculate a large feed. I've made bread with 2% starter before. In fact it'll probably do your starter good to build up a healthy yeast population. Keep it warm and give it another stir in a few hours. |
Can overproofed dough be repurposed?
I live in India and have a hot un-air conditioned kitchen. This did not stop me from following the KAF rosemary olive oil sourdough recipe exactly and letting the dough have a long ferment. This morning I woke up to a wet,bubbly dough. I tried shaping into a boule and this is what ... | Your picture
didn't show up, but you had 2 choices. Punch it down and let it rise again if it could or do what I do in AZ when the proofing gods go nuts. I mix up some more, say 30% each of all the ingredients separately in a bowl and then fold it into the original dough. After they are mixed together, final proof ... |
Sourdough starter not rising enough
I need some help with my starter. I started with 100% hydration by weight with stoneground organic whole wheat flour. I was taking my instruction from the Vanessa Kimbell Sourdough School book. It was rising double and had some bubbles, but was very wet. At this point it had been a c... | Not sure what you mean
When you say "very wet", to what are you comparing it? 100% hydration is 100% hydration.To be able to help it would be good to know how often you refresh, and the mount of fresh flour and water to starter.In many respects, time is less important than the condition of the dough (or starter). If th... |
Is this under proofed?
Hi everyone, I have been watching a lot of sourdough videos and for the longest time I through that this loaf is over proofed. But then I watched a video and the guy described the dense parts as a sign of under proofing. So is my bread under or over proofed? This is a white and rye bread. | Can be either
It is either way under bulk fermented on the front end or way over-proofed on the back end. I believe it is under-fermented. I do not interchange "bulk ferment" and "proof".While the crumb shot can tell us a lot, the recipe and how the dough was handled (with timings)helps with an accurate diagnosis.The s... |
Keeping Two Starters @ Different Hydrations
Hey all – Wanted to try and get some opinions from some of you.Do you think it's worth keeping two starters at separate hydrations or just convert a few feedings before a bake?Right now I have one at 80% and another at 100% hydration.I'm thinking it might be easier–and use le... | If your starter is strong
And you're okay with a single feed then you can convert it with one build. E.g. 20g starter30g water40g flourOops that's exactly like in your example. But the purpose is you don't have to do more than one build to create a different hydration starter. Do as many builds as you'd normally do. Y... |
Sourdough starter is an impossibility prove me wrong
For months and months, I've been trying to cultivate a sourdough starter.
I've followed the directions. Feed once daily, 2tbsp water, same weight flour. But each day the activity kept going down. Now the activity is always just minimal. Very small bubbles, if I can f... | I'm having trouble too
I'm having trouble too.. What kind of flour are you feeding it? |
My Daily Bread
Hello all! I haven't been in the forum for ages and just thought I'd pop in and say hi. I keep two jars of the same starter in the fridge (a failsafe) and alternate which one I use every couple of days as I bake a small loaf just about every day. The other day I started to preheat the larger oven (Piz... | Nice loaf!!
I hear you about your starter. I feel the same way when I have some Levain left over. I hate to throw it out and usually add it back to my starter in the fridge. By the way, tell us more about that gorgeous loaf! |
Can't graduate past pineapple juice
So I was finally able to get a starter going the Reinhart method/recipe, which for days 1-2 you use pineapple juice. On day 3, after switching from pineapple to water, it fizzled out, as mine always do... After 2-4 days feeding it water, I tried feeding it going BACK to pineapple jui... | Planned neglect
It may help if you have a picture or analogy of what you are trying to accomplish. Think of the yeast spores present in the flour as seeds. They are totally inactive and buttoned up,asleep, until the environment is more favorable for their growth-just like garden seeds. They need water, warmth (same com... |
Choosing a Flour Mix for Open Crumb
How do you choose how much of different kinds of flour to use to maximize open crumb in your bread?Right now, I am mainly baking off of a 50lb bag of All Purpose (AP) flour that I bought, and adding in whole wheat as well. I also have a bit of rye, spelt, and buckwheat. I know that b... | BF verses AP
I don't think nearly any amount of manipulation of these to flour types will have much impact on your crumb. Instead it's probably better to focus on yeast control, mixing, proofing and bake dynamics. King Arthur has a blog article that compares two exact same bakes with their AP and BF - they are nearly i... |
second attempt and question about starter in fridge
Here is my second attempt at sourdough. Still pretty happy with the results, in particular the crumb. The bread is also getting more "sour". I do have some questions though. The loaf on the bottom was proofed in an oval/oblong shaped banneton. The cut/score on th... | Nice Loaf
This should be a good thread for several to weigh in on. In general your loaf looks good. The crumb is not uniform, however, and the denser portion in the lower half and holes in the upper half lead me to believe that it may have overproofed (and collapsed on the lower portion). That crumb could also be a ... |
Komboucha as a liquid in sourdough bread
has anyone used komboucha as the liquid in their sourdough bread? Not as a starter, I'll use my regular starter for the rise. I have some booch which has gone a bit sour, I've seen other recipes that use the juice from pickles ect, so I'm just wondering would I be wasting 400... | Of course there are live yeasts and bacteria
In kombucha but I think the main raising agent will be the sourdough starter because it'll be quicker as it's home is flour and water. I don't think you'll have any issues but just in case expect it to be quicker than usual. |
Another Save
Would you believe that I completely knocked out the bubbles from the bulk ferment and still got this crumb? My friend was having issues with Forkish's Overnight Country Brown (now where have I heard this before?) so I decided to do this bake myself. However I built the levain overnight and made the dough i... | "1: Forkish's timings are way
"1: Forkish's timings are way out."But I think they're all based on some seemingly unrealistic kitchen temperatures. Has anyone ever purported to maintain his temps to see if there's any way his timings aren't whack? His whole thing seemed to have been, "lower temps, longer fermentation, b... |
Help with lighter crumb -Improvements made!
Hi all,Firstly thankyou to everyone on this forum, it is my go-to for troubleshooting bread problems and there is a wealth of information to be found!I've been having trouble getting as light a crumb as I would like, and the air pockets seem too small and regular. It also see... | looks like an old school lacy
looks like an old school lacy crumb to me. I love lacy crumb. Prefer it to huge non edible holes. In Ireland we'd say 'theres good eating in it'... |
How to slice........
Well, it does sound a little bit stupid, But humour me pls......sometimes it is a real struggles. Is there any technique to cut it nice and proper.thank, Jon | Good Serrated Knife Helps
Two things can help. One is a good serrated knife. My favorite is the Mercer Culinary Millennia 10-inch wide bread knife. The cutting edge is very good with slicing through the crust. (Let the knife do the cutting -- slide back and forth, and do not press down hard.) Also, you might benefi... |
Tripled, Finally
I've been having a tough time transitioning to sourdough from yeasted bread. For several months now, things rarely worked as described in books or YouTube videos. I have been making adjustments based on some tips in videos and websites, and finally got an OK country sourdough using the formula that c... | Sounds to me
like a smaller feed ratio should match the regular timings, perhaps try a 1:5:5 A one to ten ratio might be overfeeding. Or wait a little longer giving the starter time for "signs of life" before storing in thr fridge. The starter will react to room and ingredient temps after refreshing and need longer ... |
Newly started starter won't start
I know this topic is redundant, and I've read a lot on this forum already, and a lot of that info I've utilized. I've tried 6 or 7 times now. I've tried Ken Forkish recipe, Reinhart's method, King Arthur method and they all have failed on my watch. I've tried rye, whole wheat, pineapp... | Fellow starter failure, here.
Fellow starter failure, here. I'm curious what your results with pineapple juice were. And perhaps what brand juice you used. My pineapple starter has only created the absolute smallest bubbles I can see by eye. It's been 10 days since any pineapple juice has been in the starter. So this i... |
Sourdough Starter - help!
Hi folks, I'm looking for a bit of advice with my new sourdough starter, it doesn't seem to be behaving very well. We're now at Day 7, and it's not rising at all, and is super runny. It does smell good however, kind of fruity and vinegary, and there are bubbles on the surface, but that's it. I... | I disagree
I think you did wise for feeding only every 24 hours at the beginning and you should have kept that up till your starter had gotten stronger. The bad smell was a normal stage which your starter outgrows as it matures. But your starter also goes through a quiet stage which has been prolonged by feeding too of... |
Tips for Achieving an Open Crumb with All Purpose (AP) Flour
I know that using a higher protein flour like bread flour can help with an open crumb, since it facilitates greater gluten development, to help hold in those gas bubbles. I'm mainly baking off of a 50lb bag of all purpose (AP) flour. Do you have any tips for ... | Working with low protein, weaker flour...
This is an interesting question and Solano, a baker from Brazil is also experimenting with this as he has mainly weaker flour where he is.......I came across an ebook from an Italian baker Matteo Festo and he has a number of formulas for low protein flour in his book.....Extrac... |
Flat loaf :(
IMG_20180713_172634.jpg
Hey guys,I'm a novice baker (baked maybe my 10th loaf) and I have an issue with my "tartine" style country bread: despite developing the gluten quite well and achieving a beautiful open crumb, the bread proofs more outward than upward.The recipe is this: 715g water 200g star... | Hey Ken, the loaf you made
Hey Ken, the loaf you made was 79% hydration. That is very wet. A noble goal, but probably best baked once you gain a little more experience. If you are open to a different bake, take a look at this. The hydration is 71%. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/56678/123-sourdough-no-knead-do-nothin... |
Latest loaves - help
Life here continues to be crazy, but I've at least gotten back into baking bread again. I took pictures of my first bake back from helping the kids move, but didn't have the oomph to post them with a write-up, so I'm going to toss them up here with the results of my latest bake, which I forgot to t... | Just bumping this b/c I'm
Just bumping this b/c I'm hoping for some thoughts on what I need to be working on/if I'm right about my scoring being a big part of my problem before I start working on my next bake tomorrow. Thanks in advance,JayET |
Warm bulk, cold bulk and then cold retarding......
This might be a totally idiotic train of thoughts but my recent bakes with ciabatta and baguette got me wondering....I appear to get more easily open crumb when I use a warm bulk combined with a cold bulk........If I were to do this with let's say normal white SD loaf ... | I've had some success with
I've had some success with this. I think one of the keys is ensuring that enough yeast growth has occurred during the warm bulk, and that the cold bulk and retard is not too cold. I think there are two reasons that cold bulk and/or retard can help with big bubbles.1. The extended time allows ... |
Crumb analysis
Hi all, it's been a while since I've posted here. I've been keeping up with my baking, trying to get that perfect loaf, and I think I came pretty close today! I would like some insight however, on what you all think of my proofing (judging whether my bread is ready to bake is still my weak point). Thi... | Very nice. The handful of
Very nice. The handful of larger holes are probably a shaping issue, but they really aren't very large. Which is good...a lot of large, gaping holes means that you don't have much crumb in a slice of bread, which misses the point of having bread in the first place. |
Sourdough Starter-- Seattle Area
Hello,In a cross country trip I tragically lost an ancient sourdough starter given to me by a professor in college from Eastern Europe. I'm looking to replace this starter and being new to Seattle am looking for ways to reach out to those in the area to see if anyone has a sourdough st... | Maybe I’m a stick in the mud,
but I think there’s too much mythology surrounding sourdough starter. Get a new one going. It only takes flour and water. |
My sourdough looks like shit! Help please!
Hi allI am new to sourdough, just started my starter 2 weeks back and it's going strong.The problem that I have is with the bread itself. I hope that I can get some guidance as to what the issue is.My first time, it was way too sour. I used a 1:2:3 ratio (starter:water:dough).... | Inappropriate Language
Scatological references are NOT appropriate for this site! Please refrain from such language.Your water was 77%, baker's percentage. This might be a little high. The loaf looked to be under baked. The internal temperature should be about 195°F (91°C).Ford |
Is this overproofed?
Hi everyone, I'm a complete newbie just trying to learn more about sourdough by eating more of them. I had this loaf of sourdough that seemed a little off. It was more sour than others and tasted a little too gummy. And when I sliced it, bits of crumb got stuck to my bread knife. (It was cold when ... | I agree with ds99303. Check
I agree with ds99303. Check the internal temperature it should be 195°F (91°C).Fiord |
Sour Dough Starter Quesions- Newbie
I am on day 5 and tomorrow I am suppose to start feeding twice a day, Do I discard at each feeding? Do I continue for just 7 days or how do I know when to stop? After I stop how do I continue with this if I dont use everyday? I know I put in the fridge but how do I feed and build up ... | Even if you were to feed your starter
A ratio of 1:0.5:0.5 twice a day if you don't discard you'll soon have a barrel of starter. And without knowing the instructions you're following I'm assuming it'll be a higher ratio than that so make it a swimming pool instead of a barrel. At this stage discarding some will be nec... |
Starters for low carb breads/crust
As soon as I can I will add pictures, but now starting to make a starter for low breads..... Pictures soon I hope..... | After 10 hours
IMG-9793.JPG
IMG-9794.JPG |
Panettone starter
Is anyone using their sour dough starter for panettone? A couple of questions:Are you doing the constant 4hr feeding regime like Matt Tinder and others?How long does it take to develop the gluten in each knead. I hand need and the high egg yoke and butter ratios means some days it takes about 1 + 1/... | I rarely make enriched dough
Just throwing out ideas here but since fats interfere with gluten development is it feasible to start developing the gluten first with just flour and water then add in the fats a bit later and work them in? |
Another question... baker's lame, do I actually need one?
Is there some magic to using an actual lame that I won't get from just using single sided razor blades from the hardware store? I've been using them so far, could that be why my slashes have been so hit and miss? Or is a lame just another way to get you to spend... | Jay, do a search for “home
Jay, do a search for “home made lame”. Many expert bakers make their own and are completely satisfied.https://youtu.be/fcO_vBmci9gDo use a double edges razor blade, though. They are much sharper. Scoring is a skill that doesn’t often come easy. I’ve neen working to hone my scoring skills for ... |
After less than 24 hours, new levain starter more than doubled
I'm using 100% whole wheat flour from HEB that's supposedly organic. It was very bubbly and had an unpleasant odor. I was expecting this on maybe, MAYBE the second day, possibly third day. While I did not make sure the water added was 90 degrees, the ambi... | Sounds fine to me
The initial bubbling up can happen quickly and the smell confirms it is leuconostoc in nature. So far all very normal and expected. Carry on. |
Please critique my batard!
Hello,I recently baked my first successful sourdough batard. I’m practicing the shaping of a batard, as I usually do boules. Still working on the technique. Any advice / tips are greatly appreciated. The crumb could be more open, and the batard could have been tighter. Below was my recipe:100... | Very nice!
Very nice! |
Sourdough Blackberry Walnut. Organic. Home-milled.
I've made a few 100% whole grain, hand milled, organic loaves lately. I've been doing a two hour room temp bulk ferment, an 8 hour bulk ferment retard. Shaping the loaf cold in the evening, another retard for the proof for 10 hours. Then baking it cold in the mornings.... | Congratulations Bigblue, that
Congratulations Bigblue, that is indeed a handsome Bigblue that you produced.Can walnuts be sprouted? |
First attempt at sourdough, looking for feedback
This is my first attempt at sourdough. The starter seems to be good and active. I did twice daily feedings (half whole wheat, half unbleached bread flour) for 6-8 days. It's now at a point where the starter doubles in size within a couple hours of feeding.I used a tar... | Looks pretty good to me!You
Looks pretty good to me!You can play around with the starter (between room temperature and fridge) to promote more of the lactic acid formation or more of the acetic acid formation.I am sure someone else will give you the in's and out's of it (as I never remember which does what ;) ) |
Can an underactive starter cause a dough to overferment before rising?
Hello everyone, I have been bulk fermenting doughs in the fridge lately and thankfully have been able to shape them much better. But fridge fermentation doesn't allow the dough to rise at all for me, so I haven't been developing an eye for properly ... | Phunkey, do you have any
Phunkey, do you have any images? Also, tell us everything you can about the bake. The formula and instructions. You mentioned long autolyse, but I have no idea how long. I have a guess, but without more info, I could be way off.The more info we get, the better able we are to help.Danny |
Why do SD Baguettes stale quickly?
Why do SD Baguettes stale quickly?My other SD breads last 5 days or so without staling, but baguettes made with SD stale in 2, at most 3 days.Dan | Whatever the reason
it's why I never make more than can be eaten that day. And also why I rarely do it. |
pre-mix, 2 hours autolyse and a major failure (edited for better understanding)
Dan warned me that things here were a little confusing, so I'll try to make everything clearer.My goal with this experiment was to only verify the differences between a long autolyse (Trevor's pre-mix) and a reasonable and common 2-hour aut... | I added the salt and mixed until incorporated well, then added the levain, incorporated well and then made a bit of slap and fold. The dough was elastic too and got a great texture after slap and fold.I put the two doughs in the same container and left them on the counter, covered with a wet towel.Pre-mix is always t... |
good oven spring but no ear?
hey guys, so i’ve been baking for about 2 years now and i’ve always gotten a good oven spring and ear (see below), but one day, i changed my oven (to a better one actually) and the ear disappeared, for good (see 2nd pic).
EE9AFD3F-5FE8-4DD5-82BB-4942A368D712.jpeg
sad loaf, great ... | Oven issue.
If the only thing that changed was the oven, then it's most likely an oven issue.But just to be clear, I have to ask: Did you move to a new house or apartment? Or did you stay in the same house/apt and just change the oven? When you move to a new home, other things can change, that you might not realize,... |
Blow out during oven rise
Hello, Lately, I have been getting these blowouts in some of my loaves and I am not sure what might be the reason for this. I am breaking my head over this and not sure how to solve the problem. Can someone please help. Thanks in advance. I have attached an image for your reference. | Looks like under-fermentation
Looks like under-fermentation to me. Try letting the final proof go longer. |
My Sourdough Proofing Experiment
Intro: Hello,I am baking sourdough for nearly a year now. My Problem always was, that my breads turn our really flat, although i used the proofing times in the refrigerator from most recipes. But let me become a bit more detailed:Dough: 900g AP flour 100g Wholegrain wheat flour + 200g 3... | Nice experiments!
I am not clear though on your refrigerator times. Did you actually bake one of those loaves 45 minutes after putting them in the fridge? |
Question about grey starter
I've been lurking rather than posting for a while, but I've been mostly consistently baking and having some success, just hadn't had the energy to try and document the process and formulate posts, but my starters have been doing great, really active and healthy. And then I had to go out of t... | I have had grey layer several
I have had grey layer several times, no worries, refresh it a few times and you should be good to go. I definitely would not toss it, it takes a lot more than that to kill a starter. BTW, once you have it refreshed a few cycles, make some extra, then thin it out with some more water an... |
Clammy/rubbery sourdough crumb
First of all, hello! I've been lurking for a few months since starting my new found hobby. I'm a new baker but I've been reading mostly about the techniques and science behind bread as opposed to blindly following recipes (hence my name). Because of that, I've had a lot of good breads com... | I've read the other posts too
I have read through all of the similar posts I could find and a lot of the consensus was around baking for longer at a lower temperature. Since the bread is pretty much inedible as is, I put it back in the oven this morning at 350F (170F) to see if I can dry it out a little. |
Bulk Fermentation Bubbles
I’ve been baking bread for around 2 decades. and during that time have worked very hard to produce the bubbles pictured in the images below. Joze’s 50/50 bake got me back to attempting to solve the “Bubble Mystery”. I don’t remember ever getting large bubbles, either at the surface or in the d... | Suffering
i always thought of these big bubbles in the dough has a negative, not a positive observation. Either from handling that trapped air (not gas) between layers or too long a fermentation or as often with sourdough, it needs a folding to pop these things and get all the bubbles and gluten stretched into a decen... |
what did the kamut host?
I was soaking some kamut berries to mix into bread dough, and my baking schedule got delayed, so I just left them soaking for another 24 hours. Roughly 36 hours after first putting them in water, the container's lid was bulging with gas, they smelled funny, and I could see some small bubbles at... | How does it smell?
How does it smell? |
I baked a second round of no-rise bread
The recipe and the starter I have been using for years are failing me. The last two bakings have produced bread that did not rise at all, in the fridge or in the oven. It could be the starter, I suppose. I let it sit in the fridge too long without feeding it and it developed an i... | Getting a Starter Ready
Between the time that you took your starter out of the refrigerator and you tried to use it for some bread, what did you do? Did you feed the starter? Note any activity? See any bubbles?Whenever I go away (or simply take a break from baking), I put my starter into the refrigerator. When I am... |
Can a starter be active but dead at the same time?
Heeeeeeelp!!! I am losing it here, need professional assistance. I've had my starter for well over a year. About 3-4 months ago I finally nailed it, and started producing beautiful bread at around 78-80% hydration.Fast forward to a week ago. Suddenly the bread stopped ... | Just a random thought...
Any chance there is soap or dishwasher detergent residue on anything that touches your bread dough? That starter looks pretty awesome, so it sounds like something that happens between the starter and the dough.A think to try is to make a loaf of bread with dry yeast, using exactly the same hydr... |
Sourdough Starter Blackening
I have been baking with sourdough starters for a few years but don't bake more than 1x per week. My starter normally has a grey liquid on top that I pour off and then feed the starter. Today I pulled my starter out of the fridge and it had a substantial layer of black on top. From other top... | A photo will be helpful
Is the starter itself going off colour or are there black things growing on the starter? |
Dough Spreading Out After Proofing
I'm very much a beginner with bread and have been having some struggles with my sourdoughs. I'm using 75% hydration with strong bread flour and a very active starter. After the autolyse of 30 mins, I do 4 stretch and folds, then a bulk ferment until it doubles in size, then shape and ... | When shaping, I would shape
When shaping, I would shape and reshape until the dough starts to resist a bit. I've found this increases the ability of the loaf to retain its shape when working with the wetter doughs. |
What contributes to ovenspring, extensibility or elasticity (tension)?
I am currently reading 'Open crumb mastery' by Trevor J Wilson (highly recommend). In the book, under the chapters about tension, he talks about how tension and dough strength (elasticity) helps to improve oven spring. One of the points he makes is ... | The right combination of both
Not to mention a hot stone in the oven with the proper amount of steam. They are quite a few contradictions in Trevor’s (book)PDF in my reading of it. He gets close to a definitive conclusion and then walks it back. It’s all good info but with a lot of the caveats and variables and that in... |
Has anyone used Yogurt Whey in their breads?
I kept reading Danni’s post about how she used yogurt in her breads. So, me being me, I decided to start making my own yogurt. WOW! Is it good... But now I have a lot of whey and I’m wondering if it would be a good substitute for water in the breads.Anyone with experience wi... | I have used it lots of times
I never found there to be any difference in fermentation times etc . The dough develops so nicely and the crumb will be tender. It is a pleasure to work with. I have also used my kefir cheese whey...taking thickened kefir and draining it to make cheese. Be aware that if you are doing sour d... |
Dough hydration has a way of increasing
Today I am baking an 85% hydrated SD. I choose Maurizio’s “My Best Sourdough” . Strictly by chance I learned something today.Since this bake has a relatively small amount of whole wheat the dough is extremely wet. I decided to hold out 25 grams and of water. I chickened out :) ... | That is
an excellent observation that I never took into account, thank you! |
Red tint at top of jar of my sour dough starter
I made my first sour dough starter in March with whole wheat flour and it has been working wonderfully. Made lots of sour dough loaves. I keep the starter in the fridge with a paper towel on the top, held by a rubberband so it can get some oxygen. Im very clean about ha... | Lisa, why not take some of
Lisa, why not take some of your starter and make a new one from it. But this time leave the sugar out of the mix. The great majority of SD starters consist of flour and water only.Also, it is not necessary to leave the top of your starter container open (paper towel). You can leave the cap sl... |
Watch The Dough!!!
First off I want to thank everyone in this forum. I am new at baking sourdough bread. I find it much more difficult than baking a conventional loaf but in a weird way when I stumble I read more posts and take away something each day. You have all been great answering my basic questions and sharing yo... | Nice looking loaf - and yes -
Nice looking loaf - and yes - sourdough requires lots of practice. |
Does long fermentation reduce carbs by breaking down starches?
Does long fermentation reduce carbs by breaking down starches?It seems crazy as I post this. But since I have been baking sourdough using an extended ferment (total fermentation of 18 hr @ 77F), I am not gaining weight. I’m eating at least 5 thin slices a d... | Carbs
The first step in the breakdown of starch is to form glucose, a carbohydrate. This does not help you. Then the glucose ism transformed to carbon dioxide and alcohol. But there is plenty of starch left otherwise there would be no bread! So the answer is really that long fermentation does not significantly reduc... |
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