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San Fran sourdough how to get shiny, orange, blistered crust.
Could anyone offer me some pointers on how I might get the crust on my San Francisco sourdough to be more shiny, orange and blistered?I use Peter Reinhart's recipe from Artisan Breads Everyday and I get a really nice loaf. It just doesn't look like what I ex... | I assume you are referring to
I assume you are referring to the same kind of orange shine exterior that the Tartine Country loaf boasts on the front cover of Chad Robertson's book for example. I was able to achieve similar results by incorporating A LOT of steam. They are able to achieve this easier in professional o... |
In search of perfection
So recently I've been baking the same recipe over and over again - 5g starter into 73g rye/73g water, letting the levain peak (or sit for 12 hours or so, depending on my schedule), meanwhile autolysing 313g BF/48g WW in 300ml (or so) water (for about a 77% hydration) an hour or so before peak, a... | Hello,Personally, what I
Hello,Personally, what I would do is lower your hydration. I am getting crumb like yours with 70% hydration, but much better ovenspring and that ball shape rather than a flat shape. Also, I would S+F more than just 3x in the first few hours, maybe once an hour for the entire bulk. You are us... |
Newbie here - so all starters are different??
Reading about Camaldoli, Ischia, King Arther and San Fransisco starters. I made mine with Stop and Shop flour and tap water (filtered and boiled to reduce chlorine), what should I call mine - "Cheapo" ? ?So I get that where you start the process would pick up microbes in t... | It is my belief that your
It is my belief that your water and flour will change the characteristics of the starter. Also most if not all of the microbes are derived from the flour and not the air. Hopefully others will either confirm this or share their knowledge.If you want your starter to favor yeast over the LAB (th... |
Why is my yeast water sour?
I have started goji berry yeast water using dried goji berries. They're sweet but i cant get around my head why my GBYW is sour?! It smells vinegary n alcohol-y n not rotten smelling...so whats wrong? | Sour Water
I don't know much about "yeast water" (I maintain a sourdough starter/culture) but I would guess that if your yeast water smells vinegary then there were some lactic acid bacteria (LAB) introduced into your culture. It's a good thing, the LAB makes the liquid acidic which prevent undesirable bacteria and hel... |
Community Bake - Pt1 Yeast Water - Hamelman's Swiss Farmhouse - Part 1
This Community Bake (CB) will feature Jeffrey Hamelman's Swiss Farmhouse bread. It is a full flavored bread with no sour flavor. The dough is leavened with a Raisin Yeast Water (RYW). And raisins and walnuts are used to enhance the flavor of the bre... | How to make Yeast Water
Today, I plan to start a new Raisin Yeast Water (RYW). I have a healthy RYW in the refrigerator, but wanted to photograph and document my experience with the process. I followed Jeffrey’s instruction to the letter. Information to be posted as it becomes available.I covered the container with a p... |
Stiff starter = Stronger dough?
I have read quite often lately that a stiff starter makes the dough stronger. If this is so, how does that work?I understand that dry starters rise stronger (as a starter or Levain) because of the gluten. I also get the fact that dry starters makes the food last longer because of the mic... | According to the dough theory
According to the dough theory I know, acid load contributes to dough strength, in the sense that it makes the gluten strands tighten. Lately, I've been keeping my 100% hydration starter really 'clean', meaning I feed it as soon as it peaks, meaning that it has risen 3X its volume, and can... |
How to make my starter stronger
I've been maintaining my starter for a few months now. My schedule is:Take it out, feed it with 1:4.5:4.5 ratioLet it peak over night, make bread dough from some of it.Feed the rest (of the peaked starter) with 1:1:1Let it sit outside for 1 hourPut in the fridge.I feed it with 80% whole ... | Why do you only let it double?
Why not let it peak?It might not be the answer but it's a start."I use 1:4.5:4.5 for the initial feed overnight and 1:1:1 for the feed I put strait into the fridge for a week"This used to be similar to my schedule. I found that my starter began to display signs that it was struggling. If ... |
Open Crumb Fraudery
Hello All,Trevor J Wilson has a book out called "Open Crumb Mastery" which, like his videos, purport to teach you how to get a nice open crumb from various kinds of dough. Personally, I call bullshit. Has anyone here ever made a nice open crumb with a dough less than 75% hydration? And I don't me... | Why so harsh?
Constructive criticism is useful. Blasting someone is not. WRT the open crumb: if Person A says "This is how I achieve the open crumb in the breads I make" and backs it up with photographic evidence, why should Person B call it bullshit because they didn't get the same results?What I have learned about b... |
Extreme Open Crumb Frustration
Hello everyone,Lately I've been reading through the book "Open Crumb Mastery", and its been really educational. I learned a lot about what theoretically happens in bread during all the steps in the baking process. I thought I could really use this info to manipulate my dough into creati... | While the crumb in your photo
While the crumb in your photo isn't particularly open, it still looks pretty good. To not be interested in the bread because it doesn't have a more open crumb is, IMO, a misplaced priority. Most people view good bread as mainly about flavor, and I'm sure this loaf of bread tastes much bett... |
Spring drops out of dough
Hi all,I've been trying to make sourdough for some time but overall I'm really not having much luck. However, today's just taken the cake (no pun intended). Please can someone give me some insight on what went wrong?I made up my dough using starter that had split but smelled quite fruity. Not ... | Zombie, if possible, pictures
Zombie, if possible, pictures would be a great help. Also, please provide the recipe. We are going to need more information in order to help you.Sourdough baking can be a challenge. Give us as much information as you can, we’re here to help.We also need information about your starter. How ... |
Too late for the Solstice Challenge
but with a big thanks to Shiao Ping for her awesome spin on Chad Robertson's Chocolate Sourdough and to Abe (Lechem) for noodling through my starter calculations.This smelled fabulous during mixing and baking, can't wait to slice into one of these tomorrow.These are nowhere as beauti... | They sure look nice on the outside
SP was one of the great Fresh Lofian bakers of all time for sure. These could match her's pretty closely! Very nice indeed and happy baking |
Acetone smell of dough after bulk fermentation
Hi,I may have been a little too eager to try my new starter (which I have been pretty inconsistent with to be honest... And has been smelling mildly like acetone).But I thought I'd give it a shot anyway in a loaf...So now I have a dough that seems to be doing all the right... | If I'm not mistaken, the
If I'm not mistaken, the acetone smell is indicative of a starter that is too old. A starter that is way past its prime that is starting to produce the acetone smell may leaven a bread, but it won't leaven it well. No toxic effects, at least not any macroeffects, but the bread probably won't ... |
Supercharging Starter
Hello,Recently, I've been paying a lot more attention to my starter health, as nice, fresh starter is making much more airy breads for me. Yet, I can't help thinking my starter could be even MORE active. Anyone know how to really supercharge the yeast? At the moment, my guys double or 2.5X them... | Try feeding
1:10:10 and start off small with 5g, 50 g each water and flour. Let ferment around 26°C until peaked and leveled out, just before it starts to fall.Stir down, remove 5 g to repeat in a clean jar. That ought to do it. Then return to your regular routine.if you want to repeat a third time, let the bacteri... |
Adding nuts, dried fruit, cheese, etc. to Tartine
I have been making Tartine style bread for a while now with fairly good results. I have added seeds and would like to start experimenting with various additions and combinations. Does anyone have any rule of thumb for calculating amounts? I realize some of that is depen... | Lets see a pic of that
Lets see a pic of that beautiful Tartine, Ronfrank. |
Sourdough Not Releasing From Bowl
When I bulk ferment my dough, it is usually really sticky and wet. I tried the recipe in this link a few times now (without the cranberries) because it uses a lesser hydration than I usually use. Anyway, the recipe bakes up well, but if you watch this guy's vid, you can see how cleanly... | Do you lightly oil the bowl
Do you lightly oil the bowl before you put the dough in? |
Starter Woes
Suspect have a starter issue, but not real sure. Starter is keep in fridge & fed daily from throw away if in bread making process. Otherwise, will feed/refresh fridge starter 1x/wk. Over last couple of months the starter has become very thick & doughy. Starter is made with 80% bread & 20% rye flours.In pre... | In another container
place 10 grams of your old starter, 30 grams of water and 40 grams of your flour mix. Stir well, cover loosely and leave on the counter for 24 hours. Report back with results. |
DIFFERENT TYPES OF STARTERS -Interesting Experiments
Other than making bread I love to play around with my starters and see how different conditions effect its performance. I have found out something quite interesting about my starters...I have raised two completely different starters that are different enough that you... | Yes. It sounds like the one
Yes. It sounds like the one that you made with pure rye has a higher bacterial load, because rye is a much 'dirtier' flour as far as that goes. Even when you feed it white or whatever, that heavy bacterial culture has stabilized and remains. As such, your dough is always more sluggish, t... |
Tartine, attempt 2
My second attempt at Trevor J's tartine method/recipe. Better than the first time, admittedly. Not nearly as gummy. I'll chalk that up to better starter and maybe Dan Ayo's refrigeration technique. Think this one overproofed a little though. I let it sit out 2 hours 20 min, thinking the refriger... | Looks awesomely good to me!
And of course, the trying is good fun. And good food, too! :) |
Ten Outstanding Questions. Class is in session!
Thanks if you can add some insight:1. Should I pinch larger bubbles that are forming on the crust at the end of the pre-round or shape?2. Is there a consensus, if a medium-open crumb in a whole wheat loaf is desired, is it better to retard the proof or proof fast in a war... | I'll take on 3 and both 4 's since my apprentice Lucy invented
them. The overriding factor in the development of the NMNF was that I am lazy and wanted a starter that worked well every time, required no maintenance, was cheap - had no discards and I could keep it in the fridge forever if possible and get it off the co... |
Tip - could your bread use a little Vitamin C
It’s worth a try!I have baked the bread pictured above 30 or more nearly consecutive times and am intimately familiar with the characteristics of this dough. In an ongoing attempt to extend the length of fermentation @ warm temps I came upon acsorbic acid. I learned that it... | Mmmm interesting. I have a
Mmmm interesting. I have a container of vit c that I've never opened. Worth a try was this yeasted or sourdough? And does it make any difference. |
Milk sourdough bread question
Hi,
I am going to be baking my first sourdough with milk with this recipe:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/23061/extremely-sourdough-soft-sandwich-bread-most-shreddble-soft-velvety-ever
While the levain builds up, I have a few questions.
Do you warm, heat or scalding the milk before mixi... | Scalding milk
SCALDING MILK Whether to scald milk or not for yeast breads has been a controversial subject. For years, I have not bothered to scald pasteurized milk. I am now convinced that some of my less than perfect breads may well have been due to the excessive amount of something in the milk that prevents the glu... |
Refreshed starter
Hi! I took out my 1 month old starter (havent got the time to try baking with it yet) out of the fridge a couple of days ago. Took a portion of it out and have been feeding it 1:1:1 to refresh for baking. It has been 2 days of feeding, with a 12 hour interval and i haven’t noticed any increase in heig... | Not yet
Use the "float test" -- keep feeding and refreshing your starter til it floats in water. I mean, I think you probably *could* bake with it now, but it might take a really long time to rise or not rise completely. But you can always try! |
Country French Attempt 2
Much better than last time. I read the first half of "Open Crumb Mastery" and realized that I wasn't maintaining my starter properly. After a few feedings, I made this loaf. Same method as before, which is the method seen in the video for 'Champlain Sourdough' by Trevor J on YouTube. This l... | that is a very nice loaf!
Trevor has years of experience so it may take a while to get that crumb, but keep trying, reading and watching videos and you will get there. happy bakingLeslie |
Some slap and folds and a save
Being the neat and tidy freak that I am my preferred gluten development technique is stretch and folds in the bowl. This week Carole and I are doing Ian's Broa di Milho. His delicious take on this traditional Portuguese Corn Bread. One of my favourite recipes.Everything went swimmingly we... | Looks good despite your
Looks good despite your travails and like you slap and fold is not my thing - too much rhythm involved - on your Bread, I love corn bread so must try it... |
My 1st SJSB
They said 36 hours but I reckon it was a lot more. I nearly throw the dough away when I tried pre-shape, it was so wet and I though I just couldn't handle it and I nearly cry. Take a look....Goodness me, I didn't give up and look what came out from the oven.....and I believe I am blessed. AmenJon | Well the jury is in... You
Well the jury is in... You are a natural!You baked 3 very different loaves in as many days. Each and every one turned out extremely well. For a self proclaimed novice, you could call them stellar, outstanding.The photo of the bread in that beautiful bowl against the black background would loo... |
Finally a grin I can be happy about
After almost a year away from sourdough baking, I am starting up again. I have been trying to get a good oven spring. Looking at notes from last year, I might have been slightly overproofing. I built a new starter that was bubbling up to twice its height reliably. The recipe I would ... | Great oven spring. I had a
Great oven spring. I had a problem with overproofing, and still do quite regularly, but you nailed it |
Apple Yeast Water Not Working?
With two failed attempts to get a yeast water going with organic raisins (must have some preservatives not listed), I finally got one working with fresh organic green apples. I got this apple yeast water ready after about 7 days of incubation at around 85 F. It was bubbling and foaming so... | Looks to me like it has doubled
I saw faster and stronger growth with the second build with my RYW and yours may have grown more upward if it was in a smaller jar. I would say do the second build before writing it off. |
New loaf. Working with feedback, keep it coming.
I've finished Tartine and Bread Revolution and 1/2 way through The Bread Builders--it is by far my favourite. I keep tweaking my loaves based on TFL feedback and the literature I'm getting through. This loaf I did a 20 hour retard b/c it got sunny and had to go outside. ... | You must be doing something very right
That looks great!Enjoy it. |
Changing the ratio when feeding my starter
Hi! I currently have a starter that I've been feeding for about 14 days (this is as far as I've ever gotten). The recipe that I followed is 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 white all purpose flour. Feedings call for 2 oz starter, 2.5 oz flour and 2 oz water every 24 hrs. It's fairl... | Crust on Starter
Dear Maryml,I feed my starter once a week and the same condition occurs all the time. My starters are 8 years old and work quite well. I use a pyrex 1 qt with the plastic cover. When I feed I scrape the top off and usually feed 1/1 100 grams of whatever the strarter is. I grind my own except white... |
Percent Levain vs. Percent Pre-Fermented Flour
I've done a fair bit of searching here and on other websites, and have come to the conclusion that there is little consistency in the interpretations of "% Starter". Seems some consider the % starter to include the water in the starter, and others consider % starter just t... | I think of it as
Flour and water as that is what starter is. It's more common to think of starter percentages this way too. It can also be thought of as pre fermented flour but the starter % will stay the same and the pre fermented flour will be less if re written to show this percentage. More starter does not necessa... |
Color got erased!
I put 3% of dragon fruit powder into the dough mix with starter and to my surprise the entire color was GONE after the bake. | Too bad the color didn’t
Too bad the color didn’t remain! But WOW, that is some beautiful bread. An absolute masterpiece, IMO. I like everything about it.Dan |
My first 123 Sourdough Bread
Hi, ALLFresh from the oven, but did I OVERBAKE it??? Thanks Dan for the recipe and advise. Hopefully, the crumb will disappoint. Jon | Jon, nice loaf. People have
Jon, nice loaf. People have different tastes, and also preferences for what they want their bread to look for. Many of us feel you get a much better flavor with the deep browns that show on your loaf. My wife may say it is burned, but I think it looks great, and will taste much better th... |
Extremely small percent starter, no autolyse, and long ferment?
Have any of you experimented with a very small inoculation percentage of starter/levain? I'm curious if I can create as good of a loaf with 1-2% levain as I can with my normal 10-20%. I expect that the required long fermentation time will degrade the glute... | Look up
The 'Do Nothing Bread' by Yohan Ferrant of which Teresa Greenway's San Francisco sourdough is based on. I always get a delicious loaf good oven spring. Suggest you start off simple before adapting but here is an example. |
What is the affect of a starter on the gluten and dough strength?
What is the affect of a starter on the gluten and dough strength?I have read that sourdough starter has a strengthening affect on gluten and dough strength. But my experience seems to indicate the opposite. It’s been quite a while since I baked with yeas... | I find I don't get much
I find I don't get much strength in my dough when my starter is past it's peak. Yesterday's levan was 67 hydration but i think the gluten had already began to break down and it was looking a bit soupy when I added it to my dough. The result was weak structure and pancake when I put it into the... |
My First Sourdough Loaf
Hi, AllI finally baked my first sourdough bread, after probably the 10 tries. Would like to thank Dan Ayo, who had spend time with me on FaceTime sharing valuable information and his personal knowledge with me. I am most grateful Dan. And he want to see the crumb..........it not fantastic, bu... | Disagree - crumb looks fantastic!
Bravo! If crust is crispy and crumb soft and chewy and the hole structure looks so lovely, what is lacking in your opinion? |
Sourdough starter won't start
Hello everyone,I decided to try my hand at homemade sourdough as it is considered low FODMAP, which would help my love of homemade bread baking and digestive issues coexist in peace. Sadly, however, I have already failed two times so far at creating my own starter. I tried to follow two di... | Very normal
I'm afraid you've thrown away two starters that were going through a normal quiet period. Problem with many recipes is that they don't tell you this. Most recipes assume that conditions are going to be just perfect and that your starter will go from strength to strength but in reality a lot of us experience... |
Storing sourdough starter
i have recently started making my own starter using a 1:1 ratio. I live in a tropical area where it's 86-92 F with 81% humidity. i read that i can put my starter on hold by putting it in the refrigerator and feeding it once a week by taking it out 1-2 hours before feeding, feed the starter, th... | i regularly follow that
i regularly follow that practice of storing in fridge, feeding, and returning to fridge. if i notice it's lacking some gusto, i will use a day or two to feed it outside of the fridge. it's not uncommon after a week in the fridge for my starter to look quite sad, and without bubbles.generally i t... |
Rebalancing Lievito Madre
Over the past year or so, I've been having issues mixing panettone dough . After a lot of research and talking to a few different people. I've concluded that my LM is not healthy. If I am reading the signs correctly, it's too weak.After feeding and leaving at 30C for 3-4 hours, the LM double... | Try changing the flour
Have you tried refreshing with a lower protein flour? The combination of Lancelot with 45% hydration may be what's stifling the bacterial component. It's a similar effect as Benny's sweet stiff levain, where the water content is already low, and then there is something -- in this case the very ab... |
pasta madre - overnight
Hi All, Any ideas on how to keep pasta madre at 16C during the summer? The fridge would be too cool, and no good spots in house that are that cool ?Has anyone successfully used a wine fridge? Any other ideas? | Any small fridge coupled with
Any small fridge coupled with a controller can maintain low temperatures like that. I don't want another fridge though.A cooler with large quantity of cool water should maintain 16C in a 25C environment for quite a while. I think those "blue ice" blocks + fan + controller could hold 16C qu... |
Bread builders pain au levain
Just been trying out new sourdough process. Generally I have liquid mother in fridge. When I make Bread I use a few grams do a 1:3:3 build let rise, remove half and do that 3 Times before making final started for levain. This time I tried doing Bread builders 3 stage pain au levain as seen... | Interesting Procedure
This is interesting. My guess is that the procedure results in a combination of the effects of autolyse and stretch-and-fold. The presence of salt early on might control some of the fermentation pace, and the need to work the stiff dough with each new addition of flour likely distributes the yea... |
Problem Sourdough starter
Hi yall I'm completely new to baking entirely, I baked my 1st baguettes tonight & they were acceptable, in fact quite goodI've got a sourdough starter in the works that just won't startI used Peter Reinharts recipe from artisan breads every day page 36-41, my ingredients are 3.5 TBS of KA blue... | My advice: don't add any more
My advice: don't add any more flour.Give it another half week, stirring once per day.Do you see any surface bubbles? |
Hamelman's whole wheat Pain au Levain
I enjoy this loaf for its tasty flavours and bake it quite often. However, I have a query or two about the crumb, so I will appreciate advices. Except for adding 1.8% diastatic malt, 0.9% VWG and downscaling to one 750g loaf, I follow the recipe as best I can. The crumb size how... | Joe, I have no knowledge to
Joe, I have no knowledge to add, but I wanted to post a reply in order to be notified of future post.I am interested to learn.DanEven though the holes are not evenly dispersed, your bread looks great to me. But let me venture a guess. You are an obsessive perfectionist :-) . That’s not me, b... |
Question about a recipe
I’ve been baking yeast breads for years, but I’m still new to sourdough. I found a recipe on the site that calls for “chef” as one of the ingredients. Is this just another name for a starter? Thanks! | Many names for sourdough
Yes, spot on. It will be called 'chef', 'mother', starter, culture, and probably other things that I can't remember or don't know about. Essentially it is the mature sourdough culture that you keep and use as a base for building levains and dough. Hope we get to see some of your sourdough adven... |
Feedback and rate it. 75% ww. 82% hydr.
Mainly changed hydration and proof time from last loaf. Slightly lower bake temp too.82% hydr.500g total flour. 75% ww. 1.8% salt.Anita's sprouted organic ww.Bread flour.100% hydrated sds at 8.5% fermented flour weight (17% hydrated weight).50m AL with sds. Then ST&Fs for 5m add ... | It is a spreader for sure
My 50% whole grain home milled bread today was 78% hydration with the other 50% of the flour LaFama AP. If I would have used bread flour I would have been at 80% Cut the hydration to 75% and see how it goes next time. That should solve things for youPS I miss read this I though it said 7.5%... |
This one was saved from the fridge...thoughts on retarding temps...
I thought this might we useful for people who like me suffer from a 'too warm' fridge and by accident overproof their loaves in the fridge or think about experimenting at proofing their loaves at warmer temperatures when retarding...This loaf was saved... | That's beautiful!
You must be quite happy with that. Crumb looks amazing. I know I saw a video of Trevor's coiling technique, but am having a senior moment and can't remember where (actually, it might have been one of your posts). Could you point me back in the right direction?Enjoy!Carole |
Starter causing trouble at home - funny:)
I have a new starter, super vigorous, feed it carefully etc. When I come home from work, it's almost the first thing I check - is it risen, how does it look etc. My 9 year old son tells me that I care about the starter more than I care about him:) This morning, he's making comm... | I see only one way around this
If you make him bread from the starter then he'll realise it's him you actually care about. |
Another 100% Spelt Sourdough Trial (Almost 100% Hydration)
Hey guys, just made this awesome spelt sourdough bread that actually looks more like a loaf than most of the others I've tried. Most of the time I do a dough with 60% hydration, but I read that whole grains don't really open up as much as white flour does unles... | Looks great on the inside,
Looks great on the inside, outside not that bad either. I too like to work with spelt, thanks for sharing. Could perhaps make for decent pizza crust if you sliced it lengthwise. After all pizza is one of the best ways to enjoy any grains. If there was a way to help shape it into a more sphe... |
75% Whole wheat. Rate my loaf and feedback.
Loaf:79% hydration. 75% organic sprouted Anita's ww. 25% bread flour. 1.8% salt. Starter 9% by fermented flour baker's %. Or 18% by flour + water weight (100% hydr).2hr AL. 3hr bulk w/ ST&F every 1/2 hour. 1/2 hour bench rest. Formed into tight boule. 3hr 15m proof.20m 500o. ... | Blue, are you aware that it
Blue, are you aware that it is possible to insert images into the post? It makes it easier to view. As far as the dropped loaf. <Bummer> Turn out the proofed loaf onto a piece of parchment paper. Then lift the dough by the parchment and place into the pot.Dan |
Shaping times
Could some kind experienced baker please tell this inexperienced baker approximately how long they spend on each of the pre-shaing and shaping stages? | I am not a professional, but
I am not a professional, but watch videos 3 and 4 and you will see how little time experienced bakers spend on preshaping and shaping. https://www.kingarthurflour.com/videos/techniques-for-the-professional-baker-3-dividing-shaping |
Sourdough newbie, help!
https://imgur.com/a/Yjtwio4This is my 4th loaf or so, and my best one yet, even though it's still pretty flat. The intact crumb doesn't look that bad fermentation wise, apart from the gaps at the top which I've had previously from underproofing? I'm just trying to identify which one is my issue,... | Check your image
I get Imgur page not found. |
How can I feed a Reinhart Sourdough Starter? (NOT Mother Starter)
Hi,It's been about a week since the deadline to use the sourdough starter I made from Reinhart's Pain au Levain recipe. Rather than throwing it out and remaking it with some mother starter, can I just feed this one? If so, how should I do it?Thanks,Baste... | How much have you made
How much do you need? And what is the typical build as described by Peter Reinhart?Any starter can be used as a mother starter if it's used to inoculate another batch. So whether it's a mother starter or not is no issue. Did you make this starter, allow it to mature then refrigerate it? |
Newbie sourdough baker in need of tips
I'm pretty new to baking sourdough and have been able to bake some delicious loaves but I haven't quite figured out how to get a nice tight dough that doesn't spread like a pancake and good oven spring. I've been using a rye starter to bake all of my loaves and have tried differen... | Please reply with the recipe
Please reply with the recipe that you typically use. If you can, let us know the approximate temperature of the room your dough ferments in.Give us as much information that you can. These details will be very helpful.DanTell us about your starter. If it doubles in 2 hours and you feed it on... |
Convert Starter Hydration
Quick Question –I had to starters going. One at 100% hydration and One at 80%. Unfortunately, I accidentally ruined the 100% hydration starter. For the original 100% hydration starter was using 50g of starter and feeding it 100g flour and 100g of water.If I wanted to take 50g of my 80% hydrati... | Here's how I'd go about it
If you have an 80% hydration starter then take 18g to convert. This way you know you're starting off with 8g water and 10g flour. Now feed it with 2g more water than flour however big the feed is. Then again if you just take a tsp of starter and begin a feeding schedule of equal amounts of wa... |
Rate my loaves and criticism.
Questions:1. Does salt ratio in a sourdough bread recipe vary as whole wheat flour to bread flour ratio varies? 2. Is there a point of diminishing returns with regard to whole wheat and hydration for an open crumb? Will the dough collapse under its own weight?If you have time, please rate ... | My rating
My rating:Loaf 1: PerfectLoaf 2: PerfectLoaf 3: PerfectDiminishing return for open crumb with high percentage whole wheat? Certainly. But here's a good resource for that from Trevor Wilson, a TFLer of some repute (http://www.breadwerx.com/make-50-whole-wheat-sourdough-video/). He also has instruction on... |
Spelt Sourdough Bread Problems
hey guys, i just started a new spelt sourdough starter 2 weeks ago and started using it recently. I ran out of spelt few days ago and had to feed it einkorn flour instead since it's what I had on hand at the time. I'm feeding it spelt flour again, but I was curious if that might affect th... | A starter can be fed any flour
Won't be a problem at all. Some people say they experience a change of behaviour in their starter if fed different flour or at a different hydration. But commonly, and in my own experience, it'll remain healthy and respond well. If your starter is rising on cue as expected then fine.As fo... |
Getting some good Ear
Hey bread buddies,I've been baking for a good 2 years now, and sourdoughing for one of those. I've come along a lot since then, but one thing really evades me. I can't get that really nice ear on my loaves. Now, I bake high hydration loaves, and whenever I try to make nice cuts, it just doesn't... | It looks like it is a bit over proofed
Put white bread in the oven at 90% proof and whole grain ones at 86% proof. Knowing when to put bread in the oven is the hardest thing to learn about bread baking by far! Leo is great! |
Hamelman's Semolina Bread
Hamelman's recipes are always a pleasure. From his liquid levain builds at 125% hydration making the best smelling preferments (must be the lactic acid as supposed to acetic acid), flour and add-in combos to the smell of the baking loaves it's hard to beat. The oven spring I get is most consis... | Agreed, there really is nothing like
a satisfying bake :) Your loaf looks lovely Abe, you have good reason to be pleased! Looking forward to the crumb shot. Happy Baking Ru |
A question about pre-rounding
I currently have my (75% hydration 15%WW) dough in its second hour of bulk ferment; it's been Rubaud-kneaded and given gentle S&Fs every half an hour, and it's currently nice and billowy. It is fast approaching that point where all hell usually breaks loose in my kitchen - the pre-shape.I ... | Hmmm bench flour
What kind of flour are you using for bench flour? What temp is the granite bench? If warm, perhaps spreading a thin damp towel on the work surface to cool it down might help. What is your relative humidity?Sounds like pretty wet hands, perhaps too much water ...and are you only using finger tips and... |
Sluggish starter
My starter is more than 2 weeks old but it's pretty sluggish and takes a long time to peak. I use a ratio of 1:1:1 with 30% rye and 70% bread flour with filtered water, it takes 10 hours to peak at room temp of 82-86F. Usually it smells really sweet when it starts to collapse. Seems to be really slow i... | Hey buddy,I've had similar
Hey buddy,I've had similar problems in the past. Here's my advice to you: You want your starter to peak at maybe 5 or 6 hours at that ratio. So instead of waiting until it peaks, then feeding it, stir it really good at 5-6 hours, or when you want it to peak. The stir will cause increased ... |
Sourdough too sour
Due to my schedule, I start the bread at 21:00 Thursday, put in the fridge, take it out Friday 6:00, shape at 13:00 and bake at 15:30. The dough rises fine and the bread looks good. The only thing is that it comes out too sour. Are there ways to improve without changing my schedule or using industria... | At what stage are you using
your starter? Using it on the young side (a bit before it peaks) can help keep the dough less sour.As well, doing your fermentation in a warmer spot such as 80-90 F can help too. You would have to change your schedule though. I do my fermentation during the day in a warm spot but do the fina... |
Sourdough starter smell
Hello, I have been feeding my starter for around 2 weeks now. At around the 10 day mark, the starter began smelling like acetone/nail polish remover. I feed it everyday at the same time, and the smell goes away after feeding. The starter gets a lot of rise everyday, but I am afraid to use it. I... | Acetone small means it's
Acetone small means it's hungry, so yes, feed more often and/or with a higher ratio. |
Bread Cavern
I've seen posts about holes on this website. All agree that we like holes not too large, not too small, we want them JUST right. Well, most of the time, my sourdough bread holes are just right. But every third or fourth time, I get the same problem: Bread caverns a speelunker would have a joy exploring.... | Im not an expert but...
It may be over proofed. Was making a 100% whole wheat which was yeasted with commercial yeast and it was doing a similar thing. Realized that it was over yeasted. In your case it seems as if it was potentially over proofed. I have never had this problem with my sourdough. Which is a 100% hydrati... |
Proofing bowl to pot process
New here, and new to baking bread in general and therefore sourdough.When going through the process, the dough always looks perfect when I'm ready to remove from the proofing bowl; bubbles appearing, springy texture etc.... but I always balls taking it out up and the loaf comes out 'flat', ... | Some Degassing is Normal
As someone who only recently started to consistently get great oven spring and decent holes in my crumb, I also had some confusion about how to remove a high-hydration (74%+) dough out of the proofing bowl and obsessing over how much gas it had lost. LONG story short, what I discovered and lea... |
How do I know when my starter ha peaked?
I have a slow starter and read that I need to let it peak and then reduce and feed again until it's peak time is shorter. But how do I know it has peaked? When it doubles? Does it matter what ratio I'm feeding it? Should it double reagrdless of whether the ratio is 1:1:1, 1:2:2... | Since it appears that you maintain your starter at
100% hydration, doubling may or may not correspond with the peak. Look for a lot of bubbles and expansion. If you can track the expansion by marking a piece of tape on the side of the container every hour or so, you'll have a very good idea when it stops moving upwar... |
Did I destroy my starter:(?
House was a bit cold, I turned on my oven and left it on for a few mins, turned it off then put my starter in the oven. I left it there for maybe 45 mins. Starter was over 110 degrees when I took it out, and developed really off flavors (bitterness mostly). Seemed alive. I have fed it twice ... | I don't think so
try a 1T of apple cider vinegar on your next feeding that might help |
New Sourdough Starter?
Hi, everyone!About 12 days ago I started a sourdough starter. It's been quite active for the past several days, more than doubling in size in 3-4 hours. The instructions I'm following say it should be ready to work with at this point, but I read somewhere else that you should wait at least two we... | you can reduce the size
easily. Save a tablespoon of the starter, add a few tablespoons of water and then enough flour to make it your favourite consistency. I would certainly be using the large discard for a loaf immediately or chill to use very soon. No need to make so much starter and it sounds like it can raise ... |
Malted or unmalted flour in levain?
When making the final levain build (white flour), what is the effect of using malted flour vs unmalted? Does the malt favor the yeast or bacteria, or does it just make the whole thing go faster, or no difference? (I am hoping Debra Wink is reading this!)Thanks! | when the mill adds malt to the flour
it is rarely more than 1/10 of 1%. That is how little it takes. If anything the starches will be converted to sugars faster, for the we beasties to eat, since amylase enzymes are the catalysts that do help do this. So you should notice that thing happen a bit faster, the dough an... |
Changed three things for the Danni loaf
I added freshly ground chia seeds to the dough (white bread flour and ww). I proofed the loaf in my new banneton.I bought an oven thermometer and discovered that when my half-broken oven went bing, the temp was NOT 360F. It was 300F. I let the dang thing heat for another hour and... | 20180530 crumb.jpg
20180530 crumb.jpg |
starter for loaf vs pizza
himade a few SD loaves now, happy enough with how theyre coming out for a novice, and also thought id utilise the starter for making my own pizza, rather than yeast.again, happy-ish, got a few issues that ive asked about on the pizza forum, but as this is a question about using the starter spe... | Timing is always a factor. As
Timing is always a factor. As with a loaf, you need to determine what you are trying to achieve. I tend to use starter that is past it's peak for pizza. I also use more starter and give it less time. This gives a great taste without creating a huge rise in the dough. |
How to create levain that will ripe after 13 hours
I want to prepare the levain when I wake up and start making the bread after getting back from work. The average temperature is 28 Celsius at home (average, actually more like 30 for 6 hours and then 26 as the air condition is used). What should be the percentage of st... | When you say 300g of levain...
It's going to make a difference if you go down the path of dropping the hydration to slow it down. So assuming you were asking for 300g levain at 100% hydration that would give you 150g water + 150g flour.Now you want to keep the flour within the levain at 150g but drop the amount of wate... |
Starter/levain confusion.
Sorry for these elementary questions but confusion reigns yet again! I use my WW starter to bake weekly and store it in the fridge between bakes. Now, instead of refreshing the seed starter once to make a levain for baking, I would like to try two feedings in an attempt to make the starter sup... | It is completely dependent
It is completely dependent upon how much starter or Levain you want. The reason it is recommended to remove some of the old starter is because if you don’t it will get huge in a short amount of time.DanHey Valerie, you can edit the duplicate post (both subject and body to say something like “... |
Rye vs Wheat Starter - Technique & Schedule Differences
After a few tries to create an active starter, I finally got a 100% whole rye starter to double or a bit more reliably after 12 hours at room temp. I refresh it at 1:10:10 per "The Rye Baker".When I use it with formulas from other sources that specify a more typi... | I find that my Rye starter is
I find that my Rye starter is often more active than a regular wheat starter (not sure about whole wheat starter however). I keep both a 100% rye and a 10% rye 90% bread flour starter. I find the rye provides an extra kick to the white and is super strong on it's own. As for the gentle han... |
Cross Contamination and Your Sourdough Starter
Hey everyone! So yesterday I started a kombucha ferment and stored it next to my sourdough starter for an Instagram photo. Shortly after, one of my friends sent me an article about how storing ferments closer than 3 feet to each other can cause "airborne cross contaminatio... | And what happens if...
...there is cross contamination? You'll just have a more complex sourdough starter or kombucha with more strains of yeast and bacteria.That is the worst scenario. Not so bad.Best scenario is that only yeast/bacteria strains which can exist in a sourdough starter / kombucha can exist in either sta... |
About FWSY Pain de Campagne, beginner question.
Hello, Im abou to make my first starter for making the Pain de Campagne, but I'm confused about the recipe.First, I've decided to not make the full recipe for the starter since I'm not a bakery and I can't bake every week, let alone everyday. I think I'll do a third and k... | FWSY excesses
Welcome to the wild and wasteful world of FWSY. You'll find many similar posts here from bakers perplexed with Ken Forkish's profligate over-prescription of levain volumes. Perhaps it comes from his previous life in Silicon Valley, where too much of everything is just enough.Grow only as much as you nee... |
sometimes i'd rather just "starter" over
so after wrestling with the world's hungriest starter for a while, it started smelling off. i took advice here and started feeding it 1 part starter to 5 parts flour, and it barely made it 12 hours, sometimes not even. it started smelling less off, but never regained its origin... | Oh no! That's a shame
What type of flour are you using to feed your starter?I hope it goes better this time! Ru |
is scoring my only issue here?
hi there! i've been baking sourdough for about a week with my month old starter and i'm quickly becoming obsessed!i baked this loaf today and had some trouble with scoring and this happened - a big balloon with a huge hole in the top! is scoring my only problem here or is something else a... | bred 3.jpg
bred 3.jpg |
Weak starter
Quick question - if my starter peaks (i.e. doubles after a 1:2:2 feeding) within 12 hours at room temperature, should it be expected to raise an entire loaf of bread to double with 10% inoculation within 3 hours? I simply don't understand how, unless everyone's starter doubles within 3-4h, bread dough can ... | levain???
A few things stand out:- if your starter doubles in 12hrs regularly, that suggests it is plenty healthy- you can bias your starter for leavening (yeast over LAB acid production) by, as you say, upping the feeding ratio, and/or decreasing the hydration a bit, shortening the feeding schedule (as in going 2x/day... |
How does a SD starter survive drying / freezing?
We were discussing this question with a friend but our knowledge in microbiology is not so deep :(The "wild" yeast and lactobacilli do not form spores, is that right?So how come that the starter survives drying / freezing for longer storage?Any idea what percentage of th... | I say that
drying works better than freezing and it will last longer if wrapped in plastic and an air tight container, that is stored in a cold dry place - like the freezer!You want to dry & freeze it when the labs and yeast are at their peak so you have as many of hem as possible in the sample - not after it has fall... |
Be gentle with me, a new baker who has thrown himself in at the deep end!
Sooooooo, not to do things by half, and only ever tried making Soda bread, once, with edible results I've decided to dive into the deep end. With concrete boots, and anchor chains for cufflinks.I'm trying my hand at sour dough, from scratch with ... | Looking forward to seeing
how the first loaf turns out. Good luck!! |
Ciabatta
BIG | 26g rye starter @ 100% hydration97g water127g flour (durum/bread flour mix) INGREDIENTS:250g flour (225g durum/bread flour mix, 25g whole wheat flour)202g water7.8g saltAll of Biga This was the final recipe I've adapted for a sourdough "biga" preferment (yes, I know it's not technically a biga but it was adapted from a... |
Bagels using sourdough
I recently made Reinhart’s yeasted bagels. I am planning today to make bagels using sourdough. Hopefully they will taste even better and they won’t go stale as quickly.Reinharts uses 51% for his preferment. He states in the BBA that SD can be used in place of the yeasted poolish, and then goes on... | Here is your chance to use a SD/YW combo starter
to make the best bagels around using sprouted grain for half the flourYW SD Sprouted Multi-grain Bagels – 50 Percent Whole GrainStan Ginsberg has a great SD bagel recipe that I use all the time. He listed it as a comment where I stole it and modified it for a YW ?SD com... |
sourdough loaf, approximation.
Hello, friends.I want to make an approximation of a sourdough loaf using a tiny amount of IDY to kick start the process. How much IDY do you think I should use in a 300gram total weight 100% hydration poolish? The poolish will sit at room temperature for 24 hours. At that point, I will fe... | For 24 hours at room temperatre 72F then 2
pinches of IDY will do just fine - one if you live in a warm climate like me where the kitchen s 78- 80 F. Love the Pizza |
Help
So I did decrease my starter hoping it would fit in the current container and I fed it this am, its only been 2 hours and has already doubled!! Can I safely move it to a larger container? Thx | Sure
Sure, you can use a larger jar. Or you can discard the excess of starter, so that you have just enough starter to fill your current container.Basically you need a 4cup container if you feed 1/2cup of starter with 1cup of water and 1cup of flour as in the recipe that you ate using. Each time you feed it, take 1/2cu... |
Issues with 2 month old Starter
My starter is about 2 months old.I normally keep my starter at 100% hydration, ambient room temperature is approximately 24 deg Celsius.at this temp it takes approximately 12-14 hours to double in size.If I temporarily increase the starter to 40 deg Celsius it only take 3-4 hours to doub... | that's a hot starter...
i'm new to this, but have had starters for a few months and have read like every board post and tutorial on starters, and i've never heard of anyone keeping their starter that warm. 22 to 27 would be more normal from most of what i read. from cultures for health: "Remember: Sourdough starter p... |
storing dried starter - how do you do it?
when you dry some starter, what do you put it in and do you keep it at room temperature, refrigerate or freeze it?and btw, have you found any downsides to storing dried starter? | Hi pcake
I wrapped up my dried starter is piece of plastic wrap and then put it in an air tight container. I left it in the back of my kitchen cupboard for about a year and half before I rehydrated it. I think as long as you make sure its completely dry before you store it, room temp in an air tight container should be... |
20% khorasan as a "Do Nothing Bread"
Ingredients:A lovely recipe from Breadtopia https://breadtopia.com/kamut-sourdough-bread/ Inspiration from Sharon, Teresa Greenway and Yohan FerrantA tweak here and there from meGood Oven Spring. Free standing loaf with a steam tray. Mini Oven. Making the best of the situation and o... | Bravo! That's really pretty!
I dunno, coupla-three days?Do you mean to say you've been doing all your pretty breads in a mini oven? Gosh! |
problem with my starter
Hello! I posted here in TFL in other discussion but nobody answered me, probably not as visible as I imagine.." Hello everybody This is my first post here at TFL, I found very interesting your thread about "pineapple solution" on new sourdough starters but my problem is a bit different..Recently... | Rotten smell?
Sounds like it's been infected with bad bacteria. A starter grows out of its leuconostoc stage once mature. If it goes bad after that it sounds like the bad bacteria has been introduced.A young starter should smell sweet and a more mature starter should smell yeasty - never like rotten eggs.If your starte... |
Sourdough starter from milled 'waste' flour?
Totally new to sourdough baking. I'm working on my starter and so I went to a local miller who stone mills the best einkorn and red fife organic flours. He gave me a huge bag of flour that he gathers from the bottom of the mill (looks like heavy in bran/germ and much less wh... | I would suggest that you continue
what you have going but feed it with flour until you know it is established. Then you can go ahead and use the bran to feed it. I often do that but be aware that you need to go by the smell rather than the look of things as the bran levain just sort of sits there... you might see some ... |
How to bake at 14:00 when my morning is busy?
I'd like to hear suggestions about baking sourdough at 14:00 when my morning is busy. Is it ok to have first proof and then put in the fridge for 14 hours? Any ratios of starter or water to consider? | Certainly
But I'd keep the starter percentage low. You wouldn't first proof then refrigerate as it'll continue to proof albeit more slowly. You can shape the dough, perhaps give it 'some' bench time depending on how well your dough proofs in the fridge which is a bit of trial and error, and allow it to proof in the fr... |
When to Use Starter in Cycle
I'm completely new to sourdough. I have a rye based starter which is 2 and a half weeks old now. It is clearly very active and more than doubles in size post feed. But I am wondering when is the right time in its cycle to use it for baking. When I feed it at 10pm and go to bed at 2am it has... | There is an optimal time
and that is when the starter has peaked. There will be a range for a starter from young to mature. But both will be used when the starter has reached an optimal strength after feeding When young it'll produce a sweeter flavour. The more mature it gets tangier it'll become. I'm not talking about... |
Loaves are wet after overnight proof.
Good morning. My sourdough loaves are wet on the couches after overnight proofing. Oven spring is minimal too and the loaves tend to flatten during baking. Is this a consequence of over or under proofing? WW is always wetter despite WW absorbing more water. SD recipe is:300g Farmer... | Could be mild underproofing
Could be mild underproofing but it's unlikely to be the main problem. Degree of proof is an important factor but it's a little overhyped around here IMO.To me, what you describe (sticky, no oven spring) indicates poor gluten development. If your dough is a sticky, ragged mess in the couche, ... |
my starter suddenly smells fruity
my starter is spelt based, and it's been stable for the past week and a half. it smelled like sourdough bread except in the morning before i fed it when it always smelled vinegary - an hour after feeding it, it smelled like sourdough bread again. it's not as warm as it could be - the... | What are the feeding details?
how much starter, water, and flour, how often? |
rustic boule
ok, so I have been baking sourdough for about 8 months now and the bread is very good. The crust will not get as "crusty" as i want. It comes out looking nice and sounds crusty, but once it is cool it doesnt have as much crispness to the crust. If i put it back in the oven for 5 minutes when ready to eat i... | Are you letting the bread
Are you letting the bread cool completely and uncovered? |
Transfering starter
Hi I am new to making a sour dough starter and I was following https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/no-knead-sourdough-bread, I use a cup of flour and 1 cup water. It seems to be doing ok I am on day 5 and tomorrow I'm suppose to feed twice a day and I am afraid the container is not big enough, can I mo... | No problem
You can definitely move your starter to a different container. It won’t harm the starter at all. |
Hamelman's Swiss Farmhouse Bread
Hadn't refreshed my yeast water in months! It was touch and go as the yeasts were a bit tired and more then likely a refreshment was necessary. Had to dump the timings of the recipe completely and watch the dough. Well good things come to those who wait. A touch of khorasan flour, toast... | That yeast water looks like
terrific stuff. Can't wait to give it a spin.Lovely loaf, as per…Enjoy! |
Sourdough using commercial yeast..?? Need help.
My six month old wheat starter went into a comma last week after I forgot to feed it for long. Trashed it and started a new one 3 days back.While waiting for the yeast to come in, I just thought of a little experimenting this morning. Had some commercial active dry yeast ... | why not feed it...
if it doubles, i'd think it's alive. and it won't smell like sourdough on its own - it needs flour so it can be fed and develop some of the right bacteria. why not feed the yeast with plenty of flour and see how it does? i started a starter with commercial yeast once and it went pretty well. |
leaven maintenance - keep or discard
My wife and I are relative newcomers (as a couple) to sourdough baking.. She used to bake long ago, and I've made bread, but never using a starter.About two months ago, we started a starter from scratch, and have been baking with it since. She does most of the baking, and I have b... | Volume is inaccurate
However 1/2 cup of water to 1 cup of flour comes to about 100% hydration give or take. As long as what is being fed to the leaven is done in that volume ratio one should end up with near enough 100% hydration. 1 cup water = 236g1 cup flour will vary! Depending on flour and how it's measured. But on... |
Process for 100% freshly milled sourdough rye
I'm interested in learning how to make a good 100% sourdough rye pan bread. Does anyone know of a good thread or two that could help to get me started. I know MiniOven makes such breads, but I don't know the best place to start.Thanks,John | Yes, search for Mini's
Yes, search for Mini's favorite rye ratio, will certainly help. Also, the blog, The Rye Baker, is beyond excellent. |
How do you maintain your starter?
Greetings bread connoisseurs and enthusiasts,I am curious to know how everyone else maintains their starter. Do you feed 3x a day, with increasing amounts of flour like La Brea Bread Book instructs? Or do you maintain multiple starters, feeding each a different type of flour? Do you ke... | My way.
There are many ways of keeping the starter. I bake infrequently so I keep my starters in the refrigerator and refresh on a two week schedule. For 100% hydration: Starter:Water:Flour = 1:1:1 by weight. I keep about 2 ounces of starter in a closed plastic container. I discard about half to two thirds each ref... |
Different starters affect proofing/rising time?
Hi Just had a quick question - I used to use a 50/50 white flour and wholemeal starter in but i have now switched to a rye starterI've noticed that whilst the rye starter seems really active, and grows more in size than my old starter after feeding, it also takes longer. ... | The only way is to....
.....try it and see. I use a rye culture all the time so I wouldn't know how it compares with other cultures. Just watch he dough and not the clock :-) |
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