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1-2-3 Rye 911!
This weekend, I've tried my first bread from a totally native rye levain, and methinks I dropped the ball somewhere in the production stages.
Here's the 100 levain I made using just water and locally-grown and milled rye. Based on the 1-2-3 recipe much discussed here, I came up with this formul | AP unbleached 50
Dark rye 50
Water 66.667
Levain 33.3333
and these weights for 1000g (2.2lbs) of bread:
AP unbleached 250 g
Dark rye 250 g
Water 333 g
Levain 167 g
Took my levain out of the fridge, fed it and left it at room temp for 11 hours. Smelled f... |
My crusts are too hard
I sometimes need a saw to cut into my loaves :)
Am I steaming too much? ( I normally throw three ice cubes on a hot skillet, 450F for 15 minutes, then lowered to 400F for an additional 20). | Iced Steam?
Too much steam? I doubt it. In spite of what you may have heard or read, Ice cubes don't provide much steam. Remember that steam is produced ONLY when the water source (a pan or water or the drippings from your ice cubes) reaches 112 degrees. Try using a pan of water on the bottom rack of your oven with... |
When is the best time to use sourdough starter after refreshing?
Hello!
When is the best time to incorporate my sourdough starter for baking bread after I've refreshed it? Do I wait until it's doubled or can I use it a couple of hours after I've refreshed it? I use 100% hydration and I last refreshed it yesterday eve... | When it's ripe
Hi Mira,
For the best results your sourdough starter should be at its peak. Here's a great photo by professional baker Dan DiMuzio showing three types of ripe starters |
Question about my starter
So I started a sourdough starter last week and after almost cooking it when my husband turned on the oven, I think I’ve saved it. I used some of the discard from one jar to make a ‘pancake’ in a pan with some oil and spices. After I took a second bite my body freaked out and I gagged and promp... | Now that's interesting. Not
Now that's interesting. Not making fun, this really is interesting. With the info given;Left in oven, excessive heat, excessive fermentation. Your system appears to be sensitive to the byproducts of excessive fermentation and/or that particular environment was conducive to growth of other or... |
Varying feeding when changing flour?
Hi there,
I "captured" some yeasties using the pineapple solution method (substituting orange juice instead) a few weeks ago. I'm very happy with my beastie whom I've been feeding white flour on a 1:2:2 ratio by weight. I bake using recipes that use 100% hydration sourdough starte... | They're Not the Same
There are differences in the formulation of the flours you describe which will cause each to react differently in a formula. For example:
King Arthur White Whole Wheat AP White (typical)
1% fat 0% fat
6% carbohydrates ... |
Do I need to do anything to my starter?
I fed my starter last night (Day 3 - Pineapple Juice/WW) at 6:30, by 11:00 it was only millimeters above the line so I went to bed. At 7:00 this morning I found that it's expanded a huge amount! I had to loosen the lid a little to let some gas out so the jar wouldn't burst, I l... | You are only feeding once per day?
You didn't mention a feeding between 6:30 last night and the 6:30 feeding tonight. As long as it smells good, it should be fed when it begins to deflate. As far as I know, the pineapple juice solution fixes the leuconostoc problem, so this is not a false rise but the real thing. The y... |
What is the difference between a starter at 100% or 166% hydration
I am currently making my first starter (http://sourdoughhome.com/startermyway.html). I liked his method since it was primarily geared at a flour and water. I chose to do by mass and not by volume. I have been measuring out 1/4 of a cup of filtered wate... | Lots of questions…
...but only two answers! 100% and Yes.
If the weight of water is equal to the weight of flour your hydration is 100%. The weight of water divided by the weight of flour gets you the percentage.
Everything else is pretty much up to you. It will mostly come down to what kind of bread you like to bak... |
I need encouragement!!!
Okay, I'm new at this. This is my third attempt at baking sourdough. I'm a long time home bread baker, but like others am bamboozled by this 'sourdough thing'. I've got a great 100% hydration white bread flour and filtered water starter going. There are so many conflicting instructions about... | The first proof is really
The first proof is really nice, rises double, and has no cracks. Then, when I shape it and set to rise the second time, it rises quickly and cracks develop all over it.
Hi, Ronnie,
It is clear that your dough has too much protease enzymes (due to a hungry starter) than yeasts. Proteolytic (f... |
Opinion on Aritisan Bread in 5 miuntes
http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/
After doing about 10 days of research on sourdough bread and how to make starters I ran across this web site. Does this style of bread for for sourdough starters or even a similar SF sourdough bread. I am thinking of making a batch of this with... | ABI5MAD
Artisan Bread in 5 is a good book but it doesn't cover sourdough. If sourdough is what you are looking for, skip it. |
Started my sourdough starter, now I have a question...
I used the Pineapple Juice Solution since everyone had good things to say about it; it's about 20 hours old now, no bubbles yet (as expected). I noticed this morning that some of the liquid has seperated and is sitting on top.
Do I need to stir it back in or wait... | Starter
It is good to stir your starter frequently, vigorously, several times a day. Good luck with it! |
Mixing Sourdough starter
Some of the recipies say to mix vigerously. Can you over mix your starter? I have a hand mixer with a wisk attachment. Can this effect my starter if I use it? | nope
You just have lots of fun playing in it. You got any more gaggets you wanna try? Go ahead! You can end up wasting your time if you're at it too often. How does that song go? ... you're my favorite waste of time... Yes, written about a sourdough starter. No woman would ever find that song a real complement.... |
reinfusing sourdough?
Has anyone ever tried changing the flavor of their sourdough by putting something like wild grapes or apple skin, etc in it for a few days? I wonder if it would make a difference? Any opinions?
Mary | It seems to me that the only
It seems to me that the only way the flavor would change is if the addition of extra ingredients to your starter might change the chemical environment of the starter; thereby selecting for different strains of bacteria (or yeast, but I'm told they play a quieter role in flavor creation comp... |
Sour dough pancakes
The recipes I find on internet are more like poolish pancakes. | TFL search bar
Hi Carl,
Why not try the TFL search bar? You'll find loads of links to the various sourdough pancake recipes noted by TFL members and may even come across one you like! |
more questions about sourdough
Question regarding the apparent changing taste of products made with PR sourdough starter, 100% hydration. My starter is about 4 months old, while I had trouble on day 2 & 3 of the seed stage, MrFrost encouraged me to perservere. I did and it turned out wonderful and I have made some kill... | Going out on a limb,
I'd guess that perhaps the variation is due to temperature and/or length of ferment. Both are very closely related with sourdough, of course.
That guess, however, assumes absolute consistency in ingredients from one batch to the next and careful, consistent weight measurements, which it sounds lik... |
Temperature for baking sandwich loaf
Hi there,I have a very high hydration loaf pan bread our family loves, which I bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes and then 375 for 20 more.But I have been playing with some other recipes for a bit of a tighter crumb for the PB&J type sandwiches (less holes! 😅) and have made some good lo... | Drop the hydration and temps
Drop the hydration and temps little by little till you get what ya want. Enjoy! |
Can dough survive if temp during bulk reaches 37°C /98.6°F ????
Ooops...Just realized that the oven in which my dough was bulking (light on/door closed) reached 37°C for at least an hour..Is it bad ??? It still looks bubbly and alive..... | It'll be fine
That has happened to me. It gets surprisingly hot with just the light on, |
I found I have no idea how to knead
So with my SD starters not old enough to do anything I decided to try this recipie
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/5341/bad-boy-poolish
My poolish developed well. It was 1.5 times bigger then 12 hours before. I followed the mixing directions but when it came to kneading it I was los... | Some Help - I hope
I just first admit that I am not thrilled with the formula you used but, inasmuch as that appears to be the foundation of the discussion, I'll try to offer some ideas.
I suspect you may be putting too much energy into the kneading process. A picture is worth a thousand words:
http://www.youtube.co... |
How long before I can use the starter
Hi,
A few days ago I started my first sourdough starter using the Bourke Street Bakery books recipe. Now this recipe says that the starter isn't ready to use until week 4 (if I'm reading it right).
Just wondered if people thought this was right, as I've seen other people suggest ... | Lets see if I'm right
#1 your starter should double in size in 4 to 6 hours after a feeding
#2 It should smell like sourdough and not stink
I am in the same spot you are but my starter stinks pretty bad and did not double on day 4. |
New sourfough starters and the difference flour makes...
Hello,
I recently tried to make a sourdough starter out of AP flour and it didnt come out too well... I think it got moldy. However there is a mill not far from here that mills fresh local grains, and last weekend -just- happened to be festival time when they wou... | sourdough starters
I usually make my own starter with dried yeast,flour and water as I live in Cornwall and don't know where I can buy starter where I live - a lot of recipes on here seem to use bought starters so I'm unsure if they'll work - any tips/suggestions.What is AP flour ???? |
Reactivation What went wrong
Hi all,
I created a sourdough a few weeks ago and it came to fruition last week. I took half of the starter and tested it out, made pancakes and a baguette. I surprised myself; it was delicious. I put the remaining starter into a cleaned and sterilized pickle jar poked some holes in the top... | It might have starved in the fridge
Since you don't mention having fed it before storing it, and since it is a rather young starter, it may have simply run out of food. The other thing is that your 1:1:1 ratio is based on volumes, rather than on weights. It means that your starter is being fed less than you were expe... |
Impaitent
Two different trains of thought are going on now. I am trying to learn the in's and out's of starting a sourdough starter. The second is I want to learn to bake really nice bread. Here is my dilemm | 1. My SD starter is only 3 days old and no where ready to start producing SD starter
2. I want to bake this weekend
I have done a couple of white loaf's in the past. I have used a baking stone and my cast iron bread pan (Rectangular and 3" tall). To bake this weekend I want to produce something SD like but am not sur... |
Seeking a recipe for Alex's Wuppertaler bread (rye and potato- no wheat)
Hi all,
I have recently come across a delicious bread called Alex's Wuppertaler bread.
The ingredients listed are
- Sour rye dough balm- Bread making rye flour- Salt- Potato- Olive oil (cholesterol free)- Herbs and spices- Water added
It's a lovel... | Sounds like a 100% rye made with potato water
and includes the potato. Don't quite know what "sour rye dough balm" could be... rye starter perhaps?
Seems potato bread is popular in the Wuppertal (Germany) and is a tourist attraction. In other words, they're known for it. (All the way from Melbourne? Hmmm ...and ... |
will weather affect countertop starter?
i recently moved to a cooler location and fall has set in. i know that putting the starter in the fridge will cause it to retard, but i use it constantly, and i dont want to retard it if i can help it, but with this weather...
my question is this: what is the degree to which col... | Rise time table
Here is a post with a rise time table. At first it may overwhelm, but after noticing the temps and times, you may find it interesting that just a few degrees makes such a difference!
If you can avoid the fridge, do so! Your starter will improve in flavor.
With a little experimentation you will find... |
Sourdough feeding help
Hello,
Recentlly i asked a question regarding sourdough feeding , several people respond but I am still confused,
I searched the web and the TFL also and saw so many methods and approaches about feeding and maintaining the sourdough starter.
could someone give me a simple and clear method how ... | feeding
Be flexible. There is no single right way. I keep a small amount in the 'fridge, maybe 50-100g. I am baking Wednesday, so Monday morning I'll take out 25g of starter, add 50g water+50g flour. Do not refrigerate, this is what I will "build up" to get the amount of active starter I need for Wednesday. Monday even... |
Sourdough
Can you take a bread sourdough an make a sweet sourdough out of it? Or do you have to start a sweet dough from the begining? I'd like to make a few cakes and really would like to try sweet sourdough. | Need a little clarification
Do you mean making the starter sweet?Or the final loaf sweet? Or using sourdough in cakes?
A starter is just flour,water and wild yeast. If you taste the starter by itself it tastes sour as that's the nature of it but you can make any kind of loaf from that-sweet,bland or savory. A lot depen... |
Rehydrated my starter from July 2019
Day three and and my almost 2 year old dehydrated starter has doubled! I just wanted to share my excitement. I followed King Arthur Flours' method for dehydrating it and then I almost followed their instructions for rehydrating it but accidentally skipped a step. The rye starter did... | Congratulations
You could call your revived starter "The Monster" as from the Frankenstein story! I would like to try your method of dehydrating my starter culture and then keep some in the safe deposit box.I also applaud your judicious decision to use purified water vice tap water. When I joined this site a couple yea... |
Norwich sourdough from wild yeast
Made this formula last night and it came out awsome, though it was better this morning. I followed the recipe very closely, I even use the dough temp calculator. The starter was refreshed 2 hrs before adding it to the other ingredients. I will make this bread throughout the week giving... | I'm so glad it came out well
I'm so glad it came out well for you! And thank you for using the dough temp calculator; I wondered if anyone ever used it :-) (Although to be honest, I rarely us it myself any more, as the water that comes out of my tap is almost always just right.)
If your Kitchen Aid mixer has a C-shaped... |
New Starter
I have new starter that took about two weeks to gett going using AP. it is now doubling in a 2-3 hours. However, I dont see any foam or fluid on the top that people talk about. It smells great, reminds me of when I used to brew my own beer. comments welcome | You don't want any
Hi Chefkill. You don't want the waste fluid (hootch) on top - that's a sign of underfeeding
Sounds like you've got a healthy sourdough starter going. |
I count 8 jars of starter-all different personalities
I just cleaned out my refrigerator and counted 8 jars of starter. Do I win? The interesting thing is that as I discard some prior to refreshing, they all have a different characterisitc smell and they also have distinct behaviours in baking.
I have one labeled "Bas... | ok, you're addicted!
What would you like to win? You win my respect for keeping track of so many and cleaning out their cages! Raise the "Feed the Wee Beasties!" banner.
You're crazy! :) |
temperature regulation tips?
Here is the bread baking schedule I have used a few times that has worked for me thus far:
Day 1
7AM - mix leaven
7PM - mix dough and bulk ferment overnight at 65o
Day 2
7AM - divide and shape, retard final rise in refrigerator
7PM - bake
This worked great the past few times because the wea... | some temperature regulating schemes
one of those simple small not-very-well insulated "ice chest"s for carrying beers
throw an unopened bag of rice in the freezer (or the microwave), later put the bag of rice and the payload in an insulated chest
a light bulb and an aquarium thermometer
the sort of large firm zippered ... |
feeding starter, bulk/personal, how often?
my starter was passed down to me by my aunt, and i am unsure of a couple of things. she mentioned the following almost a year ago:
if its to be kept in the fridge, feed it once a day for a few weeks until it bubbles. the feeding was 9 oz starter/8.25 oz flour/12 oz water, lea... | You can easily change the flour content
if you change the starter content. Reduce the starter to one oz and then feed it. Feed it one oz flour and one oz water. It is always good to feed flour weight the same as the starter weight. More flour can also be added but less may starve the starter.
Feeding every 8 hou... |
Disaster
I had to tell someone about the nearly disastrous mistake I made, and nobody at home seems to understand why I was distressed. This seemed like one of those things that couldn't have happened to just me, so I had to post here.
I pulled my starter from the refrigerator and began building it up on Thursday for a... | Starter curiosity
I too had a somewhat strange starter observation this weekend when I was baking. Fed my rye starter (like yours behaves well in the fridge, and 4-6 hour peak). I built if over two days from 25 gr to about 300, similar time line to yours. I then decided to double the recipe late on the second day, w... |
How do you dry starter?
I started growing my starter over 1 year ago. It is great. Now I am wondering how you would go about drying it. Also how can I store it after it dries?
Any help would be wonderful.
Thanks | Susan of Wild Yeast describes
Susan of Wild Yeast describes it very clearly; and with pictures, too. http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2009/05/06/drying-a-starter/ |
Failing poke test - am I under or over fermenting?
My 123 sourdough continues to be a wonderful bread but fails the poke test. The dough is bulk fermented at 25C for about 4 hours and then is shaped and rises again for another 1 to 1½ hours. When poking it before putting into the oven, it bounces back immediately.
Am... | You are leaving out a lot of
You are leaving out a lot of crucial details. You haven't told us how it comes out of the oven, what it looks like and feels like after it has risen. Has it doubled? Tripled?
Whats the recipe? [im not going to look it up for you]How healthy is your starter?How's the oven spring? Do the cuts... |
No luck with Khorasan Flour (Kamut) ?
Hello,
I have made spelt sourdough and spelt and rice sourdough many times with good results but everytime I try to make Khorasan Sourdough it just collapses into a mound of dough and when I bake it turns into a brick. I am following the recipe correctly and can not see any reaso... | Kamut has some interesting characters
Kamut can make wonderful bread as long as you know about its unique character. It has lots of gluten but it is very stretchy and doesn't hold its shape well.
As you've discovered, it makes great flat bread and pizza dough.Great stretchy gluten! This is my whole wheat flour of choic... |
How can I have bread all weekend?
I love my fresh sourdough but don't have the extra time on a Sunday to put the loaf together. Can I make double on Saturday and retard a loaf for 24 hours? Am I asking likely to be asking too much or is there another way to do it?
Thanks,
Stuart | Yes
Stuart,
Melanie is correct. You can certainly keep it in an extra day. I personally wouldn't keep dough in the fridge more than three days. Depending on your fridge the dough might start to smell "off." You can, of course store any dough in the freezer for several months. I keep Biga's on hand on this manner.
T... |
Sourdough Starter Analysis
Hi everyone! I have been reading TFL for quite some time, but just recently decided to make an account and start posting. I have a question about SD starter analysis. Does anyone know of a place (or someone) that offers a service you can pay to send in your SD culture and have it analyzed? I ... | Maybe give it a wash?
Sorry, I can't help you with analysis, but I can suggest that if you think acidity is a problem, you can give your starter a wash to get rid of some of the acidity. I confess, I've never had to do this myself, but I have read about it and watched this video (part one of 2). It's from Puratos and K... |
Sourdough feeding help!
Hi,
I am new here,
for the last few weeks I am trying to grow my own sourdough ( 100% hydration, white flour).
when i want to bake a new sourdough bread, usually i do that :
1. in the evening before baking , taking out the sourdough jar from the refrigerator.
2. stir it.
3. discrad from 300g so... | Discard
The only real solid reason I've seen to discard is so you don't wind up with an entirely unmanageable amount of starter on your hands.
If you start feeding a 300g starter on a 1:1:1 (starter:flour:water) regimen, you'll have 900g starter after 12 hours. If you don't discard and continue feeding on a 1:1:1 regim... |
Sourdough Help
Hello all.
Much help was gained from your suggestions. Whomever told me to be patient was right on. I've got two starters. (I'm hedging my bets.) They are a combo of rye and whole wheat and are four and five days old. One is in plastic and the other is in glass. (Again, hedging my bets.)
What I need... | And the answer is...
it doesn't matter! As far as that goes, you don't even need to switch from your present flour blend if you don't want to. Feed the beasties flour and they'll be happy.
Paul |
Super dense bread. What is going wrong?
Hi everyone,
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Me and my roommate have started trying to bake our own breads, but they just aren't turning out too great. For instance, he made some sourdough and it was extremely dense. There were little to no air pockets inside. I mean thi... | Two guesses
. For instance, he made some sourdough and it was extremely dense. There were little to no air pockets inside. I mean this thing didn't really expand much at all.
Welcome to TFL. I don't think the problem is with your yeast or flour. Am going to guess that the above issues are related to the sourdough s... |
Value of fold and stretch
What am I missing out if I don't do fold/stretch?
I intentionally decided to omit this step to reduce the labor cost. My goal is to produce low cost sourdough. The bread comes out with the right size of holes. I didn't notice any taste/smell difference with or without stretch/fold. Am I wrong? | Please expand......
What recipe are you using? Do you have pictures of your breads?
Baking a cheap bread with the the "right size holes" is a goal I don't remember seeing before.
In asking your question keep in mind that there are many bakers on this site that routinely take 48 hours or more to craft a loaf of bread. A... |
Starter at room temperature
I have done a search and can't seem to find the answer to this question...I have a beautiful starter in the frig that is 2 days old. From what I have read I can use this without refreshing. Just a simple question - I will remove the amount of starter that I need for my recipe from this ba... | Depends on what you want to
Depends on what you want to do.
Warming up the entire batch of the starter will speed up the subsequent batch as it will be warmer when you put it back in the fridge.
In other words, you can requlate the feeding intervals using the temperature. |
Brewers skimmings
My friend works at an artisanal brewery and he has just brought me some of the skimmings from the top of the mash tun. I asked for them because I had heard that that is the traditional way that bakers got their yeast. He just showed up unexpectedly and now I have around half a litre of the stuff and n... | Since
this is a time sensitive question and no one has yet weighed in - I'll give it a try. I'll warn you, I've never baked with this substance, but am giving reasoned speculation.
This is real "barm" and yes, was traditionally used to leaven bread. It was not cultured separately (the way we do sourdough) but was con... |
Unable to revive my "levain". It smells like a SOUR sourdough starter. Anyone have a non-sour starter to trade?
I loved my starter and raised it myself. By sheer luck (or by whatever was living on the wheat I used), it turned out to be a totally mild, almost milky sweet starter. It was GOOD. Does anyone know what I mea... | Maybe you just need some more time
to feed it like you did years ago.
If the abused starter has been sitting a long time the acid levels are very concentrated. The danger in feeding a high concentrated acid starter is in not dumping enough and maintaining the imbalance and encouraging the more acid loving yeasts to... |
Where to start?
After a few years of considering making my own sourdough bread I think I am ready to take on the responsiblity of a sourdough starter. BUT I have no idea where to begin. I have made plenty of beautiful loaves using regular yeast so I know the basics pretty well but I hear that sourdough can be complet... | Starting Point
Here's a good place to start:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/233 |
very sour bread made from not so sour starter
I have been maintaining a whole wheat starter for a few months mostly making variations on Hamelman's Pain Au Levain. While these breads are very nice, they tend to be almost imperceptibly sour. A few days ago I took my trusty starter and went off in a different directi... | rye percentage
I'd say it was the 33% ratio of rye flour that likely bumped up the sour flavour in the 1st loaf in combination with the high starter percentage. In Hamelman's formula for whole wheat pain au levain it calls for only a total of 5% rye. Rye and starter get along well together, creating a stronger sour fla... |
Sourdough Starter / Ingredient Question
Wondering, my starter is fed with milk and flour. Most recipes call for water. It appears that my crumb is not where I wish it to be as the texture is too dense. Should I substitute milk instead of water? My starter is quite healthy and is over 100 years old. Thanks in advan... | Not sure
of the exact nature of your question. Are you asking if you should use milk as the liquid in your final dough - or???
In general terms milk is an enriching ingredient (especially whole milk) that will make the crumb more tender (smaller holes). There are many factors that affect crumb, but all other factors ... |
My starter has an orange layer on top, but works well.
My starter develops a light orange layer on top after not being fed for >2-3 days (room temp only).It works very well. I baked with it and fed it, it grows really well and the bread is very good.I noticed a month or two ago that there is a small orange layer formin... | You might want to research that more
Not everything that bubbles and grows in starters is good, whether it raises dough or not. EverythingI have read says orange is an indicator of a possible bad beastie, like mold. Not sure if you want to attempt to rescue it or just start a new one or what, but further research may b... |
Starter international move
Just wanted to share my little success. Have recently moved overseas (from cool, dry Alberta to hot, humid Taiwan), and wanted to bring my sourdough along, as it has been a close companion for several months. Did the spread-thin, dry-it-out technique, and brought it over in an air-tight co... | Glad to hear it's up and bubbling!
Congratulations! |
Colorado HELP!!
Hello! I have recently taken a trave assignment in Grand Junction Colorado and unbeknownst to me, my husband poured out the South Florida sourdough starters I had FINALLY gotten perfect after a year!! ANYWAY, the question is, being it is October 1st, is it too late to be able to start a wild sourdough s... | Ah....men....
Men who don't bake - they just don't understand, do they? I trust you explained the horror he committed, and that he now will suffer the consequences of not having tasty sourdough bread for a while? ;-)
You can start a sourdough culture any time. The wild yeast is primarily in the flour so you don't ha... |
excessive hooch after a week in the fridge == bad sign?
I'm thinking that I need to refresh my levain more than once a week. This particular one had great rise for a boule a week ago, but after refreshing that batch and letting it sit for a week in the fridge, I found a layer of hooch on the top, tried to mix it in and... | feeding means discarding most
Also, when people say 'feed' do they mean simply add flour and water to an existing batch and then let it sit at room temperature? Or do they pinch off a bit of the existing batch and add flour/water to that (while throwing away the parent batch).
I'm no expert, but feeding means discard ... |
how do i convert a 50% starter to a higher %
i currently have a sourdough starter than is doing well that i purchased from king arthur. i'd like to try breads with different hydrations. i do i convert my 50% starter to another hydration?
thanks, claudia | Quoting MiniO:
Hydration has a formula...water weight divided by flour weight.
If you take a tablespoon of starter that's thick and add 100g water and 100g flour it is very close to 100% hydration.
You want 70%? Take a blob of starter and blend with 70g water and 100g flour.
For 166% ... 166g water with 100g f... |
Refrigerating a starter that's used daily
Hi Everyone!
I would greatly appreciate any advice about how to best maintain my starter if I plan on using it 6 days a week.
Currently, I mix a batch of sourdough around 9pm, feed the starter at 10pm with a 1:1:1 ratio, and put it in the walk-in at 1am. The next day around 3p... | Hey there
I might be able to help a bit with this as I've been learning by trial on this as well. Previous job the starters were fed three times a day without retarding. At my current job our Starter is primarily for Sourdough and we are much smaller scale so I attempted to get the sourness started and at the same ti... |
Interesting Experiment with Sourdough Starters
I just tried my first recipe from Hamelmann's "Bread" - the Mellow Bakers September challenge: Sourdough Rye with Walnuts. Since I had enough mature rye starter I decided to experiment a bit. I made two sourdough starters, one following Hamelmann's instructions to the lett... | 3-stage Detmolder?
Hi Karin, both loaves look very nice to me.This rye+walnuts combination seem to be recurring very frequently lately, I'm seriously tempted.
I'm curious to know if the threee-stage method you followed is the Detmolder.
Thanks. |
Bottom BLOW OUT
I am a new member on this site, I have ben reading and learning from all the post here for about 3 months but I have a specific question. Why is the bottom blowing out of my bread. It only seems to happen on my sourdough boules, I am using the recipe for basic sourdough out of the BBA (well more or le... | Are your scores opening up
Are your scores opening up well?
I had trouble with bottom blowouts, and scores not opening up well at all. The top looked overproofed, but the bottom said underproofed! In this case, I wasn't developing the dough adequately, so the top was just sealing up instead of stretching out nicely und... |
Stuck to the Wall
I'm a bit embarrassed to post this, but there are no fellow artisans within reasonable reach, so here goes.
I'm trying to build up a 60% sourdough starter based on Maggie Glezer's book. It is supposed to be 10% old starter, 60% water and 100% flour. The rising is coming along ok, but the tackiness of ... | Unfortunately, I haven't used
Unfortunately, I haven't used firm starters yet so I'm not experienced enough to give advice.
As for dissolving the starter in water: In my experience it is enough do it fairly quickly and there is no need to fully dissolve every little lump of dough. I think the main purpose of the dissol... |
Crackling Crust
The last few loaves of bread I've made have crackled when I removed them from the oven. What exactly is it that causes that to happen? Is it simply the crust contracting as it cools? I like the way it makes the crust look but cannot get it to happen everyt time. Is it affected by the cooling rate of... | A much discussed topic
Search TFL for 'crackly crust."
David |
Sourdough Sandwich Bread
So I went looking yesterday for a sourdough sandwich loaf...I am embarrassed to say we've been buying San Francisco Extra Sourdough sandwich bread at the grocery store for awhile and it's up to $4.00 per loaf! I make a pretty passable sourdough boule so why not sourdough sandwich I thought? I w... | scaling weight
Hi Trish,
Certainly no lack of spring in those loaves at all. Maybe you could avoid giving them a slash next time if you scaled the dough down a few ounces and gave it a longer final proof. The recipe in the link doesn't give a final scaling weight, but a standard scaling weight for typical panned loaves... |
Champlain Sourdough bread
I’ve already tried this recipe a few times but with always the following tweaks: a 1-hour-only autolyse, coil folds instead of S&F and retard in the fridge)But this time I decided to follow the recipe to the letter (except for adding 15g of bassinage)http://www.breadwerx.com/champlain-sourdou... | Wow, that does look
Wow, that does look impressive. Benny will be around at some point, he is the crumb shot whisperer. |
Sourdough video
I just created this sourdough Video and I'm looking for feedback on what you like and Don't like and If you have a video I would like to see it as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNNwzt8eoTQ | A long way to go Dave, but
A long way to go Dave, but you arrived at the right site..............
Thomas |
Sourdough starter needs bubbles ???
I aquired the Carl Griffrith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough starter. Fed it as instructed.
After being fed for 3 days this is what it look like. Should it have more bubbles??
Any ideas?? | Looks fine for a liquid
Looks fine for a liquid starter. At this point, having bubbles is a pretty good sign of growth. |
Tossed My Starter
I received a package of dry starter from my kids, which they bought in San Fransisco. Followed the instructions but after 2 days on my counter, I had to toss it out. The smell was awful, like someone had been physically sick. I expected it to smell like yeast or alcohol, at least that's what I remembe... | Wow, you shouldn't have been
Wow, you shouldn't have been so quick to toss your starter. It can take several days of feedings for the good bugs (yeast) to overcome the bad smelly ones.
I suspect that a couple of more days would have seen your starter turn the corner and develop those wonderful SF sourdough flavors.
all... |
Alternative acidity scale in degrees?
Digging into an authentic Borodinsky bread recipe. It has suggested acidity level in "degrees". I came across this scale in other russian recipies before.
Does anyone know how it works? | It might be a translation error
which is more than likely. "Degree" is listed in the Thesarus under "scale."
Or they are using degrees in reference to temperature or activity. pH measuring is very important in sourdough but pH readings also vary according to temperature. Could also be they are listing the dough tem... |
Sourdough Starter No Longer Works
I have a starter the is about a month old. When it was new it used to pop the top off the pyrex container I was storing it in. I used it to bake a few loaves...some good and some not so good. It didn;t have much taste but did make the bread rise.
Recently, it seems to have lost its ... | Humor your starter
Humor your starter by using rye flour in the refreshments. You could use a portion or use all rye flour if you want. The flour has the nutrients that starters love. This much discussed remedy has worked in a lot of starters and through judicious use, can add a nice flavor note to your breads.
I sugge... |
Acetic acid test
Is there any reasonably simple way to test for level of acetic/lactic acid in dough and then in baked bread? | pH
pH is a measure of acidity and could be used with starters and perhaps the dough if pH paper were used. |
My First Sourdough!
After weeks of nurturing and babying my homemade starter (christened "Wilson") I finally got up the courage to put him to the test and bake some loaves. I decided on dmsnyder's San Joaquin Sourdough for my first attempt, and my results made my jump for joy! I was sooo afraid my starter wouldn't be u... | Yum!!!! I'm excited to make
Yum!!!! I'm excited to make my pet's into bread looking at that picture! |
Trying a rye starter...
...in accordance with "Artisan Breads at Home", and am using locally grown and stone milled organic whole grain rye. I'm finding that the 100% hydration formula leaves the mix looking more like putty than a poolish I'm used to seeing. Should I continue the same ratio, or should I add a bit mor... | oh oh oh oh oh I wanna answer this one!
Stick to the 100%, it will get thinner as it ripens. The "puddy" will loosen up with the bubbles and turn into "marshmallow cream!" (minus the sugar and the brighty whiteness) :) |
Sourdough Typology - SJSD, SFSD or what?
As I begin the mental preparation for trying to bake David's San Joaquin Sourdough this coming weekend, I am distracted by a matter of semantics and typology. I am familiar with the origin of "San Joaquin Sourdough" (see David's 12/14/09 comment at http://www.thefreshloaf.com/no... | show pictures of the crumb
and we'll see. lol patrick from modesto |
My Smelly Starter
My starter is nearly 2 weeks old and I have been religiously tossing out half and replacing it with like amounts of flour and bottled spring water, every day. For the past week it has been smelling slightly like alcohol ... til today .. and today it smells like acetone. It is very much alive .. bubbli... | I don't know what can be
I don't know what can be making it smell like that. But what I can help clarify for other people answering the question is by getting you to answer this.
Do you use a biga sourdough starter or poolish style? Basically, whats the hydration and what do you feed it? |
Why is Koji sourdough starter made with cooked rice instead of raw?
Hi, I saw this Koji sourdough starter instruction: https://youtu.be/sEUokdUqE2M which makes the starter in several steps. First, a mixture of raw rice and cooked rice (along with koji and water) is used. But starting from the second step, only cooked r... | Others with more knowledge
Others with more knowledge may chime in, but having brewed quite a bit of sake, and made koji rice in the process, cooking gelatinizes the starch in rice, causing it it to take up moisture and thus be made available to the A. oryzae mold. Interesting topic; I look forward to the discussion, ... |
Questions regarding maintaining a starter and hydration
Hi all. I'm working on becoming a sourdough baker and have been doing a lot of reading from several sources. Unfortunately, pretty much every source differs in explanation of maintaining a starter. I have a few questions that I could hopefully get some clarificati... | FWIW
I maintain my starter like this.
I keep 125g starter in my fridge. When I feed, I remove 100g "Discard" I use it to bake with. The remaining 25g I feed with 50g flour and 50g water. Then put it back in the fridge. (25g +50g+50g=125g) |
Modified KAF Sourdough Bake Temp Question
I modified the KAF sourdough recipe as follows:
224g starter
336g water
495g KA APF
100g KA Rye
14g sugar
14 g salt
I didn't follow their procedure. I mixed starter and water then added sugar then flours and let autolyse for 30 minutes. Kneaded it for 5 mins until medium ... | I took it out of the fridge
I took it out of the fridge this morning and gave it a french fold around 7:00. Plan to take it out around 5, shape around 6 and bake around 8:30. |
trying to understand poolish and starter percentages compared to total bread weight, and how to incorporate starters in recipes
Is there a standard percentage that preferments and sourdough starters make up in a recipe? I'm fairly new to bread baking, but i have successfully made a white wheat loafs and cinnamon raisi... | and sorry for the lengthy
and sorry for the lengthy post. :) |
Diagnostic please!
Baked the San Francisco sourdough out of 'crust and crumb' by Rinehart. It tasted good and the crumb looked quite good, tender and shiny. But i can't seem to achieve a nice looking crust, it is a bit greyish. where i have slashed the loaf the colour is even wore and the slash doesn't look right.
Woul... | add some malt
or sugar. Apparently the yeasts ate almost all the sugars available |
Crusty Starter
Help please .. my starter is just 8 days old and the past couple of days it has grown a 1/4" thick brownish crust on top. Every day when I feed it it is there. I've been stirring it in, but today I lifted it off ... what is it ? Is it a death knell ? Starter smells fine and is bubbling away under this c... | Little Help...
Hi, according to your description some air might be responsible of the crust you found...just remove it: if you see the sourdough left is moist, bubbling and smell fine I will have been right in diagnosing your sourdough problems..stirring the sourdough sometimes it really helps too...Let me know and ha... |
Swedish Limpa
I found this recipe in one of my grandmother's cookbooks, which is at least 50 years old. The recipe states that it's "an old recipe handed down in the family" (not mine). I tried this recipe once, but found the sourdough taste more pronounced than I care for. The loaves had a lovely, even crumb. Swed... | Limpa with beer.
I've only ever made Limpa with beer, and there's orange zest and juice in there as well. |
Sour flavour was good, now its not ?
Hi all,
I've been using my home made starter for a couple of years with good results but recently I have learned a little more about feeding ratios in an attempt to get a more active starter and establish a predictable sourdough regime. But the last two baking sessions (two SD loa... | Sourer Sourdough
Hi Noyeast,
I've had a similar experience. I don't have "the Answer" for you, but a bit of speculation: It seems to be agreed that the sourness is produced by ascorbic (?) acid formed by one of the bacteria types in sourdough. Growth of the acid production seems to be promoted by long cool dough rises.... |
First Sourdough by new home baker
I posted about my first few baking experiences here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/19278/hello-new-baking-some-pictures-posted
I created my first sourdough starter (using wholewheat flour and Debra Wink's pineapple method (thanks Debra!)) and kept it going for about 2 weeks before m... | That's a good looking loaf
Your bread looks very good to me. There are ways to manipulate the level of "sour" in your starter, you'll find the methods in some of the archived threads. However, given your location, you'll have to be very careful and methodical to tweak your starter. Climate differences will present a ch... |
Wet Starter v. Firm Starter and Hydration Percentages
For the past month I've been working on a new sourdough starter and it is doing well. I used the rye flour and pineapple juice method described in the handbook. I've been mixing 1/4 cup starter, 1/4 cut of flour and 2 T of water each day for the past week or so. ... | Playing with starter hydration @ John
Hi John.
First, do weigh ingredients, even when feeding your starter.
Second, you are correct regarding how hydration is calculated. In fact, the baker's percentage of any ingredient is represented by the formul |
My white Sourdough is grey - how do the SF SD's do it?
Hello all,
Hope this is a quickie and you don't mind but I'm wondering how do the SF Sourdoughs stay so white? I love my SD and they come out with grey crumb.
Is it a bleached flour?
Thanks, Stuart | What flour are you using?
It could be the flour or you could be kneading (oxygenating) to much. What brand of flour are you using and what recipe are you using?
Eric |
'Cold proof' and 'Room Temperature proofing'
I've noticed that even it was proved at room temperature flavour is still the same as it was with cold fermented dough. Maybe even a bit sour when fermented right before it collapse. Am I just imagining this or did someone here notice that too?Photo above was done with below... | Thank you
Wow, thanks for the detailed process! I really want to try this-- I've been hoping to test out how using a mixer would influence my bread. Having your guide as a starting point will be super helpful (I particularly appreciate the temp and time notes).That crumb looks phenomenal. Well done! |
Less pain with my Levain
Since I began making Levain breads several weeks ago I've wanted to try making the Roasted Garlic Levain from Jeffrey Hamelman's excellent book, but up until the last 3 or 4 Levain loaves I've made I just haven't had the kind of result I've been looking for. These naturally fermented doughs we... | What beautiful breads you've
What beautiful breads you've made! How did you get such great crust on your round boule? Love the cracked look! I love a great garlic bread - this is one to try!
happy baking! |
Getting it in the oven
OK-I swear I know how to bake. That being said I have tried 3 times and can't get a single loaf of sourdough in the oven withour screwing it up? Seriously... AARRGGGHH!! I do not have a basket that I see people use in the videos, I tried heavy flouring a lined towel and it did not work. My first... | parchment paper is your
parchment paper is your friend! :) |
SOURDOUGH STARTER and the MONSOONS
I made sourdough starters with much success when I lived in the states. I am now living in Thailand and we are in the middle of the monsoon season. I am wondering if an environment where it rains most of the day can affect the sourdough starter process? I attempted to make sourdough s... | I live in Taiwan which has a
I live in Taiwan which has a very similar climate to Thailand: hot and muggy most of the year round. The only problem I have with my starter is that it has a voracious appetite. I have to keep it in the fridge or else it will require feeding every 3 to 4 hours. My kitchen temp varies bet... |
Parchment paper is my new best friend -- and two thank-you's
I was having a devil of a time getting my loaves into the oven without some type of malfunction. I've been using cornmeal on a pizza peel since I started baking bread, about 6 months ago, and after setting the oven on fire by flinging cornmeal (in the process... | recipe, please!
Have you posted the recipe for your lovely bread? I would like to make some loaves like yours!
Mary Clare in MO |
No Luck with Pineapple Juice Starter
I recently began a new starter since the last one I tried (with organic grapes) got insufficient activity and yielded bricks. This time I wanted to give the pineapple juice starter a shot since it sounds like that one has a very good success rate. (http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/2... | My starter was slow to get
My starter was slow to get going and there wasn't much happening around day 3 so I fed it some organic rye flour and continued with the pineapple juice ( I just used the juice that the tinned pineapple is in) for another 2 days. The rye flour really seemed to get it going, I started using wa... |
Looking for a Classic Sourdough Recipe
Nothing fancy, just sourdough.
Also, any suggestions for a whole grain sourdough type hybrid? | Just Sourdough
Here is a link to a basic, easy, just sourdough recipe. I have used it a lot, with consistent results. http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2007/07/08/my-new-favorite-sourdough/. I scaled it back to .75 of the original recipe, which when divided yields two approx. 1.5 lb. loaves.
It is easy to modify also. I us... |
No Taste Sourdough
Yesterday I baked the basic san fran sourdough that is in the handbook. Looked absolutely amazing coming out of the oven. Crust was cracking and smelled great. Only problem i that t had zero taste. Crust, crumb, moisture etc were all good...but no taste. Is that because my starter has no flavor ... | No taste
Just a thought -- you didn't, by accident, omit the salt -- did you? No salt, no taste. I know -- I did that once.
Ford |
Sourdough with 100% hydration starter
Well my 2nd bake was much better than my first bake! I tried to follow the instructions closely and although these are not perfect they're much better than my first try. Thanks for all the great help I got yesterday on sourdough starters and for all your great tips!
Trish | fab
Great work Trish.
Well done!
Andy |
Adding sugar to sourdough
Does adding sugar to sourdough benefit the loaf in any way? I was under the impression that sourdough yeast was not able to break sugar down and use it like commercial yeast does. Would it perhaps help balance out the flavor or add more color to the crust? I have never used it in sourdough ... | I use a little honey in my sourdough bread
Most of my loaves are whole wheat based and also, my sourdough is not at all sour.
The sugar /honey is just used for flavor. |
Chewy Sourdough Bagels
Chewy Sourdough Bagels
Makes 12 bagels
600 grams Hi-Gluten Flour
300 grams un-proofed sourdough starter
300 grams COLD water, you may need to add more if your machine is struggling to knead
17 grams salt
1 tablespoon sugar
20 grams malt extract or powder
50 grams powdered milk
1 teaspoon instan... | Question about starter
Dear Debbie,
What do you mean by unproofed starter? |
Is this underproved ? Over fermented?
I’ve kind of hit a glass ceiling with my loaves and was hoping your good selves could put me back on track. My method is to make a polish with 240ml water, 200g white flour ( or 150:50 white: wholemeal) and about a ladleful of starter which could be about 60g.I leave to ferment for... | Underfermented...
would be my advice as the tell tale signs of dense crumb combined with larger holes and sloped shoulders.I would try to identify where the culprits are...does the starter need to be more active or too short a bulk? What temperature was your dough during bulk? Was it nice and bubbly and showed signs o... |
white sourdough loses rise
I have been making sourdoughs for about six months. My whole wheat seems ok on it's own, but I am having trouble finding a white recipe that keeps it's rise without baking it "in" something, like a loaf pan (an embarrassing look for sourdough). Lately, I have been using the sourdough lady's ... | Recipe.
What's the recipe you are using? If it's deflating as you transfer it out, it may be over proofed, but that IS just a wild stab in the dark. |
Starting over with Soudough
Hi all - I'm back after a long absence. The Jewish Bakers test recipes got me back into regular baking and now I'm ready to start on sourdough breads again. I had gotten rid of the 4 starters I had in the fridge because they were very old and had been stored for over a year. I ordered and re... | Looks happy to me
I'd guess that's about a 100% hydration?
Paul |
Restarting a new Starter
I recently moved and so I had to start a new sourdough starter. I like using organic grapes. After only a couple days I was having some pretty crazy activity, so I jumped the gun, discarded the grapes, and fed the starter in preparation to bake the next day. Unfortunately since then it has had ... | Patience does it.
I would say things are going normally.
For more information go to: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/233. Also to: http://www.sourdoughhome.com/starterprimer.html.
Debra Wink worked on the pineapple juice starter method. The pineapple juice is only to ajdust the pH (acidity) of the starter so that th... |
How much time shouild be allowed between foldings?
I have a few questions about strech and folding. 1. For whole wheat sourdough how much time should be allowed between foldings? 2. Should my dough pass a window pane test if I am folding instead of kneading? 3. Can any recipe adapted to strech and fold? If so does all... | re: folding
marcsababa,1) You can do it a lot of different ways. The basic idea is to develop the gluten but not make it too stiff. An indication of a good time to fold is when the dough seems to have relaxed in whatever container it's rising in. If it has flattened and spread out, it probably could be folded. If it is... |
Elementary terminology question
I'm having a crisis of terminology. When I make bread these days I often initially elaborate the starter into a mixture of flour and water at 100% hydration, which I allow to ferment for 12 hours or so. This mixture is then converted to dough by the addition of more flour and water and... | levain?
I call that stuff "levain" but "mother starter" and "preferment" are both used as well. |
100% Rye Sourdough not rising much
I did it once. Haven't done it since. I'm using Lepard's recipe and it worked a charm once (same flour, same levain), but hasn't worked since. I am so disappointed. I even had my oven's thermostat re-calibrated (by a professional--it's a free service). This is the third time. I ... | Salt or fine flour?
I just did a quick once over. The only things that might trip me up are:
accidentally using 1 tablespoon salt when it calls for 1 teaspoon.
accidentally using a coarse rye flour, as he explicitly calls for a fine rye. Last week I tried to make a Pane di Altamura with coarse semolina durum flour whe... |
Sourdough Blob
OK I am totally new at bread baking. I have quite a bit of experience with other baking-biscotti are my specialty. I am venturing out into the world of artisan breads. I got a Goldruch sourdough starter and followed the direction. It looked & smelled as it should (acording to the plethora of info i'v... | A little more info would be helpful
Welcome to a great forum. Biscotti knowledge! Wonderful! One of the avenues I want to explore!
There are so many variables to your situation that it could be causing your difficulty. I need more info to narrow down the possibilities for you.
Tell us about your starter (how long since... |
Why won't this stuff rise?
HI! I am new to this forum and I have the same brick problem.
I think I can solve that now that I know I should be adding more water and less flour, but I am so confused by so many other things with sourdough.
I got my starter about a year ago and as far as I know, it's activated or active or... | Dear, Confuzzled
Sounds like the weather changes are getting the best of you and your starter.
I'll start out answering some of your starter Q's.
Feeding: I'm not sure about feeding it when I take the starter out. Do I feed it as soon as I take it out of the fridge or do I feed it after it comes to room temp?
That d... |
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