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Stiff starter (50% hydration) failure
In December, I started experimenting with building a stiff sourdough starter. It has been a failure.I started by first making a 100%-hydration starter using fizzy raisin yeast water and Bob's Red Mill organic AP flour. The raisins are mostly organic Flame raisins with some of the M... | If you wish to follow a similar procedure
And you particularly want to begin with yeast water enroute to a sourdough starter then perhaps see the yeast water through till it's fully fledged before moving onto flour. Fill a small jar with 1/4 organic raisins (we're more concerned about preservatives than a little oil so... |
Healthy sourdough
I have been wondering about some information that I have always read concerning sourdough. Using wild yeast is suppose to be healthy for you. I am wondering how this is, if they die when you bake them? | Health benefits of sourdough
My understanding is that it is not the yeast per se that accounts for the health benefits of sourdough bread. Rather, it is the acidity, contributed by the lactic acid bacteria in the sourdough culture, that has effects on the proteins in the dough as it is fermenting and leads to:- A lower... |
Sourdough Starter Designations
Well, I almost thought I knew what they were talking about when they said "liquid levain" or whichever. Some books differentiate when they specify a levain type. But now I'm confused again. Maybe there are standard definitions?Ed Wood's book, "Classic Sourdoughs," has recipes calling f... | Thanks, Harry.
It's been a month and you're the first to respond. Thanks.I appreciate your reply, but I have one question. You talk about rye sourdoughs. My one starter is whole wheat. Can I assume that your comments still apply?Rosalie |
Glezer Sourdough Starter Instructions
Probably a dumb question, but in your posted sourdough starter instructions from Glezer's "Blessing of Bread" I need clarification on the following:On "Wednesday" of week 1, it says to remove 2 TBSP of rye starter and add to bread flour, plus water. Clear. On the following Thursday... | Recipe
Denny - You scared me because when I first posted the recipe I made a big boo boo somehow and didn't do it correctly so all the information was not there. In case you have not checked that thread again since I revised it please make sure you have the correct version. This is the point where, at least I do thi... |
A sour kind of day
There was a time when I thought sourdough was this intimidating, terrifying, impossible thing that required constant work and dedication.Today I use almost zero commercial yeast. I've found that I can ignore my starter for a lot longer than I had thought. The night before I want to use it I give it... | Very Happy Beasties Indeed!
Yes yes yes, give us more! Beastie Bubbles and more pictures! Go Yeasty Beasties! Go Go GoMini O |
I dream of fluffy
Hi allHave been reading all the latest posts, and I have GOT to try CB miche - looks absolutely amazing.Back to my post - I bought a loaf of white sourdough (shock! horror!, but its the first time in the last couple of months) - and the texture on the loaf is wonderful - small, consistent bubbles insi... | bluesbread
Use a bigger proportion of white flour. That's what that one you were admiring used. |
What should sourdough crumb feel like?
Should it feel dry when you touch it with your finger? Sticky? Tacky? Moist?I ask because each time a loaf has a tacky crumb to the touch I assumed it was a failure.But I bought a sourdough loaf the other day for an astronomical price and the crumb was tacky. So what should it be ... | sourdough crumb
A sourdough is moister than a standard loaf. But it still should be fully baked--even when it finally registers over 200 degrees, it still needs extra time in the oven.SOL |
Apple Starter
I've recently begun an apple starter. I let the apples sit in water and sugar for about 4 days. It was getting dark and very strong in smell. I added most of the liquid to bread flour to begin the starter. The day after it began bubbling. On the second day, however, I noticed what I thought looked like mo... | why not
go ahead and let it grow, it'll probably lose the apple snell though |
Sourdough Oatmeal Bread
Here's my new sandwich loaf...Bernard Clayton's Sourdough Oatmeal Bread. It is a very good bread for everyday use. Thought I would share it with you. -Chadwww.breadmoonrising.blogspot.com | Looks great.
Looks great. |
A slight miscalculation, using a new starter
It was, uh, a little more active than I had anticipated. | Looking good
Better that and have to clean up the mess than to find a dead one in the bowl, if you look at the bright side...I've found it's generally safe to use a container about 4x the initial volume for a 100% hydration starter and maybe even 5x for a firm starter, depending on the flour. It looks like yours may ha... |
Method for keeping my 2 cultures active and not wasting any
I used to have two problems. The first was that I didn't bake frequently enough, so my culture would become essentially dead. The second was that I was getting rid of excess sourdough culture. Currently I maintain 2 cultures. 1 spelt and 1 whole wheat. They ta... | That's close to what I do
I came to much the same conclusions. I refresh my (one) sourdough culture once a week by mixing one cup ww flour, one cup water, and a spoonful of old starter, letting it sit for an hour or so, and then refrigerating it for another week. The leftover starter gets turned into pancakes. I mix th... |
Under-proof and over-proof
I’d like to stress that this is the same dough recipe and not two separate doughs that iv baked.one is clearly over, and the other is under-proofed, but what’s interesting to note is that this is the same dough batch, both done exactly the same, with temperature checks throughout and with the... | Other factors.
If what you see doesn't make sense, you may be considering the wrong factors.--How old is your starter since it's creation? what's your feed schedule and ratio? I'm sensing a starter/levain issue based on the crumb, not merely just an over/under proofing issue.---Which was baked first, the one on the lef... |
Feeding Leftover Starter
I managed to ignore my starter long enough that it got rather wimpy, so now I'm feeding it twice a day. Rather than discard the leftovers, I accumulate them in the fridge. I've started adding just a bit of food before refrigerating, though keeping it at about 100%. I'm feeding it only about ... | saving starter
KipperCat, you sound like a girl after my own heart. I had been saving my leftover starter, being too frugal to toss it, but SourdoLady told me that it was wallowing in its own waste. Sounded pretty gross. Then I managed to kill both my good starter and the discards, so I now have to start over. She also... |
Shaped loaves not holding their shape!
Hi,My sourdough isn't turning out as a nice boule shape. It seems to flatten after it's long proof on the bench (it's still quite active, as it rises/ flattens out in the oven) into a flattish shape. Am I not developing enough gluten in the initial mix? Something to do with humidi... | Flat loaves
Hi RyanYour loaves are most likely flattening out because the dough is not strong enough to tolerate the length of proofing you are giving it (i.e., not enough gluten and/or gluten underdeveloped and/or proofed too long). I believe most people (myself included) have a tendency to overproof, so you might wan... |
Sourdough baguettes
Here are some pics of my sourdough baguettes from Peter Reinhart's BBA. They turned out nice, but the slashes didn't open as wide as I had hoped. The taste was very good. -Chad www.breadmoonrising.blogspot.com | Baguettes
Chad, your baguettes look great. Baguettes are by far the hardest shape to do well and it looks like you've got it down! Susanfnphttp://www.wildyeastblog.com |
It's Thursday night and you just refreshed your starter(s).
Here it is Thursday night, you've got your starter refreshed and ready to go. What schedule do the rest of you follow to pull your breads in time for Sunday breakfast? Mine starts tomorrow, Friday afternoon, when I build my sponges, I work 1/2 days on Sat... | Try the link below on bread for busy people
Hi Mike, I asked a similar question a little while back and received a great recipe fowarded by Da Crumb Bum..http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/3288/bread-work-flow-ideas Hope this offers some ideas. Thanks again CB. SD Baker |
Poilane-style Miche
This is my Poilane-style miche from Peter Reinhart's BBA. Big loaf! www.breadmoonrising.blogspot.com | NIce looking bread
I also went to your blog and really enjoyed your sense of humor. I can understand the short term projects. Painting was one of mine and I havent touched a brush since I started baking bread!Bob |
Sourdough Starter & Temperature
I have been thinking about creating starter so I can do sourdough breads. The problem I am perceiving now is that we are having a heat wave in Southern California, with highs frequently in the 90s. Is this a bad time to start this? Is waiting for more mild weather a good idea?We don't ... | Colin you should run a test. I came up with a way to
cool my kitchen down around the starter when I was hatching little inky Stinky Dinky Do.But you will need further help from a small Igloo or insulated ice chest?I put two 32oz glasses filled with ice and water on either side of my starter. Flanking either side of it ... |
Smelly Starter?
Hi there, I'm new here and I'm new to making starter. I started making the starter using Sourdolady's directions. I'm now into Day 8. This morning the starter smell really bad like vomit. Nevertheless, I still took out 1/4 cup starter and fed it 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup water. I'm not sure what's happe... | Re: Smelly Starter
How has the starter been behaving? Has it shown signs of growth? When you feed it does it bubble up and expand and then recede after several hours? It is very unusual for the bad bacteria to take hold in the pineapple juice/flour mixture. If you are on day 8 you have switched to water by now. I would... |
How different is one starter from another?
I've read a couple of recent comments by Mac, and sphealey, and others about the origin and character of sourdough starters. I'm still wondering what's the real scoop. I've read from highly authoritative, credible sources several different versions of various arguments about s... | I have been thinking about this too
I am not sure why this discussion has to happen off the board, so somebody PM me if this is a sore topic, but it has been something I wonder about off and on as well. I tend to subscribe to 2, 4, 5, and 6 on the list above. I think that the yeast and bacteria come primarily from th... |
Moving a starter 3,161 miles away
I think I've got a plan that will work, but wanted to run it by the gurus here before I act on it. I've come to love my 3 home-brewed starters very much (a whole wheat, a whole rye and a whole spelt), and would be really put out if I lost them in a cross-country move.Here's the situati... | JMonkey, consider sending an
JMonkey, consider sending an email to KA flour on the customer service site. I've found them very responsive - and they mail starters all the time. The one I am using was mailed from KA. Rather high hydration starter, mabye Tablespoon or so in the bottom of a small plastic container. Ar... |
Starting the Starter
Now that I've invested in a NutriMill and tons of whole grains, I figure I'm going to be baking bread more often now. I'm trying to adjust my eating routines so I can eat more bread and still lose the 10 pounds I need to lose. Maybe just bread and water. No, I need some fruits and vegetables too... | Your flour is fine
I too gave up on a couple of starters because I didn't see action on schedule. Finally, I just mixed up the flour and water, threw out half and refreshed the mix every day until I saw it was turning into starter. I think it took four days to get going the first time, which was a rye starter. After 7... |
Removing the need for starter discard by feeding from fridge
Hello everyone.I've started doing something recently that I haven't seen anywhere online before, I've seen a bunch of youtube videos and articles about reducing waste or using your sourdough discard for something, but haven't seen anyone talk about my method,... | I do much the same
I take out a spoonful and build my levain up over two days. Every once and a while I pour the hooch off the starter and give it a small feeding, maybe 30 gr of water and 30 flour |
Cavernous sourdough
Hello everyone. I am new here, hope this is ok for a topic. I have not seen this addressed on the pages I have looked at.I have been baking bread for a while, but am branching out into sourdough.I have started my first sourdough starter (not from scratch...tried that before and I think we have too... | Sleepy baker
Yeah, that is common problem. You can see a few example of that here or here. It is known as "the hole where the lazy baker sleeps". Creating more surface tension on top by pulling it tighter on the bottom while shaping will remedy the problem.
At least it still tastes good, eh? ;) |
People who name their starters -
I've wondered about them, but now I have my first. Wow - in 5 days it went from a doughy clump smelling like orange juice to this wonderful, yeasty, rich-smelling beauty. It's bubbling and growing. Thanks to SourdoLady (link below)But I got so absorbed in making and nurturing this start... | You're in for a treat
First thing I did with my sourdough was to make Floyd's Daily Bread recipe (see Lessons), but when putting the poolish together, I didn't use yeast. I substituted about 3-4 tablespoons of starter (I think I weighed it and it was something in the vicintiy of 15 grams? I know it was about the size o... |
Thoughts on a non-specific starter?
First I'd like to say hi to everyone here, I've been perusing the website for some time now and finally decided to join in. I'm excited. I've only been baking bread for a month or so and the only real book I've looked at is Hamelman's "Bread", and the rest I've learned from TFL and b... | I'm not strict about the
I'm not strict about the flour I feed my starter. I use whatever is cheap and handy, which is typically AP flour but occasionally something else.
I'm sure I could develop starters with different characteristics if I were more strict about the flour fed it or the hydration it is kept at, but I ... |
Glezer starter and "sour" Sourdough
So thanks to this awesome forum, I have finally created the Columbia recipe in Glezer's book correctly. Pics are below. Now I understand how this is supposed to be made from cultured yeasts from rye flour, then building this up to make a strong culture. I did just this. One thing I d... | Nice work, Dan!
Hey Dan, great loaves, congratulations! I’m really glad this worked out for you.Take a look at this thread for ideas on what makes a dough more or less sour. I would suggest experimenting with retarding (refrigerating) your dough. I say “experimenting” because it can be tricky to get the timing right a... |
Ersatz Hopfister Oko-Schwabenlaib sourdough rye bread
My German roommate complained that he couldn't get bread here like at home, so he brought me a loaf to try and emulate. It was heavy and dense with a great crust. Here's the official description: http://www.hofpfisterei.de/hpf_sortiment_natursauerteigbrote.php I h... | Clear Flour
Is there an alternative to this? What is it? Is King Arthur the only place for it?Thanks..... |
BBA poolish and biga VS starter
I am busy reading my BBA book and it looks like Peter uses either biga or poolish for most of his recipes.Can I just use starter instead?Can anyone give me an example of how to substitude my 100% starter for biga and poolish? Thank you HK | You can use starter in place of poolish
Hi HokePokey,Check out the Grace Note on page 234-235 of BBA. PR talks about substituting starter for poolish. Since poolish is generally 100% hydration, you can do a 1:1 substitution. You would usually need a longer fermentation time, though, unless you spike the final dough wi... |
Hardball starter (Dial-up warning: lots of photos!)
A few years ago, while still living in Houston and being totally ignorant of sourdough, I attempted a starter from Tom Jaine's Baking Bread at Home. It was not a good experience. The flavor was intensely sour and the bread more closely resembled a brick than anythin... | hardball starter
Hi PMcCool, great loaf! I recognized this method of producing a natural leavening since I grew up in Italy and it is used there also, we call it the "madre" (mother of yeast)--made with a ratio of 2:1 of flour and water, and left to ferment so that it forms a crust on the outside. The longer you mainta... |
No-Knead Bread with bulgur wheat | Hello zainaba22
Which recipe did you use for this bread? It looks beautiful. |
Lilacs, sourdough, and chlorine
Hi all,Browndog; I loved your blog entry of lilacs etc! We must be about 2 weeks behind everyone else; the lilacs are still just the tiniest buds here.On a bread-ier note, some one wrote in a while ago asking if using the water from a Britta filter would be ok for a sourdough starter. I ... | Congrats on your breakthrough!
We're looking forward to seeing photos. Susan |
Sourdough Recipe in a Bread Machine?
I have been baking with my sourdough starter for over a year now and I've always kneaded the dough in the Kitchen Aid and baked it in the oven, but now with two babies there are times when I'd like to spend less time making a regular loaf so I got a bread machine. And now I'm not su... | The Pause Button
hi Kate We haven't tried it, but ours has a pause button, it won't be the same as loading it up and going to bed. A couple of times we used that thing to knead the bread. We made a few loaves of bread in it, but never sourdough. It never did get much use around here. My wife's brother and sister, ... |
Which cookware do you use?
I've been using my Le Crueset but it's making all kinds of scary sounds when preheated empty and I feel like it's probably not the best tool for the job. I've been looking at the combo cooker but honestly it feels like a recipe for burning myself with that super heavy top...With the dutch ove... | i use a baking steel and an
i use a baking steel and an enamel roaster as a cloche |
Was my dough too dry?
I mixed up a batch of dough this morning for a Raisin Cinnamon Loaf. The recipe went like this:150starter150g starter50g olive oil25g honey1 tsp. yeast200g raisins300g white flour75g rye flour25g whole wheat flour 1 tsp. salt1/2 tsp cinnamon I mixed it up with all but about 40g of flour, let it... | You asked if your dough would be dry ...
From what I read - and pardon me if I get this wrong - the only hydration on your dough comes from the starter(s), about 150 ml (g) at 50% hydration and all in all 75 g in Olive Oil and Honey. However you have about 450 g in white, rye and whole wheat flour in your formula. Soun... |
San Francisco starter
Here is my first report on the differences between my starters. First, let me introduce the key players: I have named my old starter Otis, after the Oregon Trail Starter obtained from Friends of Carl. My new starter is the one I was gifted in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago, now named Franco. ... | A little trick
Lee commented:Last Friday I built up a batch of dough, but my daughter missed the sign saying bread was rising in the oven and turned it on to bake something for herself, turning on the smoke alarms in the house and ending the life of the dough, the newly fed starter and nearly flaming my new wicker bann... |
Next challenge - bagel
Got my starters, got a few nice loaves of bread - next thing I want to try is sourdough bagels.Can you share your recipes, please Thank you Lily | Re: Bagels
Hi Lily,Here are a couple of bagel recipes that have been posted recently -- you've probably seen them already, but in case not: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/3291/first-clear-flour-bagelshttp://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/2647/whole-wheat-sourdough-bagels http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/3303/sourdough-bag... |
My first sourdough batch!
Sourdough the First Ta da! My first batch of real sourdough (made with white starter; still waiting for the rye to be ready). A friend is cooking for a local shelter and needs some bread to go with her ziti and salad, so ... 15 loave, ready to go. Yeah, there were 16, but guess what happened... | Oh wow, what a batch of bread
The bakers on this site are amazing! 16 loaves and more coming....wow again. What recipe did you use? I can't wait to see the rye. Great job. weavershouse |
Question about Developing Sourdough Dough
I apologize in advance if this is a stupid question. But when I've been building a dough with a poolish and with yeast here are my steps:1. Build the poolish.2. Let the poolish sit overnight of for hours - UNDISTURBED3. Add poolish to rest of flour and water etc4. Stretch and f... | Many ways to Rome ...
There are many ways to Rome ... and you described one of them. One remark though : Strictly, Autolyse would just be the combination of flour with water. The levain you'd add would be already the leavening which should follow the Autolyse and preceed the addition of salt.Personally I like to refres... |
The Detmold 3 Stage Process
People wishing a short intro on the Detmold 3 stage process may wish to refer tohttp://samartha.net/SD/procedures/DM3/index.htmlfor details. I am not sure the degree of similarity between this one and the one Jeffrey Hamelman describes but it may be worth your time to review if you are inte... | Countryboy, I get
your drift. Just read all of it and my brain cells are screaming for coffee. Mini Oven |
Happy starter, almost there
Onion bread: Onion bread made with semi-sour starter. Sorry for the poor photo quality, but I'm so thrilled with myself, I had to share. Day 5 of of my Very First Starter From Scratch, and things are going swimmingly. Started with rye, then added WW and white on subsequent days and it just ... | Great job, cooky!
Katie in
Great job, cooky!Katie in SC |
Starter won't double itself
I am trying to nurse my sick starter back to health and not getting the results I want. About 10 days ago I started a vigorous attempt to revive my barely living starter. I have been using 1/4 c. of starter, 3/4 c. flour and 1/2 c. water. I let it sit out for 12 hours and then refridgerate... | Here you go, Tam
This should help you. There is a section on Reviving a Starter. Susan |
Have starter, need recipe
After weeks of nursing my barely living starter back to health, I am ready to bake. Does anyone have a foolproof sourdough bread recipe that uses no commercial yeast that I could try? | an old stand-by
I started out baking sourdough with the bread alone book. I posted the basic recipe on another thread... http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/2701/can-someone-post-simple-good-recipe#comment-11674 Good luck! I have my starter perking as we speak :) |
What's your favourite way of eating sourdough?
What do you guys like to put on your sourdough or dip it in? I've discovered salty butter and dipping it in spinach dip but would love to hear what others like. | to enjoy bread for breads
to enjoy bread for breads sake, I like it plain. If it really good bread, it will still be delicious with no adornment. after that, maybe a little butter. as for spinach dip, i dont care what the bread is as the bread only a vehicle to get as much spinach dip in my mouth as possible :) April |
Underproofed or Overproofed?
Based on the appearance of the outside of the loaf I thought for sure this was going to be an underproofed, dense, gummy mess. The score is flat and torn, the crust isn’t crispy at all and lighter than it should be, and the bottom is full of tears. But once I cut it open it actually has a p... | Based on the crumb, that is
Based on the crumb, that is nicely fermented. Based on the outside appearance, the lack of ear would initially lead you to think that it was over fermented, typically underfermented loaves have big ears. Given the combination of things I’d say that fermentation was fine, you could however,... |
Strong (bread) vs Med (KAAP) flour for artisan loavs?
Wise bakers, Where can I learn a little more about the merits of using med (KA AP) vs strong (KA bread) flour in my bakes? I'm self taught largely using FWSY recipes (still playing with the proof times, and reading lots and lots from other bakers including Tartine, ... | AP vs BF
AP will give you lighter, softer bread with less chew to the crumb. BF is stronger and I use it for breads with add ins like fruit, nuts and seeds to help give it some lifting strength. It will require and handle more water than same recipe with AP. |
Starter question
So I'm in the process of starting a starter from scratch. I made approx. ~120% hydration mix of flour and water (a little WW with the AP) with 200mg of vitamin C tablet. After 24 hours I fed it a cup of 100% hydration food. It's getting kind of bubbly (day 2) and it sort of smells like yogurt (not t... | If it's bad, you'll KNOW it!
So it's not bad. If it's bad, you won't be able to stand it in the same room with you. If it's pink or orange, throw it out and start over. Are you following JMonkey and TTonka's Starter Trial? I made a new one along with them, and it is quite a success. Susan from San Diego |
Bill Wraith's Sourdough Pagnotta Conversion
RECIPE PER BILL WRAITH (*items are changes per bz)Bill’s Conversion of Sourdough-Guy’s Sourdough Pagnotta400 grams fresh 100% hydration starter (my starter was takenout of the refrigerator after having been refreshed 3 days earlier.I probably should have used more recently re... | So I have to say again...
052707 Yeasted Pagnotta - 3 Loaves: Lt-to-Rt: Plain, Olive, OliveIf you haven't tried this recipe, you should. The crumb is so moist and creamy. And the crust is very nicely crisp. It's as easy as pie to make. And yields 2 very large loaves per recipe. (Sorry I'm only showing 3 loaves, somehow... |
Failing! - What am I doing wrong?
I’ve been trying NYT no-knead recipe following JMonkey sourdough version, and a breadtopia version from http://www.breadtopia.com/sourdough-no-knead-method/ and its failing miserably. I tried Jim’s recipe tonight - http://home.att.net/~carlsfriends/jimpics/Instructions.html– same resu... | re: bread troubles
HokeyPokey,Jim's recipe in the link you provided uses 65% hydration. It should not be very wet. It should make a reasonably supple and not slack dough after the mix, rest, and folding. If after rising for a while it seems very wet, it could be that your starter is not really fully active yet. Somethi... |
Starter with Leuconostoc?
This was discussed in another thread but the topic seems to have died. I have 4 starters and all of them have liquid that falls to the bottom of the jar in the fridge. Eventually, after a week in the fridge, the liquid comes to the top. The starter smells perfectly fine and makes really good b... | I wouldn't worry about it
Squid, I haven't been around much, so I didn't reply to the other thread. I have seen what you are talking about and think it is nothing to worry about. After I feed my starter it grows and is nice and homogeneous. Sometimes when I put it in the fridge it will develop a layer of hooch on t... |
Reviving my frozen starter
I seem to go through spurts of feverish obsession with things. Knitting, sewing, bread baking. Actually it goes in cycles, because I always come back to those things, even if it has been so long that you'd assume I had lost interest. Of course, right now I'm all about the bread baking agai... | Re: Reviving starter
In my experience, reviving a dormant starter generally takes 24 to 48 hours. It is not uncommon to not see any bubbles at all for the first 12 hours. Good luck--I hope it gets going for you! |
Final Proof Time?
I started to make bread yesterday with a very active starter which I had fed about 6 hours before starting. I used 1 c. of the starter, 1 c. of water, 3 c. of flour and 1 tsp. salt. I mixed it then did 4 stretch and folds 45 min. apart. It then sat on the counter for about 2 hours and had nearly do... | Re: Final proof time
I doubt it has 'run out of gas' but I suppose it is possible. More likely, it is just very cold and hasn't warmed up enough to start rising. I have had this same experience before and it seemed like it took all day to rise the loaves. Now I take my dough out of the fridge and pat it out into a larg... |
Stone Beer Boule
Due to an unfortunate happenstance to which we will not admit, a growler of Stone Brewing's 10th Anniversary IPA went flatter than a pancake. So DH Gary wouldn't have to drink the whole thing, I volunteered to make a Beer Boule. Mmmmmmm. The baker doesn't get a sample, as it will go to Stone tomorrow ... | That looks like a great beer
That looks like a great beer and a great bread. |
Starter w/ liquid on bottom?
Good day all, I have had nothin but failure so far with my starter attempt. First I tried Sourdoladys recipe and everything went well, up until I got off the juice and started the flour and water part.Last weekend I tried 2 new starters using Sourdough Guys recipe.I made one with Rye, and... | A couple of questions
- Do you dump out any starter at each feeding? If so, how much?- What quantities of flour and water do you add at each feeding?If hooch is generally an indication of inactivity, you may need to increase the size of each feeding. Though it looks like there are some nice bubbles in the bottom hooc... |
Whats your favourite Sourdough recipe?
Hi all I am quite new to this website, and I am addicted! I can't go a day without checking the site.I have two starters going - white and rye, and looking for exciting recipes to try them out with.Whats your all time favourite sourdough recipes?HK | Thom Leonard's
I am not sure about the 'favourite' formula but Thom Leonard's Country French Sourdough (M. Glezer, Artisan Baking) is certainly very good with KA's 'First Clear' flour. I bake it under La Cloche (hot) and on a hot baking stone ... in my experience this is in general best and most reliable way to achieve... |
Starter - how much?
I've got a questions about sourdough starters - how do you substitute starter for yeast?I've got John's starter, with 50-50 flour and water - does it make it 50% hydration?So whats the percentage between a liquid starter and Total Flour Weight (TFW - I am learning from my BB | ) Thanks in advance |
Tartine, Robertson and his flours
I'm finally plucking up courage (!) to try some of the Tartine recipes.I want to do it by the book - but am just a little put off by Robertson's descriptions of the flours to use… 'high extraction', 'medium strong' etc.I'm used to KAF and Bob's Red Mill etc.Are those too generic?How/wh... | King Arthur and Bob's Red Mill for Flours
Welcome to TFL.For Tartine and other breads I use King Arthur flour for the all-purpose, bread, and whole wheat, and I use Bob's Red Mill for the whole rye flour.Awhile back I posted some blogs about a couple of the Tartine breads with the hope that a step-by-step description a... |
My starters has surface bubbles, is it ready yet?
I recently began to revive what looked like a dead started that i had started about 2 weeks ago and had left in my fridge. I took two tbsp. of starter and mixed in 1/2 c. of flour and a little less than 1/2 c. of water, I covered it loosely and let it sit out on the co... | Is it ready yet?
Tam1024 commented: Each day for the last 4 days I have thrown out all but 1/4 c. of starter and mixed 1/2 c. of flour and a little less than 1/2 c. of water in. I then cover it loosely and let it sit out. Now the starter has bubbles forming on the surface about 4 or 5 hours after feeding but it never... |
Peter Reinharts Sourdough Starter
I just got a copy of Peter Reinharts book Crust and Crumb and was going to start his sourdough starter when I realized I do not have any organic wheat flour. Is there a reasonable sub or should I get off my duff in front of this computer and go buy a bag? Also the wheat or barley malt ... | Re: Peter Reinharts Sourdough Starter
Generally speaking it is considered wise to use organic flours for at least the first few feedings as even minute traces of pesticide in non-organic flours could prevent the natural yeasts from multiplying. Of course, people in the US successfully created starters using store flou... |
In what do you store your starter?
My starter is now almost 3 years old and very strong. However the other day I read something about using plastic containers to store them and it got me thinking that I should switch to glass. What do you store your starters in? and do you seal them tightly or leave the top partia... | mine are in glass
mine are in glass containers. |
Starters converting themselves ????
Hey Guys,I'm relatively new to Sourdough and starters and the only starters I have used are ones I have created.In the commentary section on page 230 of Reinharts BBA he states " This is why a starter made from a seed culture imported from Egypt or Russia will, over time, produce a ... | Actually, from what I have
Actually, from what I have been reading the real culprit in changing a starter from a culture you bought to a new one is the flour you use to feed it. I'm sure someone with alot more knowledge in this area will be of more help but that was my 2 cents. |
Is is possible for starter to rise too fast?
My indoor/outdoor starters that are my starter experiment finally started rising today, Day 7. (Details are here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/blog/t4tigger )I fed both at 4:30 this afternoon. By 6:30, Thing 1 (indoor) was already doubled and knocking on the jar lid begging... | re: fast rising starter
t4tigger,After 7 days, it probably is not something evil, since evil things have a hard time living in a healthy culture that has been going for a while and is fed regularly and kept at reasonable temperatures. There are several factors that would have a significant effect on the rise time.1) Th... |
Gigantic petrie dish?
Hi all, My question is this;How likely is it to grow other organisms in your "newly-being-created" starter? I am doing a 100% rye starter and I kept the lid on after each time I fed it. tonight will be the 4th feeding and possibly go from seed culture to barm. (I am following Reinhearts Sourdough ... | :S *eeeps*
So, when
:S *eeeps* So, when does it become safe to use the starter? I have to throw away half today and then feed it again, and thats the last feed until I am supposed to turn it into a barm (according to BBA) so do I do as he says or keep it as a seed culture for a few more days? theconfusedgreenbaker |
Help! New baker
Morning everyone I've only just discovered the taste of sourdough and now I am obsessed with it!I got a starter going (her name is Marjorie) from J.Ross website and its looks very happy - i baked a couple of loaves from it, and its tastes quivk nice - I'd like it to have a bit more sour flavour, so I'll... | To make sourdough more sour
To make sourdough more sour, you must let it stand longer. What recipe did you use? I have one from Poilane in Paris that I like, but the best and easiest bread to make is the no-knead bread recipe from the NYTimes in November. It is wonderful! and it gets sour if you let it stand for abo... |
Moving home stress?
I tend to keep my starters in the same jars for around 4 - 6 weeks or so (refreshingly weekly, and living in the fridge). I transplant them to nice clean, sterilised jars when things start to look a bit unhealthy - but I find that they take a little while to get over the shock of moving home and are... | I dump my starters in a
I dump my starters in a clean bowl to refresh and mix, and wash out the storage container every time. It has not seemed to dampen their activity any, and it probably helps as I've never gotten any kind of mold or nasty smelling things in either of them. |
Can someone post a simple but good recipe?
I am looking for a good base recipe using my wet starter. Can someone post a good recipe using simple ingredients? So far my bread has been just 3c flour, 2c starter, salt. I have a scale now and wanted to further make better breads. I tried an all wheat bread, but it sucked s... | A chance to boast!
After several failures, I just made the perfect New York Times no-knead bread -- with sourdough! I'd suggest that. Here's the recipe:NYT NK bread You may want to reduce the water a little. If you make this a few times, you'll know by eye and feel when it's the right kind of gloppy. I added a tablespo... |
Well worth the waiting
Well I took the advise I found in this site, I ordered a known strain of sourdough from Carl Griffith to see if my starter was up to snuff. My starter was one that I used from this site, and I thought that it was doing pretty well lots of bubbles doubling in volume, and it smell pretty good. So I... | Hi Sourdough-guy
Yes the NK is the new york times method. I have dried some of my own starter I'll give your suggestion a try. In the mean time I'll just keep trying. Thanks for the comment, GRAZ |
Guidance Tartine vs FWSY levain % and proof
I'd love some guidance thinking about ways to use FWSY recipes, that use more standard approaches to proofing. I know Forkish it trying to push the envelope in the interest of more flavor, and possibly b/c he suspects homebakers tend to underproof? I've baked all my efforts, ... | Photos for You
Welcome to TFL.Photos always help me, and I put together a couple of blog posts. Here is a bake of a Tartine bread: https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/64305/tartine-basic-country-breadHere is a bake of a Forkish bread: https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/57196/harvest-bread-fwsyPeople have various ways of ... |
Recipe conversion
Hello..I want to make pitas using Floyd's pita recipe. Any suggestions how I should convert it to using a starter? I try to maintain my starter with equal weights flour/water. (i think that is considered 100% hydration)Here is the recipe:3 cups flour1 1/2 teaspoons salt1 Tablespoon sugar or honey1 ... | Thanks...that is pretty
Thanks...that is pretty straight forward! I assume you make the 20% part the night before then mix it in with the rest of the ingredients the next morning, correct?Hopefully I'll have time to try it out within the next day or two.While searching for more info I found another good description of... |
100% Whole Wheat Sourdough - Need help
Can someone help me with formulating a recipe for making a 100% whole wheat sourdough? I do not want to make a bread with white flour, and prefer not to use milk, eggs etc. I made a few loaves using a starter, flour, salt and water. Can I do the same with whole wheat?I bought a bo... | Whole wheat sourdough
Sure. Here's a few resources:
Mountaindog's gorgeous Desem bread. Desem is a Flemish sourdough made with whole wheat flour, water, starter and salt, and was made famous by The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book
My own Desem. Photography not nearly as nice as the above.
The sourdough sandwich bread I mak... |
I think it's dead
I think it's safe to say that I've killed my poor wee starter. Despite the valiant efforts of several on this site to talk me through resuscitation, I can, after several days of trying, discern no sign of life whatsoever. As suggested, I increased the proportion and frequency of feedings, and thought ... | if it has bubbles, I'd keep trying
edh,If it has bubbles in it, I'd keep feeding it. You probably have at least some of the right organisms already in the culture, or you wouldn't have bubbles. Especially if it smells sour but not bad smelling, I would keep feeding it.I don't know what you've tried, but what has worked... |
First loaf was great, some questions
SO I joined a few weeks ago and I love this site. So much info here and very helpful people. Thanks for everything. I made my first starter over a week ago and last night I went out to replenish my flour supply because I had an itching to make something. I saw that the starter was d... | refrigerate the starter
danmerk,You can refrigerate a starter for long periods of time. It will last a couple of months if you just thicken it up to 1:1 by weight if you are using normal white AP flour. If other flour, thicken it to at least a paste. You can make it into a dough-like consistency, and it will keep longe... |
Naming starters?
I'm curious whether other folks here who keep sourdough starters give them names? On other forums, "Bubba" seems to be a popular name, as does "Pokey" (for starters that take a lllooonnng time to ripen). Others seem to have an affinity for Greek gods, with "Hercules" being the most popular.
I've got tw... | Starter photos please
Hi JMonkey, I am very interested in seeing photos of your starters!!!
I have never baked sourdough bread before, but the passion for sourdough in this website community has officially infected me :) I just began my first starter yesterday (following SourdoLady's instructions as well), but I am su... |
the more I learn, the less I know...
Hi all,Just when you think you're getting the hang of something... I've been playing around with a sourdough starter for a couple of months now, and all of a sudden, as of yesterday, everything seems to be going pfffft. No spring, too sour taste - where did my nice poofy loaves go?I... | starter probably needs to be fed more
Edh,If it doubles in 2-3 hours after a 1:1:1 feeding, it will be very ripe in 12 hours. I know people keep them on the counter and feed in this way, but it seems like you would build up a heavy acid load and pH and make it difficult for the organisms in the culture to thrive or eve... |
New baker..more water next time???
Hi..I recently started baking bread, this morning started my third batch, and since I'm too impatient to see how it bakes up I thought I'd ask a question here. I thought my first two batches came out great, but the dough was really sticky when working with it. First I used Floyd's W... | Do you use white, unbleached
Do you use white, unbleached or wholewheat flour? I find that my dough is sticky when I use wholewheat. I think that when the hidraton is higher then the bread turns out nicer. In my experience....which is limited but full of stuff ups......I have realised you need good flour (good gluten c... |
wheat vs. rye in starting starter
I noticed in another thread Mac said a mix of whole wheat and rye is generally the best for starting a starter. In Mike Avery's comments he says more people have had leuconostoc problems with whole wheat in the initial starter mix, and I had the same experience myself. Also, some autho... | #4 or #5
Just for interest sake, and to test myself, today I started up a new one - using SourdoLady's instructions again but this time using 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 whole rye. Didn't have an orange around so I used 1/4 teasp of vinegar so it looks like I'll refer to it as 'vin'. I'm quite sure that out of mac's guesse... |
Any good books?
Hi everyone,I have been reading alot on sourdoughs and how to make startes lately. I really really want to get it happening, but I just cant seem to get all this percentage stuff sorted in my head. I have found (at least with baking bread) I am a kinetic learner-but I know I need to get a firm grasp of... | sourdough trials (and tribulations)
greenbaker,I'm no help on the book recommendations; I asked the same question a while back, but I've been down the same road of frustration!If I may be so bold (being a complete newbie at this artisan and sourdough stuff) I thought I'd offer what has proved to be a very easy solution... |
My first starter (Dialup warning many photos)
Well I finally did it, I have been baking for all these years and finally made a starter. I decided to use the one from Breads from La Brea Bakey I just started it 3/11 and thought I might chronicle my adventures here in case anyone cares and even if they don't it still w... | Looks great, JIP. Up until I
Looks great, JIP. Up until I started feeding it on Day 10, I kept wondering if it was going to work. At times it smelled bad and looked bad, but then one day, the hooch smelled like red wine and I knew it was ok. That's a nice big container. |
Evaluating cold final proof?
Hello, wise friends. I'm still in early learning stages of my journey. I love to use the cold retard for the final proof, as it allows me flexibility in baking and I prefer the scoring. But I'm struggling to tell when the dough is "done" after a cold proof. Last night, for example, I shaped... | Laura, many (maybe most) of
Laura, many (maybe most) of us bake our dough straight from the fridge into a pre-heated oven. Many don’t do any warm or room temp proofing after retard.During retard the dough cools. Because the temp drops the CO2 pressure also drops, but the gas is still available to spring once the dough ... |
Feeding starter: How much to save vs. How much to throw away
I have been maintaining a King Arthur Flour sourdough starter since I received it as a Christmas gift. I have been discarding a cup and feeding it a cup of flour and 1/2 a cup of water once a week and refrigerating it quite soon after the feeding. Due to some... | Keeping starter
You don't really need a whole lot of starter in your fridge. I keep mine pretty thick, but even then, I rarely have more than an ounce or two -- which is less than 1/4 cup. I then build it up from there over a couple of days when I need it.
Here's a link to a good article (with pictures) on "Frugal Star... |
Sourdough Starter and Malt
Hi Folks, Hope all is well. I have been doing a lot of sourdough bread baking since last I asked questions and now need some direction. 1) Up to now I have been using my own wild yeast starter that I make, but am interested in where to go for other starters. Do I try King Arthurs or do I go... | Sourdough starter and malt
grannieroI am new at sourdough baking,have tried off and on several times and could never get off the ground,baked a number of doorstops before giving up again and again. I tried Carl's starter that you can get free through the mail,loved the idea of the old west,etc. Then tried one of the in... |
Blueberries instead of grapes?
So I have been reading Breads From La Brea Bakery and she suggests for a starter to use organic grapes to help the starter get going because the bloom on the outside will help kick start some fermentation. So my question is this bluberries seem to have that same kind of bloom on the outs... | starter
I made my starter according to Nancy's directions in that book, too, except I didn't use anything. Just a cup of water and a cup of flour. I fed it on the days that she recommended and it didn't seem like anything was going to happen at first but then after a week or so bubbles started forming and now the thing... |
Feedback needed
I just baked my first loaves of sourdough bread using Nancy Silverton's starter method. It turned out very nice and I could taste the sourness of the bread. The crumb was very open, which really pleased me, being a beginning baker. However, when the loaves went into the oven, the bottoms of the loaves s... | seams
You didn't close the seams tightly enough! and when the bread starts rising super fast in that heat of the oven, it starts expanding and the first place it explodes is at the weak surfaces, like the seams at the bottom, and the slashes on the top! Did you give nice deep slashes to the bread? Also make sure that t... |
Question about my Starter
Hello: I'm very new to breadmaking. I've never been much of a fan of direct method baked breads and the breads that I like, I didn't think were possible to make. Purely by accident, I found Julia Child's PBS series online and I was hooked. I bought a ton of books, read them, then went online i... | Re: Starter questions
Since you are using more flour and now have a thicker starter you won't really have froth, but more like thicker bubbles on top. That is normal. As for the activity slowing down, how are you feeding it? It is highly important that you dump out most of the old starter before feeding it. If you don... |
Columbia Essential loaf, photo inspired by mountaindog
After making the dough for the Columbia Essential sourdough loaf (in Maggie Glazer's Artisan Baking) on Sunday and fermenting it in the fridge overnight, I put it in the oven Monday morning and ended up with this: I was inspired to take the picture on my deck by mo... | nice picture, but you have any higher resolution?
Hi pseudobaker,It looks like a nice photo, but the resolution is low, so I can't really see it very well. Any chance you could post it at a little higher resolution? I'm curious to see the crumb and the stripes more clearly.Thanks, Bill |
sourdough starter help me please!
salutations everyone. as you may have guessed i am pretty new to this forum (this being my first post ever) and to baking. i've been on a baking spree this past week, i've been succesfull with pita bread and bagels. anyway, four days ago i decided to be brave and try to grow a sourd... | samuel
Hello pompeii,You are doing great. It's normal to get a lot of activity on th 2.nd -3rd day and then die back down/This first activity is actually not yeast but bacterial activity. Don't worry, it's absolutely normal. Mine took 8 days to start showing anything. Just be patient and keep feeding Samuel.Let us know... |
Taste the Difference
I've been maintaining both white and rye starters for about a year now. Probably because we're snowed in, I decided to see if I could really taste the difference between my SD and active yeast. Afterall, I don't really save money by maintaiing a SD starter, particularly when I can buy active yea... | Interesting idea. Thanks
Interesting idea. Thanks for the post. |
How to upload pics to the Gallery
The subject pretty much says it all. I checked the faq. Can anyone help?
Ron | The answer is
The answer is here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/2070 I agree though - this subject needs to be added into the FAQ because it comes up almost daily. Floyd or I should find some time to do this soon - we've been very busy with a birthday for the little one this week. |
help for overproofed loaves?
For about the past 2-3 weeks, it seems that my Thom Leonard boules, which I have made every week since about November, are suddenly coming out overproofed even though I have not changed my technique: as soon as the loaves are slashed on the peel and hit the hot oven stone, they collapse and... | changing factors
Since you've made them every week for months and they just changed now, I'd have to go with the flour, since that sounds like the only factor that's different. I wonder if the organic flour is a little more variable? Not to suggest it's a problem, but I was just wondering if the pool of contributers... |
Overnight in the fridge? Bulk Fermentation or Final Proofing
Which would people prefer? To engineer a schedule so that the bulk fermentation took place overnight or so that the final proofing was completed overnight? It has to be one or the other? Which is perferred and why? | It doesn't. What has to be is
It doesn't. What has to be is something that fits the schedule, and that's just working the fundamentals to whatever advantage you want. Enjoy! |
Have Starter but now what...
I have the Starter from SourdoLady and her recipe and am ready to go with my first Sourdough Loaf but do not know how to go from the 1/4 : 1/4; 1/4 (flour, water, starter )to the next step of one full cup of Starter. Should I just have the next batch be....1/2, 1/2,1/2? How does one expand ... | feeding
If I have a cup of starter I generally feed it a cup of flour and a little less than a cup of water - so about equal all around. See about how much you have and put in the same amount of flour, would be my suggestion. Every day before I feed my starter I dump off all but about a cup, except some days I don't an... |
whole wheat starter question
I recently converted part of my white flour starter to whole wheat, and it seemed to be doing just fine. I'm trying to increase it to make JMonkey's whole wheat bread, which requires a lot of starter. I had 200 g. of starter, so I fed it 200 g. of water and 400 g of wheat flour hoping t... | I would add some more water,
I would add some more water, like 50 g.I have a pure whole wheat starter, whole wheat from the beginning and it is very volatile, it blows the lids off containers almost everyday. What type of whole wheat are you using? I have both soft and hard WW, and the hard is the best for SD as the so... |
SourdoLady's Deluxe Sourdough Recipe
For the record, I believe SourdoLady walks on water, as well as makes bread. So thanks as always. However, I have a question, as a Novice, that I am puzzled by. Your Deluxe Sourdough Recipe is for 2 loaves I believe, but I only got one loaf from it. In your posting of January 10... | Re: Deluxe Sourdough Bread
CountryBoy, you are hilarious! Yes, I definitely do get two loaves out of the recipe. I have never weighed them, but I have one that is whole right now that I could weigh. They aren't huge loaves but they aren't tiny either. I always do free-form loaves and shape like a batard. Maybe I'll tak... |
Starter, oh bother!
I used most of my rye starter the other day. As I often do, I left it on the counter and forgot about it. When I looked at it, it was so sad. Scummy stuff on top. Yuk. I put as much as I could into another container and put 50/50+ flour/water (remember I'm at over 6K altitude). Cross your fing... | I think you'll be ok...
Steph: First let me say I've enjoyed reading all you posts! I was watching a short video over at Breadtopia yesterday. It was on maintaining starter. He had starters in 3 different stages and one was in very sad condition. He said they're pretty hardy and he was able to bring the sad one back to... |
Success, I think
I preheated at 500, put my bread in for 15 minutes, then lowered the temp to 450 for 350. Temp read 200. Yippee! However, the crust is browner than I would have liked. What say you all? | Steph - looks great! taste?
How did they taste? Looks to me like you've got it down now...we like our bread nice and brown and crusty here...how did the crumb come out? |
Feeding the Bell Curve
My starter was supposed to be fed on the second day but it was flat after less than a day. I decided it had done exceptionally well up to this point and it had peaked and was going into its flat production from what I was seeing. So, it was too thin and I divided it for safey sake and fed more f... | Thanks Val
I have operated on intuition for some time. I measure two things when cooking my bread recipes - water and salt. All other items can take care of themselves. I always just grab flour and kneed until it feels right. I have already determined the water I need for a two inch over the top of the pan loaf, at 360... |
HELP - Starter losts its oomph (with pics)
My starter lost its oomph. Remember, when I was using AP bleached flour it would double, but not stay that way. Once I changed to bread flour it got back to normal. I used it two days ago, but when I fed it yesterday, then again today, it hasn't gone anywhere. It's bubblin... | what timing, temperature, feeding ratio, flour types?
Steph,I'm running away to the Caribbean for a week starting shortly (should be packing, but procrastinating badly instead) and probably won't get a chance to respond, but I'm guessing most anyone who wants to help would ask the following:1) How long between each of ... |
German Sourdough Bread
Luber posted a recipe for a German sourdough bread and I find it interesting. #1 If anyone can tell me about clear flour I would love to learn and also 2)German sourdough and recipes as well. My experience in this forum is that most people are very focused on French and Italian breads but that ... | It was interesting
but did not say that much. Thanks...... |
Well, we'll see how these go...
I didn't bother with pics from my last failure. I cut one open and tossed the whole lot in the trash.These were not as wet as the last attempt. Folding was alot easier, but shaping sucked. As you can see, as they rose a bit, they began to touch. Oh well. One thing I learned is not t... | Update - latest attempt
Looking good so far. However, at the point of connection (remember they became joined as they rose?) was raw. I disconnected the two, turned them, and left them in there for another ten minutes. I left them in for another five minutes. Just now they both read low 190s F. I put them back in ... |
Too funny
At baking911.com there is a troubleshooting section. One of the problems listed is 'large holes.' I find it funny since everyone here, as far as I can tell, want large holes, or somewhat large. It says the problem is underkneading or over rising. The remedy is thorough kneading. Anyway, thought I'd share... | I guess it depends...
Steph,I like to make a whole wheat round loaf kind of like the BBA miche recipe as a sandwich bread or for "melts" where I put some ham and cheese on and toast it. In that particular case, it's nice not to have a lot of great big holes in it, at least I prefer not to have such big holes. However, ... |
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