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Healthy starter yet dough doesn't rise Hello I new here but baking sourdough for quite some time I have a new starter about 2 weeks old, it rises 2-3 time is original volume in abou 6-8 hours depending on the inoculation ratio Im Im adding it to the dough after an autolyse, kneading for 5 min rest 20 and adding the sal...	It can take about two months It can take about two months before the starter reach its full potential. So two weeks is very young. I guess it needs to develop more yeast. It would help if you can keeping it a bit warmer in the first week(s).
Day 2 sourdough starter Hicomplete novice on the sourdough starter. I tried the Paul Hollywood starter and it was great up til day three and then died a screaming messy stinky death.i have restarted (pun not intended) using a 1 tablespoon whole meal, 1 tablespoon white, 2 tablespoons of water method and I am on day 2.s...	The first one was must likely The first one was must likely not dead. The first action you see are just the first of a chain of bacteria that leads to the good stuff. The lower the ph other then other bacteria that lower the ph even more start to grow until it is low enough to get the yeast started. There is a lot of i...
Why do some recipes use a levain instead of pure starter? I'm new to sourdough and I see some recipes use levains and some use straight starter. Why is that? Seems to me that when a levain is used its really just feeding the starter to make it larger like I'd do during a regular starter feeding. If there's a recipe tha...	From a yeast biologist... My answer comes more from microbiology than baking knowledge. The microflora in refrigerated starter have likely reached a sort of equilibrium: they've chewed through much of the food source provided to them, expelled all kinds of waste products, and killed off or outgrown each other to some e...
100% Whole Grain Sourdough Help Super new to baking but pretty hellbent on only using whole grains. Been using locally milled, stone ground, white Sonora flour 86% hydration. Getting all kinds of good rise on the bulk ferment and stretch and folds but it kinda starts to go south when I pre form the loaf (pictured) and...	Not an easy starting grain I think white sonora is considered a soft wheat ( not particularly high gluten), so it has to be handled to accomodate that. That dough looks over fermented. Advice-1) make sure your starter is ‘young’ and not too acidic, meaning use before it peaks2) much less water - 75% should work ( a few...
What's wrong with my dough? Here is the recipe: 100g starter (100% hydration), 350g bread flour, 150g ww flour, 375g water, 8g salt. Since I could not find any ww flour, I use a total 500g bread flour and reduce 60g water. It turned out super sticky so I gave it additional 200g of bread flour and there is it, stick to ...	1st question how old is your 1st question how old is your starter? how have you been feeding your starter? how often? does it live in the fridge? to me (and I'm a bit of a newb) it looks like it is possibly proteolytic which means it's eating all the gluten instead of just eating the starch.
Dense sourdough. Have not been able to get open crumbs. Hi,I'm new here. Have been experimenting with sourdough for the past few months but my sourdough always seem to come out dense. There are holes that shows rise.My starter has bubbles in it which shows it is awake.I use the folding method. Fold 4-5times, 30mins int...	what is your starter like? what is your starter like? how are you maintaining it?
Not another post about sourdough starters...! Hi fellow bakers,I have been lurking on this site for a few days now but figured it's time to make an account as I'm not going to find the answers I'm looking for by constantly Googling 'why does my starter...<insert search term>'. I, like many other, new to the world of so...	Your Starter Looks Good That is what a nice starter looks like from the top. It looks ready for baking. The smell is supposed to be strong, and people's noses differ as do their descriptions of the odor. Are you ready to bake?Happy starter building and baking -- and stay safe.Ted
Same ? As everyone else I feel. Problem w starter??? Ok. Im on day 5 of feeding my starter and it is doing NOTHING. No bubbles. Obviously mo rise than. Room temp stays at 71-74. Im trying ( for the first time and Im a very novice baker) to do Robertson’s Country bread. I have done everything according to his recipe on ...	I am also brand new, so I'm I am also brand new, so I'm not going to try to answer your questions. However I suggest you read these excellent articles that will help you understand better what is going on in your culture. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10856/pineapple-juice-solution-part-1 http://www.thefreshloaf.co...
Starters with fruit fermentation vs just flour starters Hi,I want to make a sourdough starter and I'm currently looking around for the recipe I want to follow. There are some which use fermenting fruits such as grapes, apples, etc. others use just flour.What are the differences between the two? Will the fruit starters ...	A sourdough starter is just Flour + Water + TimeSome add catalysts such as pineapple juice or grape skins etc. But what is fermenting is the flour! and this is the starter.Once the starter is made, however you choose to make one, the finished starter will be a flour + water. The added "catalysts" are just to help make ...
Thinner Crust I've used several different recipes in making sourdough bread. Teresa Greenway. Patrick Ryan. Others.I've always been happy with the crumb and the texture. And the flavor has always been good.My only complaint is that the crust is always too hard and thick. I've used several baking methods. Cast iron pots...	Here’s One 5E1E3688-D213-4408-899E-532AC8F2D5A4.jpeg This recipe gave me a really nice crispy thin crust, when I baked it, last week. It was the first time I used this particular recipe, for sourdough. I have no idea why I neglected to bake the basic sourdough, for so long. I guess I was so excited to try ou...
Building up my starte I've was given a small amount of SF starter on Saturday (24g) I've split it in two giving me two lots of 12. I give it its first feed on Sunday but I'm wondering where to go now? I now have two 36 grams of starter.I have an idea of the basics: after the culture is alive take out X grams and repla...	How often to feed and when depends a lot on the room temperature. You're in Ireland so it must be rather cool part of the day. Any specifics?The starter is getting a 1-1-1 ratio feeding which might be too litte food (flour) to feed every 24 hours. Taste it and then spit it out. What do you notice? What kind of schedu...
Looking for additions to my sourdough bread So I am now getting to the point where I can consistently make a good loaf of sourdough with just flour water salt and starter. I absolutely LOVE this simple bread, but I'm looking to branch out and incorporate other ingredients into my loaves (stuff like fats, nuts, oats, fr...	Walnuts & whole wheat is a Walnuts & whole wheat is a classic and one of my favorites.Hamelman's 5-grain levain is delicious and is well-documented, having been a community bake: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/59038/community-bake-hamelmans-fivegrain-levainOat porridge was also a good one: http://www.thefreshloaf.com...
Decent holes and rise but gummy crumb Hi all,I hope someone can help me out with this as I am at a loss. I'm very new to baking, I just made my third sourdough loaf after one very failed one and a second decent one. Both 2nd and 3rd rised and baked really nicely, but the crumb is soft and gummy. Not raw at all - but it...	Your loaf seems to be Your loaf seems to be properly fermented, so fermentation times seem to be accurate.My only guess for the flat profile is not enough strength in the gluten bonds. That would also explain why your razor blade gets stuck. Since you kneaded your dough enough, I guess the lack of strength comes from t...
Enforced Starter Change and Effects on Dough Hi all,Due to everyone in England all of a sudden deciding they're a baker, I've had to change the flour for my starter due to availability. I've moved from a whole rye to wholemeal starter, gradually changing between the two over a number of feeds. Not ideal, but okay.Since...	Ned, I would think just the Ned, I would think just the opposite. Rye lacks the proper gluten so the starter should not be expected to bring any strength (gluten network) to the dough. Whole Meal, which I interpret Whole Wheat does bring gluten to the dough. I would expect the dough with the rye starter to be slightly ...
Sandwich tins Hi all- I am going to bake a sourdough sandwich loaf this week, and wondering if anyone has baked their sandwich loaves with an empty tin inverted on top to provide a cover? I use a Dutch oven with a lid to generate steam for my boules. Will this work for sandwich tins? Thanks!	Didn't work for me The seal wasn't that good and the oven spring hit the upper pan on the edges and looked bad. Now I put the tin on the bottom rack and pour boiling water in a sheet pan on the top rack. YRMV
Over or underdeveloped? Uneven crumb, PLEASE HELP! Hey Gang,Ok, so (like many others right now) I need your help. I can't figure out my crumb of late... There are huge holes/uneven crumb and I suspect I might be over/under developing my dough. I've been baking sourdough for years now, and have been generally been happy...	You have a high hydration You have a high hydration dough so I think it looks as is to be expected. 78% water and if the starter is 100% hydrated you total will if a calculate it right gives 80% hydration dough. BTW I think it looks like a great loaf to me.
First Loaves with New Starter 20200426_192927.jpg I do not have a dutch oven, is this necessary to achieve a darker crust? I am happy with the holes and texture, taste was not too overpowering in the sour aspect. Any tips would be great. Baked off 2 loaves. Questions: Does anyone have a sourdough starter ...	Dutch oven isn't necessary, Dutch oven isn't necessary, turn up the heat a little or bake longer. If you're creating steam somehow, only use it for the first 15 or so minutes. So far it's good so keep going!
Heretic Sourdough I'm starting a new all-rye sourdough starter... but using some modern conveniences. It can take some time to get a starter populated with a healthy lactobaccilli population. But, there are several labs that supply home (and commercial) brewers with liquid slants of yeat and/or various other bacteria.T...	I am afraid that you see the commercial yeast growing, which will not survive in the sourdough starter (therefore useless and will not make it anyway). Reference: Investigations of wheat sourdough found that S. cerevisiae died off after two refreshment cycles.[57] S. cerevisiae has less tolerance to acetic acid than ot...
Chewy crust PLEASE HELP Hello! I hope you are staying safe and health in these crazy times.I’m new to the world of sourdough, so I don’t know if my results are any good. This is my second attempt. I found the crumb to be so fluffy, but the crust lost its crispiness as it cooled so it became chewy.	When you finished baking turn When you finished baking turn of the oven open the door and leave the loaf in for about 20 minutes.The let it cool on a rack. I am using one from y microwave. 8F00FAA3-7801-4A50-AAFD-5872C6F389B4.jpeg
Starter Finally Doubling Day 8 and my sourdough starter is finally doubling in size, fed last night around 7pm and it doubled in a few hours, this morning was deflated/degassed (guessing normal?) and fed around 11a,, in about 2 hours it has almost doubled in size again. Is now the time to do the 'float test' and refri...	People usually do the float People usually do the float test before they make use of their starter---passing the float test is meant to indicate that your starter is presently active enough to make good bread in a reasonable amount of time. If you put it in the fridge, then it will become less active, and you may need ...
Is this normal? Hi all,I am new to sourdough starters. I decided to try one from scratch that called for 100g bread flour with 100g filtered water. Leave on counter, with feeding each day and then moving to fridge. The first time I put out together it was looking good, day 3 the smell was sour, I had flashback to wh...	Just mix it in the starter Just mix it in the starter and then feed. Mine starter had the same on day 2 or 3.
dense bottom of the loaf. This is not such an issue with commercial yeasted doughs.The bottom of my SD boules tends to be denser than the rest of the loaf.I have observed this across a wide spectrum of hydrations from 65% to 86%. I bake on a thick (3/8") piece of jig plate aluminum that fills the rack. I start at 450...	What I didn't say was that in What I didn't say was that in the past, I did my final rise on a cold granite counter. This produced a very dense bottom..I am going to bake again tomorrow. I think I should try three things.1) more heat from the bottom while doing the final proof.2) This one is a real shot in the dark: I...
Does Curry Powder Impact Fermentation? Good evening,I usually bake a levain recipe for curry Sourdough that delivers an open crumb and is rather predictable in terms of fermentation and proofing. The curry powder content is 2% (baker’s percentage).My son loves curry and suggested that I added extra curry powder to the...	If the curry has cinnamon it might I'm no master baker but if your curry powder has cinnamon or other tree bark spices they can slow fermentation. I've definitely read this in Hamelman's bread, but I can't find the quote right now.
Small batch recipes Hey all-Sourdough newbie here. :) I have a fairly sturdy starter going and want to graduate from KAF's "Rustic Sourdough" (which uses a little commercial yeast as an insurance policy) to a real SD recipe.My issue is that a lot of recipes require a fair amount of flour (say, 350g), and I really just ...	I think 350 will work just I think 350 will work just fine. You can use this tool to scale any recipe up or down. https://foodgeek.dk/en/bread-calculator/
day 3 starter, super active Hi, am on day 3, which I planned first 12 hour feeds. I fed at 7:30. Its filled a half full mason jar, so I dumped a third and it filled it again. Smells like I had real yeast in there, its like a sponge, none of the mentioned bubbles, day 3 can it possibly be ready so soon? Its only 2 pm, s...	You can often see a surge of You can often see a surge of activity on day 3. I would keep going as per your planned schedule. You need more days to get some stability so that you can see a predictable rise and fall of your starter.
ratio of starter to flour - simple formula is there a simple formula for this?I generally use about 200g of 100% hydration starter for roughly 600g flour and it mostly seems to work but I wonder what differences would occur if I used a lot less or a lot more starter. I don't really understand the rules and if there ar...	General, and I mean really General, and I mean really general, is the more starter, the quicker the rise. So if you want a long fermentation time to develop flavor, you can use a very low percentage of starter . The loaf I did yesterday was 12 grams of starter ( 6 flour 6 water ) to 450 grams of flour. You can also...
Last rise in fridge went to far? Howdy. I put my loaf in the fridge last night for the last rise before baking. I’m worried It rose too much and may be falling. There are small wrinkles on part of the sides. HOw does one tell when to bake? What will happen if it is beginning to fall and I bake it? Should I stretch ...	Rise to far? I guess not! E1AB91CE-9B2C-422F-853E-BC73BDEC6033.jpeg
When is it time to refrigerate? When is it time to put the starter in the fridge? After it passes 'float' test-or is this just for baking purposes? Once it's in the fridge is there anything special I need to do besides feeding it once a week?Do I continue with discarding a portion and then feeding what's left 1x a week...	I'm pretty new to this myself I'm pretty new to this myself but I've never bothered with the float test, I just noticed when it was doubling in size and then dropping back. About 8 days from beginning my starter I think in a house at 20 celsius seemed to do the job for me although I saw next to nothing for the first fe...
Starter smell when stirred I'd like to start off by giving everyone on TFL a huge thanks for their friendliness and advice. I'm a novice baker at best, and a community such as this provides an invaluable trove of knowledge for anyone like me :)I have a novice question about a starter's scent. I created a 2.5-week old s...	When ripe, it can knock your socks off! Especially if you take a good whiff! Vinegary over ripe fruit perhaps?
First Sourdough -Like a Brick What with the lockdown I finally had time to make a sourdough loaf:I used the formula for Vermont Sourdough from Hamelman's "Bread." I followed his formula for Liquid Levain using whole rye flour from Grist and Toll in Pasadena, Calif. and Kroger unbleached All-Purpose flour. (That's all I...	Under proofed or not enough activity from your starter would be my guess, you do seem to have had good oven spring, the big holes and the shape of them make me wonder also did you score or bake seam side up? How tight was the shaping? Next time do a starter float test - put a bit of starter in some room temp water, if ...
How to best achieve soft crumb? After some experimentation I baked what I consider a good enough sourdough. The recipe is as follows:My starter consists of 100% rye and the flour for the dough is a mix of bread flour, All Purpose (AP) flour and rye I begin with 15g starter which I feed with 30g AP flour and 30 ml water...	If you want softer crust, If you want softer crust, fats are your friend. They are known as tenderizers, so they make crust (and crumb) softer and more delicate. You could replace part of the water with milk, add butter or oil etc. etc. Otherwise you could bake it less or at a lower temperature or store in a place with...
slashing and proving question Hello, I'm reasonably happy with my baguettes made with about a 75% hydration strong flour.But a few things niggle me. The baguette never have these wonderful 'ears' on them. The slashes I make form pretty patterns but not much else. I wonder why this is. I have tried slashing much deeper ...	This should help: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/handbook/scoringPaul
Community Bake - The Approachable Loaf by The Bread Lab As of late there has been interest on the forum about an organization called, "The Bread Lab". It is an extension of Washington State University with a laser focus on wheat, people who process the wheat, bakers that work with the wheat, and consumers that eat the ...	Guest Bakers that are Dropping In to Comment The Bread Lab Janine with The Bread Lab has been generous with her time. She works closely with Dr. Stephen Jones who is in charge of The Bread Lab. It is an extension of Washington State University with a laser focus on wheat, people who process the wheat, bakers that work...
Refrigerated proofing I'm new to sourdough baking, I've only baked one loaf so far (and it was successful), and a couple batches of pizza dough.I've seen a number of people who have recommended refrigerating the dough after the dough has been shaped and placed in a proofing basket. What I'm confused about is whether af...	Either / or. It can go either way. If you let it sit out, that just adds to the total proofing time.The banneton and any covering material (plastic wrap, towel, bag) will serve to insulate the dough mass and slow it from coming up to room temperature, compared to letting it sit "naked.". But, to whatever degree it do...
some various starter questions I bought my starter at a health food store. it's local. the first loaf i made with it after a month or so of feeding it was definitely a first attempt but ok. after that they started having this gummy core. after doing some reading I believe I've turned my starter proteolytic. my theory ...	If you have rehydrated a dry starter dont forget to feed it. Maybe it helps to think of the dried starter as a conditioner for a new start. Combine the wet starter with equal weights of AP wheat flour and enough water to make a toothpaste like consistency. Let it sit in a warmish spot 75° - 77° F Or 23° - 26°C an...
Sourdough not rising Hello - my sourdough isn't rising. The texture and taste is great but it expands outwards rather than inwards. Here's what I'm doing:1. 400g flour, 320g water - autolyze for 45 mins 2. Add 160g of levain3. Mix - it definitely feels very wet at this point but I keep going4. Let rise for 3hrs. It ris...	A few Q's What flour is in the dough?If rye, then 83% water in the dough is about right. If not rye, then yes, it could very well be there is too much water in the dough. (400g H2O/ 480g flour = 0,83 ...x 100 = 83% hydration). How much salt is in the dough?Are any "stretch &fold" steps added during the bulk rise to...
Central Milling High Mountain vs Artisan Bakers Craft So I happen to have a hefty amount on hand of both of these flours...Which would be better as the main component in a sourdough loaf?	I be not used bakers craft, I be not used bakers craft, though just started with high mountain. Holy cow it’s a strong flour. Sometimes perhaps too strong. I’ve been blending it down with 25% AP for some breads to better match the feel and characteristics of KA org BF which I’d been using previously. I’m having fun wit...
Forkish starter showing no life on Day 5 Hello all,Please forgive me (and point me in the right direction) if this has been covered previously.I'm making (trying to make) a starter according to the directions in "Flour Water Salt Yeast".The starter went as described at first, but now is showing no signs of life. On day...	Just keep going. Be patient.
Help with Crumb Hi all. Hope everyone is doing ok in these crazy times. I’ve been baking sourdough now for close to a year and but I’m still seeking that beautiful crumb I see on so many videos and photos out there. I’ve been experimenting with different hydrations, shaping bulk ferment times etc but have not been able...	open crumb Do a search on this site for Community Bake featuring Kristen of Fullproof baking. Many people were able to achieve what you are looking for using her methods for high hydration.
How do I tell if my malt syrup is diastatic? I'm trying to find diastatic malt to make a sourdough starter. All I could find in a store is Eden Organic's barley malt: traditional malt syrup. I've found conflicting sources online indicating malt syrup is or is not diastatic. The recipe for barm sponge starter in "Crust ...	simply as i can getMalt can simply as i can getMalt can be diastatic or non-diastatic. Non-diastatic is simply added as a sweetener, diastatic malt breaks down the starch in dough to yield sugars on which the yeast can feed. Having some around in long fermented breads is very important.put some of your malt in a yeast...
Any advice on these starter photos please? I’m relatively new to sourdough baking apart from a brief stint a few years back. Anyway a friend recently gave me a small starter which I think was 100% hydration, and I’ve been maintaining it at that level. Baked one loaf from it so far which was ok, although I inadvertently...	Starters Hi! I’m quite new to sourdoughs as well, eventually got a starter going mid last year after 2 or 3 attempts. One major problem I had was the room temp was just too hot... Qld, Australia- my kitchen is about 30’C+ most of the year. I can’t offer too much advice on sourdoughs in general but after some advice giv...
Starter failing the float test Hi again, after taking the advice of some lovely people on here my starter is doubling nicely but when trying the float test it automatically sinks. Any advice?	Easy. Ditch the float test. You can see that the starter has more than doubled and is full of bubbles. That's confirmation that the starter is ready to work with.Paul
Did I do it right? My sourdough starter is 3 weeks old now and since day 2 it hadn't shown any activities but some bubbles on top. I fed it with a 1:1:1 ratio with bread flour and spring water since I could not find any whole wheat flour or rye. 2 days ago I decided to feed it with pineapple juice and finally it has sh...	I think your starter is ready I think your starter is ready when it's reliably doubling within 4-6 hours (at warm temps) – not using pineapple juice.I'd go back to feeding it with water if I were you
Difficulty mixing in starter/salt after autolyse - advice? I've always done an autolyse (about 40 minutes of flour+water only, no salt or starter) in my sourdough process. I hold back ~50ml of water from the initial mix and add it after the autolyse to make the mixing in of water+starter easier. This is a technique I f...	I use a modified version of I use a modified version of this where I pinch and squeeze. It does take a bit of time as you mentioned, but seems to incorporate well.https://youtu.be/HoY7CPw0E1s
pure Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis culture, Anyone please ? Sourdough 101: What is the major goal of dough fermentation ?, - The Complete of digestion/breakdown of all the Gluten in flour, and pre-digestion of other proteins(this way, there are no allergenic reactions or blockage of opiate-receptors by gluten), Anti...	I admit I didn't understand I admit I didn't understand most of your post, but have sent you an email about sending some culture.
KAF sourdough crumpets There are some old threads here asking what to do with discarded starter; rather than revive them, I just thought I'd say that I tried out King Arthur Flour's Sourdough Crumpets recipe and it is love!They're quick to make and the recipe uses a full cup of discard--and, maybe more importantly, it ...	Great idea! Thanks for the Great idea! Thanks for the reminder...
Left starter out of fridge without feeding for 5 days Hi, I started my sourdough starter around 2 weeks ago now, discarding half every day and adding 150g strong white flour and 150ml tepid tap water daily for maybe 8 days. It was looking pretty good so I made my first loaf on Sunday. It was pretty good, however I don'...	Feed and Carry On You will find that starter is pretty resilient. Feed your starter and nurture it back to a regular pattern.If you do not have a good thermometer (Google "Thermapen" to see what I have), it is worth the investment. I always check the internal temperature of my loaves and leave them in until I see som...
Fermentation bowl? Is this a thing? I just do my bulk fermentation / stretch and folds in the mixing bowl. Should I be transferring it to a different bowl?Also, apologies for the silly question, but I use the plastic lid that came with my Pyrex mixing bowl set instead of the cling on wrap that everyone else seems to be...	No need to overcomplicate it! I mix and bulk in the same container, DD. What you cover it with doesn't matter, as long as you cover it (I cover mine with a lid, a kitchen towel, a plate, whatever. :)I'm lazy, and don't like cleaning more things than I have to, so I just never saw the need to transfer to a clean bowl f...
Need help - Huge newbie FAILURE Just getting into bread baking in general and sourdough in particular. So far I’ve made 4 loaves that came out pretty good (at least as far as I can tell), including one that was pretty much the same recipe as the disaster that I will now describe.Yesterday I had a monumental failure wit...	If those numbers are accurate If those numbers are accurate, you've got way too much water. Sound like it's about 1100 flour and about 950 water. Try keeping the water to 65 or 70% of the total flour amount. Also, it will need more time to develope gluten. Reduce the starter amount and leave it overnight (like 12 hrs o...
Flouring the work surface Do you flour your work surface before you dump the dough on the counter after bulk fermentation?I find it almost impossible to flip it with a dry surface.	I don't because I find that I don't because I find that it screws up my shaping; after dumping the dough I use a dough scraper to shift it around.Couldn't be without my dough scraper.
The No-choice, bleached AP sourdough experiment Bleached (gasp!) AP flour sourdough - making dough with what you got.(First time poster here - you are all a great resource!)Our COVID-19 stay-at-home experience has affected us all in a number of different ways. One of the less important, though very common things many ...	That is a beautiful looking That is a beautiful looking loaf. I too am in CO and all I can find is the Costco flour (I think I got mine for $6, so dirt cheap), and am planning on tackling this over the weekend. Thanks for giving me hope.
First Sourdough loaf I have just made my first sourdough loaf, and the crust is very thick and hard and the bread very dense it even looks as if it could cook longer. What have I done wrong, the flavour is very good though.?	Not bad for your first SD Not bad for your first SD bread.We’ll need much more info in order to help. Post a crumb shot, the recipe, and the method used for this loaf. As important as anything else, let us know the approximate temperature in your kitchen.Also, let us know everything you can about your starter.Dan
Crumb Hi there! I have been baking the Norwich Sourdough from the Wild Yeast Blog almost exclusively for the past few years. It is my go-to sourdough. I have a question about crumb. My bread always tastes good and has a good texture, but the holes in the bread are always so much more dense at the bottom than the top. I...	Baking uneven It looks like the stone or dutch oven you used is not hot enough. The bottom crust should be much darker and the crumb should flow more upwards from the bottom. Perhaps the dough was chilled unevenly and the proof was affected.
Adding bran and germ I have white bread flour, but no whole wheat. I have bran and wheat germ. How do I add this to my flour to add some of the body missing by not having whole wheat? I will be doing a variation of the Jim Sullivan 18-hr rise no knead bread. Thanks	83-14-3 Whole wheat is, by weight, 83% endosperm, 14% bran, 3% germ.as per graphic here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/comment/448703#comment-448703
Does different feeding ratios matter? Currently, I'm feeding my starter with a 1:3:3 ratio with 20g of starter and 60g of bread flour and 60g of water. It's doubling in about 6 hours. When I fed with a 1:1:1 ratio, it peaked in around 3 hours. Is it better to feed with a higher ratio of starter to flour or is it the sa...	Up to you, but with 1:1:1 you Up to you, but with 1:1:1 you will have to refresh it very often!
Is it time to restart..? This is my first time making a starter and I’m pretty sure I’ve either killed it or it hit its peak a long time ago. I’ve started it over 2 weeks ago. At first it was rising and producing a lot of bubbles on top, but now it does pretty much nothing. Barely any bubbles after feeding and it doesn...	Condolences ;-) I think your starter might indeed be 'toast' if you started it over two weeks ago and you've got no bubbles and no rise. I wouldn't bother with a float test without evidence of a lot of bubbles and increased volume either. I had attempted to create a sourdough starter multiple times in the past, with ...
Baking without preferments. "Be Bold, Start Cold" 1st attempt. Tips? Hello, My first post. Been doing lots of reading on TFL, and a bit of baking. I joined the Great Global Isolation Baking show, and am now making some delicious, albeit "beginner" sourdough loaves. I've tried some various recipes, trying to follow them...	Yikes Lets see if we can't get a better photo, shall we?
Setting bottom heat higher than top heat in deck oven? (jimbtv setting) Hello fellow bakers, I'm fairly new to baking sourdough in a deck oven. As I scroll through posts on the fresh loaf, I found 2 very interesting topics with comments from Jimbtv on Dec 2017 regarding his new deck oven: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/n...	Sorry, don't have a deck oven Sorry, don't have a deck oven, but what some TFL bakers (myself included) have found with their domestic ovens is that if you keep the hydration below 75% you can keep the oven temperature at 240/250C; if you go up to 80% hydration then 250C gives you poor ears and you really need to bake ...
Adjusting starter percentages I've always used the fridge to retard my dough, either in the bulk or after shaping; the dough will easily double overnight, despite the fridge being at a reasonably low setting. I've been doing this for years,Last week I needed a loaf at short notice so made made the loaf in one day - fe...	Your prefermented flour is Your prefermented flour is actually 14.3%. You forgot to add the 75g of starter flour to your bread flours.You refrigerator must be warmer than you think. @39F or below the dough shouldn’t rise at all or just barely.Try this. Put a glass of water in the fridge near the spot where your dough i...
Sediment at the bottom of my sourdough starter? So a couple things actually and would love advice on any of them! I started my started about 9 days ago and now feed it twice a day. There's always a lot of activity and it doubles in size pretty quickly and then deflates. Is this fine or should it stay slightly risen? It...	Is your starter equal weights Is your starter equal weights of flour and water? Are you stirring it properly each time you feed? What happens if you now stir up to incorporate the stuff at the bottom? Lots of questions, I know. It looks to me like you are not doing anything wrong, but I suspect you may be feeding it a ...
HELP! starter and levain advice needed Hi, when making a levain from my mother starter is it better to use a 1:1:1 ratio (starter:flour:water) or a 1:2:2 ratio. I feed my mother starter in a 1:1:1 ratio.Any advice is appreciated	Just depends when you want it Just depends when you want it to be ready...mix in the morning and use a few hours later? 1:1:1. Overnight feed, use the next day? 1:2:2.
New Flour/ Changed Variables/ Gluten Degradation Hey Folks,I'm a self taught (forums and books) baker with a small bakery and pizza joint. I've run into an issue with gluten degradation, and lack the expertise to figure it out. I did some searching and found some posts regarding proteolytic starter...but I also found a...	I can't figure out how to I can't figure out how to upload an image and have it sized correctly (I'm not that savvy, apparently).Here is an imgur link to what the loaves normally look like. https://imgur.com/gallery/UHDgDSA Today's bake was a third of the volume, if I'm being generous.
Rise on sourdough loaf? Hello all, I'm having some issues with rise on my attempts at sourdough loaves. I'm pulling my starter out, adding water then flour, equal parts King Arthur Bread Flour and King Arthur All Purpose. I get it to where it feels like my regular dough does when I make it with dry yeast. Then set it...	Sourdough baking issues Hey BD! Without more specific details about the starter and recipe you are using, including amounts and techniques, it will be hard to help you diagnose what might be going on. I think you will have the best luck following a simple recipe very accurately, making sure you have an active, happy ...
Can you over proof in the fridge? I made my second sour dough loaf and I had both loaves (the recipe makes two) doing the final proof in the fridge for 10 hours. I got tired and decided to wait till the morning. When i got up, my oven wouldn't fully heat, so I was dead in the water. I ended up going to a friend's place...	The answer to can you over The answer to can you over proof sourdough, or any dough - is yes. And a note on terminology. For the most part, proofing refers to the stage after fermentation where the dough is allowed to rise at room temps. And the time up to that stage is referred to as fermentation. Fridge time is consi...
Exact Science? Hello everyone! First time poster and first time keeping a sourdough starter, so I apologize if this is a silly question.I started my starters on Monday, and while they are doing well (I think) the book that I'm learning from has less than precise measurments for discards, which it has suggested i start ...	NOT exact You will find the full range of suggestions on this forum- from weighing accurately to the gram or simply eyeballing about half. There are as many ways of doing it correctly as there are grains of sand on a beach. Stay grounded in the real world. Unless you are completely OCD, you generally do not weigh and m...
Please Advise on 50% Whole Wheat Sourdough Hi, I'm a newbie at sourdough baking. Could someone please advise whether this is under/over proofed? Also, I keep getting 1/4 inch of dense area at the bottom. Could it be because of the final shaping (over-handling)? My recipe is 50/50 Whole Wheat Sourdough from the Perfect ...	It looks under proofed to me. It looks under proofed to me. By the way it opened up on the top of the loaf you can tell it was not over proofed. You wouldn't have gotten that ear on the loaf.
Gluten-free Sourdough Progress I just joined TFL this year and I've already learned so much. I've been tagging along looking at responses to basic questions to figure out some of the technical things I need to know. My goal is to develop some gluten-free sourdough recipes for my blog Gluten-free Gourmand. I've been ...	crust color You do have nice looking loaves. Dried flour eh? Well browning is a Maillard reaction and occurs when humidity drops and temps get over 150°C. Sugar is involved. Is it posible to sweeten, perhaps spray the loaf with a thin mist of honey water before baking? Reduce the humidity near the crust, have you ...
Jimbtv? New Oven = Outrageous Oven Spring Hey Jim, for the multitudes that will never have the type of commercial oven that you just acquired, I have a question. What have you learned from this oven that you didn’t know before about oven spring? I’m hearing that the oven spring is outrageous, much more than you’ve expe...	Doyon and Oven Spring Going back to the basics of hearth baking, the hearth is often heated to in excess of 700 F during the firing period. When a loaf of proofed bread is placed on that hot surface the gases inside the dough expand. We all know that. Hearth ovens usually do not incorporate steam because the rate of ex...
Is it alive? Hi all,Just started a new sourdough starter about 5 days ago using the KA recipe, first time doing one without using pineapple juice etc (usually use my Baker's Apprentice book for that recipe). Consistency is like thick batter, smells slightly tangy and not disgusting at all, I have baked with some of the...	I think so. Mine took about 12 days. I was starting to get anxious but I did see on the king arthur website that it can take up to 2 weeks or so. I was even taking the temperature so I knew that wasn't a problem. In any case it suddenly sprung to life and has produced some really nice loaves!I am getting back into i...
Starting Ken Forkish levain. I could use discarded levain, right? I don't see why I couldn't use the 750, 800, 850 grams or whatever's left to make a poolish or even put in the fridge for use when the rest of the levain's mature. He says in his youtube video about levain that you can store it in the fridge for a month....	Terminology This is neither here nor there but the discard is not discarded "levain". From what I understand you are making a starter and this is the discard from a few days in. a levain is what you make from a viable starter and goes into the dough.I hope you aren't too far in this starter recipe as you can do the sam...
Large holes at top of loaf Hi all,I am having some trouble with my sourdough having large holes at the top.The recipe I am following is:100% strong bread flour78% water17% starter (which is 100% hydration). I have had my starter since November and it is very healthy and active. 2% saltAutolyse flour and water 20 mins. ...	More pictures Screenshot_20200423-003505.png Screenshot_20200423-003530~2.png Screenshot_20200423-003556~2.png Screenshot_20200423-003610~2.png
Starter not rising Hi, I am new to the sourdough world and have just recently started my starter. I have been using the 1:1:1 method feeding twice a day for just over a week now. I’ve seen lots of foamy bubbles on top and bubbles within the mix it’s self but it is not rising at all. I live in the UK so wondered whether...	Change the feeding ratio Instead of 1:1:1, try a 1:2:3 or a 1:3:4 ratio. That will make the mixture more like a dough and less like a batter. It will be able to trap the bubbles that are escaping from the starter now, making it rise.And congratulations on having begun a healthy starter!Paul
Pasta Madre - Kristen I see many peoples' favourite bread Instagrammer is getting heavily and interestingly into pasta madre creation.I have yet to dabble in the dark art, but I'm tempted...And while we're on the topic, how's this for a big one?Lance	confused I am absolutely confused by her comment that it's not sour at all.Everything I've read suggests that these two factors: - low hydration - 64.4F tempshould promote heterofermentative bacteria, meaning a mixture of acetic and lactic acids.Why isn't is sour?
Incorporating nuts effectively Hello fellow bakers, I'm seeking your sharing on how you incorporate your nuts effectively into your dough. I'm currently trying to make some almond and walnuts SD. I toast the nuts then crush them into medium pieces (like break the walnut into 4 pieces); then try to cut them into the dou...	If you wanna incorporate nuts If you wanna incorporate nuts, seeds or anything that might break the gluten structure, add it in the very end of mixing on low speed until just incorporated. That way you prevent at least most damage. I don't think it's that bad if some gluten strands break during your coil folds, as long...
Reviving a starter from fridge Reviving a starter from fridge that is roughly 6 months old, and at the same time it's never really been strong enough to raise bread. I say this because I've used this starter (ischia) probably a dozen times now and have not been getting good oven spring. After reading several very educa...	I’ve had exactly the same I’ve had exactly the same problem, using KA AP and an old starter, and the solution has always been time — both giving it time between ferments and refreshing several times until it gets going. After it’s been dormant in the back of my fridge, I have found it often takes 4 days or so, with 24 ...
What did I do wrong? Hi All, I'm new to the forum, though I've seen quite a few posts here before and I love it. I've been baking for a while at home, bread, pizza, naan, buns etc, and being in lockdown I thought I'd try my hand at sourdough.I followed Patrick Ryan's youtube vid on sourdough, and the starter worked pe...	what did i do wrong The obvious answer is that you deviated from Patrick Ryan's instructions/formulation. I'm assuming you followed the YouTube video, but there is also a text version which you might find easier to follow. Having said that there are elements of variance between the video and the text version, not least...
Clay Cloche Baker It was recommended that I consider getting a clay cloche style bread baker, and I'm looking at this one. When working with the Dutch oven I was told to remove the lid after the first twenty minutes, and this has been excellent advice. So my question with the clay cloche is should I do the same or leav...	First, yes, a clay cloche First, yes, a clay cloche will work like a DO, lid on part ways to encourage oven spring, lid off partways to allow for browings. As to timing, yes, it will be a shorter time to cook because the heat is coming from the outside of the loaf towards the center, and for a big round loaf, that wi...
Sourdough bread with what is in the cupboard OK, I managed to get hold of some wholegrain bread flour, and some light rye flour, we also have a good amount of (UK) plain white flour and some sprouted wholemeal spelt flour. And some gluten free brown bread mix (made one loaf according to the instructions and it was... ...	good luck Gluten-free bread... yeah... no thanks.I'm in the UK too, and bread flour is noticeably absent from the shelves, isn't it.Concerning the plain white flour, check the label... the 'Waitrose essentials" stuff is 10.5% protein, versus the Dutchy Organic white bread flour at 13.5% which is the stuff I normally us...
Closed-crumb areas in an otherwise open-crumb loaf Good evening,First post here (second after my introduction) and I wanted to ask for help from the Community on improving the overall structure of my open-crumb loaves. This is a loaf I baked yesterday: As you can see from the pictures, the outer parts of the loaf feat...	I think your crumb is very I think your crumb is very close to being good. Your though about the heat of your oven sound logical. Ne of the indicators that lead me to think heat issues is the thinness of your crust.Are you using a baking stone?How long do you preheat your oven?What temperature are you baking at?This fi...
Parchment Sticks So my parchment is so stuck to the bottom of my loaf that I will have to completely cut off the bottom to make it edible. I baked it in a Dutch oven.Have you had that problem? Can I spray it? Or butter it? Will that help? Thoughts?	Yes, I have had parchment stick To the bottom of my bread and it is Very Annoying! I stopped using parchment and started oiling and flouring my clay baker instead, which works way better.If I had to use parchment to lower dough into a hot Dutch oven I would oil and flour the parchment before putting the bread on it.
Do I really need to throw it away? My starter is a year or so old. It's rye wholegrain, around 80% hydration. It's a good worker.My last refresh for the first time I didn't change to a new container. Life got a bit busy and I forgot it for 6/7 days. I went back to find a streak of furry white mould on one part of it.I ...	You should be fine. It can You should be fine. It can be tough to start a starter, but many here have abused a starter much more than that, and it still refused to die. Refresh a few times and it will be good to go.
Build levain vs straight from the starter? Hello,I know there are a many different approaches out there on how to incorporate your starter into your final dough. I've read quite a bit but am hoping to find an answer to what the rationale is behind building up a levain before mixing your final dough. Is it done just to ...	Feeding your starter a few Feeding your starter a few hours before using it gets it ready, awake and excited. Think of it as an appetizer for the yeasts before they go to the big buffet.Using a preferment (biga, sponge, poolish) has the same purpose and effect as sourdough starter - flavor, gluten structure etc. But it...
Bleached APF starter Hello bread lovers, I have fallen into quarantine blues and started baking more. I’m used to baking desserts but the most I’ve gotten to making my own bread is when I make cinnamon rolls. My best friend’s birthday is coming up soon and I wanted to bake a fresh loaf of sourdough for her (she’s a nur...	That smell is a sign of a That smell is a sign of a hungry starter that needs food. If you feed it once a day, try 143 - 1 starter, 4 flour, 3 water. This will keep more food available and thicken it up a little. Both should allow it more time between feedings. At this point a new starter will be very hungry so you may...
Troubleshooting dense bread/no rise Hi all,Please help!!I've recently started baking with starter, and have run in to some troubles in my first pure starter loaves (hybrid ones worked well). I've built a starter following Ken Forkish's instructions in FWSY (scaled down to reduce waste), and it is 3 or so weeks old. The...	From your description it From your description it sounds like underproofed dough. Can you give us the recipe so we know what we are dealing with?What I can already tell is that during bulk fermentation the dough doesn't need to double in size when using sourdough starter. Usually ~50-60% increase in size is when it's d...
First time caring for a starter. Hey! Because of quarantine i have so much extra time on my hands that ive decided to care for a sourdough starter. Most of the info ive learnt is from the youtube channel Joshua Weissman and this forum. I have some issues already on day 2 though. Im not entirely sure what a "loose" lid ...	Classic Day 2 growth. You are Classic Day 2 growth. You are not seeing actual yeasts leavening your starter. That is a bacterial thing that happens at the beginning of starter development. Starting now, for a few days it will likely seem as if your starter is dead. It isn't. It's just very very young.Don't worry about ...
Is it okay to let your dough autolyse for more than an hour? Hello there,I just mixed my levain and put it in a warm place. It´s supposed to be there for 6 hours. I´m going by a recipe that instructs you to mix your dough and let it autolyse for about an hour before the levain is ready.Now, I´m a bit worried that my le...	So the way i understand it is So the way i understand it is that you should be fine. The enzymes that are formed in an autolyse are: protease - which forms the proteins to make gluten and amalyse - which builds sugars. These two enzymes wont peak nor will they diminish (well maybe over a very extended period of time). ...
Feeble Dry Starter I purchased dried starter and have failed miserably at reviving it. I keep adding equal weights of flour and water, but I failed miserably to get it beyond the point in the photo. I even tried an all-rye version with scarcely better outcome. I see there is some activity, but I'm missing the idea of h...	Looks active Do you discard some of the starter when you feed it.A good start is keeping 10 gram of the starter and add 20 gram flour and 20 gram water 1:2:2.
Back to S.F. Sourdough Here is my dilemm	I can definitely duplicate the ultra-sour flavor of the legacy sourdoughs we used to have in San Francisco back in the day. I can do this using a conventional sourdough culture (starter).The problem is, in order to achieve this flavor I have to let the dough overproof. Like way overproof. Overproof to the point that pr...
Is my starter dead? - Pics atteached Can someone give me their thoughts? I began my starter ( 100% hydration, KA unbleached AP, weighed everything) a few days ago, after 72 hours lots of bubbles, all looked great. Discarded half and replenished 12 hrs later nice rise, doubled in volume, it looked great. Since it was la...	In the words of the parrot sketch... “It’s not dead, it’s restin’”stir that liquid in, and feed it. See what happens, but be aware that the early rises you got were most likely bacterial action with little or no yeast yet developed (not a bad thing, just a stage in the process)search for ‘pineapple juice solution’ on t...
Biga usage Hi, I’m pretty new to baking bread. Found a recipe that uses a biga as a dry yeast substitute. I wanted to double recipe to make 2 loaves. The biga I have is enough for one bread if I spilt that big a in half and substitute it with flour and water by weight would it make a difference? Is this a dumb question...	This was my first try using the recipe A80238C3-3C81-4EB9-8157-72313FABE807.jpeg
What kind of yeast for my focaccia? Hi friends. This is my first time on here but I needed some of your expert advice.I have been making focaccia for awhile now and I have two recipes I like to use. My first one only takes 12 hours on the countertop and the second is a slow 24 hour rise in the fridge. Both of these rec...	To answer the question - To answer the question - nothing will happen ie you won't notice much of a difference if any at all. The yeast is essentially the same as in the same strains. Besides, focaccia is more about the Olive oil than anything else.
Sandwich Loaf Bread Using Starter Hi! I want to make a sandwich loaf bread using my sourdough starter but I’m not quite sure how much sourdough to use if the recipe calls for 1 packet of yeast. The recipe I’m looking at calls for:174g of water125g of whole milk1 packet of yeast3 cups of bread flourI have a couple of qu...	Let’s see if I can help... 1. The amount is up to you but general guidance for sourdough recipes are 10 to 20% prefermented flour. This is just the flour, not the water in your starter. I stick around 11% prefermented flour. If you convert your 3 cups of flour to grams, it will make the math a lot easier. Be sure to re...
Sulphur smell I just reconstituted a starter from a purchased dry started. Started on Thursday and by last night it looked good to go.I built a levain last night and this morning when I stirred it down for mixing the final dough it had a sulphur odor which quickly went away. The bread is baked and smells pretty good.s...	couple things. 1. Even when you build a starter from a dehydrated culture (that is, not creating one from scratch) it can take 7 to 14 days from the time you rehydrate it before it "balances" and "matures". "Balancing" between lactic acid bacteria vis-a-vis yeast, and "maturing" as to which strains of both the LAB ...
Starter started well but... Hi All, I’m using a starter recipe from Paul Hollywood - strong white/grapes/tepid water. The starter bubbled up perfectly. After I fed it though with more flour and water, it appears to have failed to continue successfully. Now a nasty looking film of liquid has formed. Any ideas?ThanksNick	ah yes... about Paul Hollywood... Heh - I always smirk when I hear his name... a few years back I went to a bread making class at our local flour mill (a picturesque traditional old water mill. Someone mentioned Holywood, and the baker/miller snorted: "hah - he was here last week, making a loaf for his TV show. Well, I...
I accidentally threw away all my starter Does anyone know if I add a small portion of a baked sourdough loaf (reconstituted) to my new batch, will it speed things along? I will be drying and saving some starter once I get it established again.	I don’t think so because al I don’t think so because al the little beasties get killed in the oven.
Flour type for starters Hello! I currently have two starters that I have been feeding and they are both doing well and are healthy. I was wondering though with the difficulty of finding flour, if it is worth just having one. Right now I have one I feed rye flour and one I feed bread flour. Although I notice a big diffe...	With no noticeable difference With no noticeable difference when used for a loaf - why keep 2? If you really like the recipes for the extra and will be making them regularly, you'll need both. Outside of that - one or the other or a mix of both will do.
Why is the higher hydration dough is lighter than the lower hydration one? Why is the higher hydration dough is lighter than the lower hydration one?	Because water is colorless Because water is colorless and with more hydration you are diluting the only color (flour) more and more. Simple as that. There are other factors like flour quality and mixing time, but mostly it's just due to the ratio of flour to water.
What do you feed your starter? Apologies, I'm like 99.9% certain this question has come up here before. I'm just overwhelmed by the number of variations, and I'm more of the "stick with one good thing" type of person. From what I can tell, most professionals recommend a combination of rye / white flour. What do you use...	Starter food I use 1:1 whole wheat or white whole wheat and rye. I feed 2 T. flour to 2 T. water. If I am not pumping it up for bread, I just feed, let it sit out for an hour or two and stick it covered into the fridge. It is nice to take it out every week and discard 1/2, then feed it, but I have let it sit in the ...
Problem with either fermenting or proofing? Hi everyone - first time caller, longtime listener. I have looked through this forum to see if I could answer this on my own (and have made some adjustments suggested) but I finally feel like this might warrant my own post.I have been baking breads, including primarily natura...	Photos for above post: See the post above to reference the details. This series of photos is a dough that was 75% hydration, 20% 8 hour old leaven (made from active starter), mostly bread flour with maybe 20% whole wheat that fermented for about 4 hours with a fridge proof @ 38f for 8 hours. I also baked a loaf from th...
Home made pickles and rye bread? It’s been getting cold at night and my lone surviving cucumber vine was giving up the ghost so last weekend I collected the few remaining cucumbers (fingerlings) and threw them in a quart jar with some salt and spices. Last night around 6PM I took about 2 TBL of liquid brine from the qu...	Noon Well it only rose 50%. Smells great! Sour, with hints of caraway and onion. New plan, will let it go till this afternoon and start a 30% rye bread for baking tomorrow AM. I’ll include my recipe after I mix it, since I won’t know what I’m gonna do till I start.

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