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I've got a great tasting but lazy starter
Anyone who knows me here you'll be familiar with my habit of making new starters often and then adding them to my mother starter. I usually bake with them for a week or two to appreciate the flavour and then amalgamate them. Keeps things interesting. Two weeks ago I made a new ... | let me see if I have this straight
So, when you refresh it, it peaks quickly, yes? But when you use it with your dough it takes a long time? Does it eventually do the job just more slowly or is it not blowing up your loaves as much as you would like? Is it liquid or stiff? How long does it take to peak and is it tri... |
Sourdough Woes
Hello Amazing Bakers! I have really been enjoying reading this blog! There are so many impressive and creative bakers here! I having been a "serious" home baker for about 6 years (that is, serious about my search for the perfect loaf!). I have had pretty good sucess with sourdough, have made and baked of... | Sounds like you have a contaminant
In your kitchen. Too much of a coincidence that your starters have all gone the same way.If I were you I'd use a totally different jar and make sure everything is perfectly clean before using. |
Stalled out - not rising
Hey everyone! I'm new here and new to making sourdough / bread in general. I've decided to make a sourdough starter and am on day 5 so far of it and have run into an issue with it. I've got 2 starters going, one whole wheat born and bread, the other whole wheat when it was initially started ... | Very normal
Stop feeding, keep warm and stir every so often. In a day or two (or even three) they'll begin to wake up. If in a few days they still haven't shown any signs of life and they're getting watery then just give them a little flour enough to thicken them up. This quiet stage is very normal. Ride it out. |
Seeking long-to-peak (6-8 hours) starter and flour query
Hi, my starter peaks in 2-4 hours and teacher Teresa Greenway told me to get the longer fermentation I want, I need a longer starter. I can trade or buy. I can also offer my vigorous and fast starter if anyone wants it. Secondly, has anyone here found King Arthur... | How about changing your maintenance
Depending on how often it's fed, how much starter to fresh flour and how warm it is will affect your starter. What's' your maintenance schedule? |
% sourdough starter for pizza dough
wanted to get peoples opinion on what % of the dough the starter should be? For making pizza. Im currently using 20% by weight startet (100% hydration), but not sure if I should / could use more to get more rise in my pizzas? Im concerned the dough is not growing enough when resting ... | J, there is a wealth of info
J, there is a wealth of info on starter percentages here https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?board=37.0 In general, most posters think they get better flavor from a longer bulk fermentation, often 24 to 36 hours, some go with refrigeration, others with ice in the bottom of a coole... |
How can I consistently get a great smelling poolish?
I hope you've had a happy Thanksgiving! I've noticed a huge difference in how my poolish smells between tries. I found that a great smelling poolish makes a great loaf of bread. But how do I make sure that the poolish will smell great?Here's what I have and do... My ... | Poolish or Levain?
From my reading your are describing a levain (starter, water, flour), not a poolish (yeast, water, flour). From my limited experience I am concluding that these definitions may vary from region to region.I make poolishes and they are as reliable as Father Time. My levains are much more sensitive to t... |
Sourdough with caramelized onion and parmesan
Intrigued by the recipe featured on the home page, I decided to try to duplicate it. For a Thanksgiving potluck, which was daring fate. Problems were: I did not have the required ingredients (no freshly ground red fife flour, no freshly ground flax seeds) nor the required e... | whoa!
reading this was an emotional rollercoaster haha! Glad all worked out! |
Apple instead of Pineapple Juice
I was having a problem getting a starter going with pineapple juice. I followed the instructions but nothing seemed to be happening for over a week. Maybe my kitchen doesn't have any wild yeast. Then I thought of using fresh squeezed apple juice from a local cider mill. The apple jui... | Another alternative
It turns out that (contrary to folk wisdom) you can quite easily make a good starter by initiating it with commercial bakers yeast. A large fraction of sourdough starters have been shown to have versions of beer/bakers yeast as their principal constituent (see the details here: https://t.e2ma.net/cl... |
Interesting!
So I'm making a buckwheat sourdough starter and it's a totally different experience. Smells are different to say the least. The overwhelming aroma in the first three days was a smoky flavour. Strong, and I guess leuconostoc in nature, but not like a wheat or rye starter. It did bubble in the first three da... | I believe that's natural
As I recall from years ago, buckwheat pancakes always had a purplish color and unique flavor. So I wouldn't be surprised if the starter is reddish or purplish. Buckwheat also has a unique flavor. Try grinding a small amount and making a pancake just to familiarize yourself to the flavor. |
Lactobacillus
I joined the Dunn lab Sourdough Starter project and recently received the results on the bacteria present in my starter. It apparently has a vast preponderance of Pediococcus whereas most others have mainly straightforward Lactobacilli. Can anyone comment on how this might affect taste or rise? Patsy | You aren't the only one
Mine too! I googled this bacteria and taste profile is rather like Chardonnay :) A drink to our starters. It might be handy to know how to make the most of our starter profiles so looking forward to answers. |
Finally got my sourdough to be SOUR! Sourdough Pizza success!
I'm pretty new to sourdough. I've been experimenting with different starters and have made some nice tasting bread with the familar sourdough chewiness - but I just haven't been able to get them to taste very sour. Until today. I made some dough and left it... | Pizza is its own food group around here
and yours looks grand. What makes sour is both warmth and cold (92 F for a short time and 36 f for a very ling time, high hydration when warm and low hydration when cold, whole grains but really bran that acts as a buffer allowing the LAB to continue to make acid at pH's much lo... |
Signs of Excessive Proteolysis?
Hey all,Ive been having some success with naturally leavened pizza dough, but had a significant set back the other day.My starter is a whole wheat starter fed at 20% inoculation once per day. It has smelled great so far - mostly of sweet, fermenting fruit with no acetone smell.i use my s... | Proteolysis
I can only refer you to this post:http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/50897/sign-overproofingA search on "proteolytic" in this forum will bring up several other references. Since it appears that no changes were introduced in your ingredients or processes there really isn't much else.Personally-speaking, I am l... |
Norwich Sourdough: Susan's
Dear All, I don’t know whether you have time for reading and considering this, but if you do, it would help me to know how to make Susan's Norwich Sourdough from Wild Yeast Blog a second time. http://www.wildyeastblog.com/my-new-favorite-sourdough/ I liked the result, but I know it could imp... | Nice write up
And I like your bread. Give me time to reread through it again and try to answer all your points. Probably tomorrow now as it's late and I've just arrived home. Most importantly how do you like the taste? |
24-hour San Fransisco Style Sourdough Method
I have a method for making a really nice, lactic-acid-tang sourdough bread that was handed down to me from my dad. He got the recipe from some neighbors who are farmers in Washoe Valley, Nevada, the List family. I call it San Fransisco Style because it's nice and sour like... | It looks stunning. Thanks for
It looks stunning. Thanks for sharing! |
Natural Levain with fats and sugars
What impact from using fats and sugars with a natural levain starter?One of my 2 all time favorite breads is Seeduction Bread made by Whole Foods. I am ecstatic to find a recipe that produces an outstanding duplicate. I baked the bread using the original instructions without deviatin... | Same impact when putting fats and sugars
In a yeasted bread. Things to remember are...Correct proportions. Fat will slow things down, will interfere in gluten formation and the absorption of water. So the correct percentages and adding it at the right time will help. |
How to prove and shape sourdough rolls
I’m looking to make some sourdough rolls to serve with our thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. I’ve made sourdough loaves before but I’m wondering if it’s possible to make small rolls? When I make loaves I leave it to prove in the banneton, turn it out, score and bake.How do I make roll... | I just ball them then let
I just ball them then let proof on silpat on sheet pan. Then bake. |
quick question on Tartine rye method
hi allabout to make my first tartine method rye bread, i have mixed the dough by hand waiting 30 min to add salt... i have a regular dutch oven not the one he describes so i will use another similar one with parchment paper for the loaf resting period so i can lift and lower into ho... | Parchment paper
Hi jr07I always proof my loaves in a bowl lined with parchment paper and then lift the whole bundle into the hot Dutch oven. After baking the parchment paper pulls of easily, no rice flour added and no sticking. Cautionary note. I once ran out of my white parchment paper and used the brownish "non stick... |
A starter question
I brought a rye starter back from europe with me at the beginning of August. its been refreshed occassionally and used to bake with occassionally. About 6 weeks ago, I think although it might be longer, I went to refresh it. It smelt very yeasty and had a crust on top. I dug some out from underneat... | washing?
Sounds like you gave it a "washing." Most likely raised the pH high enough to stimulate lots of yeast growth. ...and possibly invite invading organisms as well. |
Are different flour starters better as leavening agents
just wondering if any knows if different flours are better at rising bread - I generally use a rye starter as it’s easy to maintain and I like the flavour it imparts to the levain but are there big differences say between white, wholemeal, etc?another quick questi... | Try it and find out.
Then compare. Some starters will baulk at a new food source with an extended "lag time" to get going and others will not. You just have to try it and see what happens. (then let us in on what happened) :) |
back to basics
following last post I tried less leaving to no avail... So I rolled back and updated my frankensteined recipe a bit. my recipe is a combo of hobbs house bakery sourdough (not a good recipe) and the technique/higher hydration/flour mixing of Trevor Wilson's entire breadwerx blog.... The thing I love about... | sorry- phone being weird.
sorry- phone being weird. 80g spelt, 20g rye and 400g strong white. I also added 10g salt... I stretched and Golders for 15 minutes then every half an hour i did four stretch and folds in the bowl- until about midnight. I then shaped and put in basket at 1am and went to bed... oven was on to p... |
Buckwheat Starter Advice
I'm making a buckwheat starter and working on an idea for gluten free sourdough with family members in mind who cannot eat gluten. I'm going into day three and things are seemingly going well. No issues with activity. In fact I'm experiencing a faster response then a "normal" sourdough starter.... | Some past posts
There was a poster a few years ago that wrote up her experiences making GF starter. (Laura T. ??) She did talk about a funky aroma that then passed but I believe the typical odor of GF starter was different from wheat-based. Also I seem to recall the appearance was quite different with a distinct separa... |
To Proof or Not To Proof
Ive recently been trying to solve my oven spring woes, and I've stumbled across a video blog:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFpykvPSJfYIn it, Rick suggests a 5 hour bulk rise after autolyse. You stretch and fold during the first hour. Then its a 12 hour final rise in the fridge. I'm trying thi... | Not unreasonable
I don't think 5 hours is unreasonable. I normally do about 4 hours bulk proof. I tend to work on the appearance of the dough, looking for it to be well risen with a few big gas bubbles starting to appear.Obvious factors affecting bulk proof time are dough temperature, levain quantity and starter vitali... |
Bulk Fermentation Emergency
I‘m presently 20 minutes away from the end of my bulk fermentation period and I’m not seeing as much gas as is usual. I have doubled the formula for a bigger bake. My question is: if you double or triple the formula, do you double or triple the amount of stretch and folds you’re supposed ... | Let it go until you see what you want!
Rushing it will simply result in very flat bread. You might be up late but the dough can't be rushed. |
What to do with excess starter?
Apart from the obvious misinformation about having to feed it every single day [refrigeration, anyone?] here is a cute video with a great idea on how to use it up.
Never Ever Throw Away Your Sourdough Starter!
Video of Never Ever Throw Away Your Sourdough Starter! | Regular pancakes
https://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/recipe/sourdough-recipes/sourdough-pancakes/ |
King Arthur’s latest sourdough article is excellent
If you’ve ever called King Arthur tech line for questions or help, there is a good chance you talked with Barb. She is knowledgeable and always helpful every time we talk. She recently published a 3 part article dealing with sourdough flavor, whether sour or non-sour.... | Larraburu Unicorn?
Thanks for the link. I'm still very much a novice when it comes to sourdough and I've read many similar discussions about sourdough acidity. I've only made sourdough rye breads so far, but I am interested in trying to produce a bread similar to SFSD.I have seen some discussions on TFL about the famed... |
Do you have an idea of the recipe to have the bread in the video?
Hello Everyone,Do you have an idea of the recipe to have the bread in the video? It looks chewy, fluffy and has very open crumb.Gluten structure is really different than the breads that I bake.https://www.instagram.com/p/BbIlW2PhDQ9/?hl=en&taken-by=mothe... | Sourdough 78% hydration
Bread or AP flourWhat kind of breads do you normally bake? |
Sourdough empty up top
Hello everyone,I have been studying the fine art of sourdough baking for a while now, and have gotten good results, but am working on consistency. One of problems I'm having is that when I try to make high hydration boules, (anything above 75%), I often get bread that has a dense hole structure ... | Have you a crumb shot?
I'm also having difficulty locating the high hydration sourdough recipe with only 15% levain. Did you use less than the recipe or is there another recipe? Perhaps too gentle with the degassing?https://www.theperfectloaf.com/high-hydration-sourdough-bread/If this is the correct recipe then you... |
Sourdough Tartine bread
Oh! This Sourdough Tartine bread tastes AMAZING! Thanks for the recipe, Lechem. I made this last night. This time I made the sponge as directed and prayed it won't overflow onto my counter overnight. Haha! By morning, it smelled great. I knew it would produce a good tasting loaf. You are right a... | Lovely!
And the crumb looks great too. I agree with you 100%. The smell of the starter is a good indicator of how the bread will turn out. If I build a levain according to a recipe but after the giving timing it's bubbly but doesn't have that lovely aroma, I wait! until it does.Lovely bake. |
Foam on top of starter
Hi allI developed a starter following the tartine method about six months ago and I use it strictly for making pizzas every weekend at home in a wood burning oven. I keep it in the fridge, I feed it on Friday mornings, mix the dough Friday early afternoon, shape dough balls Friday night, leave in... | How are you feeding your starter?
A higher ratio of fresh flour to starter is normally the key. |
First loaf
Hi,I've just tried making my first loaf with just flour, salt and water. The starter is only about a week old and rye based. I am using a bread machine and want to stick with it. Any feedback much appreciated. It didn't rise nearly as evenly and much as I kind of hoped. But I think the texture looks good. I'... | I think that looks great
A week old starter and in a bread machine to-boot. What was your formula? My friend has a bread machine and we worked out a formula for a great sourdough loaf. The formula is simple... The flour within the starter/levain should be 30% (using bakers maths) and the French bread setting seems to b... |
Sour dough starter not mature enough yet...
Hello, I just began a new starter a bit over a week ago using the Tartine Bread recipe. I have made this before but never with all organic flour. My starter does not seem to be active enough. It is not doubeling in size. I has bubbles, looks and smells healthy. I tried feedin... | It can often take longer then a week
What sourdough starter "recipes" don't tell you is that there are no recipes. What happens when you try the float test? When mature drop a little starter into a glass of water. Does it float or sink? |
Jacob Burton of Stella Culinary's Basic Sourdough Boule
Hi all--I am making the Basic Sourdough Boule recipe from Jacob Burton on Stella Culinary. Has anyone here tried it?https://stellaculinary.com/cooking-videos/stella-bread/sb-004-how-make-basic-loaf-sourdough-bread?page=1 I was looking for a basic mostly white boul... | That is one lovely loaf
Nowt wrong with that. I'd be more than happy with your results. I don't see any issue however from what you describe it's a shaping issue you're experiencing. My other thoughts is that it is a lot of starter (or levain, or poolish) however we are getting into winter and that'd normally be the co... |
1 Cup Einkorn Flour to Grams?
Hello, I have been trying to make bread using only 100 percent Einkorn flour and sourdough starter. Recently I bought a scale for accuracy. Is there a commonly accepted weight in grams for one cup of Einkorn flour? What would the equivalent be to grams for 1 cup of water? Even sourdough we... | In the range of 105-125 grams
In the range of 105-125 grams of einkorn flour per cup, but varies based on circumstances~240 grams of water in 1 cupHope that helps |
Formulas similar to Hamelman's Five-Grain Levain
By far, my most favorite bread is Hamelman's Five-Grain Levain. I've tried many other recipes/formulas and none of them compare to it. I've searched in vain for similar recipes. Breads that are hearty, and complex in flavor. Natural levain is a must, since I like the com... | Thoughts
I love that recipe too and make it a lot. Have you tried the Hamelman 5 grain levain with rye sourdough? I think the best answer is to use the recipes you like as a guide, but work in different ingredients and methods until you find what you like. Some thoughts:1. The more experience you get, the better Ha... |
Advice sought on pic shown please. I'd like more height.
Hello, Long time lurker here and I've learned a lot so thank you all.I've been a pastry chef for about 17 years along with yeasted breads. I've only been doing sourdough for the past 8 months or so with a starter maintained from King Arthur with (50%bf, 25% whe... | Beautiful loaf
The crumb looks beautiful. I'm not sure you could get more loft unless you make a stiffer dough or you re-shape right before baking. I believe both of those actions would negatively impact the crumb structure. Or you could use a pan.Alternatively, take a look at the flours you are using. What is the perc... |
Raisin Yeast Water Producing "Yogurty" Levains
For over a year now, I have kept a bottle of raisin yeast water going. I use it in many of my bakes, and a 1-qt bottle would typically last 2-4 weeks. So rough math, I refreshed it 18-20 times over the last year. I used SunMaid raisins as the fruit, local raw honey as t... | I just use
I just use raisins (or any other fruit that I can find at the time) and water. Honey makes sense to me but i'm not sure where the salt comes in. I've never put salt in my yeast water although I can't see it contributing to the yoghurty taste. My yeast water sits in the fridge for months at a time and seems r... |
Crust separated from crumb
Hi everyone. I recently made a loaf of the high extraction miche from Bread by Jeffrey Hamelman. I've made this loaf a few times before but this most recent time the crust has separated from the main portion of the crumb. Is this just a case of over proofing the dough? It seemed to pass the f... | Under/over
I made the mixed flour miche recently and had some separation. But yours looks underproofed to me: big holes with dense areas elsewhere. The separation problem seems related to the gas distribution here. What do you think?Mine was very wet and hard to shape. It spread out on the peel so much I was surpr... |
Help! I accidentally baked my best loaf yet!
Hi Bakers!Ive been baking sourdough for about 10 months now, and yesterday I accidentally made my best loaves yet. But I'm not sure why. I usually put my loaves in fridge overnight for 14 hours at 38 degrees. And they don't rise as much as I'd like, but they always taste gre... | Gorgeous!
I can relate to that feeling, for sure, and kicking myself for not paying more attention and taking more detailed notes. My hunch is you hit a sweet spot that was warm enough that the fermentation kept active and, 10 hours later, it was just right. Cooler you'd want to leave it longer, warmer less time.Good l... |
sd thoughts and help requested
hi all- long time tfl starer and only just joined! this time last year I thought I perfected my sd loaf!I'm in the UK so folks dont judge my low hydration too much... But here goes I'd make a levain build at around 7am - I'd use 150g of 100% starter and 75g each of new flour and water. I... | Hi
This loaf looks under proofed and under hydrated to me. I am in the UK too and had exactly this problem when hydrating my bread <60%. I upped my hydration to 70% and also the amount of starter which yielded more consistent results. Also, I find when working with low hydration the dough never proofs sufficiently in t... |
Refrigeration, phytic acid, and enzyme/yeast activity
Okay, so I can't seem to find one particular answer to one particular question. I have heard that the process that neutralizes phytic acid in sourdough takes place over approximately six hours at room temperature. I can not find how long this takes in the refrigerat... | Interesting question
I do not have answer, but I think your question is interesting. I hope some other Fresh Loaf users can provide some insight. |
Honey Wheat--advice needed
I am working with an active starter that is about a month old. I'm trying to come up with a recipe that is less sour, that my kids might actually eat. So far my recipe seems to be getting there. Now my "trouble" is that my loaf has more of an open crumb. It is delicious, but it doesn't really... | Trevor Wilson's advice for a more open crumb
Is to be careful not to knock the air out when performing the stretch and folds. It's also less common nowadays to completely knock the air out when shaping. Enough to shape but not fully. Perhaps you need to do the opposite. |
Sourdough Starter Research
I am a student at loughborough university and need to conduct primary research on sourdough starters. I was wondering what the main problems are when making and maintaining a sourdough starter and how you try to overcome them? Any information will be much appreciated. | Here you go.
Here you go. |
new to sourdough - over kneading?
I'm pretty new to sourdough - I've noticed that my dough always feels much stickier and a different texture than when I was just using commercial yeast. And, yes, I'm taking into account the hydration of the starter. The dough feels almost like taffy when I'm folding and shaping th... | Quite difficult to over knead by hand
Anything else ventured would be guesswork. What is your recipe? At what stage does this happen? What flour are you using? More info the better. |
I did it!
Thanks to Lechem for the recipe! This is my 4th and so far prettiest loaf. Someone suggested a cold bulk fermentation of 24 hours and another suggested a cold bake so I will try both with this same bread. I'd be grateful for any suggestions on how I can get bigger holes in the crumb. Thanks in advance. Here's... | Wow!
I am in the process of starting my first sourdough starter ever and seeing your beautiful loaf is really giving me inspiration! Great job :D |
when to NOT use Dutch oven?
So far my bread adventures have been limited to whole grain sourdoughs, one loaf at a time. The Dutch oven, half hour with lid on, 15 minutes off, seems to produce good results. Just wondering if I'm missing something by relying on it all the time. (I'm OK with shape and diameter of D.O.) | I think
that if your brad comes out as you like it then you should continue to use your DO. The only time I would consider not using my DO is because I have to make a baguette that won't fit in my DO. |
Sourdough Starter Trouble
Hi all, Last week I tried to start my first ever sourdough starter, but am not sure if its rising enough. (I started with 40g of fresh rye/apw flour mixture with 40g of room temp water)... I have been feeding it everyday for the past 4 days and there have been a lot of bubbles, but it does not... | The vinegar smell would tend
The vinegar smell would tend to suggest it is using up the flour and needs to be re-fed. The lower temperature would tend to slow down this process, but in the beginning stages it is hard to know if that is allowing other organisms a chance to thrive or not. You are still in the early stage... |
Newbie Starter help..
Hi to all, a new guy wanting to bake some bread! Who knew it was this complex?! Love a challenge and learning new skills and it sure seems like both. Sorry for my first post to be about such a mundane subject as getting my starter going but...I assume you were all there at some point. I have to ... | Having hooch on the top is
Having hooch on the top is strong evidence your process needs to be tweaked.The hooch indicates the starter has been well past its maximum rise for quite some time.When creating a starter from scratch, your goal should NOT be to get a 2x rise. Instead, the goal should be to feed it again at i... |
Help! trying to start a starter!
I have never baked with sourdough before, but decided to try. Last Friday I started with a 1 to 1 ratio of water and flour. I fed it every 24 hours for 4 days then when there were large bubbles on top I switched to every 12 hours. I still have large bubble on top but nothing else. Am... | Slow down
Starters do hit a quiet period and this is your cue to slow down. Keep warm, skip a feed or two, stir and feed again when you see more activity. |
First good sourdough loaf
So, I've been lurking around this forum a bit and decided to finally join. I'm pretty new to this baking thing. I've made 5 loaves now. Two with my own sourdough starter, the first of which was a flop, too wet, too sticky, probably didn't rise long enough, etc etc. But this morning I had m... | With your starter being a little over 20%
I'm not sure how you got away with such a long bulk ferment and at quite warm temperatures. But hey, whatever works right?Lovely load. Looking forward to the taste report and crumb shot. Enjoy your camping trip. |
Feeding starter
I know you're supposed to feed starter with an equal ratio of starter-flour-water by weight, but the other day i was in a hurry and didnt want to use a new container but my starter was 3/4 what i wanted it to be. 3 days ago, I fed with equal parts water and flour, left on the counter for a couple hours,... | No such rule
If you wish your starter to be 100% hydration then you feed it by equal weight. Starters can be any hydration. ...And don't worry you have not killed it. You just refrigerated it before it completely matured where it will carry on fermenting but slower. When you wish to bake bring it back to room temperatu... |
Fridge too cold for overnight proof?
HiI like to keep my fridge cold, it runs at 4 degrees which I gather is a bit on the low side for proving bread in. Will sourdough just go dormant at this temperature (ie, not rise at all) or will it just rise super slowly so I'd have to allow more time? Advice appreciated, thanks | Retardation
I do cold retardation at the same temperature. Most US refrigerators are set at 40 F (around 4 C). It certainly does slow down the fermentation but things still move along quite nicely. My retardations typically run from 9 - 13 hours.Retarding dough, whether in the fermentation or proof stage, does require ... |
Doughballs are flat with starter!
So I've made some very successful pizza dough recipes using the starter the forum helped me cultivate properly.Recently, I did a version of my normal dough recipe with starter rather than ADY in a very large batch (25lbs of flour.) I made a whole wheat levain early in the day that was ... | run site search: pesky Thiol compounds
You will want to find Debra Wink's comments. |
Using up Starter
Last week a made a starter from scratch. This means I built up some discard and didn't use my other starter either. Needed to use some up. What to do? Last minute off the cuff decision was to use some up in a yeasted bread and chose Emmanuel Hadjiandreou's recipe for a yeasted Whole Spelt or Whole Khor... | looks great Abe!
look forward to crumb shot. love the scoring.Leslie |
Breadtopia starter
I've been fooling around with sourdough (first time in my life) for the past couple of weeks. I was given the Carl's 1847 starter and while it rises well, it just doesn't have any tang to it at all. I tried several things to encourage more tang but still very mild starter.
I've got some wild st... | Sourdough in a loaf pan
I'm still baking in a loaf pan - hopefully I'll eventually get the hang of shaping loaves - but for now, I'm having very good luck with sourdough (100% fresh ground hard white wheat) in a loaf pan with an inverted loaf pan on top. I've started spraying water on top of the loaf just before I put ... |
Levain issue
Hey Guys,I'm new to making bread and am attempting my first sourdough. I have a pretty good looking starter and have been trying to build my levain. I started the levain build at 8 am and according to the instruction I'm following it should have been ready by 1-2pm. When I went to bed around 11:30 pm it ha... | When you went to bed at 11:30
When you went to bed at 11:30 and the starter looked active....sorry to say this....but that is the time to make the dough with a nice lively active starter. And, you don't look at a clock to tell when the loaf or dough is ready to go onto the next step, the dough will tell you. I live i... |
So I made a new starter this week
I cannot bake everyday and have to save it for one (or possibly two) special bakes over the weekend but I can make a starter. As many of you know I do like to make starters for fun and to test myself how quickly it can be done. It also enables me to try different ideas/methods as we're... | I started one on Monday
with Einkorn flour made from whole grain that has been in the cupboard for at least a year expired April 2016. Ground to flour in a blender. Flour smells and tastes good, Culture growth smells of filled baby diapers. Gave it some fresh purchased Einkorn flour (for its daily spoon of flour) a... |
Sourdoughs International Starter
I recently purchased a starter from Sourdoughs International and had disappointing results. When the starter arrived I immediately broke out the instructions for revival and got to work. The recommended procedure was straightforward and was estimated to take only a few days, but unfortu... | The bowl would make no difference.
I agree with you. Thanks for the info. |
Sourdough in a cold temperature
I am in London (England) and to keep bills under control my flat is not heated during the day. The temperature in the kitchen is around 19C (66F). My starter is made up with 50% plain flour 50% wholemeal rye. It never doubles . I would say it rises by 33% on a good day. I feed daily, by... | Ok that cavernous one is the
Ok that cavernous one is the second bake. |
Sourdough International culture reviews?
Has anyone tried/had good experiences with Sourdough International or their France culture? Thanks! | I have
Think I gave you the link on the other post.They were great people to deal with. I got a few starters from them and they all sucessfully activated. I think I got the Italian and it came with two starters. Both got activated but I could not tell them apart. Could have been me, my nose or my taste. I had other... |
Sourdoughs International's Starters?
Long time lurker, first time poster. I have a couple of starters that I maintain, and I have recently purchased Lisa Rayner's book Wild Bread. It's a great book, but now I have a question: Lisa speaks very highly of the starters from Sourdoughs International, and speaks of them as t... | I think that a number of
I think that a number of posters on pizzamaking.com forum did tests and found that starters did not get cross contaminated - here is one post, read down, there are a few more that agree https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=11634.msg123686#msg123686 BTW, i have purchased a few st... |
My starter rises but doesn't collapse
Hello, I started building my starter about two weeks ago with 50% unbleached AP flour and 50% rye flour. I've been feeding it 1:1:1 since about third day and it's been doubling predictably, but the thing is I've never actually seen it collapse. After 12 hours when I check it it's a... | My rye
My rye starter does not collapse either. You can use it when it doubles and get good results. Or you can switch it over to AP/WW then use rye in the levain. My rye starter is on the left: https://youtu.be/VqoIXVWTW7c |
Is this scoring technique wrong or is it my oven?
I’m trying to master scoring to maximise the growth of the loaf in the oven and create that pleasing ear look. I’ve baked 3x sets of sourdough loaves recently, but every time the one on the left of my oven rises with a perfect ear shape, where as the one on the right ha... | If
If you are doing everything exactly the same except oven position, it is the oven position.Home ovens do not heat evenly. Try moving the loaves around during the bake. |
Starter rising too much?
Hi, please introduce my self, My name is Erick, I'm from Indonesia, The weather in my place now is around 82-89f. Humidity around 50-60% last time i checked. Anyway please forgive my English, hope you guys understand :) So last month I tried to make my self a sourdough starter using local AP fl... | Looks great to me
Keep it up and you'll be baking in no time.Welcome to The Fresh Loaf. P.s. if on day 4-5 you experience a slowing down or even no rise at all then don't panic. It's perfectly fine. Just slow down your feeds till it picks up again and then carry on. Even if it means missing a feed or two. But from what... |
How does sourdough work?
I was browsing through article on the web about the science of bread and sourdough, in preparation for my upcoming Sourdough Bread Basics course (which I'll be teaching in my home). I wanted something based in science that was understandable and easy to communicate to a variety of people. Some ... | Great article!
I learned a lot. It explains why one of my friends can eat einkorn breads and another cannot. Thank you for sharing. |
Sourdough toast won't brown.
Hi Folks, I hope that you can help. Just wondering why my sourdough toast won't brown. My usual white recipe is a 70% hydration loaf using strong organic white flour, water, oil (4%) and salt (2%).I use a poolish starter (50% of the flour), fermented over 12 hours, started with 100g mother,... | Overfermented
Using a lot of starter and a long ferment has caused all the sugars to be used up. It's the sugar that's browns when toasted. This and the hard thick crust implies an overfermented bread. You may wish to rethink this recipe. |
Two starters?
I used the Bien Cuit bread book for the first time and the sourdough rye bread recipe lists two starters, one with sourdough starter and one with a little but of powdered yeast. I am unclear as to whether you are supposed to use one or the other or both! The recipe reads "add the starter" (singular), not... | Sounds like there are two "preferments"
One starter and the other a biga or poolish. Can you post the recipe? EDIT: I have found the Autumn Maple Rye Bread recipe from the book. There is a poolish, but no sourdough starter, although he does call it a starter. I think the terminology is confusing. Is this the recipe you... |
Stiff and Liquid starters and baking Rye bread
OK, can you stand more newbie sourdough baking question from me?
I know you can have stiff (50-60% hydration) starters and liquid (100-125% hydration) starters. I read Bread by Jeffrey Hamelman and he makes reference to being able to convert your starter between the diffe... | Wow, a lot of Q's
First of all, I'm not sure of your "discard" definition. In a 1-2-3 Sourdough bread, I use a recently fed but mature starter at about 100% hydration. Here's the link: Easy Sourdough
About the firm to liquid starter, check the recipe... there is usually a step where the firm starter is changed to ... |
How to use up my levain dump weck jar this weekend?
Well, I've been a bit less economical in making my levain as I normally am. Now I have a starter jar in the fridge which is a bit of a witches cauldron of left overs. It's a blend of white and whole wheat flours. Every time I've made some bread and had left over leva... | I've used mature starter
That has been refrigerated for a week or two straight into a dough. All have been good results. Try it and if all goes south turn it into a yeasted dough. Use it up in any other recipe that asks for flour and water. Give some away to all your neighbours. |
Huge thanks to Benito, Mark Stone, DanAyo, MiniOven and so many of you!
I've been baking sourdough loaves off and on for 5+ years now and lurking on this forum. Started with the Tartine book and quickly moved to mostly baking Maurizio's excellent recipes. There has been a slow accumulation of experience and dare I say ... | Beautiful loaf and crumb.
Beautiful loaf and crumb. Love the blistering on the crust! |
many questions about starter
Since I live near San Francisco (I'm on a small island right across the SF bay) I figure I should be able to get some local wild yeast going. But here are some questions I'm having:Will any starter eventually pickup the local yeast and become local? I mean if I work with Carl's starter wi... | Alcatraz?
Most of the yeast is on the grain. The more organic and whole the flour, the better but it's not a rule chiseled in stone. Cover the starter culture while developing, loosely to keep out bugs and prevent drying out. Avoid the sun if it heats up the starter too much. If starting up a particular culture, bet... |
While I wait for my porridge bread
Built a levain for a Broa de Milho I've really gotten to love and at the same time was joining in a forum topic about a recipe and decided to make that instead. But half way through this recipe I decided to push ahead with my original plan so had two on the go. What we have here is a ... | You're going to be spoilt this week
That looks delicious, and a porridge loaf on the way too! Nice to have a choice in stock isn't it. |
baking steel - how hot?
I have a thick baking steel that I was using for pizza. With pizza, I was looking for very fast bake (like 90 seconds). And where you might go 700F or higher with bricks or stone, I found that going much hotter than 600F with the steel was burning the bottom. So I have this notion (could be... | Steel is faster
At least two things going on here - the energy density of steel is about twice that of stone and the rate of conductivity is about 40 times great for steel that stone. So you have these two effects - more stored energy in the steel and much faster transfer to the dough. Given enough time it will not m... |
Any life in my starter?
So, I live in Las Vegas and the air is very dry. When I began making my starter, I went into it with very low expectations. I just used AP and water and so far its been 3 days and I've fed it once every 24 hours, which means it's had 3 feedings. (Some people suggest every 12 hours, some say to j... | Looks good to me
What does it smell like? |
So it's not the loftiest loaf in town...
...but the crumb structure is good and it's tasty. I based this on Sarah Owen's "Honeyed, Spelt and Oat Levain" but the recipe kept on evolving. The three differences are thus:1. Instead of the oat scald I did a whole rye flour scald. 2. Instead of the bread flour I used https:/... | It looks delicious
Just delicious. Bet it's spectacular with butter and cheese. Lol. |
Wooden bowl permeated with sourdough starter culture from years of use? Myth?
I have read about this on several occasions. I have seen it referred to and I wonder if there is anyone that has actual expereience with this or is it a myth?It is supposed to be that a wooden bowl used to make sourdough bread for years and y... | Could be -
Could be true. I do know that I cannot use my wooden spoon used for mixing bread dough when making cheese or the cheese will develop little holes and even poof out on the sides from wayward yeast on the spoon multiplying in the maturing cheese held at 55F temp. I now use a stainless steel slotted spoon when... |
keeping sourdough in 34f/1c
HiRecently, I replaced my fridge with chest freezer that can be used as a fridge. Its minimum setting gives me a temperature no higher than 34-36f (1-2c). In the fridge, my 100% hydration sourdough used to peak and collapse as usual, because the temp was 43f/6c, I even used to put it back as... | I made a few different
I tried a few different timings and settings, and I've settled on leaving the starter on the counter until it peaks fully, about 12 hours, due to its extremely cold temperature, then put it back in my 1c/34F fridge. In that kind of temperature it gets very dormant. It takes a week to even start t... |
Cold bulk ferment - total disaster
Hi all.So I attempted a cold bulk ferment and it has gone horribly wrong. My loaf is currently melting over the oven...Quick recap:105g levain - very active600g white flour100g light rye550g H20 @ 30C14g SaltAutolyse for 45 mins, then miced for 2-3 mins, performed 40 stretch and fold... | I think the hydration is too high
You have managed to handle it well because it's spent most of it's time cold. However when popped into the oven it turns into mush. I'm assuming you live in the UK and using local flour. 80% hydration for a mostly bread flour dough is going to be tough to do. |
Stiff starter has no life
I've been following this forum for about 5 months now and appreciate all the good information available here. About 4 weeks ago I converted my 100% hydration starter 50/50 rye and bread flour to a 50% hydration starter. My goal is to make a more sour loaf of bread. I took 67 grams of the ripe ... | I've found that converting to a stiff starter
takes a little more time than what you described. Let it work on the flour until peaked, not just 25% risen. Then use at least 10 g and feed again to make 50% hydration and again let it ferment to peak. The first round to peak usually takes a while but with more consecut... |
Myhrvold chocolate-cherry sourdough
It was from a $600 cookbook. It was featured in the New York Times. Sounded good. Didn't work out as planned. Of course, after I plunged into the recipe, I discovered that I should have read it first. I was hobbled by an aging oven and lack of equipment. Oven's top element shorted ou... | Link to recipe
Here is a link to the recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018955-chocolate-cherry-sourdough-breadIntriguing recipe-described as not savory but not sweet. Hmm...did it taste a bit bitter? I'm not so sure about this flavor profile. Chocolate-cherry and coffee (tho there is not much coffee) in a s... |
FINALLY! Oven spring!
I am just ecstatic. I never thought baking bread would be such a roller coaster ride. As some of you may remember, I have had a heck of a time trying to achieve oven spring with my sourdough bread. See this and this thread if interested.With the direct help of the fine people who offered advice an... | beautiful bread
You knocked it out of the park !! Love the spiral shape. I think you did it perfectly. I would reproduce it a few times without changing anything. It's best to have reproducible results. Gives a good foundation for further exploration. Congratulations. c |
The illusive high hydration oven spring
Hello all,I'm a newcomer to the world of bread and sourdough. I spent a couple of weeks playing with normal yeasted loaves to get a feel for it down while my starter was maturing, and all that went perfectly well. Got good results with a number of loaves.My initial sourdough expe... | Well,I'm new here too and
Well,I'm new here too and also suffer from high hydration doughs not rising so I'm afraid I can help you but i will be following this wig interest. I use shipton mills too and I've seen lots of post about UK flour not performing the same as american flour, so I never go that high in water as... |
long time yeast baker about to try my first SourDough - Clueless!
I was visiting my grandchildren in Santa Cruz yesterday. I have been teaching their parents (my son and his wife) to bake bread and got them a grinder and a Bosch and 50 pounds of Montana Prairie Gold wheat and SAF yeast. They've been baking a couple t... | so
you don't need to feed your starter any sugar. Flour and water are sufficient.If you want a more sour bread, dump out of rising bowl, let rest, shape into loaf and put in refrigerator overnight... bake tomorrow. If you want less sour, bake tonight. Good luckhester |
Poor bloom on loaves
Hi everyone,I've been a (semi) long time browser of the forum and this my first post. Normally in the past I could search for my problem and find an answer. A few weeks ago i read the write ups on scoring bread and high hydration loaves which were both immensely helpful. Two weeks ago I applied the... | Over-proofing would be my first guess
That's assuming everything else is unchanged. Keep in mind that, the higher the hydration, the shallower the scoring should be to prevent the ear from collapsing and sealing the bloom.Looking at the color of the bloom, you can see it either occurred early and stopped prematurely or... |
Underproofed? Pan not hot enough?
Hi guys I think we need an article in the lessons section to show different dough defects and what this means.Can someone please take a look at my baked loaf and tell me why it has a denser bottom (65-68% hydration 20/80 WW to all purpose)? Underproofed? Cast iron pan not hot enough (2... | It looks ok to me...
...proving is extremely difficult to judge - I find the poke test unreliable so with me, it is just down to eye. It is always better to underprove than overprove but trying to guess 80% proved is a judgement. Your loaf looks ok for a 80/20 and 65% hydration - try using more water (70%) and a 'str... |
New Spelt Sourdough starter smell
HiA 2 day old starter I made using 100g filtered water and 50g spelt was very much alive but the smell took me by surprise - it was similar to smoked mackerel but sweeter and a bit sickly - a bit off-putting to be honest so I threw it away just in case it had picked up something bad.Fo... | Persevere!
Starters often go through a leuconostoc stage (bad bacteria) in the first few days. Starters can smell like smelly socks to vomit (sorry!). If you persevere and feed when the time is right the bad stuff will die off and make way for the good stuff. Have you made a starter before or is this your first time? |
...and now for the porridge bread
Well you've had the taster http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/53927/while-i-wait-my-porridge-bread and now for porridge bread. Turned out very nicely and I even tried the traditional way of shaping which is basically tossing the dough round in a floured bowl. It's a traditional Portugues... | Tell all. How did you make
Tell all. How did you make the porridge? |
Smallest safe sourdough starter size?
I've been using a quart size container for getting my starter going, but I haven't really been using all the space. I would only likely bake a loaf or two a week (using the refrigerating and taking out method), and am wondering if I could transfer NY starter to this container inste... | Looks large enough
It looks large enough. The day before you plan to bread, refresh your starter and build it to the amount you need plus enough to save in the jar.Ford |
NMNF QUERY
I am considering converting my 150g fridge-stored 100% hydration rye starter (Firebolt) to NMNF. I presently replenish it once a week back to 150g after each bake, though I hasten to add it has, on occasion, happily survived several weeks on the trot without interventions.My two regular weekly bakes each re... | Actually you're more on the right track
with the first plan you outlined. I only see one tiny error in the way the levain building schedule is set up. But using the rule of 7's, it won't be necessary to hydrate the starter and then do your builds separately. If you look at the second table of examples that are in the... |
Is this loaf overproofed?
I recently made a bread which after baking turned out quite dense and sticky. Is this a typical case of overproofing and over fermentation? It also smells / tastes a bit funky. I wonder if it was due to my starter or fermenting too long? It was retarded in the fridge for 24hr. My starter was s... | Looks great from where I'm sitting
Even if 24 hours final proofing sounds too long. Usual timings will be 8-12 once the bulk ferment has been done at room temperature. Seems well risen and not dense. If you're experiencing stickiness it could mean it hasn't been baked for long enough and/or you've cut into it too quick... |
Milk and long bulk fermention
The recipe I'm doing involves a cornmeal scald and a long bulk fermentation. I'm thinking of doing the scald with milk. Do you think a long overnight bulk ferment with milk is okay to do? | Are you doing the bulk on the counter
or in the fridge?If on the counter, I think I would use something that is cultured such as yogurt, kefir, cultured buttermilk or sour cream. If in the fridge, go for the milk. |
Is sprouting necessary for sourdough
I have been hearing that if you ferment your bread using sourdough starter you don't have to soak and sprout your grains before grinding them. Is that true? | Depends what you mean by...
..."have to". One doesn't have to do anything. Can you explain your question in more depth? |
Frisky Rye Starter with Warm Water
My first rye starter was never very active. I tried to perk it up with different refresh feeding ratios and keeping it warm in the proofer, but I managed to kill it dead.So I tried again from scratch, using the directions from "The Rye Baker": 70g rye flour (I used whole rye) + 70g w... | Congratulations!
Congratulations! That looks like the one I made last year.The first "volcano" I understood was not yeast, but certain gas-producing LAB. Then it goes quiet and finally begins expanding again with yeast. See this post for an excellent discussion, especially the comments by mariana.I have been using the ... |
New guy with a couple of quick questions
Can I plop a cup or so of sourdough discard (unfed) into my hamburger bun recipe? As in not adjusting the original instant yeast recipe, just adding to as more or less an after thought. And what is about pumpernickel flour? Geez. Mixing my dark rye sour with my bread flour and ... | Adding a cup of starter to a normal yeasted recipe
Just for flavour will be fine. Just make sure you take the hydration of the starter into account so you don't alter the hydration of the final dough in the recipe. This is done often for those who have excess starter and wish to use it up. If it's a fast yeasted recipe... |
First Ever Loaf - needs some work
Hello Everyone,This site has been amazing as I start my sourdough journey. Just wanted to share pics of my first ever loaf, which would not have been possible without you guys.I think my starter wasn't quite active enough, so this spent about 15 hours on the counter for the leaven (wit... | That's a pretty nice loaf for
a first one. Congrats!!! The journey is so much fun. Welcome aboard. hester |
Bulk Fermentation and Proofing times
Hi. I'm making FWSY's pain de campagne, but I expect my question is general enough to apply to most recipes.I was on a schedule yesterday and had to cut the bulk fermentation a little short. [Question 1] In general, if you have less bulk fermentation time, does that mean you can add... | I can't answer as to FWSY, I
I can't answer as to FWSY, I checked out the book from the library, but didn't like it enough to buy it. I am not the expert, but pretty sure that bulk ferment is independent of final proofing. Meaning if it takes a loaf 4 hour to bulk ferment, and 1 hour to final proof, you can't swit... |
How much should sourdough starter rise?
(Brand new baker)I have been coaxing a starter to life, and it has been rising and falling pretty regularly, however if only rises to a bit less than twice in volume.(I maintain my starter at 1:1:1)How much should starter rise, and how will different ratios of starter, flour, and... | I can't give exact details on
I can't give exact details on what happens with exact ratios, but it usually works like this. To thin will rise less as it won't re trap and hold the gas well. Thicker usually rises more as it can hold gas better. Flours can also make a difference as some absorb more water than others usin... |
Newbie question - FWSY Pain de Campagne
This is my sixth time following this recipe. First time using a new AP flour (Wheat Montana natural white "premium" AP flour), along with whole wheat flour from Trader Joe's.What kind of flour do you recommend I use? I'm on a budget so have been using what's at Costco. The new fl... | Nothing questionable there, SeattleStarter
Those look beautimous.Paul |
Crumb too soft and light
Everything went super smooth with this bake. 3.5 hours rising time gave me a pillow like dough before going into the fridge in bannetons. It came from a mother thats 10% rye and has been brewing in my fridge for 6 weeks. I went with a lower hydration than PR’s SF sourdough - 63% instead of 69%.... | Looks good!
What's interesting is that your mother starter produces a lot of alcohol. This should make it more sour and yet your bread isn't tangy as much as you'd like. You haven't said so but I guess from this you're building a Pre-Ferment and I think here is where you'd lose the tang if used when young.A bit more ab... |
Baking and Humidity
Hello, I've been baking now for over 2 years and lately I have been having trouble with my breads. I bake with a sourdough starter, and in the last three recipes I've made the dough feels too wet and the dough feels "weak", if that makes sense. The bread has come out denser than usual, and this morn... | Cambridge - our fair city as
Cambridge - our fair city as click and clack used to say! Let's start with1 - freezer tends to dry things out. But you'd probably notice it in how the dough feels. If it felt abnormally dry, add more water. And we can hit #2 while we're here. If it feels abnormally wet, use less water. And ... |
Correcct container for starter in the fridge?
In what container should I use to store my mother in the fridge considering how the humidity level in the fridge is different then help on the counter? I know to a non airtight container on the counter but what about in the fridge? i feed it every 3-4 days. I have 4 and 6 ... | I use...
I use the Weck jars. I keep less than 100g of starter. You must plan keep more if you are thinking about 4-6 qt cambros? Here they are: https://websecure.cnchost.com/weckjars.com/productsDetail.php?category=3 |
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