September 23, 2020 - 3:42pm
Tartine Country Loaf: Should I feed my starter 4 hours before making the levian?
Hi All,
I know the Tartine Country Loaf really calls for controlling the acidity in the levian and the final bread. I was thinking that perhaps it would be a good idea to feed my starter about 4 hours before even making the Levian as that is about how long it takes to double in size usually and it the starter itself wont be as sour as about 20 hours later. Would this approach be the best approach? Is this in general the best approach for most sourdough recipes?
Jon
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Chad Robertson and Jennifer Latham have a new audiobook (paper version fall 2021) describing their new method for the Tartine Country Loaf where they do feed the starter twice. Their example is to start at 7:30 AM with 200 g water + 200 g high extraction flour + 80 g of starter, place in 85 ℉ environment, check at 9:30 and if passes the float test, feed 120 g of the booster starter with 300 g water + 300 g high extraction flour. If it didn't pass the float test, check every 10" until it does. This should ripen in 2 - 3 hours. He also starts his autolyse after mixing water and flour, prior to adding levain. He also recommends a bassinage, hydrating just a little at a time during the bulk fermentation.
wow thanks alot, do you know where I could pick up the audio book? - I found it on Audible, thanks alot!
also has some useful posts on her Instagram page talking about feeding starter etc. which could be helpful.
I also like their bassinage approach from the book which differs from the original Tartine book approach.
They also recommend to re-fresh three times a day 2 days before levain build day.
Interesting that Jennifer uses high extraction flour for levain builds.
Lance