October 4, 2020 - 9:01am
Starter bubbles
My starter doubles or more in size, and seems to work pretty well, but I think it should be doing better. I see some people get starters that look very strong with large bubbles and they make great bread. My bubbles are always smaller but plentiful, but I am still not sure it is the best it can be. I use 70 grams of rye flour, 140 grams of high protein bread flour and 140 grams of high protein fine ground whole wheat flour in my starter mix. Does anyone have suggestions as to whether this is a good mix or not?
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and use it to build preferments before adding to the dough. You say you use 70g rye flour + 140g bread flour + 140g whole wheat flour in your starter mix. Considering I only build 50-100g of starter at any one time this seems like an awful lot of starter to me. I think you need to explain your process a but more.
That is just the flour mix i use when I set it up. I should have been more clear. I only use about 30 grams of the mix when I feed my starter to keep it going. I should have specified the ingredients as a starter mix of a 1:2:2 ratio of the three flours with the rye being the smaller amount. My mistake . In your opinion is that a good mix of flours to use to feed my starter? Are there better suggestions?
Can't fault that mix at all. 1:2:2 is a good starter maintenance. Do you build levains before using in the final dough? Bubbles within a starter and final dough will depend on a few factors from flour to hydration to how it's handled. I generally don't think too much about the starter as long as it's healthy and works. More thought goes into the levain and final dough. Concentrating on keeping the bubbles in when handling and getting the ferment just right will help you get the crumb you want.
Consistency has everything to do with it. Thinner = smaller bubbles and less rise - thicker the opposite.
Also, stirring vigorously after feeding helps, till you feel the gluten forming. That'll hold the gas better.
What's it like?