When to Make Levain
Hey guys. Just starting out in the SD world and was hoping for some help with a simple question (I apologise if this has been asked before, but I've looked around and didn't quite find the answer).
I'm trying to make the San Juaquin baguettes on this site, and make the levain from a mature starter that I keep in my fridge. Do I use the starter direct from the fridge for the levain (so it's probably not ripe and ready to use directly in dough), or do I need to take a bit of starter out, feed it until it doubles, and THEN use that freshly fed starter to make the levain?
So basically, is the levain the actual feeding, or I need to use a recently fed and bubbly starter to then make levain, which will then need to go through its own ripening phase before I incorporate into the dough?
Thanks for any help. I feel like I'm overthinking this and should just take the starter from the fridge, no matter what state its in, and the levain step is the actual feeding, but then again, maybe not.
I use some starter from the fridge (I refresh it about twice a week).
I build the levain with that and when the levain is almost done put it in the fridge or let it finish and use it direct.
It can kept in the fridge for about three days with no problem.
But I do need to mention a do my bulk rise on a relatief high temperature like 27 to 30 degrees this differes per recepi.
A other thing my starter is about 9 months old and very strong.
I refresh it 1:5:5 when I make the I also use 1:5:5 for the levain.
I think it depends on how vigorous your starter is and how long it has been since out was last fed. I will feed my starter once per week and can and do build levains from it during that week. I know some who will do feeds every other week and build levains from it without additional feeds.
What I try to time is when I do my weekly feed. I’ll try to do that feed the day or two before most of my baking is to be done.
You’ll know if this works for you when you build the levain, if it isn’t very vigorous, then you may need to refresh the starter before building the levain next time. But if your levain is nice and vigorous then you’re golden.
Thanks guys. That clears things up a bit. And as a follow-up: my starter is nice and strong (a local bakery was nice enough to give me some of theirs last week - I fed it once and popped it in the fridge). Do you guys feed your starters and put them right back in the fridge, or wait a few hours until they double and then put it in the fridge?
I feed my starter and wait until it has peaked, this may be much more than just double depending on your starter and what you feed it. Once it has peaked I put it into the fridge. I like to ensure that I have allowed the yeast and LAB time to maximally populate the starter before slowing their reproduction down by refrigerating it.
I'm new to this but the system I'm currently using - which was recommended by a friend - works for me. I take my starter out of the fridge, and take some out to build the levain. At the same time, I also feed the starter. Once the starter has woken up and is really active I give it a bit more flour to think about and pop it back in the fridge til needed. And once the levain is really woken up, I add it to the main ingredients (having autolysed the flour and water an hour before) and make bread. So, in this process it's the levain step that's the feeding. And it suits me to also feed the starter at the same time, so that I keep my supplies up and keep the starter happy. (There are lots of different ways to organise this that work, I think - this is just the habit I've got in to and haven't had any reason to change it.)
There are a lot of ways to manage a starter. Regardless of how you are doing it. Please save yourself some heartache (i know from personal experience). Set aside time to get know your starter. You want to know as much as you can about it... What is it's maximum peak and how long does it take to peak?
I don't keep my starter in the fridge anymore, so I don't want to speak too strongly about how the fridge will impact your starters behavior. But, what I can tell you is that for years I *thought* I had a strong starter because it would reliably double in 24 hours at room temp. I was wrong. It was a weak starter. I maintain two starters now and they reliably more than triple in less than 12 hours (closer to 8 hours at 78dF).
Previously, my weak starter was making SD baking quite unsatisfying.