January 9, 2021 - 10:59am
First starter, first loaf, first post!
Hey All, new to the site and sourdough baking. Figured I’d share my first attempt at a sourdough loaf. Seemed to go pretty well, definitely room for improvement! I developed my starter a couple weeks ago and have been feeding it 50/50 APF and WW flour. I think it still needs to strengthen more, as it barely seems to double at its peak. Also, my shaping and handling needs a bit of improvement!
for the bread:
400g KA bread flour
100g KA whole wheat flour
375g water
100g levain
10g salt
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I’d say you are off to a stellar start!
Great Bake.
Very impressive for a first ever sourdough loaf and also for a very young starter. Keep posting here both good and bad that way the more experienced bakers here can help if needed.
Benny
I think this is a great first loaf!
Your hydration (77%) seems high, but if you like dealing with those sloppy wet doughs, have at it! (You may just find it easier to start with less as a beginner)
Thanks for the feedback folks!
I was actually surprised that the dough was quite manageable. I only performed 4 folds over 2 hours, and there was quite a bit of tension in the dough. Maybe due to the amount of WW flour used? My 50/50 WW/APF levain seems much more elastic than with just APF alone.
I guess my only question right now, is there any benefit to feeding your starter with only APF vs a mix? I’ve been feeding 50/50 just because my starter seems happier. I tried only APF and the starter doesn’t seem to rise at all.
Whole grains have much more nutrients in them than AP flour so the microbes will be more active. Also because whole grains absorb more water than AP flour, at the same hydration the whole grain fed starter will be thicker and be able to trap the gases better than AP flour fed starter. I’ve taken to mixing white flour levains very vigorously to try to develop some gluten so that white flour levains can trap the gases better and give me a better idea of their true rise.
Personally I have recently found that I prefer feeding my start whole rye. Whole rye turbo charges your starter, it will be more vigorous than with other flours at least in my experience. The levains I can now make with my rye starter are so much better than the ones that I used to make with whole red fife.