I have a question:
I made a fresh starter last week fed it and did my first baking this past weekend. It turned out pretty good.
Now I want to set up a schedule to bake at least once a week but having trouble with that. How soon after I put the left over starter back in the fridge do I need to wait to feed it and wait to bake again? I would also like to split this one so I can double my batch of bread. That seems to be to only thing I am unclear on.
If you're baking more than once per week, it makes sense to keep your starter at cool room temp and just feed it daily, preferably 2x per day.
Some people bake with starter right from the fridge, that doesn't work well for me.
If you keep your starter in the fridge, I recommend feeding your starter at room temp for at least 2 days, 2x per day before you plan to bake.
Did that answer your question?
Thank you, my recipe that I have is for a well established starter but is very vague on the details on putting it in the fridge or leaving in out and how often you can bake.
So I guess if I am feeding every day, once it get's well established, I could almost bake every day. Although, not sure I need that much bread.
Thanks again.
I used to use a recipe that called for 1/2 c active starter for a double loaf batch of dough.It meant keeping a lot of starter on hand that took a lot of flour to feed it.
Then I started using a pre-ferment. I used 1 c flour and 1 cup water and mixed them and then added about 2 tbsp active starter. Let it sit on the counter for 6-12 hours (mix the pre-ferment at night and make the dough in the morning). It added a lot of flavor to the bread and then I didn't need to keep so much starter,also. I had a half-pint canning jar that was half full of starter(maybe a quarter cup?). Take the 2 tbsp out, do a feeding,let it sit out on the counter for an hour to start rising and put it back in the refrigerator-ready for next time. If you don't use it one week, just take out and discard the 2 tbsp,feed,set and put back in. I did discover it was a little more senitive to being unfed, if you don't bake one week so make sure you feed it or it may not like it.
I started out by just subtracting the flour and water from the recipe. It works with 1/2 c each flour and water but still use the 2 tbsp starter. I've even used milk as the liquid. Amazing what you can doand still have a pretty good loaf of bread.
Last Christmas I made 12 loaves of french bread in 1 week. I just increased the starter volume for the initial bake of several loaves and then just baked every evening. I made a pre-ferment every evening,did a feeding on the main jar and kept it out on the counter. The next morning, I made the dough and loaf from the preferment,fed the main starter and let it sit out (I fed it twice a day when it was at room temp), and that evening made another preferment-then did the second feeding to replenish the main.
I hope that makes sense. It takes a while to get used to how to schedule things. Just think of the little beasties like a pet(or a teenage boy!). When it's cold, they get drowsy and don't eat much. When they are warm,they are ravenous. So I keep mine chilled most of the time so they don't eat me out of house and home! Same reason I try to keep fewer of them around-just like the relatives-the more that come over-the more food you have to provide.
Have fun!