Hello, jus wants to quickly ask, if my starter is stored in the fridge, and I take it out to make bread, how many feeds do I need to giv it before I can use it?
Also, I noticed many recipes ask for one cup of starter. So then if I used one cup how would I feed it ( flour/water amounts)?
I usually keep 100g of starter in the fridge and then feed 50g each of flour n water for the first feed following Bourke st bakery instructions and build it up with three feeds. Although, this takes time and I end up with too much starter. Although, I recently discovered it's perfect for pancakes :)
Any advice is much appreciated :)
Hello, just wants to quickly ask, if my starter is stored in the fridge, and I take it out to make bread, how many feeds do I need to give it before I can use it?
Depends on the condition of the starter when it went into the fridge, the refrigerator temperature, and how long it's been in there. I normally open the jar and examine the starter. If there is any hooch, I would say it will take about 3 discards/feedings to increase the yeast numbers. If it smells like wet flour, then let it warm up to room temperature before checking it again. if it still smells like wet flour, look for a warmer place and let the starter grow as it is too immature. If it smells right, tastes sour, and has bubble activity, then one discard/refreshment should do it. If it smells great, tastes great but is flat lined, two discard/refreshments. Always discard the top of a long refrigerated starter to take a sample from the middle of the starter to feed. One feed cycle ends when the starter rise peaks and starts to fall or collapse.
Also, I noticed many recipes ask for one cup of starter. So then if I used one cup how would I feed it ( flour/water amounts)?
If it doesn't tell you how to mix the starter, look. Somewhere there has to be some sort of guidance. It could be anything but many times they are wetter than 100% hydration. If no other water is used in the recipe, then the starter will surely be a very wet one. Usually but not always similar to the replacement instructions.
For example: "Remove one cup of starter and replace with one cup of water and bla bla bla cups of flour." You will have to figure the hydration. Divide water weight by flour weight. Guesstimate water at 240g per cup and flour at 125g -135g per cup. Once you know the hydration, it is easy to figure how much to feed it.
I usually keep 100g of starter in the fridge and then feed 50g each of flour n water for the first feed following Bourke st bakery instructions and build it up with three feeds. Although, this takes time and I end up with too much starter. Although, I recently discovered it's perfect for pancakes :)
I keep 100g starter in the fridge and then remove a teaspoon or 10g to feed 50g water and 50g flour (1:5:5) and that is one feeding. The rest of the starter stays in the fridge until I decide it is too old and replace it with a fresh one. If you are going thru 3 refreshments, you don't need so much water and flour, important is to reduce the amount of starter first to 10g before feeding and after the third feeding save 10g to feed and refrigerate. IF you go 1:3:3 feeding, it will peak faster so you can build faster. Then take or reduce that to get the amount of starter you need (plus 20g if you slop)
One thing to keep in mind. If you don't give the starter enough food, the starter may be too acidic and the yeasts react slowly as if there is no food around. Give them something to get excited about by raising their pH with more food, and they will hop into action.
About the one cup starter replacement, you could just feed a level tablespoon (20g) starter with half a cup (120g) of water and one cup (125g) flour ending up with about 245g of starter for a loaf. I don't know if that is one cup or more of starter because it will vary (being volume) and how fervently the starter is stirred down (popping bubbles) before measuring. If you find your dough too dry, either add more water to the starter or to the dough.
Salt (2%) would be a half teaspoon table salt per cup of flour... roughly So your cup of starter will need about 1/2 teaspoon salt and for each cup of flour you throw into the loaf. I find figuring salt the hardest thing to regulate with dumper recipes. Taste the dough to see if you have enough or too much.
Thank you, you're welcome. :)
here are some pics :)
so altogether, this would be my third and most recent attempt at sourdough bread and all using different recipes.
any feedback/critique much appreciated ;)
this was my second attempt at sourdough bread, following instructions from river cottage every day, overnight sponge then make and shape loaf, into banneton, then invert onto preheated baking sheet score and bake, although i didn't score so as not to deflate.
and this was my first, following bourket st bakery recipe:
If you chucked a peaking starter into the fridge, you plan on using it within a day or two without refreshing. If you want it to last longer, feed 10g let it start to rise and then chill. It will keep for weeks.
The all look so different. Which one do you like the best? ...and why?
thanks mini :)
they do look so different dont they? im not sure, um, i guess appearance wise, my latest attempt has more of an uneven crumb structure and taste was great too. so i guess this one. although, i remember being very excited by my second attempt, and felt i had achieved sourdough success at last, in that it was higher than my first flat loaves, and taste was good and not obviously sour, which i liked. oh well, i'll get there :D
by peaking you mean maybe doubled? thanks again :)
Doubling means just that. If you squash it level into a straight sided clear cup. Level is 100 ml, it is doubled when it reaches 200 ml.
Peaking means letting it rise until it stops expanding on its own. With the same 100 ml of dough, that can be anywhere from 120ml to 500 ml. By letting the starter peak, one acquires information as to the power of the starter, how high and how soon to maximum lift. The closer to peak, the closer it comes to deflating and being over-proofed.
do you reccommend any good sourdough bread recipes for a beginner?
which do you usually follow? do you have a favourite? :)
You could look up Susan's favorite loaf or a 1-2-3 loaf. As your starter gets older, it may bet better tasting. Feeding your starter when it has just doubled is one way of keeping a mild tasting loaf. I think you have a good recipe already. What I recommend is that you work with one recipe several times before switching to another.
I think you may find a beginner loaf with a site search for: suggestion for a beginner sourdough loaf
or here
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/25768/help-beginner-sour-dough-recipe-best-place-start
thanks so much mini, im jus having a look at susans blog now :)