Different Starters = Different End Result Flavour?

Been wondering this for some time now. Do different starters produce different flavoured loaves?

Let's say I have 3 different 100% hydration culture/starters. One is fed with all rye flour, the other is fed with all WW flour, and the third is fed with white bread flour. If I was to bake three loaves, all using the exact same formula except using a different starter in each, would all three come out with noticeably different flavours? Let's say the formula calls for a small amount of starter, like only a tbsp in the levain. Total weight of final dough being 2000g.

John

If the proportion of starter in the levain is small, I don't see it having much effect on the flavor of the bread.

I maintain a single starter and build different levains depending on the desired flavor profile of the bread. I think the flavor comes from the levain - there's more of it.

The whopping 10 g of rye starter in any bread would not make much of a difference except possibly a tiny bit on the sour side. But that is so small a difference no one could tell in a blind taste test. Now if it was used to make a really rye sour levain vs a a really non sour white flour levain then for sure you would notice the difference. All the reason to to keep one small really sour rye starter

Thanks. The answer I was hoping for. Good to hear because all I have is a rye starter and I don't wish to monkey around with other starters...at least not for now.

John

Hi John,

When I first started baking with sd I read that people who baked a lot maintained a rye and a wheat starter. I tried doing that for awhile but the rye starter wasn't used any where near as often as my ww starter was used so, to get it up to strength, I would have to nurse it back to health for a couple of days. I soon found that converting my ww starter to a rye could be done in a couple of builds….I now only maintain one starter but I do also cultivate 2 jars of YW…..much easier to maintain even when not being used regularly.

Janet

Hi Janet. When I first started baking bread, I had a bread flour starter that I had started in the summer month when it is hot here. When winter hit, it died on me. After too many attempts at starting another bread flour starter, I decided to try a rye starter. The rye starter was much more forgiving and lively in our changing seasons. I do like the idea of having only the rye starter on hand (the one I have now is over a year old and obeys my every command! Yay!) but I just wanted to make sure I wasn't changing the end result of some loaves by using a rye starter as opposed to another.

John

... didn't save the body of my comment. I had to repost to not lose the text. please ignore.

This is exactly what I do at the moment: I just have a rye starter. Yes, it is very forgiving. But I can notice, that wheat breads are more sour than when fed with a starter that has been feeding on wheat for a couple of feeding cycles. This is why I do some quick feedings 1:2:2 (starter:water:flour) with the starter which gives me a whole feeding cycle every 4 to 5 hours. In theory there should be even a huge difference in different starter fed with the same type of flour, if other lactobacilli are predominant. Practically I didn't find any difference but all my starters so fare came from the same environment. I've read a paper about even different lactobacilli can lead to different crumb structure on long fermentation as some inactivate gluten destroying enzymes better (l.sanfranciscensis I believe) than others. I'm open for some testing. You can all send me your starters and I'll bake the same bread with each :p Adrian

I agree that the taste may not be noticeably different, but if I recall there may be some difference in the rising ability. That is to say that the yeast can react differently if suddenly given a different food. I know that when my AP flour starter was fed rye it would go crazy and peak quicker than normal. The one time I had a rye starter and fed it AP flour, it took forever to peak compared to feeding my AP flour starter the same thing. I imagine rye and whole wheat might not have as big of a difference.

I usually suggest keeping one starter that you use most. Then on occasions where you are using it for a different purpose, just take some out and feed it the new flour type for a day or two before baking with it. This might not be necessary but I have found it difficult to time the rise correctly when I don't. If you didn't have the time for this, then I say just go for it and give it a try.