Hello Fresh Loafers,
I am experimenting with different techniques for baking with and managing my sourdough starter.
I've had a lot of success using a recipe from Trevor Wilson that involves mixing all the flour, water and salt the night before, and just adding a small amount of starter the next day.
I want to keep this practice of a long, cold autolysing of a large part (if not all) of the flour, since it seems so effective.
But I want to try changing the way I manage my starter.
I've been re-reading Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads and I would like to make a relatively large (~500g) "mother starter", similar to his. As he does, I would first let it double at room temperature and then transfer to the fridge.
Instead of refreshing this "mother starter" for 2-3 days before baking, I would take off a small portion, use this as a "seed" to make a fresh starter the night before baking.
On baking day, mix all of this fresh starter with additional flour + water to make the final loaf.
My understanding is that this could be achieved by following Reinhart's recipes, using his "epoxy" technique to work together two "pre-doughs". I've also read about "two stage build" techniques and a French technique that gradually adds all the flour and water to a seed starter over three stages.
Can anyone recommend some beginner's recipes using some of the latter strategies that might be suitable for me?
Alternatively, can anyone recommend some videos that illustrate Reinhart's technique in more detail?
I have had a lot of difficulties following his recipes from the Whole Grain Bread book. The first is that the hydration seems much higher than the pictures suggest, and I've found it difficult to get the adjustments right. I also have trouble combining the pre-doughs by hand. It takes a long time to properly integrate them. This is where I think a video would be great, but I haven't had much luck finding one. I've spent today reading the forum archives on TFL but haven't had any light bulb moments!
FYI, I'm in Australia - this might be related to the hydration issue. I've also moved away from using whole grains, ironically for health reasons, but I don't have any of Peter Reinhart's other books.
Any feedback would be great. Thanks all.
Hi!
Most home bakers maintain a mini "mother starter" of around 100g or less and store it in the refrigerator. That's because they're doing one or two loaves a week, if that. Then, they'll scoop out a small portion of that and build it up to the amount of "bake starter" they need for the pre-ferment or final dough.
I'm a big fan of the North Muss No Fuss starter by dabrownman right here in this site. Use the search box to learn how to make the starter, how to store it, and how to build a small portion into the amount you need for a bake.
King Arthur Classic Sourdough (use Google) is about as easy as it comes for a beginner recipe.
I'd get off that 500g of starter right away if you're a beginner like me. That's way more than you need for a loaf or two a week and maintaining it will drive you insane.
Murph
Thanks Murph. I've previously overlooked the NMNF method, thinking I didn't want to switch to a rye-based starter. I've just re-read dabrownman's instructions and am convinced to give it a chance. I might try using the method but with my white starter, and then try moving to rye.
I'm not sure what KA recipe you're referring to. None of the recipes I've looked at on their site use a multi-stage build approach... instead they typically recommend the daily discard/refresh strategy before starting a dough with "fed", active starter. If there's one in particular you're thinking of, could you possibly send me the link?