hi this is my first post... I want to bake several different breads this weekend and each needs approx 400g of starter. I only have one mother starter right now at about 100g. How do I gross up to get almost 2 litre of starter for my baking. Sorry if this seems obvious -- Any advice is appreciated.
Cheers
The way I build a "production levian" from my starter is what some folks here refer to as 1:2:2 - that means divide the final quantity by 5, then one fifth starter, 2/5 flour + 2/5 water. So for 400g of final levian, take 80g starter, add 160g flour and 160g water.
If you need 2Kg of active starter, then you need 400g starter + 800g flour and 800g water. You get that 400g as above, so you need a 2-step process. My starters are ready to go in 4-5 hours, so if I wanted to start mixing on Saturday lunchtime, then Friday (or any time really) make up the 400g lot - after its been out at room temperature for 4-5 hours and nice and bubbly it can go in the fridge "on hold", then 7am Saturday morning, take it out, add the 800+800 flour and water and 5 hours later it will be nice and bubbly and ready to use.
For my bake on Friday morning, I'll need about 4.6Kg of levian tonight to do the mixing with - I'll make that with 920g of starter from the fridge and 1840g flour + the same water. I don't keep a single jar of starter with 920g in it, so I'll use 460g from the wheat jar and 460g from the spelt jar, mix them together and off I go...
-Gordon
Thanks Gordon.
This is a helpful way to approach it. Also mixing two starters is a great idea. I started last night so I will post as I progress thru the weekend.
Cheers
... because I'm sort of lazy and I typically don't make any spelt for a Friday, so I have an otherwise spare jar of about 550g of spelt starter in the fridge, so I use it too. It doesn't make economic sense, as spelt is more expensive than wheat, but I'm only using 2-300g of it.
If I was more orginised and had more time on Thursday mornings, I'd do a 2-stage build.
However a 1-stage build might also work - I might try it one day - so 2 stages over 10 hours vs. 1 stage over the same time - in theory you end up with the same but in practice? Wonder what happens - would I get more acids in there, more yeasts, less ..., etc. ?
One issue with a 1-stage build might be the bowl size though... For last nights mix & knead, I needed 4600g of levian... (about 44 loaves of varying sizes) That's a big bubbling cauldron of gloop!
-Gordon
A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
Add 1 kg flour, 1 kg water, and your starter and leave out about 12 hours until it's frothy and ready to go.
As long as your poolish is 100% hydration.
sure my loaf would be 2000 g of flour and 1500 g of water for a monster 3,900 gram loaf of bread or a double miche! That is 8.5 pounds of dough! You have a pretty killer weekend coming up:-)
I'm pretty sure a poolish only refers to a commercial yeast preferment and that we bakers are only separated by a common language that we don't understand half the time:-).
Happy baking - I hope you still like making after this weekend too!