Day 8 and my sourdough starter is finally doubling in size, fed last night around 7pm and it doubled in a few hours, this morning was deflated/degassed (guessing normal?) and fed around 11a,, in about 2 hours it has almost doubled in size again.
Is now the time to do the 'float test' and refrigerate if floats? Or do I have to keep it rising/doubling for a few more days. Not sure I am ready to bake with it today.
Thanks!
People usually do the float test before they make use of their starter---passing the float test is meant to indicate that your starter is presently active enough to make good bread in a reasonable amount of time. If you put it in the fridge, then it will become less active, and you may need to give it a couple feedings before it will become sufficiently active to bake with again.
It's also worth noting that the float test is not a perfect indicator. You can have a starter that is very sluggish but does eventually generate enough gas to pass. The doubling time is probably a better indicator of activity---two hours is a pretty short doubling time, so I expect that your starter is quite active at the moment.
Great thank you! I will probably attempt to bake with it today after I get these rolls out of the oven and see how it goes. I'll pop it into the fridge after feeding and a few hours of sitting on the counter to activate again.
Now it's time to bake :)
if you are still feeding it 1:1:1 then it's time to double up the flour feed so you don't have to feed it so often. You can increase the flour feed so that it peaks in 6-10 hours to put it onto a 12 hour schedule.
Thank you! I baked with it yesterday and it came out pretty nice in flavor, crust leaves more to be desired. I will post some photos!