I have had multiple fails most ending with a pile of goop.
1 /was not discarding half my starter when feeding 2/over proofing all learned from this forum thank you all.
I am looking for opinions on my next try my idea is to make a biga with 1/2 cup seed starter 1 cup flour and water 70% .
i want to make 2 loafs of bread i want to cut my Baga into my flour salt water then a four five hour bulk fermentation
then bench divide shape and proof about two hours then bake >should this work??
If you are a beginner, I suggest you use a "tried and true recipe" and follow it to the letter, to get the feel for the dough and the process. Then go out now your own, only after you have built confidence in the process.
Ford
of weighing ingredients, then you need to know what flour and water weigh anyway too. A cup of water weighs 238 grams and a cup of flour, depending on the flour can, depending on how you fill the cup and what flour it is, can weigh from 125 to 138 g.
Using cups is the easiest way to fail at baking bread if you aren't using a good old sourdough recipe that used volume measures. If your measures are right and you adjust the water correctly after the initial mix..... then your process should work depending on the temperature of your kitchen. Watch the dough and not the clock. This is the way bakers in the USA baked for hundreds of years so you can do it too!
Happy baking
Sourdough is killing me I use a scale with baker formula,Commercial yeast perfect no problems sourdough is killing me my seed culture is good just keep ending up with glop goo thank you
This part of dabrownman's advice is more important with SD than with commercial yeast. SD isn't automatically the same every time you go to use it. As a result, if you go by time, each bake can be at a different degree of readiness to bake after the same N hours even if all other factors are the same, which isn't necessarily so for those of us who bake at home where we typically have less control over temperature and humidity than commercial bakeries that can also schedule so their starters peak and are used at the same time each day.
Also, the more complete and detailed the info you provide, the more it will help you to get advice that's more specific to your situation.
Btw, biga usually refers to a still preferment made with commercial yeast. With SD, the most commonly used term is probably levain.
Goo, to me, sounds like you've left it fermenting too long. Now I can't advise on your recipe as it's not clear to me. I don't work in volume and it's not complete. However from what you describe it sounds like your timing is off. Follow a simple recipe as closely as you can and see what you come up with.
Here is a nice one https://www.weekendbakery.com/posts/sourdough-pain-naturel/