Hi, 1st post in this forum, although I've been the proverbial lurker for some time now and have learned a lot from here. So, my name is Miguel, im from Portugal and have been baking sourdough bread for about a year now. I´ve never managed to make those bursting loaves you'd be happy to instagram and brag about, but i´ve learned to make bread i quite like. In fact, i was making the best bread ive tasted - even if there was a tremendous margin for improvement.
Since then I've changed to a new home and somehow my loaves got better in looks, oven spring, texture. But the aroma profile of the bread has changed and IMO fort he worst. Its hard to describe aroma, but it used to be very crisp, really nutty and had somehow a deepness to it. Sort of different layers which you progressively unfolded as you tasted. Now its more one dimensional, lost any traces of nuts and developed an aroma which i could describe as "soapy", for lack of better words. Thats the finished bread. If you taste the starter it almost has hints of nail polish (diluted, thank god). Im not talking about taste, i can get it to be pretty sour - but the aroma eludes me.
My starter has also gotten much livelier and it triples easily in 5 hours with a ratio of 1:1.5:2. Its actually too fast for my work schedule, but maybe it´s because it´s summertime here. Seems like it has more yeast now than it used to have?
So in trying to recapture the old flavour i tried a lot of things: changed from thick to liquid starter, then back to firm. Tried various amounts of rye, wheat and spelt. tried white and whole grain. Tried using distilled water and bottled water. Tried different rise temperatures. Didn't work. So ive made a new starter, and it developed the same (or at least, similar) aroma.
So my only conclusion is that the new house could be influencing the starter? Seems strange, as its located just half a mile from the old one. same town, same tap water, same weather.
Anyone care to comment? Has this happened to any of you more seasoned guys?
Thanks for reading, and thanks a lot for keeping this valuable site alive.
All the best,
Miguel.
How far away did you move from your old home? Summertime certainly could account for the speed of your starter rising/falling. But climate/atmosphere can also affect its flavor. I know a baker that moved to an area where there is more farming and what can be kicked up into the air from farming can really affect your starter.
Also, do you keep your starter out all the time or do you refrigerate it between bakes? If the "air" there really affects the flavor of your starter, you may want to keep it in the refrigerator or a proofing box, so it's less affected.
My guess comes from other ferments and that is temperature.
Usually room temperature (20-23°C, maybe a little warmer) is kinda the sweet spot for fermenting a lot of things because the right bacteria and other microorganisms can thrive and work properly without anything going too fast or too slow
If it's especially warm, say 30°C+, many microorganisms go into overdrive and produce flavors you don't want (e.g. acetonic, sharp, unpleasant). Especially in summer that can happen, I imagine in Portugal is must be crazy hot.
Its also quite warm in my home and I have similar flavors in my starter (though not as unpleasant as yours) as well as in fermented blueberries and tomatoes.
So try to find a spot in your home where it's not too cold but also not to warm (20-25°C should be fine) :)
(also I think I read somewhere that sunlight degrades ferments? Maybe put it in a lightproof box)
Nail polish remover smell means you aren't feeding enough. I have experienced this when I first got into sourdough.
If you still have some of the old starter, I would just do a bigger feeding to get it to work with your schedule. You need to "listen" to your starter and let it dictate the feedings. You said it tripled in 5 hours, but when did it start to fall? If it was falling at 5 hours, I would try 1:3:4 to start.
My preference is feeding just as it starts to fall. This gives the maximum yeast for a nice vigorous starter. Some people wait for it to fall more, but if you wait too long after it has fallen it will get the smell you describe. However, I wouldn't feed before it starts to fall. It can take some experimenting.
For example, my old house was colder at night, so there was a point where I would feed 1:3:3 during the day, and 1:2:2 at night. During a heat spell I remember feeding 1:4:4 during the day and 1:3:3 at night. Then there were times I was doing 1:3:3 day and night.
In my new house things are more steady, but I am now playing with a 100% rye starter and have to learn what the starter wants all over again.
I also wanted to mention that giving the starter a stir once or twice during the day can really help.