So I’ve been fooling with sourdough starter for several months. I started with Forkish’s 100% hydration starter. 25g starter, 100g each flour and water.
It is doubling after about 12-16 hours at 75 degrees. At 85, it’ll double in 12, maybe a bit less.
My questions are:
1) Does keeping starter at 85 degrees mean the final dough will be more sour? I don’t want super-sour sourdough.
2) Alton Brown’s refreshment is 50g starter, 100g each flour and water. Am I apt to get better activity with this ratio? I’ve even seen some refreshments that are 1:1:1. I understand the point of firm vs. more liquid (100%) starter, but I don’t understand the difference between inoculation percentages (is that what it’s called?).
Any help appreciated, and I’m sorry if this question has already been asked.
My understanding is that the smaller the refreshment, the more sour the bread will be. You can double (very sour) your starter, or increase it as much as quadrupling (hardly sour, at all) your starter, according to your taste preferences. Also, if you prefer a less sour bread, the more frequently you use & refresh your starter (and keep it refrigerated) the less time it has to become acidic & sour.
Are you saying that
is more sour than
?
Am I reading you correctly?
You are reading it correctly. To make THE most sour of starters, you would want to double it, like this, for example:
50 g starter
25 g water
25 g flour
The more flour & water you add, to refresh it, the more you will dilute the sourness of a starter.
The per cent starter in your final levain build is all about how long you want before it's at its peak. Obviously conditional on a known environment temperature.