Hi there
I created a starter and it's been over a month since i started. it makes great bagels but my sd loaves have been gummy in spots especially towards the middle. i suspect my starter is weak. Any tips on how to make it stronger and more active? I've tried 1:1:1 feeds , then tried 1:2:2, and 1:2:1 feeds. not sure why but it seems to "grow" the best with the last ratio. any tips would be much appreciated.
thanks
cc
I thought the same of my own as in the past my starters have been strong enough to directly use half cup or a few spoons.
The one I have now likes to be separated and fed in a different container with a pinch of some kind of sugar, covered with clingfilm and left somewhere warm. As well as doubling it bubbles more with a tight cover.
But how did you get it strong enough?
It turned out to be strong enough it was just a super clean starter and smelled fresh, in a way. Plenty of live yeast in it... you just need to make it more active just before you use it.
Add food, moisture and warmth, seal it well and itll be away. The right temperature is key really, I keep my starter cool until I use it.
hmm could my gummy parts be due to over stretching and folding or just being too aggressive with it? i do 4 sets but I stretch and fold like 16x each set. its so fun i never want to stop. i just keep going.
Gumminess will be from underprovenness (or overprovenness), underbaking or cutting before cool.
A starter seems to produce less air bubbles than commercial yeast so theres a point where SandF will be detrimental as less gas will reinflate the loaf each time until its flat.
We only want to build enough strength to hold a boule but overworking it defeats purpose of autolyse, I would think.
Why does my starter never double when i give it a 100% hydration feed. it gets close to double when i feed it 50% hydration . is it because it's just stiffer and can hole itself up better? or is it really more healthy and active with a lower hydration feed?
*hold
Your dough may be over-fermented. That has caused issues for me, where parts of the inside seem to be unbaked or just especially dense, while the rest seems ok. Another reason for gummy inside is not baking long enough.
Do you know the temperature the dough is fermenting at?
firstly thank you for your replies! I’m new at bread making . I was thinking it might be over or under fermented. My kitchen is about 20 c usually. Sometimes a bit colder. I’ve tried fermenting for 10 hrs. And also one time I think I did less and another time more. Can’t remember exactly. One time I thought I was under fermenting so I even did almost 18 hrs. But that was a slightly higher hydration recipe. And that one had poor oven spring. I’m not keeping my variables constant so I can’t say for sure. But I always end up with gummy spots towards the middle. The crust is great and the ends are good too! I’m not cutting it too soon and my oven temp and baking time is good. So what I did was use the same recipe but with 1/2 tsp of yeast instead of 50 g of starter and I end up with such wonderful bread. I ferment as if it was made with starter ie, 10 hrs and it rises so nicely at the end of bulk fermentation. But with starter , it never seems to be as impressive at the end of bulk rise. Anyway maybe I am over fermenting with the starter, since it passes the window pane test it can’t be underfemented right?
Something to try...
If your kitchen is 20C, then I'd expect fermentation to be complete at 9 hours. To be safe, you might begin the shape/proof/bake process at 8.5 hours.
If your kitchen is 18C, then I'd expect fermentation to be complete at 11.5 hours. To be safe, you might begin the shape/proof/bake process at 10.5 or 11 hours.
Maybe your results will improve.
I think there is really not enough emphasis put on the importance of temperature in the process with sourdough.
that's really helpful. thank you. i needed someone to tell me what you just told me. do you know how much room for error there is for bulk fermentation of sourdough? i guess from what you suggested it sounds like and hour on either side. and is commercial yeast more forgiving? sourdough seems way more sensitive.
As far as room for error, I'd recommend you deliberately cut it short by a safe margin in order to avoid over-fermentation by even a little bit. In my experience, it makes little difference to the end result whether you end it an hour early or right on time. Just don't go long.
I'm not sure commercial yeast behaves better when you let it over-ferment. Most recipes just don't allow you to.
Maybe sourdough yeasts are more sensitive. But they also have to contend with the bacteria that makes sourdough what it is. Those aren't present in a normal commercial-yeast recipe.
I've been at it for more than a few years now. But I'm still learning.
Is it possible that parts of my starter isn't active?
Mix it well, scrape the sides, corners and base and mix them in. The process of dumping handles the dead stuff.
I said to myself, if this loaf is still gummy, i'm giving up on sourdough. well, it came out with gummy spots again. now i'm thinking oven temperature could be the problem. i notice my loaves get really dark before the suggested baking times and the bottoms are dark too. and i'm alway concerned it will burn. my oven thermometer is showing maybe about 10 degrees higher than what my oven says. could that be a factor? I didn't think it would affect it that much because some recipes ask for a temp of 450 constant , and some a start temp of 500 and gradually goes down.
Oven temperature is often factored by how much mass is in the oven. If theres lots of crockery and trays of water it takes a lot of heat energy to keep it all at the desired temperature. We often turn it up high but place the loaf lower in order that the oven produces enough heat to keep it all going but still not be too much to bake too quickly.
If I preheat by oven plus metal stuff and water at GM8 then turn it down to GM6 when the loaf goes in it comes out with a lovely crispy crust and golden but not overdone colour.