My sourdough starter has been going now for approx 6 weeks and my loaves have improved as my main issue was a lack of rise in the final loaf.
I would say that there’s still room for definate improvement in that my loaves are lacking the nice large air spaces accustom to sourdough loaves. I was curious as to whether the way I’m feeding my starter is the cause to this?
I feed it almost everyday with 150gms of breadmaking flour and 150mls of water and I just keep adding this amount each time I feed it. should I remove half of the starter each time I feed it or not? Also by feeding it the way I have been doing, will this cause any problems?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Olivia9801
You want to keep the ratio of starter to new flour/water consistent with each feeding. If you only add a fixed amount each time, in relative sense, the yeasts will have less and less food to eat (because new food remains constant while the amount of starter increases). That's why people discard the starter when feeding — to keep the ratio constant.
Personally I'm keeping a 60g starter, feeding 2 times per day and discarding 50g, then adding 25g flour and 25g water (so the ratio is 1 to 5). It allows me to feed just past the starter's peak, so that it gets stronger over time, while keeping waste to a minimum. It's easy to build up the amount just before baking by discarding less (e.g. if I keep 50g and add 125g flour / 125g water, I'll have a 300g levain 8 hours later).
60-50 is 10
So 10:25:25 is not ratio 1:5 but 1:2.5
I save 5 gram and add 25 gram flour and water.
I meant ratio of starter to new flour/water combined.
Those nice large airspaces had nothing to do with you starter.
It is more the hydration and ig you using the stretch and fold techniek
Thank you for your comments which confirms my thoughts that I maybe feeding my plant incorrectly. I did another bake today and the loaf looks brilliant. However I would describe the voids as being like shop bought medium loaf. Room for improvement here!
I’m slightly disappointed with the lack of tang and now you’ve confirmed my feeding is not right, I guess this could effect the flavour of the bread?
To get the larger voids should I be using less water?
Olivia9801