Lost Sourdough Mojo Update
As a reference point, here's my original thread:
So I went ahead and made the starter and have continued refreshing it every few days. The starter has gotten more and more lively over the last couple weeks, so that is fun.
The first loaf of sourdough I tried was a disaster waiting to happen. The dough never rose. I let the first rise (supposed to be 3-4 hours) go for 15 or so and it really wasn't responding. I ended up spiking that dough with commercial yeast to at least salvage something out of it. I got a nice "country loaf" from that one...but you had to basically use your imagination to taste anything sour from it.
But the starter was getting more and more bubbly/foamy, so I decided to give it another go and I vowed to not spike the dough. Well, again, I had to let the dough go much longer than anticipated. Each rise took at least 2 or 3 times longer than it was "supposed to"...but the good news is that it DID rise this time. Okay, maybe I wasn't getting a doubling in size, but I was getting 50%-75% rises. I baked today and while it clearly isn't a "perfect" sourdough loaf (the reduced rise lead to a denser loaf and the reduced size meant the middle was about 5° cooler than it should have been as the bottom darkened. BUT, I got sourdough bread and it tastes great!
I am hopeful that as I continue to refresh the starter, it'll keep getting more and more active and hopefully my loaves will start to react quicker. But hey, homemade 100% wild yeast sourdough bread. I'm happy.
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8 Comments:
way to go!! i am happy for you!!
:)
gastronomeg at 12:43PM on 09/09/09
how often are you feeding it? you mentioned "every few days", but for my starter to be really healthy i try to feed it 2 or even 3 times a day, every 8-12 hours, for a few days before baking at least. i'd guess that if you feed it less frequently the culture evolves to eat the sugars more slowly, and will thus rise more slowly in the dough.
vkaf253 at 3:03PM on 09/09/09
Sourness comes from a hungry starter. The more often you feed the starter the less sour it will become.
It sounds to me as if your rising temp is too cool. What kind of flour are you using? Any whole wheat flour in the mix will slow rise time and volume.
What about using more starter in the bread dough?
climbhighak at 10:20PM on 09/09/09
I use a never bleached flour (King Arthur, but Gold Medal has one, I think). Don't know if that makes a difference, but it might.
I agree - use a higher proportion of starter. You only need to leave yourself a cup of starter left over to maintain the starter.
lemonfair at 7:03AM on 09/10/09
Yeah, I am feeding once every three days...with the goal of using the starter about 24 hours after I feed it for a nice sour flavor.
I'm rising at a room temp of about 70 degrees....which is basically the temp outside most of the time. And I'm using King Arthur unbleached bread flour.
I like the idea of using more starter in the bread...I will plan on doing that with the next attempt. Thanks :)
lawofmurphy at 9:39AM on 09/10/09
I have the exact same problem with my starter. It makes good tasting bread, but just doesn't rise enough. Like you, I'm getting a fully cooked crust but due to the density the middle isn't really cooked enough.
I feed mine daily, which apparently isn't often enough. My question is, if I increase the feeding schedule to twice a day will I dilute my starter too much? Because at its current pace it won't show much signs of activity 12 hours after the first feeding. If I still toss half and feed it again I'm down to a quarter of the original starter amount. Don't want to kill the little bugger.
schmonsequences at 8:15PM on 09/10/09
Be sure to stir your starter often during the feeding process. The aeration helps the starter to become much more active much faster. I give it a good stir every couple hours if I'm around the house, but a couple times a day will go a long way toward activating the starter.
dmcavanagh at 2:58PM on 09/12/09
hmm, if it doesn't look like anything's happening after 12 hours, i'd say try keeping it in a slightly warmer place. or you could try giving it a boost by tossing in a handful of grapes (organic, and unwashed b/c yeasts live on the skins). if there isn't a lot of ambient yeast in the air of your kitchen a starter can need some extra encouragement, but once it gets a bit more active it will certainly be hungry again 12 hours after feeding.
vkaf253 at 4:52PM on 09/12/09