Questions tagged [sourdough]
Questions regarding baking and working with wild yeasts and starters (also known as levains or chefs).
262
questions
1
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1answer
91 views
Wild Sourdough Starter Never gets more than 1/3 bigger - Am I doing something wrong?
I made a wild sourdough starter back in July of last year. Did some baking with it, but it has never doubled in size the way that I see described in articles online.
I initially started it with all-...
4
votes
3answers
273 views
Sourdough pizza crust for wood-fired oven
I can consistently make a nice, well-blistered, chewy pizza crust in my wood-fired oven. My recipe is Caputo flour (the red bag), 60% hydration, 2.5% salt, 0.25% instant yeast; knead until smooth; ...
2
votes
1answer
40 views
How do I modify my sourdough rising/proofing time to account for not using enough starter?
This is my first time trying to bake sourdough bread after feeding a mature AP/wheat starter I got from a friend. I fed the starter a 1:1:1 mixture with AP flour and let it rise in a very warm room(~...
6
votes
3answers
2k views
Can I use a rectangular ceramic pan instead of enameled cast iron to bake bread without losing the nice crust?
My wife has been baking sourdough bread in an enameled cast iron Dutch oven and has been getting a very nice crust.
She preheats the pan and oven to 500 °F (260 °C), then puts the dough in the pan, ...
2
votes
0answers
76 views
Effect of ethanol concentration on bread flavor
What is the effect of ethanol concentration on bread flavor?
According to this stackexchange post the majority of the ethanol produced by yeast evaporates during baking, so in theory the ethanol ...
0
votes
0answers
21 views
How to get surface of sourdough presentable [duplicate]
I'm starting to get good at sourdough--the inside if fluffy and I get a good spring, however I cannot seem to master scoring/making the loaf look presentable. This is an ideal loaf in my eyes because ...
0
votes
1answer
125 views
What is this on sourdough starter?
I have a sourdough starter which I feed roughly once every 2-3 days (throw away 95% of it, refill with water and flour). Sometimes I forget and wait 5 days between feedings, and by that time it often ...
1
vote
1answer
90 views
When can milk substitute for buttermilk in sourdough recipes?
I want to prepare buttermilk sourdough pancakes:
One part sourdough starter
Two parts flour
Two parts buttermilk
Sugar to taste (about a quarter part, depending on mood)
The idea is to leave it ...
1
vote
0answers
56 views
Feeding my starter so that it will be ready when I need it
I have mature starter that I've been using for awhile. I'm planning on baking tomorrow, so I started to prepare the starter by leaving it at room temperature and feeding it every 12 hours yesterday ...
9
votes
4answers
1k views
One time sourdough starter
Is there a way to make sourdough bread without the long term commitment of feeding a starter?
My kids and I love sourdough bread, but I also work 2 jobs, so making bread is, sadly, a once in a blue ...
3
votes
3answers
211 views
Why do my English muffins have such a tough crust?
I'm new to the baking of English muffins. I follow the recipe for sourdough English muffins published on YouTube by Culinary Exploration. After accounting for the 100% hydration of the starter, the ...
1
vote
0answers
42 views
What is a good feeding schedule for a “creamy” sourdough starter?
I was given a sourdough starter from a bakery that was excellently "creamy" and had light fruity notes, as opposed to a highly acidic starter. My understanding is that a creamy starter ...
2
votes
1answer
95 views
Do I need more fermentation? Why my sourdough is flattened?
From a few weeks I've been trying to make sourdough. The most successful recipe for me and for the time I have I found is Easy Sourdough Bread Recipe using a stand mixer - Sourdough Lamination In the ...
1
vote
4answers
270 views
Sourdough bread crust will not rip open
I have been baking sourdough breads for a little over a year now. I have had great successes as well as terrible failures. Lately, I had to switch the oven I am using because the one in my apartment ...
12
votes
4answers
3k views
What type of salt for sourdough bread baking?
I have a sourdough bread recipe that calls for either Real Salt or unrefined salt. I do not have either of these and I’m not sure if these salts are fine or coarse. I have Himalayan pink salt coarse ...
2
votes
0answers
93 views
Dough loses flexibility and strength once mixed with starter and starts raising
I've watched many videos on making sourdough bread and in most of the cases it looks like the elasticity and strength of the dough is not affected by the starter.
In my case, it doesn't work like that....
0
votes
1answer
52 views
I get a smaller volume loaf from mixing sourdough in mixer - what am I doing wrong?
I have made my same recipe (74% hydration) of sourdough by both the stretch and fold and the Kitchenaid mixer method. I get a denser, lower volume loaf when I use the mixer, whether I refrigerate the ...
1
vote
1answer
290 views
Stiff vs Liquid Starter, what are the differences between hydration in a sourdough starter?
I stumbled on the concept of a stiff starter from Northwest Sourdough Baker
and have kept a high hydration starter (100% hydration) since I started baking.
Was wondering what notable differences do ...
0
votes
2answers
92 views
Sourdough starter used too early
So I was making my sourdough starter for almost three weeks, and it still wasn’t floating in water. I used this recipe: https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2019/03/beginner-sourdough-starter-recipe/ ...
3
votes
1answer
82 views
Where to keep sourdough starter
I am wondering what the pros and cons are of keeping a sourdough starter inside the fridge or outside the fridge. Certainly, keeping the starter in the fridge reduces the frequency of feedings, but ...
3
votes
4answers
3k views
Why does my sourdough loaf not get an ear
My loaves seem to have good oven spring, I think. I think that because it rises up on the sides and forms an oval sort of shape each time.
My cut often expands but doesn't open up much or form an ear.
...
5
votes
2answers
701 views
Sourdough bread uncooked from inside
My sourdough starter is 9 days old. Today it doubled in around 6 hours.
Following this recipe, I performed following steps:
I mixed 400g AP Flour, 160g starter, 230g water and 10g salt.
Kneading: I ...
3
votes
1answer
145 views
Layer of yeast on top of sourdough discard?
Most of the time when I feed my sourdough starter I find uses for the discard, but on occasion I don't have time or good ideas, so I put it in a separate jar and store it, with a tight lid, in the ...
5
votes
1answer
202 views
Is it safe to keep reusing a portion of old dough?
My grandma told my mum a weird process of making flatbread dough recently that she started to use. But I am not sure about it's safety at all.
Initially, normal wholewheat bread dough made with ...
0
votes
1answer
84 views
Does the towel touching the day 1 starter and absorbing the liquid matter?
On day 1, I’ve noticed the towel is wet. Does the towel absorbing anything from the starter ruin the starter and prevent it from reaching its desired outcome?
3
votes
1answer
252 views
How does water behave in Dutch oven baking?
Recently I made a research about how steam works in baking. I found four main functions:
Steam condenses and keeps the dough surface cool, preventing the crust to form too soon, what could hinder the ...
0
votes
0answers
35 views
Converting Yeast Recipe to Natural Levain [duplicate]
Like many people, I've been doing a good bit of sourdough baking during the quarantine and, like many people, I am in a state of near-constant panic that I have to use up the starter that is ...
1
vote
1answer
66 views
Modifications to a sourdough recipe
I'm using this recipe, with the following ingredients:
450 grams Strong White Bread Flour
300 grams Warm Water
150 grams* Active Sourdough Starter
12 grams Sea Salt
*This amount is can be adjusted ...
0
votes
1answer
70 views
How Much Milk Should I add if I Already Have Butter and Sugar in my Recipe?
I am trying to create a sourdough sandwich bread loaf recipe using baker's percentages and I want to replace some of the water for milk. However, I have no idea if it will be too soft or not at the ...
21
votes
2answers
4k views
Why not make sourdough bread from young starter?
I made my own starter 3-4 days ago, and it has been growing well; I have fed it twice so far. As far as I know, it is recommended that you feed starter for about 7-0 days before you use it to make ...
1
vote
1answer
229 views
Why stirring an over-fermented sourdough starter caused it to rise a second time to about double the original size?
After feeding my sourdough starter, I let it rise to about 2.5x the original height. It eventually collapsed. 24 hours later, after it was well over fermented, I stirred the starter with a spoon. It ...
4
votes
2answers
333 views
Enzymatic reactions that happen when water and wheat flour is mixed?
What happens when you mix water and wheat flour? A seed would start to sprout eventually. Does water start reaction inside of the flour?
3
votes
1answer
126 views
Additional flour threshold: when and how to perform?
For whatever reason (in my case, usually rookie mistakes), sometimes dough - after no additional flour - is worked/kneaded to a point where it does not reach a supple state/texture and instead is more ...
2
votes
1answer
184 views
Capturing wild yeast for sourdough: Is this healthy yeast or contamination?
I'm trying to capture wild yeast to make my own sourdough bread. I put prunes, water and some sugar in a sterilized glass jar and aired it daily. After a few days I get a white, fuzzy layer. The smell ...
0
votes
1answer
658 views
Can I leave flour to autolyse for long period of time?
So, as many people in lockdown I wanted to bake a sourdough bread. I received a starter from a friend that I keep in my fridge. I took the starter out of the fridge, fed it, and mixed the flour and ...
2
votes
1answer
238 views
How to avoid collapsing bread?
I know there are already similar questions but I thought I would share my baking process to get more specific advice.
I'm currently using a variation of the French dough recipe that came with the ...
4
votes
4answers
1k views
Sticky, messy sourdough: overfermented, or ambient factors?
I've made the same sourdough bread a dozen times before, with small variations in parameters:
360g white flour
240g whole wheat flour
390g water
That's a 65% dough with 60% white and 40% whole wheat ...
2
votes
1answer
2k views
Should I stir my sourdough starter before measuring? [duplicate]
I'm new to using sourdough starter and some directions aren't very clear. I'm not sure if it needs to be stirred down before I measure for cooking and for feeding it. I've been stirring down the ...
0
votes
2answers
828 views
Sourdough dough collapsed, not rising again… Need help!
A few days back I started a bread following a Youtube recipe, it had 400gms of flour and 350 gms of water. I had never made such high hydration bread before. I did 1 hour of autolyse followed by 4 ...
2
votes
1answer
96 views
Does there exist a conversion between a sourdough and preferments recipes?
I tried asking a similar question: From regular fresh yeast to sourdough
and didn't exactly get real answers, so here I am asking something easier.
Is there a formula to convert a sourdough recipe ...
2
votes
0answers
82 views
Sourdough starter in hot climate
I live in a hot climate. Days average 85-90 F and nights only get down to 75 F lately. I started a SD starter from scratch 6 days ago. Using the King Arthur recipe found online, and whole wheat ...
3
votes
2answers
349 views
Sour Dough Starter - proofing in less than 24 hours?
I recently started with making sour dough. I created a new starter yesterday. After feeding it one time in less than 24 hours it's already doubling it's size. I'm not using self-rising flour just ...
3
votes
1answer
843 views
Is this okay or moldy? Sourdough starter question
This was modestly active starter that I put in the fridge last week since I slowed my baking routine. Took it out today, a week later, to feed and saw this. Is it mold or normal variant? It’s ap flour ...
0
votes
0answers
110 views
What is the optimal autolyse time for sourdough?
I would like to know if there is a formula or technique for understanding the ideal/optimal conditions for dough autolyse?
I understand that different flours/grains have different absorption ...
2
votes
1answer
106 views
Can you fold dough during autolyse?
Would it be helpful, harmful or neutral to fold dough during the autolyse?
Let's say we're doing a long cold autolyse. At first I assumed it would be helpful to start the dough development early on, ...
1
vote
1answer
75 views
Safe uses for sourdough starter discards during building phase [closed]
I was wondering if there are any safe uses for the sourdough starter that is discarded during the build phase, i.e. in the first 1-2 weeks before the starter has stabilized. Assuming that there is no ...
10
votes
5answers
4k views
Picking up wet dough
I've been making sourdough recently and trying to get the knack of using a really wet dough. I've watched a number of YouTube videos, and I do all the stretch and folds and periodic reshapings, and ...
0
votes
1answer
186 views
Sourdough Starter isnt rising
I've been working on a sourdough starter for almost 3 weeks and I can't seem to get any rise out of it. I feel like I've tried every trick I've read online and nothing has worked.
I started with ...
2
votes
2answers
209 views
From regular fresh yeast to sourdough
I know that there are formulas for switching from and to sourdough and or preferments, but even though my library grows I haven't found such a formula.
I have a general idea of the fact that a ...
0
votes
1answer
181 views
Beer in Sourdough Starter
Would there be any benefit to feeding a sourdough starter with beer instead of or in addition to water?
