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Questions tagged [sourdough]

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Questions regarding baking and working with wild yeasts and starters (also known as levains or chefs).

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5
votes
2answers
172 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
63 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
148 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
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1answer
75 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
201 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
58 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
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1answer
55 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
3k 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
127 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
89 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
90 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
156 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
138 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
151 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
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4answers
355 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
548 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
273 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
75 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
61 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 ...
0
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0answers
49 views

Sour dough hard then sticky

I was making my usual sourdough recipe and the dough was unusually hard at first. Everything was okay and I started working it and put it in the fridge to continue working it the next day, but now it'...
3
votes
2answers
325 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
266 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
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0answers
74 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
82 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
66 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
3k 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
133 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
140 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
101 views

Beer in Sourdough Starter

Would there be any benefit to feeding a sourdough starter with beer instead of or in addition to water?
4
votes
4answers
342 views

Do I need a specific pan for baking sourdough bread?

I have been following a recipe to make sourdough bread and a starter. The recipe said to cook the bread in a dutch oven or a cast iron casserole dish. Since I have neither, can I cook the bread in an ...
0
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0answers
23 views

Maximum hydration using just beer and 14% protein white flour

What's the highest hydration beer only that's feasible? Aiming for a pan de cristal type result but with lots of beery goodness Suggestions?
1
vote
2answers
358 views

Using pastry flour for standard sourdough bread recipe?

I am trying to make sourdough bread, but was only able to get whole wheat pastry flour (due to covid). Characteristics of this flour (from Bob's Red Mill) are: 1) low protein content 2) stone ground 3)...
0
votes
0answers
105 views

Why is my enriched dough not passing the poke and window pane test and what should I do to remedy it?

I used this recipe for sourdough cinnamon rolls. My first attempt with it has been a success so I wanted to do it again. The second try was, relatively speaking, a failure. The dough did rise but it ...
6
votes
1answer
123 views

How long will it take for yeast culture to adapt to new flour

My starter is made from organic whole wheat. I feed it twice a day every 12 hours with 1:1 ratio of flour to water. It almost triples in volume each feed. I started it on April 12/2020 I decided to ...
2
votes
1answer
88 views

Which sourdough starter should i keep?

I decided to make 2 sourdough starters, to see if one would come out better. I only want to keep one and I dont know which one to choose. One has formed a hooch, while the other has not but otherwise ...
0
votes
0answers
35 views

What exactly happens during the sourdough ripening?

I am following a recipe from the well established Italian Baker Bonci, to make my liquid sourdough starter (with some success too). In his recipe he says to refresh the starter with a 1:1:1 ...
4
votes
2answers
403 views

Sourdough getting too brown

I am baking loaves of sourdough using this recipe: https://www.theperfectloaf.com/beginners-sourdough-bread/ I cook my loaves in a staub cocette and after the allotted time, they're very, very brown, ...
5
votes
3answers
526 views

Sourdough starters with different smells - is this normal?

I am very new to sourdough baking and gaining an interest in the subject so please forgive what may seem like newbie question. I have two starters on the go at the moment. The first starter came as ...
1
vote
1answer
107 views

How to use sourdough starter?

A week ago I mixed 1 part AP flour 1 parts tap water, keeping it at room temperature (18-24c). I've been discarding a bit and feeding it 1:1 daily. The last few days, the next 4-6 hours after I feed ...
0
votes
2answers
1k views

Help! Too much salt in my sourdough dough!

Help! I added three times the amount of salt needed for my sourdough bread recipe (1/4 c. versus 1 T.) Can I save it?
1
vote
1answer
214 views

Flour types and their effects in levain

The first time I made a levain, I used all-purpose white flour. This took over a week-two weeks to become active. I recently started a levain using whole wheat flour, and found it to become active ...
2
votes
2answers
1k views

why does my sourdough bread have lumps of flour

I've made sourdough bread numerous times, however, I sometimes find hard parts in the center of the loaf. Whenever I cut into a baked bread (after rest) - there appears to be hard parts towards the ...
1
vote
1answer
47 views

non-grain options in sourdough starter

Is there any reason not to try adding dried fruit to a sourdough starter? The reason I'm imagining is that different sorts of yeast live on dried fruit vs on grains. This could turn out to be ...
3
votes
2answers
2k views

Sourdough starter - when do you give up?

I'm on Day 14 for my sourdough starter and can't get it to work. I had a half inch rise on Day 3 and nothing since then. I am using 1:1:1 with the flour component being made up of half whole wheat ...
2
votes
1answer
124 views

Maintaining a sourdough starter

There seems to be (much like everything else) different recipes, though most call for equal parts starter, flour and water for maintenance. However, one particular (and popular) blogger calls for the ...
2
votes
1answer
218 views

Sourdough bread crumb ripped in two [duplicate]

I've been trying my hand at sourdough bread for a few months now and it is getting better and better, but this keeps happening, and I have no idea what might be the cause: My impression is that ...
0
votes
1answer
72 views

Attempting Tartine's basic country bread

I'm trying to bake the basic country bread from Chad Robertson's book "Tartine Bread". I've followed the description for making a starter faithfully (p. 45/46). In Step 2, it says that "a dark crust ...
1
vote
1answer
391 views

Forgot to feed my 6-day old sourdough starter yesterday, can I just carry on today?

I just realized that yesterday I forgot to feed my 6-day old sourdough starter, can I just go about feeding it as usual? I know there are some similar questions on here but they are a little vague. I ...
0
votes
1answer
165 views

Day 8 of Sourdough Starter, is it still alive?

I started my starter 8 days ago. I stopped feeding it after Day 4. It has been left on the counter. It has been stirred but not fed for 4 days. Is my starter still ok? It's kept in a mixing bowl ...

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