Questions tagged [sourdough]
Questions regarding baking and working with wild yeasts and starters (also known as levains or chefs).
268
questions
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1
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When stretching and folding dough and it gets tight, is that time to let it rest?
When I make my sourdough, a rested dough will stretch and fold 3-4 times before quite suddenly going tight. At this point it's likely to tear if I stretch much more. Should I put it down and rest it ...
0
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0
answers
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Is it okay to feed milk powder to sourdough starter?
I'm still new to bread making and I was wondering if adding some milk powder when I feed my starter would have a negative impact since milk is slightly more acidic than flour.
7
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3
answers
448
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Why would a fully-developed dough lose consistency (elasticity / extensibility)?
I've been experimenting with panettone and I've come across the issue time and time again of losing dough consistency while mixing the secondo impasto (i.e. the final panettone dough). What makes this ...
3
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2
answers
241
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How does no-knead bread not overproof?
Most sourdough instructions warn not to overextend primary fermentation, as doing so will exhaust the yeast's food supply for proving after shaping. Standard sourdough recipes call for a 3-4 hour bulk ...
1
vote
2
answers
128
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Sourdough hasn’t risen overnight
I mixed 400gr of flour with 200 of starter, plus 280 ml of water and a bit of salt. I worked it with the slap and fold method and left it overnight.
Sadly this morning I woke up to find it only about ...
0
votes
1
answer
113
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3 day old sourdough starter splits after feeding
My starter consists out of 150gr All purpose, 60 grams of whole wheat and 210 grams of water.
On day 2 it bubbled nicely, but I fed it only with half a feeding fearing it would otherwise not stay ...
1
vote
1
answer
153
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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
3
answers
366
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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
1
answer
54
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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(~...
7
votes
3
answers
3k
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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
0
answers
157
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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
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0
answers
23
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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 ...
1
vote
2
answers
231
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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
1
answer
140
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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
0
answers
62
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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
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5
answers
2k
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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
3
answers
351
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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
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0
answers
47
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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
1
answer
115
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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
4
answers
462
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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
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4
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4k
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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
0
answers
101
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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
1
answer
59
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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 ...
2
votes
1
answer
493
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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
2
answers
168
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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
1
answer
96
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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
4
answers
6k
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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
2
answers
891
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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
1
answer
227
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
1
answer
242
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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
1
answer
85
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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
1
answer
304
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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
0
answers
37
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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
1
answer
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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
1
answer
81
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
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2
answers
4k
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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
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1
answer
273
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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
2
answers
466
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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
1
answer
149
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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
1
answer
201
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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
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1
answer
869
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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
1
answer
307
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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
4
answers
1k
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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
1
answer
2k
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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
2
answers
1k
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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
1
answer
112
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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
0
answers
89
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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
2
answers
367
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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
1
answer
2k
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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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0
answers
131
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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 ...