Questions tagged [sourdough-starter]

Culture of yeast and lactobacilli in a flour/water mixture, used to leaven bread (also known as levain)

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Can I give my friend the sour dough "throw away" as a starter to their sourdough starter?

Many sourdough techniques suggest throwing away half your starter further on in the fermenting process. The reason given (in many YouTube videos I've watched) is that it'd eventually take over your ...
Kev's user avatar
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13 votes
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Some instant yeast went into my sourdough starter

This is how it all began, I have a 100% rye starter for about a year now. I used a spoon that had some other dough on it, that dough was from a bag of flour that had mentioned at the bottom of the ...
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13 votes
5 answers
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Traveling with sourdough starter

We recently got a sourdough starter, and have loved trying out many different recipes with it. In a few weeks we will by flying home (after spending the summer in Alaska), and we would really like to ...
David Oneill's user avatar
11 votes
3 answers
2k views

What's the point of long/complex sourdough feeding techniques?

About a year ago, a friend taught me how she makes her sourdough bread and gave me a portion of her starter. It works great and makes fantastic loaves. I've started to look at other recipes online ...
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9 votes
3 answers
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Will my results differ when using a sourdough starter vs poolish for pizza dough?

I've read about differing techniques for getting the best flavor, texture, and chewiness in my pizza crust. One of the commonly suggested routes is to include a sourdough starter as part of the ...
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8 votes
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Why does my sourdough starter have in the top the liquid separated from the flour?

Why does my sourdough starter have in the top the liquid separated from the flour? 2 days after beginning a new one, a liquid (water) appeared on top of it, it appeared after I fed it the first time. ...
Michael Ben David's user avatar
7 votes
5 answers
2k views

Is using commercially available yeast to create a sourdough starter effective?

Numerous starter recipes talk about capturing wild yeast from the environment. Many recipes, as well as questions and answers here, directly say or imply wild yeast is better and that deliberately ...
Phil's user avatar
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How to Judge the Appropriate Feeding Schedule for Immature Sourdough Starter

I am a week into the development of sourdough starter. I initiated the starter on spring water and a flour mixture that is 1/2 whole grain rye (Hodgson Mill) and 1/2 whole grain wheat (King Arthur). ...
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7 votes
1 answer
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How can I make my sourdough bread more sour?

I am having trouble getting my German Farmer Rye Bread (Bauernbrot) to taste sour enough. I have a good rise and good structure but the flavor is not sour enough. I tried making the starter less ...
Paul's user avatar
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6 votes
3 answers
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My sourdough starter is going wrong in every possible way

I have been feeding my sourdough starter daily for just over two weeks and everything is constantly going wrong. At first water was sitting on the top, then it started smelling of nail varnish, and ...
reuben clark's user avatar
6 votes
4 answers
33k views

Why won't my sourdough form a shapeable dough that doesn't stick?

I'm pretty new to the sourdough game and will admit that I have very little knowledge of the science behind it (hydration, etc.). I have so far tried two sourdough starters to make two simple ...
emyrking's user avatar
6 votes
3 answers
40k views

What happens if I forget to feed my sourdough starter?

Is there something wrong that can happen if I forget to feed my sourdough starter? I kinda forgot to do it twice, but it still appears to have a few bubbles in it. Previously it contained hooch, which ...
Michael Ben David's user avatar
6 votes
5 answers
37k views

How frequently should I feed my sourdough starter?

I am growing my first sourdough starter. It is a week old, but it isn't very active. My concern is that I might be feeding it too frequently or too infrequently. I could see it going either way. The ...
user2488125's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
986 views

Sourdough starter issues

I've been trying unsuccessfully to create my sourdough starter. First of all it starts off well, i combine 100g of bread flour with 100g of water (bottled) mix well and leave it in my jar covered with ...
user54136's user avatar
5 votes
6 answers
11k views

Make sourdough starter without discarding

I understand the point of discarding half the sourdough starter as the yeast develops so that you don't have exponential amounts of starter. Why not start with a half ounce of flour and just add the ...
motorbaby's user avatar
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How to get more lactic acid vs acetic acid in sourdough?

I want to start a sourdough culture with wheat flour. I don't want the vinegar taste to be too pronounced. What can I do to create a culture which produces a high ratio of lactic to acetic acid?
rumtscho's user avatar
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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 ...
Laschet Jain's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
445 views

How do I use beer barm to make sourdough?

I have been making sourdough now for the last six months or so, fairly successfully, using a starter that I created on the bread-making course that kicked this all off. While on the course, I ...
bornfromanegg's user avatar
5 votes
4 answers
1k views

Can a sourdough starter be kept alive if you live in a dry climate?

I have recently moved to Colorado and now I live in a dry climate at about 5,000 ft (the western slope). I had a starter in Sacramento CA with me for years, but I'm told that it is too dry here to ...
Vonita Murray's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
251 views

Can sourdough starter be used for tenderizing meat?

This paper says that after: "Lactobacillus alimentarius 15M, Lactobacillus brevis 14G, Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis 7A, and Lactobacillus hilgardii 51B were selected and used in sourdough ...
The Testosterone Fanatic's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
7k views

How to grow sourdough starter for increased production?

I am a commercial baker, and we are going through lots of sourdough starter. But I wanted some ideas or help for growing sourdough starter without throwing away lots of starter. Will the sourdough ...
John's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
702 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?
Hendrik's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
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Can I use sourdough starter (kvasek) to produce kefir?

Is the yeast/bacteria balance in mature sourdough starter (fed on wheat and barley) correct for making kefir? If not, why?
Sentinel's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
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My sourdough started hasn't yet risen! What am I doing wrong?

I had started my first batch of sourdough starter a week back. Its just wheat flour and water (haven't added any pineapple juice or any other fruit juice). The first 2 days had vigorous activity and ...
That-Kickass-GirL's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
233 views

What's are the benefits of different sourdough starter consistencies?

Is there any real differences between keeping a sourdough starter at a thick dough like consistency compared to a more watery consistency? Aside from the general thoughts of thicker being easier to ...
Corsara's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
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How can I "cheat" on dough maturation?

I found a good balance between leavening and maturation while using my favourite flour, my oven and my sourdough starter, the only problem is that the whole process, from mixing the ingredients and ...
user2485710's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
692 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 ...
Denis Tsoi's user avatar
3 votes
4 answers
10k views

Top of my sourdough starter has gone grey

I started my first sourdough starter about three weeks ago and after one week put it in refrigerator and the next week fed if 3 times in 12hours intervals an then put it back into fridge , but now ...
DPS's user avatar
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3 votes
3 answers
2k views

Kickstart Kimchi with sourdough starter

I'm making my first batch of homemade Kimchi today using a recipe from Jamie Oliver. As I also have a mature sourdough starter in the fridge, I'm thinking about adding a bit of sourdough (a few grams) ...
eckes's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
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Sourdough starter without whole grain flour

Is it possible to make sourdough starter without whole grain flour? I have glanced over the two recipes: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/sourdough-starter-recipe and https://www....
cfire19045's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
497 views

Make bread with flour different from the starter

I have been able to cultivate a strong sourdough starter with whole wheat flour and semolina flour. Now I want to make a bread with all purpose flour, show should I proceed ? Get this already ...
André Roggeri Campos's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
519 views

How to have a weekly baking sourdough starter plan

I want to start baking 2 loaves of sourdough bread every Sunday evening. I have to start from scratch. So I do not have any starter yet. Can someone please help me with a plan to do it? How and ...
Vicky's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
1k views

Is this mold on my sour dough starter?

I received the starter in early June this year. I feed 2 parts flour to 1 part well water. The flour is sometimes organic whole wheat, sometimes white flour. I keep it in the refrigerator. I feed once ...
Martha's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
475 views

Is my sourdough starter ready

I’ve been attempting to make sourdough starter for the first time over the last week. I’ve followed the recipe from this website: https://www.coles.com.au/recipes-inspiration/recipes/sourdough-starter ...
user103077's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
307 views

What does sourdough starter REALLY need?

I have one of these fancy french baking books that says that the sourdough needs to be feed with a 2:1:3 ratio of water, starter and flour. But a lot of videos I see online basically just pour a ...
motleydev's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
2k views

My sourdough starter split in 2 on the 3rd day. What should I do?

I have fed it first after 24h and it grew nicely. And on the 2nd morning after I woke up I saw this: Should I keep the upper half? or simply start a new batch? I have used the following formula: ...
Andrei CACIO's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
828 views

Maintaining Sourdough Starter - Are potato flakes/water necessary?

I just got some sourdough starter going with the Oregon Trail, and it seems to be doing quite well. However, the guide calls for using potato flakes or potato water to feed it- having neither, I hoped ...
RICK's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
110 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 ...
BundaSuja's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
597 views

Bread has acidic smell and taste

I made a sort of "starter" to use instead of dried yeast for making bread. It was basically a loose dough with a tiny amount of dried yeast. When I bake I take some from the box and refresh ...
algiogia's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
297 views

Storing sourdough starters with wine in a wine fridge?

Specifically: Can the yeast & carbon dioxide from the sourdough starter harm the wine bottles I'm aging in the refrigerator, and Roughly how often would I have to feed the starter if stored ...
Liane763's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
1k views

Tartine + Sourdough Taste

I just moved to the San Diego area and began making my bread starter from scratch (it's 3 weeks old now) from the Tartine cookbook. I just made the country loaf and it rose perfectly and looks just ...
schmudu's user avatar
  • 133
3 votes
1 answer
117 views

Reasons my sourdough attempts failed?

Last March I started adventuring into the world of Sourdoughs by following the advise of The Fresh Loaf Bakers's handbook but using wholegrain rye flour all the way and it went pretty well; after a ...
EDG956's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
373 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 ...
Oded R.'s user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
1k views

Left sourdough starter out overnight after feeding and it overflowed?

I have a new sourdough starter I made about 2 weeks ago. I took it out of the fridge yesterday afternoon and fed it. It was slow to rise and even placed in the oven with light for a about an hour. I ...
Deanna's user avatar
  • 31
3 votes
2 answers
195 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 ...
Three Diag's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
254 views

Cooking with sourdough starter

I have recently begun a sourdough starter. General advice is to throw away half the starter every few days then feed what remains with additional flour and water. Is there a reason why most ...
Suipaste's user avatar
  • 133
3 votes
2 answers
7k views

Can a sour dough starter be too active?

Can a sour dough starter be too active? My starter almost tripled in 4 hours. Should I keep feeding it and when do you know that it is ready?.
richard's user avatar
  • 31
2 votes
2 answers
2k views

Sourdough Starter: Very fast rise (doubles in an hour)

I started a sourdough culture a week back and have some questions about rising time. I did not add any yeast to the culture. I am using regular whole wheat flour. The temperature at my place is 30*C(...
vijayvithal's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
8k views

Not feeding sourdough starter enough?

I'm new to the whole baking thing, so I'm learning as I go along. In that regard, there may be a host of things wrong with my bread baking process, but I'm mostly curious at this point about my ...
Nathan Brown's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
1k views

How do you know if your starter is powered mainly by yeast or bacteria?

One quick follow-up question to this postMy sourdough starter is bubbling but not rising, suggestions?: How do you know if your starter is bubbling because of yeast (and not bacteria)? I've been ...
Ian Reinert's user avatar