Thread: Who bakes bread?

Goats were great. Always wanted one with the original hemi. That was a car!

Originally Posted by MikeB52

I read, after the initial week build, if you put it in the fridge after use you don’t need to feed it for up to 7 days. Then the night before you want to bake you bring it out to warm, add equal fuel to current weight and next day good to bake again.
I hope it’s that easy cause I see me being a weekend loafer.

A week for the initial growing/building was a bit short for me. I went by a rule of thumb I read somewhere that it should visibly double in volume 1-4 hours after feeding. I think I went 10 or 12 days until mine got to that point. All depends on the environment of your house.

I usually feed mine every 7-10 days, but when I went 10 days it was a bit slower to rise and consistency is a bit off. Still works well in baking though.

A couple tips I learned along the way.
-When feeding, add water to starter, mix until smooth and then add flour. Makes it a lot easier to get a homogenous mix.
-Use a LARGE container! My starter overflowed multiple times over night, expanding in size 4 to 6 times original size.
-Wash anything starter touches as soon as you're done. If it dries, it takes forever to soak and scrape off.

Apparently the old timers used to use the clear “hooch” that forms at the top of the starter to clean brass as well as a few other things they thought of.

My 2cents worth....

Originally Posted by dinnermint

A week for the initial growing/building was a bit short for me. I went by a rule of thumb I read somewhere that it should visibly double in volume 1-4 hours after feeding. I think I went 10 or 12 days until mine got to that point. All depends on the environment of your house.

It really does depend on the temperature in your kitchen. It takes at least a week
for a brand-new starter to get going properly, meaning both lively and sour.

Originally Posted by dinnermint

I usually feed mine every 7-10 days, but when I went 10 days it was a bit slower to rise and consistency is a bit off. Still works well in baking though.

The longer you leave it in the fridge without feeding it, the more sour it gets.
Take it out every few days, stir any "hootch" on top back in, and give it a sniff.
When it's sour enough to suit your taste, bring it out, feed it, and let it sit out
overnight at room temperature. That outta do'er!

Originally Posted by dinnermint

A couple tips I learned along the way.
-When feeding, add water to starter, mix until smooth and then add flour. Makes it a lot easier to get a homogenous mix.

Good idea.

Originally Posted by dinnermint

-Use a LARGE container! My starter overflowed multiple times over night, expanding in size 4 to 6 times original size.

I use a 2qt mixing bowl.

Originally Posted by dinnermint

-Wash anything starter touches as soon as you're done. If it dries, it takes forever to soak and scrape off.

I don't know why that is, buts it's true.

If you're new to sourdough cooking, maybe the easiest thing to start with is
pancakes. Then maybe some bread, and then maybe a cake. The most difficult
recipe for me was biscuits: handle the dough too long, and you end up with
something more like dinner rolls...or hockey pucks.

Biscuits are tough to make, something about the science of keeping the fats in the batter cold (the butter) and minimizing gluten formation.

Last night, made a 100% whole wheat sourdough loaf in a 5x9 pan.

A GTO, nice bread truck.
.
Thanks for the tips gents. My starter growth slowed right down on day 3 and 4. Still bubbling and souring.
But slowly, with no where the activity of that first rise.
Adding the water first and mixing, good tip, as well as the cleaning right away.
Think I’ll go between 2 mason jars and rotate them for cleaning and pouring off excess.
Mine weigh about 400 grams with the lid so makes for an easy tare weight

I came across a website which may be of interest to sourdough bakers.
There are lots of "Tips" and a host of exotic starters for sale, as well.

www.sourdo.com

Or maybe everyone else already knows about this one.

That's so cool! Thank you for sharing that! I would love to try some other starters, but I'm well aware I don't have the discipline to care for multiple starters...

I got my starter split and fed. I haven't decided what I'm gunna make tomorrow, I might try the 100% whole wheat again as I accidentally bought whole wheat last trip to the store and running low on APF.

Oh the enablers on this site!


Neat story on that site. Cultures from back in time and across continents.
Nabbed a few from Personal ethnic points of interest. Will start with the Italian, cause the kit comes with 2 cultures, so I can learn on the one, and keep the other for later, or a gift!
Movember is but a few scad months away again!
May the dough rise slower than the economic recovery gents!

Starters from another era or culture
If have a starter and feed it King Arthur flour and then buy an Italian starter and feed it King Arthur flour won't the two starters become the same over time?