Thread: Who bakes bread?

Bit of Halloween baking this am.
Haven’t used my starter in a month I think, but it rose to the occasion splendidly.

Smells delicious. Will pair with brisket chili tonight perfectly
Cheers gents.

Nice loaves. How do you keep your starter alive?

Thanks.
It varies with seasonal usage, but as a rule of thumb I feed after use and refrigerate..
Glass mason jar about half full to allow for the rise and fall. Put her at the back of the fridge till needed again. No feedings while in the fridge for up to 45 days, any longer, I’ll pull her out just to feed and refresh. When I feed her, it’s equal weight of flour and water.
When wanting to bake, the day prior, bring her back up to room temp and mix her back together, as the water rises to the top after a week or so in the fridge, protecting the bacteria below. One feeding later she’s all frisky and ready to go again. Flavour takes on a more sour complexity as well longer she’s dormant I am finding.

Interesting, Mike. Most home bakers recommend feeding daily which IMHO is a waste of ingredients: after a feed an amount that is similar to what was added is binned.

How long does it take to make a starter ? Iam ready to jump to the dark side….I just need a recipe for how to get a starter going…I know nothing about this…and would rather listen to you guys instead of some you tube tool. And thanks

I started out with daily feedings as well but slowly increased my dormancy in the fridge to my current, up to 45 day rests without affect.
A starter takes about a week to get going.
Start with 1/4 cup unbleached flour and water, mixed together, left out on the counter overnight.
Next day, add the same 1/4 cup of each water and flour again.
Next day throw away half of what you made and re add equal weights of water and flour.
Do that each day for the rest of the week.
Should start to get gassy and bubbly during that time. She’s ready to use after about a week.
Always mix to bake during the rise of the starter, not when she is falling.

Originally Posted by MikeB52

I started out with daily feedings as well but slowly increased my dormancy in the fridge to my current, up to 45 day rests without affect.
A starter takes about a week to get going.
Start with 1/4 cup unbleached flour and water, mixed together, left out on the counter overnight.
Next day, add the same 1/4 cup of each water and flour again.
Next day throw away half of what you made and re add equal weights of water and flour.
Do that each day for the rest of the week.
Should start to get gassy and bubbly during that time. She’s ready to use after about a week.
Always mix to bake during the rise of the starter, not when she is falling.

Do I put a lid on the jar ? Or some cling wrap ? ….And does this go in the fridge at some point…or just left on the counter ?

Originally Posted by MikeB52

Bit of Halloween baking this am.
Haven’t used my starter in a month I think, but it rose to the occasion splendidly.

Smells delicious. Will pair with brisket chili tonight perfectly
Cheers gents.

How long does your bread last?

I couldn't make two loaves. Admittedly I do use a bread machine but if the bead isn't eaten within about three days it starts to get mouldy. Theres only the two of us so we usually have to bin some of the loaf before it's finished.

Lid, not real tight, works for me, and yes, once the starter is established and reacting with predictable rise and falls after each feeding, about a week in, you can then refrigerate your starter.
My regimen is to leave about 300 grams of starter after baking, in the jar and add 150gs of water, 150 gs of flour to it after use, mix them up and back in the fridge. It’ll rise very slowly and fall equally slow over the week.
If you bake every weekend then it’ll always wake up again just warming up on the counter a few hours before use.
If the starter is longer in the fridge and the liquid separates, just means to mix it all back together, pour off half and add that weight loss again as equal parts of water and flour.. few hours later ready to use..the gas bubbles will always tell you the story. The starter will rise approx double in volume as it grows in the jar so always keep you r starter less than half a jar full or it’ll overflow during the rise.
Done that a few times as every flour act and reacts differently it’s a study in observation to dial things in. Storing the jar in a larger bowl is good insypirance against messes due to starter rise.
The jar does get mucky over time so every month I transfer to a clean jar and wash out the old for reuse.
Also, mason jars weigh about 400 grams empty without lid, so always tare your emprty jar for accuracy.
Another interesting thing I found is that my sourdough bread doesn’t go ‘bad’ persay. It gets hard over 5 days.
So my recipe makes two loaves which I freeze one every time and we get a solid week of fresh breads.
Sourdough freezes very well from fresh and recovers well to use as either fresh or toast.
Have yet to have a load go moldy.,they just get dry and hard..
Could be the lack of extra ingredients.

Posted this before but here is the recipe and method I’ve been following on my sourdough journey..
https://youtu.be/2FVfJTGpXnU