February 23, 2010 - 12:24pm
Do I need more Starter
I began my first starter yesterday. I usually don't bake bread more than once a week and then only one or two loaves, so figured I don't need a lot of starter. Plus, as this is an experiment, I may decide I don't want to carry on using a starter. I have used 50g flour, (half bread flour/half whole wheat) and 50g water to start. It looked like a very tiny amount of thick paste when I mixed it. It is now looking more liquidy. I have it in a warm cupboard in my 70 degree kitchen. I intend to feed it this evening. How much flour/water should I use to feed it? I think, maybe, I should increase the amounts. Any suggestions welcome.
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If you now have 100g of starter, you might want to feed it 50g of water, and 50g of flour. This will be a 2:1:1 (starter:flour:water) feeding, which could help get it more active from its recent start. You might have to start to throwing away half of your starter before feeding so it doesn't get too large before its ready.
Continue to play around with it and in no time you will have some great bread.
Take care,
Danny Paz Gabriner
Sour Flour
Once your starter is actually active and bubbling & growing with each feed, you can even cut it back from your 100g total. Keep in mind a ratio of 2:1:1 or more accurately 1:0.5:0.5 is a little skimpy on food for the beasties. you should aim for at least 1:1:1 so 30g:30g:30g would be close enough. I'd even suggest a 1:2:2 ratio would make sure the starter has a good supply of food and won't get hungry too fast.
You can even go smaller than 100g, so you could do 10g:20g:20g for 50g total which is easy to keep (smaller jar) and uses up less flour per feed. When you feed/discard, you'll have 40g of excess starter to use, which is 10g more than the 30g Hamelman's Vermont Sourdough recipe needs. If your recipe ever needs more starter, you can easily bulk up that 40g to any larger amount in a couple of successive feedings.
If you find, however, that you're constantly and regularly using a fave recipe that needs, let's say 120g of starter, then keep a starter at 150g (30g:60g:60g) so you always have that amount on hand each weekend and can use that 120g of excess.
But unless you're baking a lot, there's no need to keep a large quantity, it's not any better than a small quantity.
Paul
http://Yumarama.com
Thank you both for this. I was too impatient and went ahead before I read your posts. I added 50/50g but forgot to discard any (have I messed things up here?) so I think I am going to eventually end up with far more than I need. At my next feed, can I discard as much as I want and, more or less, start over. What are the results of different ratios? I've read recommendations for 2:1:1; 1:1:1; 1:2:2; I don't want a very sour starter.
My starter has already doubled in size and is covered in bubbles with a slight sour smell. It is still only 1 1/2 ins. high in my 4 1/2 ins. glass container. How much is it likely to rise? Should I now put it in the fridge? What consistency should it be? Sorry to ask all these questions but there is so much information on this site, my head's in a whirl!
How old is your starter right now? If it's only a few days old you're still developing it and it's even possible that bacteria rather than yeast are causing the liveliness.
Or, did you start with a premade starter (dehydrated flakes?) Than, that's a different story altogether and now you can go right into regular maintenance.
I like to keep a fairly dry starter. I usually use about 25 grams starter, 25 grams water and 50 grams flour. This is an easy amount for me to work with and stays a long time in the fridge without frequent feedings.
When I pull it out, I feed it and than start working with it based on the levain build instructions in whatever recipe that I'm using. I'm mostly baking from Hamelman's and Reinhart's books.
Thank you for your suggestions. I have now come to the conclusion that making a starter is really about 'doing your own thing'. Apparently, everyone has their own way and it's all about experimenting. Tomorrow I plan to reduce my starter to 25g and feed it 25g each of flour and water and see how it goes. I think I prefer a starter on the dryer side so may change my feeds to reduce the hydration later if it looks too wet. The only thing I need to know now is when do I need to put it in the fridge and what do I look for to know when it is ready? I really appreciate all the help.