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sourdough bread not sour

vstyn's picture
vstyn

sourdough bread not sour

I just started to make sourdough bread. I have a great starter, feed it correctly, follow the sour dough recipes, ferment the bread over night before baking, and there is little sourness to the bread. Need help!

Scurvy's picture
Scurvy

What does it smell like? What do you feed it, how often, and do you leave it on the counter or in the fridge?

vstyn's picture
vstyn

has nice lite sour smell, Feed 4oz starter, 4oz bread flour and 4oz water, then 7 hours on the counter, then the refrig. Feed once a week. The starter is barm from Reinhart book. I started to make the starter in oct 2015

Scurvy's picture
Scurvy

deal with mine... 100% hydration on the counter until it about doubles then into the fridge for it's nap...  well then, that and a longish retard in the fridge is pretty much what I tribute to the sourness I enjoy in my sourdoughs. I know, not much help here.

vstyn's picture
vstyn

Opening Reinhart  book The bread Baker's Apprentice and reading on Barm,  It state standard refreshment for barm is to double it at least.  I don't do that.  What I believe is the right thing to do: (Take 4oz barm starter and add 8oz of bread flour and 8oz of water).  I am I right. This could be my problem?

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

top of the of wort when fermenting during beer making.  I think you mean a sourdiugh starter.

vstyn's picture
vstyn

There is barm in bread baking

 

Do a search on TFL for barm.  Bread Book the recipe  "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" p. 230.

 

 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Is is

Barm - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barm WikipediaBarm is the foam, or scum, formed on the top of liquor – fermented alcoholic beverages such as beer or wine, or feedstock for hard liquor or industrial ethanol ... Barm bread was the way mist bread was made in the world for thousands of years.  Barm yeast was the basis for commercial yeast used in bread making today.  So barm, or its divinities, has made the bulk of bread throughout history.  It is no wonder that archaeologists have found bakeries right next to breweries no matter where they dig.
vstyn's picture
vstyn

I bought a loaf of sourdough bread today, and it smelled and tasted stronger then my loafs of bread.  This is what I will try: I feed my starter on Weds and use the starter on following Tues and see if that helps.   I enjoy baking bread!  Thanks for responses!

Scurvy's picture
Scurvy

and sourdough is my favorite. I have not been at it very long, but have finally stumbled on a method which has consistently given me the San Francisco style sourdough I remember from my early years in Northern California.
My starter doesn't see temps above 71 F and tastes very sour. I use it at a baker's percentage of about 17%.
I autolyse just flour and water for at least an hour and a half, and have gone overnight but that didn't seem to make any difference.
I do two stage hydration, and give the starter a half hour head start before adding the salt, additional water and starting the S&F's. I then retard overnight (since I work nights) so baking the next morning is after the bread has been in the fridge for around 21 hours.

These are just suggestions as to what works for me. I truly believe that starter can change it's mind just by what flour you use.

Arjon's picture
Arjon

and using a lower proportion of starter in the dough are two things that will increase sourness. There are other things you can do as well but these are what I can vouch for from having tried them. 

breadboy025's picture
breadboy025

I have had mixed luck with sourdough and have the best luck when using a "norwich sourdough recipe" that I found out in the great internet beyond.  (Based on Hamelman's recipe).

 

What I do is:  I have refrigerated starter going on 2.5 years now.  Refed infrequently, but it tends to last even unfed.

When I reactivate it--I take 30 g of starter, add 100 g of APF and 100 g of distilled water (some people have stated that using tap can kill the sourdough organisms).  I mix it--let it activate for about 24 hrs and repeat.  By the second feeding, it generally is fully active and after about 8-12 hrs after the second feed, it is all bubbly and "risen". 

You can do a third feed but I find that the second is all you need.  That recipe calls for 360 g of starter so you have to build it up--but I'm sure you can use less starter if you want.  You create the dough in stages and let it proof overnight in the refrigerator.  Bake it from the fridge (and make sure you slice the top so there is room to expand).  I usually will have a steamer pan in the bottom of the oven and spray it also for the first 10 minutes to create steam. 

 

I hope that helps.  Unfortunately, you have to just experiment and experiment.  I use a combo of rye and APF for the bread but only APF for the starter.  The longer you let it proof (without overproofing), the more "sour" it gets.

Filomatic's picture
Filomatic

This question has been thoroughly addressed by dabrownman.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/comment/344254#comment-344254