The Fresh Loaf

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Does the amount of starter matter?

Bagermanden's picture
Bagermanden

Does the amount of starter matter?

hi

 

i am completely new to sourdough and have just completed day 7 in the process of making a starter and it’s looking great.

 

now I have looked for ways to keep the discard portion on the low side and one way I found was to feed 1 tbsp of starter with 1 tbsp of both flour and water (1:1:1). Over three days you do the same thing, still 1 tpsb and eventually it adds up to a usable amount of starter. 

 

The other method is this video:

https://youtu.be/akYpFJhlDpQ

 

She always has 30 grams max and just feeds it with the amount of flour and water to get the amount for each recipie + some for the starter. What I don’t understand is that she needs 200 grams of starter but uses 1 tbsp. What if I need more and feed 1 tbsp with 150 grams of flour and water - is 1 tbsp still enough? Or if I only need 100 grams of starter is 1 tbsp + 50 grams of water and flour, is the amount pf starter all of a sudden too much Then? How do i know the amount of starter i should use? Can i just use 1 tbsp for Everything and just add enough flour and water so it adds up for the recipie? 

 

Thank you in advance, english is not my First language, hope you can understand...

 

 

Bagermanden's picture
Bagermanden

https://youtu.be/hlJl1xFz1Fo

 

Around 9:20 mark i think 

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

Even a tiny amount of a ripe culture, full of active yeast and bacteria, will be 'enough'. What will change is the length of time it takes for those cultures to populate the new mixture of flour and water. Also, there is some science behind timing and amounts to feed different cultures (i.e. yeasts and bacteria) to get results that you want (more bacteria, or more yeast). And just for interest's sake, the amount of active culture in a levain or a dough is called the inoculation rate. :)

Some people don't even keep a jar of starter, they just use the leftover scrapings in the dough mixing bowl to mix the next batch!

Bagermanden's picture
Bagermanden

I created another starter from my discard starter and just fed  both - one with 1 tablespoon of starter, flour and water and one with 50 grams starter, 100 grams flour and water. Should they act differently or if I read your answer correctly? Thanks for the answer!

 

btw do I have to discard anything from the 1 tbsp starter? Can I feed it 1 tbsp of each the next couple of days to finally end up with an amount of starter that I can use in my bread and keep my starter going? Because that would solve any big discard problem