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My sourdough adventure day3

macette's picture
macette

My sourdough adventure day3

This is day 3 and according to my instructions I get to feed the boys...Bready Krueger the top pic is a little less frisky than Harp below, I think Harp maybe enjoying the pint glass. But so far so good. I started these boys just with A/P flour but fed them their first meal with bread flour so hope I haven’t done more harm than good...:-/

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

No harm done. They'll do just as good be it AP or bread flour. The beasties are getting the sugars either way. If you wish to give them a special treat though then adding a bit of wholegrain, preferably rye, will help things along.

What is the feed given for day 3?

macette's picture
macette

This is the instructions I’m using...

1. Day One......25 grams of flour and 25 grams of water. Stir it up really really good and cover. I used plastic wrap and a rubberband.  Keep it out of the sun. 68-78 degF is good. I kept mine in the middle at 72 degF. You can stir it a couple times throughout the day if you want......it is not mandatory.

 

 2. Day Two ........just uncover and give it a good stir.  Cover it back up and leave it alone till the next day.

 

 3. Day Three.......feed your starter 25 grams of flour and 25 grams of water.  Stir it up really well and put the cover back on. 

 

4. Day Four.......dump out 1/2 of your starter and feed it 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water.  Stir well and put the cover back on. Put a rubber band or mark where the starter is in the container so you can see if it is growing/doubling in size. 

 

 5. Now you will only KEEP between 40 - 50 grams of starter and feed it 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water until the starter smells good and is growing well.  When your starter is growing well and/or doubling......start feeding/discarding 2x per day. If your starter has a lot of foaming little bubbles on top it is hungry.  

 

Increase feeding with discards to twice per day. I started two feedings a day at the 4 1/2 day mark. Mine was good for baking at 5 1/2 days. As soon as it doubles and smells better OR on the 6th day,  you can set the container on your counter if it hasn’t been there already.

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

1: 68°F - 78°F is a big difference for a starter. Keeping yours at 78°F will speed it up and will be ready far quicker than if kept at 68°F.

2: Up to day 3 sounds good. The second feed is not a big but acceptable. I think it's an easy does it, don't shock it kinda approach.

3: Day 4 sounds like a more regular feed. I want to point out that around about this time, days 4-5, you might experience a slowing down. Do not panic! If this does happen seek advice here. You might need to slow down your feeds but if kept at around 78°F you could very well skip this quiet stage or keep it to a minimum.

4: Everything from here on sounds good. Basically it's about reading the starter, knowing when to feed and how much.

What you could do is with the one of them (how about the seemingly slower one) swap 10-20% of the white flour being fed with some wholegrain. Whole-wheat is good and whole rye is even better. So one is all AP, or bread flour, and the other will have some wholegrain in it.

When a starter ferments it loses weight. About 5-10g. Just bear this in mind when discarding and keeping 50g of starter for each feed. If you think you're keeping 50g by discarding "so much" and then topping up 50g of water and flour you might be slowly whittling it down. Helps to know how much the jar weighs empty but if you don't then eyeball it making sure you're keeping enough starter for a feed.

macette's picture
macette

My boys are sitting at about 72f during the day in my kitchen I put them in plastic boxes over night so there is not a big drop in temp. Would be difficult trying to keep it higher consistently...it’s summer time here so the heating is not on as often...I do not mind how long it takes but it’s good know about the slowing down, I would of panicked a bit..lol. I will really try to keep them healthy for around 2 weeks before I try bread, trying to avoid a dense flat loaf although I know it’s bound to happen...haha is it worth stirring during the day does it help or best to leave them alone. I will get some rye and when both are healthy put one of them over to the mix. The weight loss showed today One is lighter than the other so I will definitely weigh them and that was exactly what I wanted to know , so it’s 50g of starter,water,flour. I did weigh the containers can I use clean ones after a bit...

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

The little critters benefit from it but are not dependant on it.

As far as cleaning it's not necessary with good maintenance procedure. A jar of starter is pretty much self cleaning and you're far more likely to introduce bad bacteria this way. Or sometimes contaminate it with soap.

Take off the discard and place to one side. Don't throw it away till everything has gone without hitch. Add the water first and use it to clean down the sides. Then add the flour and mix into a paste. After which use the spoon to scrape down any clinging starter.

When your starter is stronger, bubbling up well and smells good then there is no need to throw the discard away anymore. Store it in the fridge as back up and you can also add it to other recipes including yeasted breads for flavour.

macette's picture
macette

Fingers crossed for healthy boys...this recipe has worked for lots of people, the lady that owns it makes beautiful bread, so I hope to as well.  But loving the process, was quite scared of it to begin with but enjoying the nurturing and hope to learn what is need and when...lol...can see more planing is need so I’m sure will still have to do the yeasted bread as well . Will keep you posted ...lol