The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Need starter stat!

Felila's picture
Felila

Need starter stat!

I measured out the flour for the autolyze and discovered that I had forgotten to refresh my 70% starter. There were only 100 grams left in the container, not the 300 that I need. 

I mixed those last 100 grams with 300 g KA ww flour and 210 g water and set the bowl out in my kitchen. Now I'm wondering just how long I will have to wait to get starter that's good enough for mixing dough. I googled and found someone here opining that 12 hours might be necessary. But ... I live in Honolulu and it's the tail end of kona weather here. No trade winds, 79 degrees F and HUMID. I think I could shave a bit off those 12 hours. 

How do you tell when your starter is good to go? I've never had that problem, because I usually refresh my starter when I've used some to start bread. As I only bake once or twice a week, my starter has days to ripen in the fridge. 

Felila's picture
Felila

The starter tripled in size in six hours. I think it's ready to go. 

All praise heat and humidity.

DanAyo's picture
DanAyo

A tripled starter is absolutely ready to go to work :-)

Dan

shmoj's picture
shmoj

My first post here, hopefully helpful.  Answering the question from Felila:

"How do you tell when your starter is good to go?"

Scoop a tiny bit out with a teaspoon.  Drop it into a glass of water.  If it stays afloat, it's good to go.

 

Felila's picture
Felila

I'd never heard that, but it rings true. Thanks.