December 26, 2018 - 11:52pm
Gluten rich flour for feeding?
So I've read that you can feed the starter with any kind of flower. But if I feed it with a flour that has low gluten, doesn't that mean that my dough will have lower gluten vs. if I feed it with rich gluten flour (the same type I use for the dough)?
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with a lot of gluten is a waste. The gluten deteriorates in the starter becoming a sticky muck (think overfermented dough) and the starter is more interested in the carbohydrates and trace minerals than the protein. Sure it may raise the overal gluten level but what kind of gluten quality are we looking at?
question: feeding the starter. Are we talking about the mother culture (fed and maintained) or a levain build (a sourdough to be baked?)
And build a levain with it then it's the best of both worlds. Starter can be fed any flour and a levain isn't fermented to a point where the gluten is a sticky mess so may be fed with a higher gluten flour adding to the strength of the dough.
P.s. I think you edited your post, with the very same point in form of a question, at the same time I wrote my comment Mini.
My spelling checker has ideas of it own sometimes and I have to go back.
Actually "any flour" should be narrowed down a bit. There exist many "flours" not only from grains.
My procedure is that I keep my started in the fridge, then the day before I make my bread I take it out, feed it, let it sit outside to peak, then take a portion, feed it and put back in the fridge, and use the rest for the dough.
I guess my first feed can be with gluten rich flour and my second feed be with regular flour.
the starter straight in your dough. If I understand you correctly.
Why not keep your starter and starter which goes into your dough (levain) separate.
So your starter is just a place where you store the yeasts and bacteria. A petri dish if you will. It's not geared for any particular recipe. You don't need to keep too much either.
When it comes to making a bread then take off a little starter and begin feeding it with flour more geared for the recipe you're doing. And perhaps at a different hydration if you wish. You're also building up strength, amount and balancing the flavour. This is a levain.
the yeast in the starter? (June)
The reason I feed it outside and then feed again is because I think that if I'll just take out of the fridge, feed, and put back, then I'm risking just diluting the yeast over time. This actually happened to the person I got the starter from. The starter was very weak until I started doing my routine.
increase in the yeast population that you wanted. I might further suggest
"...take it out, feed it, let it sit outside to peak, then take a portion, (wait for a second peak) feed it and put back in the fridge, and use the rest for the dough."
Something you can easily try. If you are worried about changing the starter, simply split it. Feed and store half like normal Then let other half peak a second time before feeding and storing it. Be sure to label the jar. Race them in a week when you plan to bake. See if it makes a difference.
two different options. He suggests keeping a separate mother starter and using it to inoculate starters to bake with and I'm suggesting a slight tweak to your normal routine.
I keep a separate mother starter as well. Your choice. We're just showing you there are options. There are also ways to get better shape and hold to loaves without having to add more gluten. If you're interested.