Hello,

I started a rye sourdough starter today, as described in Hamelman's book, 450 g water and 450 g organic whole rye flour.  The consistency is a very thick paste -- is that OK?  My husband says I need to add water.

I am also pretty confused about maintaining it.  Again, I have read what Hamelman said about it, but it just does come together for me.  After I develop a mature culture, I plan on baking with it maybe once a week, sometimes maybe not even as often as I like to bake different types of breads.  How should I handle my starter?  Do I need to keep feeding it every day even if I won't use it?  Would I discard some every day as well?  How far in advance of baking does it need to come out of the fridge?  After I take it out, do I need to do anything to get it readsy to go?  I guess I am not understanding the science behimnd managing a starter -- is there an explanation someone could provide, or maybe direct me to a resource where I could read up on this.

Thank you in advance!

Yulika

I am fairly new to baking, especially yeast breads, so I've joined this forum to meet people with the knowledge and experience to help me become a better baker.  I have taken an intro to baking class at culinary school, but I'm still a total novice at bread.

I plan to make a challah to serve on Monday, 9/29/08 for Rosh Hashanah.  The trouble I'm having is determining when to prep and bake my loaf.  I work all weekend and have an important event on Sunday night.  I have all day Friday, Saturday night (6:30-12:00), and about 1 hour very early Sunday morning free for baking.  If I prep and bake my challah on Friday, will it be good on Monday?  If I proof the dough on Saturday night and retard the shaped loaf in the fridge overnight, can I expect it to be ready to bake on Sunday morning?

I imagine many artisan home bakers nowadays have trouble finding a block of free time long enough to make bread, and I'm wondering how the rest of you manipulate the process to fit into your schedules.

Thank you,

Adam S.

I'm having a fair amount of success baking simple hearth loafs w/poolish but wanted to know if anyone has successfully adapted these recipes for a work-out-of-the-house schedule (ie when is the safest time in the process to refrigerate dough for 8 hours).

I'm at home 6:30-8:30 AM and 6:30-11:00 PM (and then asleep!) What's the best schedule for baking a hearth loaf during these hours?