Hi, All. I am relatively new to breadbaking. I have a starter that is great for baking bread w/no extra yeast (but doesn't taste very sour) but I hate 'feeding' it because it seems like such a waste of flour and good starter. I just made strawberry soda with yeast, sugar, water and strawberry syrup. That made me think -- can't I just use a small amount of sugar instead of flour to 'feed' my starter? Excuse me if this is a stuped question....thanks.
Good Friday evening, everyone! I'm the "hybrid" starter lady, in case anyone remembers me from my asking about a starter that was a combo of 6-10 different starters (it's still going strong, still have lots of it, it makes wonderful pancakes, but I haven't gotten up the nerve to try bread with it yet... not knowing the hydration percentage for certain scares me. But ohhh does it look VITAL and smells just GRAND!). Haven't posted since then, but now I've got a question for all you "science-types" out there - about a starter (what else.. sigh).
I've had my starter for 3 months now, and it makes bread rise nicely. It will double after a feeding in 4 hours, but the smell is slightly acidic, but not really. I just wanted to know if i had the right sort of beasties inside my starter. (it's a white starter) I am afraid i have a lot of leuconostoc bascteria in it.
SndBrian
Candy_DaMilleri
I have recently been looking through books on whole grain breads. I have yet to see any information on a whole wheat french bread and am wondering if it is because of the unique qualities of this type of bread.
I really have two questions:
1) Is there a whole wheat French Bread recipe available, that still maintains the slight sourness, airy texture, and large holes?
2) Would using a whole wheat sourdough(ish) starter effect the flavoring? Would any adjustments need to be made?
Thanks for your imput!
Hello,
So I've built my starter using the pineapple juice method that is posted in various places around the fresh loaf (100% flour/water). I've been feeding it twice a day most days for the past two weeks or so. The picture below is of my starter about an hour and a half after I fed it (the rubber band marks the level that it started from right after I fed it). It doubles in about 2 hours. I have seen it get to about 3 times the level of the rubber band at most.
Is it ready to bake with?
Any words of wisdom for me before trying my first sourdough loaf?
Can Briess be substituted for diastatic malt powder in a starter?
BACKGROUND TO QUESTION: I am new to this relm of baking better homeade bread. I have hand made bread for years, but never really used a soaker, starter, pre-ferment, poolish, etc...
I have a friend who recently told me that her starter, that's in a mason jar stored in the fridge, has a "growth" on it that kind of looks like a mushroom popping out of the center. Has anyone ever seen anything like that? Doesn't sound good to me. I think she should dispose of it.
