A few weeks ago, I gave up on the starter I'd been tending and using for over a year, and made a new one from scratch.  Instead of trying to nurse my old starter back to health, I reminded myself that despite the considerable mystique attached to it, it's really not that hard to get a starter going - particularly a wheat one - assuming a sufficient degree of attention and patience.   I finally got it going and I've been baking with it for around 2 weeks.   I have not been disappointed, as I think I had just got used to an underperforming starter and had forgotten how a healthy starter behaves.  

At the same time I've been trying to shed same old same old practices and develop a formula that everyone in the family liked, that was repeatable, and relatively easy, so I could use it as daily bread.    I borrowed from this and that and here and there, and thank gods (I've been watching Battlestar Galactica) I think I've got it.  

The formula has a bit of spelt, a bit of rye, and the rest wheat.   I used wheatgerm and malt powder (Thank you Lumos) which seem to have a good effect but I'm not sure which does which.    The resulting bread bridges the difficult gap between light and substantial, has a light crispy crust, keeps for a few days (assuming it doesn't get eaten first) has a mild balanced flavor and isn't too holey for sandwiches.   I've made it a couple times, and it seems to be repeatable. 

But now, my biggest problem - how to keep from fiddling this to death.   I think the best way to do it is to name it but Sourdough with Spelt and Rye just seems boring.    Ergo Lexington Sourdough which is pretty boring as well.   Any tips on how to name breads?  

And now it's time to switch focus to biscuits, cornbread and pie.   Thanksgiving is nigh!

The formula:

Method:

Take ripe sourdough - around 70% hydration - from refrigerator (should be domed and pitted) and feed as above to 100% hydration.   Ferment on counter (around 69degF) for around 7 hours until very active and bubbly.  

Mix flour and water by hand and autolyse for 30 minutes.   Add the rest of the ingredients and mix in stand mixer for 5 minutes starting at low speed and working up to highest speed.   Dough should adhere into a smooth mass during the mix.   Stretch and fold on counter twice during 2.5 hour bulk ferment.    Cut and preshape into two rounds.   Rest for 20  minutes.   Shape into batards and place in couche seam side up.   Refrigerate for 10-15 hours.   Place on counter and proof for 1.5 hours until dough starts to soften.   Bake at 450F for 20 minutes with steam, 20 minutes without.  

I want to thank each and everyone of you that took the time to answer my question. 

I tried to reply to everyone and ended up replying twice to one then couldn't remember who I replied to.  No i'm not goofy, just tired.  Lol

I now believe that starters do behave in different ways when the flour fed to them is changed. I have been experiencing failures with liquid-levain-based recipes, and in the midst of all the frustration , i wondered at the reason behind such failures, particularly with Whole Wheat levain (Hamelman's Book-Levains section).

I Feed my All White starter with All Purpose Flour (10.5 Protein), which behaves in a different way than Bread flour (>11.5 Protein) does. When you judge that a liquid starter is fully ripen by watching its receding level, then you must consider the time during which a starter recedes, as Higher protein flours expand higher and take longer to recede than Lower Protein flours. For instance, if you have a bread flour based liquid starter, then you know that it takes 3-4-5 or 6 hours for it to triple or quadruple in size before it begins to recede, at wich point you know that your yeasts are in full swing. However, with lower protein flour based liquid starters, receding level of the starter does not indicate full ripness, as such flour based starters collapse earlier due to their weakness.

I have observed that liquid starters are more prone to increased bacterial activity than Stiffer starters are, and therefore, by refreshing a starter many times before full ripness you're reducing the yeasts population in the starter culture, and ultimately encouraging other less potent strains of yeast and bacterias to multiply, resulting in a final dough which does not expand.

The best indicator for a ripe sourdough starter (regadless of the type of flour used) is the smell. When a starter ferments and expands and just begins to recede or collapse, smell it. If it smells vinegary or alcoholish, then it is fully ripe, if not, then it needs more time to ripen. If the same starter smells cheese like, then your refreshing regime has caused the culture population to de-stabilize and the ideal (Wild-yeast to lactobacillus bacterial) balance has been thrown off balance.

Stiff levains on the other hand, are mostly immune to such imbalances, as the movement of bacteria (which naturally outnumber wildyeasts 1000:1) is restricted, and thus their activity is kept at bay, while yeasts have ample supply of food in comparision with thinner starters.

Just thought of sharing these lessons with my fellow TFL'ers.

Khalid

Hi,

I am new to this site and also new to using starters.  I was given a recipe for a wheat starter and wonder if I can use it in any recipe that calls for a starter.

Thanks.

Hola! I was just wondering, how long does a starter live? Does it actually ever 'die'? and... I was reading about starter and how sour they are and all that, and I have a question for those of you who have a starter for a while and know some about it. Do I have to add equal amounts of flour and water for the starter to be fed or can I add more flour, to thicken it? I read that the less liquid in your starter, the less sour it will be. My family doesn't like the whole big 'sour' taste to it, so I was wondering if that could be remedied. 

Thanks a bunch and I appreciate all your comments!

Lurked for a while, but now I have a question.... My starter's going quite well, making decent bread with it, nothing fancy but much better tasting than the local stuff for sale. My question: I've been using my starter as leavening for all of my baking right now (which I'm thrilled about) with much thanks to Andrew Whitley.  When should I use commercial yeast rather than the starter?  How do I know the difference?

-Randy

I'm wondering if anyone can proivde me insight as to how do I know if my levain is ready?  I'm trying to make Vermont Soudough by Jeffrey Hamelman.  My kitchen is measuring 28 degree celsius.  Much higher than the recommended temperature.  The levain looks healthy and bubbly. It's been in my closed cool oven (not on) for the past 6 hours.

I think I'm being ambitious here.  Building starters, and started with 3.  Actually no,  I didn't start with 3.  I started with 1 full rye.  50g/50g,  following by a 1:1 ratio and then 1:1:1 ratio by the 3rd day.  I realised too late that I was going to build a giant and alot of wastage. I decided to split them into 3.  

I wonder if they are ready or I should just go on feeding them? Looking for advice.

Rye Starter - Day 5 without refreshment yet.

I took out about 160g from this rye starter and then added 50g/50g.  I think I should have thrown out more.  It's not as bubbly as the one that I added whole wheat.

Starter 2:  Added White flour - Day 5 without refreshment (using Dan Lepard's % of white leaven formula)

80g of initial rye starter/100g white/80g water

It's more bubbly and seems to have tripled.  Is this ready?

Mother Starter (Peter Reinhart)

I actually read wrongly and used Reinhart's formula on the 4th day.  But it's also very bubbly.  Should I continue with this formula to create the mother starter as per Reinhart's formula?

80g rye starter/60g whole wheat/20g water

Looking for suggestions and advices.

Does anyone have any data on how much sourdough starter changes nutrition in bread? I'm curious to know how much the starter converts carbs to amino acids and other nutrients. I guess it would be very difficult to calculate because it would depend on length of fermentation, original quantity of starter, number of yeasties and other buglets in the starter. But, just wondering if anyone has done any sort of research/calculations of this sort?

I couldn't find anything on this when I did a web search.

Thanks, Tracy

I have created a great starter that I've been using in sourdough recipes effectively, but I've heard I can use the starter in other non sourdough recipes in place of the dry yeast these recipes call for. Is this true? If so, what's the coversion rate? For example, if a recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon dry yeast, how much of my starter would I use in stead? Thanks so much!