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.
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
Hello everybody. My name is Thane and I just signed up. I've been baking on and off for most of my adult life, but just began baking regularly about 3 months ago. I've decided to venture into sourdough, so am building my own starter (I like to start things from scratch). I've been following Maggie Glezer's advice in "Artisan Baking," but had a question for you more experienced yeast catchers...
I know this seems a little late but I think we could all benefit if we define these terms in order to remove any confusion surrounding them.
What is a:
Thanks for participating.
Oct 31, 2009 Changed title of thread so it is more easily located using the site search machine. I may turn this into a FAQ or anyone wanting to make a FAQ should feel free to use the information.
At the risk of committing heresy, I wonder if instant or dry active yeast could be the basis of a good sourdough starter. Here's my reasoning:
I'm told that dry active yeast has been 'engineered' to be very active and supplies a very high concentration of yeast to make bread rise quickly and consistantly. Intant yeast is very easy to use but works so quickly that it sacrifices the depth of flavor one gets with a long, slow ferment.
OK, can you stand more newbie sourdough baking question from me?
I know you can have stiff (50-60% hydration) starters and liquid (100-125% hydration) starters. I read Bread by Jeffrey Hamelman and he makes reference to being able to convert your starter between the different hydration states, and in an appendix gives specific directions about how to convert a liquid starter to a stiff starter. He doesn't explain how to convert from stiff to liquid. Can this be done successfully?
I'm a telecommuter who works from home, and I bake bread for my family two to three times a week. Occasionally, I'll make a loaf with commercial yeast, but typically, I make sourdoughs. Also, on the weekend, I like to make sourdough English muffins and sourdough waffles.
Arthur the whole wheat starter smells like rotting vegetables. I don't know if it's the flour, the container, or ... something else, but the bread seems to be doing OK. We'll see if it tastes funky.
Anyone else had their starter suddenly smell ... yucky?
I think I've got a plan that will work, but wanted to run it by the gurus here before I act on it. I've come to love my 3 home-brewed starters very much (a whole wheat, a whole rye and a whole spelt), and would be really put out if I lost them in a cross-country move.
Here's the situation: I'm moving from Watertown, MA to Corvallis, OR on July 28. My wife will be flying out with our 3-year-old, but she'll be staying in a hotel until my father and I arrive sometime on Aug. 1 (probably very late) with the beds and the rest of our earthly belongings.
The plan:
