June 30, 2014 - 2:38pm
Can I keep a small amount of 50% hydration starter...
... and build it up when I want to bake, as I do with my 100% hydration Starter.
Right now I am feeding a 100g Starter with 100g Flour and 50g Water.
So say I only feed 50g Starter with 50g Flour and 25g Water, and than feed it 2 or 3 times without discarding anything and use that for baking so that I am left with the 50g Starter again at the end of the day...?
I have no problems with small 100% hydration Starters, but those stiff starters are all new to me.
Share
using the stiff starter you can keep 25 g of total from one week to the next in the fridge. When you build a levian with say 15 g of it you can use the other 10 g for the starter next week by feeding it 10 g of flour and 5 g of water, letting it rise 50% on the counter and then fridge it for net week.
I was reading up on the Internet regarding stiff starter.
I am not sure it I got it right.
I read that , if you want to store your starter in the fridge you give it a feed, than store it and you can use it straight out of the fridge without feeding as long as it has fed 1 Week before baking.
On the Counter I want for the Dome to collapse on itself and know it is read for use and/ or feeding.
I also read that one should use 30 % for the amount of flour the recipe asks for.
I never use more than 500g of flour, so that would be 150g of stiff starter right?
Could I do a 3 stage build up like you do for your 100% starter?
depends on how much time I have and how sour I want the bread to be. Stiff starter is only for storage and sour. If I'm going for a 20 - 24 hour retard of the dough in the fridge I wouldn't use moire than 10% levain or it will over proof in the fridge. If no retard and I have no time but I want sour, then 30% levain or even more (50% last Friday) would be my choice, Bur,.my go to for a 12 hour cold retard is 15% of the flour and water in the dough to be levain. The levain is built up over 3 feedings from a small starter amount say 4-8 g. For an 800 g loaf I would normally use 120 g of 100% hydration levain and plan on a 10 hour retard but hope for 12 hours.
I try to use a 3 stage build to 100% hydration for every bake to make sure the levain is in peak form every time before it hits the dough. It also gives me 8 - 12 hours at near 92 F, here in AZ,to promote the LAB over the yeast and with the starter seed 6-8 weeks in the fridge also promoting sour over yeast - you can tell we go for more sour in SD bread.. If I don't want sour, I use yeast water instead - never any sour with YW If I want mild sour i go half SD and half YW in a combo levain.. .
None of that is correct in as much as it wrong. Everybody has different methods.
A three stage build is actually the norm for panettone using lievito madre. But typically only one build / refreshment is necessary for bread.
Take your storage starter, best that it's over mature and feed it 1:1:0.5 keeping it warm, ideally 27C. Once it's tripled in volume you can use it for a loaf @ 25% of the flour weight.
build a stiff levain at 80 F (better at 82 F though), both of which promote yeast reproduction over LAB. But, I want sour where a very long 36 F storage for starter and dough retard with a 93 F levain and gluten development to promote LAB reproduction over yeast. Less yeast and more LAB means more sour where ferment and proof are guaranteed to take longer to ensure the most sour in the bread.
If I don't want sour I would use YW or commercial yeast not promote the yeast over LAB in SD to have a less sour bread.
But most folks like a less sour bread - I'm just not one of them. My process isn't incorrect or wrong in any way - any more than yours is - it is just different and works better than yours to make sour bread ....as yours works better to make less sour bread.
Happy Baking Michael
You know I was answering Petra's questions right?
... but my family does like the milder version.
Ever once in a while I make myself a small loaf just for me and SOUR.
Thank you for all your help whenever I need help:)
Oh thank you Michael, that does help and makes it much easier with the baking.
Now that my 2 oldest Sons finished University and are home until they found jobs I need to bake for 6 again. phewww
Right now I need to bake quick. wahhh
You stated: "...and feed it 1:1:0.5 keeping it warm, ideally 27C..." Just so we're on the same page, that's SEED: FLOUR: WATER??
Yes.
Thank you Michael, so far I used it when it has tripled and the Dome just starts to collapse on itself and it leavens the bread just fine:)
I noticed that the Dough holds it shape much better when I tip it out of the Banneton, with the 100% hydration Starter I had to be much more careful when doing it and it never stood so proud and tall even after scoring.
With the 100% hydration dough it gave a bit after scoring and felt softer overall.
Perfect!
Everything I would expect from using a firm starter and why I think it's better.
An added note: You may have to experiment with how much starter you wish to use for your bread. I said 25% because that's kind of standard but there's nothing wrong with going all the way up to 50% if you want.
regards,
Michael
Yes, I wish I had know that 14 month ago , would have made life much easier.