24 Hour Starter Rise
I'm trying to figure out why I'm having so much trouble making a decent loaf of bread. I made a starter over the summer in July, and started baking bread in August, and I've been having trouble since then. The inside of the bread used to be too gummy at first, and then the crust was too thick, and now the bread is coming out flat after baking.
My starter passes the "float" test, and when I go to stir it or use it for bread, there are a lot of bubbles throughout it. I decided to measure it, though, and it's taken 24 hours for it to double. I was just wondering if that was normal, or if it should be able to rise quicker.
I generally start with a half tablespoon of starter, and feed it 1 tablespoon and a half-1 tablespoon every 12-24 hours 2-3 days before I bake.
Is it normal for the starter to take 24 hours to rise? How do I make it so that it will rise faster?
and or too liquid. Try feeding 1/2 T of starter 1 T of flour and 1/2 T of water and let it sit 4 hours. The feed it 2 T of Flour and 1 T of water throwing nothing away and let it sit 4 hours. The feed it 4 T of Flour and 2 T of water throwing nothing away and let that sit foe 4 hours. It should double in the last 4-6 hours, depending on how weak your starter was to begin with. and you should be ready to bake with the levain you made. If it doesn't double then throw away the last feeding and repeat it.
Certainly, dabrownman's method will work, no question! Just to give you another method, here is my method.
If i need 27 ounces of starter (100% hydration), I take 3.3 oz. starter out of the refrigerator and add 3.3 oz. each of all purpose flour and chlorine-free water. mix well and allow to ferment for about 8 to 10 hours. I then add 10.1 oz. each of water and a. p. flour to this and mix well and allow to ferment over-night. The next morning I have about 30 oz. of active starter. I put 3 oz back into the refrigerator with the rest of my starter and use the 27 oz. in my bread. This method gives me a very active starter.
I suggest you use whatever method suits your bread making process. There is no wrong way, if it works for you.
Ford
Thanks, both of you! I'm trying out dabrownman's method today, and I'm going to try Ford's method in a few days to see if I prefer a higher hydration starter or not. Thanks again for the help!