The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Help! Sourdough not sour

SgtEeyore's picture
SgtEeyore

Help! Sourdough not sour

Yes, another new baker unable to make sour sourdough. lol.

I started my sourdough using what I learned from This youtube channel. I chose the Whole Grain and Pineapple path and ended up with a good starter after about 10 days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIFPzoFeioQ

Fast forward a few months an i converted the start to white flour, and also split some off as rye and now religiously follow txfarmer's 36 hour baguette recipe to make loaves and boules (with adjusted cooking times).

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/19830/36-hours-sourdough-baguette-everything-i-know-one-bread?page=2

The only problem is, as I bake more and more, the loaves are becomes less and less sour, to the point where this week's batch is just an open crumb loaf without any hint of sourness.

I've tried all combinations of WW, rye and white starter with ww and white flour as the main loaf to no avail. I've tried extending the retard to 3 days as my fridge is 8DegC, but no luck.

Apart from my ok oven spring, which I put down to my average shaping ability, I dont know where i'm going wrong. I take the starter out 24 hours before I need it, refresh twice at 12 hour intervals and keep it in a warm (25DegC) cupboard to bring it back to life for when I need it).

Hopefully someone can point me in the right direction. TIA.

 

 

Edo Bread's picture
Edo Bread

I think you can find plenty of information right her on TFL. It isn't so much about the flour you use but rather creating an environment for the Lactobacillales or lactic acid bacteria (LAB) to produce the acid that gives that tang. The temperature that it thrives at is different than that of the yeast that is also part of the starter. by manipulating some factors you can allow it more growth and thus more acid and the tang you desire. Do some searching the information is here and easy to understand - good luck!

SgtEeyore's picture
SgtEeyore

I'm stupid. I was just looking in the cupboard and I realised I used Self Raising flour in my starter!!! arggghhh, I must have been having an off day that day.

looks like i need to leave it out for a weeks or so with feedings to bring it back to the right pH and see if i can get the sour back.....

or TFL'ers, is it better to start again? (it's only a 6month old starter)

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

a few feedings to get it back as self rising flour will have neutralised the acids.  Try raising the temp above 25°C to 28°C to spur on the bacteria, then cool it back down to 25°C after a few hours.

Hey, I know where you're coming from.  I was having interesting times over-fermenting dough because I was using cake flour. instead of AP or Bread flour with my sourdoughs.  I only figured it out when the new AP had a different coloured package and I went to compare brand labels.