August 21, 2016 - 2:14pm
Question: Tartine Bread Preferment Timing
I have made Chad Robertson's Tartine bread several times with mostly good results. The past few times however, it seem the preferment takes much longer than overnight (to pass the float test). I prepare the preferment exactly according to Chad Robertson’s instruction then leave overnight. In the morning, the preferment just sinks in the float test, I place it in a warmer area and then try again and hour or two later only to get the same results. Even more hours later I finally get it to pass the float test, but by this time it up to 15 hours later, much longer than is indicated in the Tartine book. Is this normal? Should the preferment process take longer than the book states?
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so if yours isn't, then your timings won't be the same. That being said, your levain should not take that long to double. I think you need to tell us more about your levain. For example, how old is it? How do you feed it (amounts)? And so on. Levain should take between 4 and 8-12 hours to double. By the way, I am guessing that you are meaning levain or starter when you say preferment.
Thanks for taking the time to look into my question.
The temp is close to 80 degrees. I am referring to the levain (or preferment) using about a tablespoon 915 grams) of starter at two weeks from last feeding, adding to 200 grams water and 200 grams of 50/50 white/wheat flour.
To clarify, the levain is doubled, it's just not passing the float test to ensure it is ready. By float test I mean dropping about a teaspoon of the levain in a bowl of water to see if it floats, which indicates it is ready. For me, 12 hours later it is doubled, but does not float but just sinks to the bottom. Letting it set at about 80 degrees for another couple hours has worked, but lately it is taking up to 3 to 7 hours to pass the float test.
This weekend, I let my prepared lava in set overnight from around 8:00pm, temp at approximately 78 overnight, it had doubled by 8:00 am. I performed the float test at 9:00am and it sunk, then again at 11:00am, it still sunk I tried again at around 12:00pm, same results. By 2:00pm it finally passed the float test, almost 18 hours later.
I guess what I am trying to understand is whether I am I making too much of the float test as indicator. If the levain doubles by morning, yet does not float in water, is it still ready to use?
I hope the additional details clarify my circumstances, any insight is greatly appreciated.
Personally, I think people make too big a deal out of their starter.
I've only been baking since June and I've obsessed over my starter, too, but once I got it up and running, I really haven't given it too much thought.
I've gotten lazy and just put a jar in the refrigerator with starter stuck to the sides of a mostly empty jar that I didn't feel like washing. A week or so later, I'll build a starter from that. It'll double, it'll raise a loaf I'll bake it... Bob's your uncle!
Murph
Murph,
You might be right, though I am no longer obessed about the starter, I am still very novice and sticking to "by the book" as far a process.
Funny, I do the same. I have 2 jars with starter in my fridge with dried starter stuck to the sides, every now and then i take the starter out and clean my jars and return the starter to the jars. I feed my starters every month or so and build my starter from that, work great every time!
but I no longer do that. Just use your levain once it has doubled. By the way, thank you for answering my questions.
Perfect, thanks for confirming what I suspected. I thought the preferment was ready, since it doubled and seemed very active. I appreciate your insight and getting back to me.
Like others, I don't use the float test. After reading this post I got curious. My starter floated around 3 hours after refreshing each time I tried. Past 6 hours was way too late for whatever reason.
I'm not sure what that means in the big scheme of things. Bread continues to rise despite the lack of float.