Starter? Yeast vs LAB
I’ve been running test with my starter over the last few days. I’m beginning to question the populations of the yeast and the LAB (good bacteria). I became inquisitive after reading a couple of post by BreadBabies during the last week. I’m beginning to think that the bacteria in the starter can cause it to rise in the light weight Levain, but the bacteria can’t raise bread at all. Only flavor it. Correct me if I’ve got that wrong. I’ve read quite a bit of Debra Winks work, but to be honest most parts are way over my head. How many times while reading her work do I say to myself, “whaaaat”?
Question- After the starter peaks it is my understanding that the growth of the LAB continue to multiply even though the yeast don’t. I have been allowing my starter to go past peak because I like the sour taste. But is this practice causing my starter to lose raising power? When the LAB multiply after the peak, do they do so at the expense of the yeast? Are the yeast dying during the growth spurt of LAB?
See this link for an illustration made by Debra. There is a small graph on the page called ”Sourdough Maturity” with a red and green line. The entire article is interesting.
https://brodandtaylor.com/make-sourdough-more-sour/
Dan
I read and read about everyone's struggle with starters and am both feeling flummoxed and blessed. Early on I kept a running starter on my counter, feeding it daily and on a specific time schedule. It worked just fine as a leavener.
About 9 months ago I read something Trevor Wilson wrote on one method to maintain a starter. He uses a 1:2:4 formula, mixes it all together, then lets it mature for around 12 hours at room temperature. This is a dry starter - barely enough water to hold the initial mix together. He then throws the mature starter in the fridge and pulls from it whenever he needs a piece to build a levain or a refresher. By the end of the week he takes what's left of his depleted starter and builds another one. The process continues to repeat itself, week after week.
I have been following his method for all this time and it has worked perfectly for me. My starter matures for around 12 hours at 77 - 80 degrees. I also add a pinch of rye to augment the amylase. As the starter matures over a week's time it gets more acidic, but I generally do not rely on my starter to create acidic bread. I build the acidity in the bulk ferment and through cold proofing.
My new oven has really helped a lot in the development of oven spring - sometimes to the point where I have to dump panned loaves out of the pan while in the oven, and turn them on their side to get them out the oven door (8" deck and 7" door opening). These loaves are fully leavened with the levain that originates from my refrigerated starter - no added yeast. I build the levain in the evening and build the bread the next morning. About 6 - 7 hours later I put the shaped pan loaves in the fridge and bake them the next morning.
I just don't get it. So much angst for some and eazy-peazy for me. Am I just lucky or am I ignorant?