I'm just wondering
Okay this might not sound right but here I go. I made two starters. My high hydration starter I made about a month-and-a-half ago. It does fine with regular feedings and I keep it in the refrigerator some and I have it out some it just depends on my schedule and when I can bake. I recently have been researching a stiff starter and found that a lot of people seem to say that a stiff starter will impart more sour flavor then a loose one. So now I also have a stiff starter. I used the King Arthur recipe for a stiff starter. It's kind of strange it's like a piece of stiff dough, but it does proof and grow quite rapidly just as my loose starter does. Does anyone's starter grow as rapidly as mine? I kind of wonder if there's just a lot of yeast in my house or in my area or am I just really lucky?
The other questions that I have. Does anyone have a secret way or a special way to impart more sour flavor in their sourdough bread? I have made quite a few loafs all off the King Arthur website and none of them have had really any sour taste. I am looking for sourdough bread that resembles San Francisco Sourdough or something akin to that.
starter into your dough and give the dough a longer fermenting time as a one shot process. Don't build a levain or starter in steps which results in a milder sourdough. Also look in the archives, just type your simplified question in the site search box. Happy New Year!
I made a dough using my 100% hydration starter. Made a bit too much so I kept some back and refrigerated it. Last night I decided to build a levain from some of this dough using it as a starter. After a week in the fridge and feeding it a ratio of 1:5:5 it still bubbled up very quickly. Can't say how long it exactly took but it was peaking and lively within 6-7 hours. Might have been quicker but it was done through the night.
I used to keep a lower hydration starter and it was strong. Not too sure about it being more tangy though. There's too much at play here. How mature the starter is and how high the percentage is within the dough like mini said. How you maintain your starter should also be taken into account etc.
Just sharing my recent experience.