Submitted by BrotBoy on January 22, 2008 - 8:18pm
Can anyone tell me... Is there a simple approach to convert a recipe that uses commerical yeast to a sourdough starter , I have been very happy with the sourdough starter that i am using and now want to convert more recipes to this style of bread making,
Looking forward to some ideas
Brotboy
|
Converting to sourdough
This is my favorite way to convert to sourdough. It is by no means the only way to do it, but I like it because it is a very simple method......
Converting to Sourdough
The easiest way I have found to adapt a recipe without altering the ingredients too much is to take all of the liquid from the recipe, stir in 2 Tbsp. starter, add the same amount of flour as the liquid. Let this sit, covered, overnight (room temp.) Next day, continue by adding the rest of the ingredients, remembering that you already used the liquid and part of the flour. If your recipe calls for milk rather than water, use water but then stir in some dry milk powder after the overnight proofing is complete and then mix your dough.
another way
Make 1 cup of sourdough starter by your usual methods, ready for the morning. Use either 100% hydration or 50% hydration so you know how much water and flour you used.
Add remainder of flour and water and other ingredients (leaving out any oil)
Yeast and starters
I have a question on the same theme. If a recipe calls for both a starter and commercial yeast, if I am willing to let the dough ferment much longer than the recipe calls for, can I just skip the added yeast and if so, do I make any adjustments to the amount of starter called for in the recipe? I'm thinking of many of the recipes in Dan Lepards book which use fresh yeast in addition to levean. I prefer to avoid adding yeast if I can.
Fiona
Re: yeast and starters
Yes, you can do it with no other adjustments. Just omit the yeast and mix the recipe as usual but your proofing times will be much longer without commercial yeast.
Help converting yeast recipe to SD starter
4 cups bread flour
1 cup warm water (105° to 115°F)
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 package dry yeast (1/4-ounce)
I have a 1/4/3 (by volume) starter ready to substitute.
Yeast to sourdough conversion
I can't remember where I read this in the past, but you can typically replace the yeast with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of starter and simply subtract out the appropriate amounts of flour and water from the recipe. I have had good results this using this method and tend to use the 1/2 cup.
However, I believe it depends a little on the hydration and active state of your starter. Using your 1/4/3 ratio by volume , it is difficult to tell what your hydration is. If you mean 4 parts flour per 3 parts water and assuming 1 cup of flour weighs around 125g and 1 cup of water weighs the standard 236.6g you have a fairly liquid starter at 142%.
Given an accurate "cup", the water weight will be close, but the problem is that the weight of a cup of flour will vary wildly from person-to-person and flour-to-flour. That is why most recipes you find posted here at TFL list ingredients by weight. A scale is one of the best tools to help build consistency in bread baking.
My starters are kept in a high hydration, liquid state and generally weigh in around 250g per cup. I build an "inoculated" starter for a bake and bring it to 100% hydration in the process, which is not as difficult as it sounds. I normally substitute around 120-140g.
If a starter is kept active at 100% hydration (fed with equal weights of flour and water), I substitute 140g of starter for a packet of yeast and subtract 70g from both the water and flour components of the recipe.
Thanks for the clarification
Yes, by 1/4/3, I meant 1 part starter, 4parts flour, 3 parts water- all by volume. I do agree to 1/3/4 if that is what convention dictates. With your clarification above, I'll be able to do the conversion.
I wish I had joined this community before I bought my scale! Looks like I'll have to buy a digital good to at least 1gram.
Rise times...
Don't forget that your rise times will increase substantially. I don't feel accomplished enough to tell you how to predict exactly by how much. I guess for the most part and keep an eye on the dough.
For my most recent conversion, the bulk ferment rise time went from 2 hours in the yeasted recipe versus 5 hours in the sourdough. The final proof stayed around 1.5 hours in both.
John
Volume Measurement
What is a 1/4/3 starter? What do the numbers represent?
Intepreting 1/3/4
=== What is a 1/4/3 starter? What do the numbers represent? ===
A starter that is fed, refreshed, and/or built using ingredients in the ratio of 1:4:3 starter:flour:water.
For example, a build using 10 grams of starter + 40 grams of flour + 30 grams of water
It is really difficult to manage starters by volume since their density changes dramatically depending on what stage of growth they are in.
sPh
We should all use the same ratio formula
This is an area of confusion for many new bakers and while it can be done either way, I think it will be better if we can agree that it is best understood in the order of use.
For example a 1:3:4 feeding would be 1 part starter:3 parts water:4 parts flour.
That is the order normally used when feeding your starter or building a dough mix. You add the water to the starter and mix it up, then the flour and other ingredients.
This is the common usage of these ratios as I understand it.
Eric
Here is what I do to convert
Here is what I do to convert a yeast recipe to a sourdough recipe. I use 20% to 40% sourdough when compared to the amount of flour that the recipe calls for. Some people use 20% in the summer time when it is warmer and 40% in the winter time when it is cooler. You can go back and forth between these numbers for a number of different reasons like fermentation times or flavors. I use recipes that use baker's percentages and use the same percentages of hydration, salt and what ever else the recipe calls for. Keeping the percentages the same as the original recipe and using 20% to 40% has worked well for me. I also have a spreadsheet that I use so that I can use a starter with the hydration of my choice. The spreadsheet is used to make sure I end up with the same hydration of the original recipe.
so if the recipe calls for 2# of flour
you use somewhere between .4# and .8# of firm stater in th recipe ? I am trying to convert my Challah and it has 7 c unbl bread flour. I saw where on person used 2 Tbsp of starter in any bread recipe to convert to sourdough and left out the yeast. Your way would take considerably more. Just trying to clarify. Thank you
Trailrunner yes that is
Trailrunner yes that is right. I currently am making bread that uses a starter at 25% of the weight of the flour. The starter is at 50% hydration. My spreadsheets are online at http://www.editgrid.com/user/leaddog/Sourdough_2_builds The spreadsheet is geared to a final dough weight first then just put in the percenatages of your ingredients. It is also more geared to working with grams but has pound and ounce figures on it too.
Thank you LeadDog
Just what I needed to know. I am so pleased that you gave me the link to the spreadsheet. I am not computer literate but my husband is so I am sure to be able to utilize it. Will keep you posted as to how it goes.
Most of the time I try to
Most of the time I try to find if someone has done a sourdough version of what I want to bake first. It makes it a lot easier. Here are a couple of links for sourdough challah.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/4200/sourdough-challah-photos-recipe
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/challah.html