What am I doing wrong?
Hello everyone! This is my first post around.Some day something made try to do my first Sourdough Starter.
Started in Day 1 with 70g of Bread Flour + 70 g of bottled water
Day 2: After 24 h added same amount 70g bf + 70g water
Day 3 Discarded half,added 70+70g
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6 All the same
Then one day seeing the activity I was hoping for tried other ratio. Discarded all but 125 g of Starter added 125g flour + 125g water.
Until today my sourdough look exactly like the photo . Little bubbles on the surface but NO RISE and no bubbles on the sides.The smell was rather similar to what I've read.Forgot to feed it one time in the evening,doing it next morning.
Tried to control the temperature as much as I could .Moved it in a Warmer Room but every day for some hours until I start the heat it's a bit colder in the room.
ANY SUGGESTIONS ABOUT WHAT I DID WRONG ,WHAT SHOULD I CHANGE OR IF IT IS STILL WORTH THE TIME TO CONTINUE.?
Put a small portion of whole wheat flour. Like 100 white 25 wheat 125 water and 125 culture and keep feeding it once or twice a day. You can utilize the fridge if you see it becoming overactive with only one feeding a day. Sometimes it takes a little time for a culture to establish itself.
I have around something like this.It says it's whole and looks like it has some bran bits in it.Should be ok.right?
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Should be fine. It looks like whole wheat.
I like Debra Wink's Pineapple Juice Solution. Look for it in the "Search" box..
Ford
Also,is it fine that i changed containers every few days?I didn't want too much dry started on the sides of the glass? Does it affect that much if it's not in a dark place? I know direct sun light can effect the wild yeast but it was not the case here.
Too much cleaning!
Keep the same container. Let it look messy, and don't worry about the little dried bits, they're OK. It's possible that you've been removing important material by cleaning - the "icky parts" you threw out are probably exactly the parts you most need to keep. ?
That's what i thought also.Like the starter creates kind of an ecosystem inside but saw also lots of ''recipes'' that changed the container.
Another question: is possible that my starter's reason he's not rising is that i have too much(it shouldn't be true) but saw in other videos starters with 1:1:1 ratio of 15g each triple in size after a feed. i have one jar with around 375g of started.1:1:1 of 125g.Feed mine today as you sugested with 25g added of the whole wheat
when i started out a number of years ago this video did it for me. I had spent hours pouring over recipes, getting confused over terms, names and procedures and then I found this video. It cut through all the crap and told it like it is. have a look, be patient and itll happen. @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuU0xmqEZyI
Pretty straight forward,no scale required.But since i've bloated my head with lots of information about sourdough had to put them to the test? Glad to see the return to the basics though.
Short update after second feeding with added whole wheat
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What temperature is your starter stored at? A guess will do.
IMO, too many people strongly consider time but few take temperature into consideration.
Also, what is the hydration of your starter. A very wet starter will often fail to rise much, because the gass vents to the atmosphere.
Danny
I think it is a bit over 75°...have just a meat thermometer at hand so can't know for sure . But moved it to the warmest place in house,kitchen was not warm enough.
I use it 1:1:1,125g each.Started to see it is a bit thicker since I started to feed 100g ap+25g whole wheat
That's the kind of bubbles I got today.But how do you know when the starter needs to be fed.How can you tell? Is it when after reaching the peek rise it lowers towards the initial level?
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Your starter looks very vigorous to me. How long since it was fed and what is the temp?
How does it smell?
It is more difficult to judge the rise and fall on a wet starter. The wetter the starter is the less it is able to hold the gas in the mix. It vents to the atmosphere instead of raising the dough.
Dan
For the first time since I started it I smell something fruity,similar to ripe bananas.Really pleasant smell.
Almost double in size after several hours after feed,now after the night it deflated.Is it after that a good sign it needs to be fed? Cause then a 12h time between feeding is necessary to mine.
Let me refer this link to a friend that is much more experienced than I in this area. I want to mkae sure you get the very best info.
Your starter appears to be off to a great start...
Danny.
Thank you so much,I really appreciate it.
I'd say that is looking good!
Have you tried the float test? (tablespoon of starter in a jar of water - does it float?)
If yes, I'd give it a go and see - and, honestly, if you end up with a cowpat (as I've done many times) you are still learning!!
My actual plan was slowly to get rid of the store bought bread.There is something about the open crumb that fascinated me when I started the research about sourdough.As I young and aspiring Chef being able to share the breads with others will be awesome.
One thing that still made me to not do the float test were the bubbles I didn't see on the sides from exterior.But I guess that if the starter still doubles up in sides is no problem.
Talking about actual baking.How should I do it? Remove some of the starter,feeding that part and place it in another jar for the levain?
Also how should I bake without a Dutch oven ? Saw other baking in PYREX,others bake it as it is with a water tray inside.
All four are valid. It depends on what you want, and on a little experimenting.
My goal is too make sure I get that oven spring.
Saw some bakers who when they used the wide open method they threw some ice cubes on the bottom of the oven.I realized that steam should be present in there
This is the amount of size increase I had today.Is it usable for a bake?As you can see it almost doubled in size but not too many bubbles on the sides.Is it bad if I mix it right now and it deflates?I know more oxygen is needed
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Bubbles on the side? It is rising, us it not?
Flour and hydration will affect appear appearance.
Try an off shoot starter of 1:5:5 using whole rye flour and note the differences.
Did floating test and it floats. can I mix that 1:5:5 in another container and use it as a levain for the bread i want to bake?
Try an off shoot starter to note the differences.
How much starter do you have ready to go now?
Under 300grams.Last feed I increase the flour water ratio to about 1:2:2
245g starter good to go with some left over.
Only thing for it is to try a bake. Here is a nice recipe. Skip the poolish build and go straight onto the final dough.
With the starter that's left feed again.
It might not come out perfect but I'm sure it'll be nice and it'll be a good indicator of where your starter is at.
Thanks for the recipe.Watch lots of them lately.
First bread baked with my Sourdough.Mind the awful scoring.Forgot to buy some razors today.I'll post one another pic after the baking and one with the crumb.Wish me luck
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Followed the Pain Naturel recipe.
How do you recommend storing the Sourdough from now on? I guess I'll bake like 2 loafs a week.
Short Update.Took the cover off.Pretty good Oven Spring.Stay tuned.
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Looks good from where I'm sitting. Let's see what the taste and crumb shot brings.
If you're baking twice a week then you can build 80-100g and allow it to activate and bubble up but then refrigerate before it's fully peaked. Say around about 75% risen. For each bake take some off and build a levain. After the second bake it should be time to re-feed it, give it some TLC then return it to the fridge. This way you only have to feed it once a week and you will never have to build in excess.
Here it is.How beautiful is she?.Should I remove the lid under immediately?How much rest is needed?
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You must be pleased. Try getting some air to circulate beneath the bread too. Have you got a rack it can stand on?
How much rest is up to you but I like to hold off till it's fully cooled. But if it's still a little warm and you wish to try some then go ahead. Just not while it's hot.
11 PM here but I can stay until morning for this.Super happy about the results at least esthetic.Hope the same results inside .Thank you all for help
Your hard work and patience paid off. One more piece of advice. Don't hurry. Keep at this recipe for a little while until keeping, maintaining and using a starter becomes more second nature and you get a feel for the whole process then move on.
Have a good night and a tasty breakfast tomorrow.
Monza, where did you get the clear glass baker? I really like the idea of being able to watch the dough bake.
Danny
It's a very old Pyrex glass,I have it since I was little(believe or not I'm only 22yo).Im living in Romania and I don't know where this kind of glass can be found these days.
I think next logical step should be to buy a Dutch Oven,since this glass can fit just perfectly but can't bake a bigger one.I also want to buy some bannetons.
Dan - the exact item is one that you could watch thrift shops, estate sales, etc for - or you could check a modern brand such as Simax.
I'm not entirely certain that this is 100% accurate, but I believe that the older better Pyrex is branded PYREX in all uppercase, and that the newer, inferior type is branded pyrex in all lower case. Also, all of the "made in France" Pyrex is the better type, even if new. (The difference is borosilicate glass vs ordinary tempered glass.) The borosilicate (good) ones are a bit less resistant to breakage by dropping on the floor, but a lot more resistant to breakage by heating and cooling. For people who remember to take care not to drop glass dishes, the choice is fairly obvious. ?
The "problem" is this is not even close to PYREX or pyrex.It's just a no name type of glass.Here we call it yena
I also learned not too long ago the differences between borosilicates and the usual tempered glass.Borosilicates can withstand 500°C but I didn't knew much about mine so I was extra carefully.Anyway heard nowadays they reduced the resistance to high temperature changes .Glad that mine worked with 230°C.
Jena in Germany was (still is?) a major glass manufacturing area.
Here it is... couldn't stop myself in eating a buttered slice.Love the sourness.Perfect.And as far as the crumb I think it is pretty good, isn't it?
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And taste is everything! Well done.
Your starter will also improve over the coming weeks.