The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Food For Thought

albacore's picture
albacore

Food For Thought

An interesting experiment from Breadtopia relating to starter quantity and "freshness".

 

Lance

DanAyo's picture
DanAyo

Lance, I’ve studied this quite a bit, and for me, feeding the starter in preparation for a bake will continue to be common practice. But for those not concerned abut the ultimate loaf, this experiment is very telling. Both starter definitely made great bread. It was a very good experiment.

Did you notice the typo or miscalculated addition of RT proof time?

Dan

albacore's picture
albacore

Breadmaking can be a tough old game, if you are looking for professional looking, well-presented and flavoursome loaves; these are what I strive to achieve, but don't always get!

So I think to begin with a starter that isn't totally ready (in most bakers' eyes) is just making life difficult for yourself for no good reason.

Don't get me wrong - it was an interesting experiment by Melissa and I enjoyed reading it. I think experiments like this and those performed by Kristen @fullproofbaking and others are very useful to the baking community.

And yes, Dan, the bulk timings seem pretty odd - certainly excessive for a well-fed starter.

Lance

 

dreid's picture
dreid

Thanks for posting! Very interesting read and something I’ll be playing around with 

Abe's picture
Abe (not verified)

...of leavening bread. Afterall, it leavens a preferment!