December 17, 2019 - 3:12pm
Swapping Commercial Yeast for Sourdough Starter
Does someone here have a tested formula for swapping out all or part of commercial yeast (instant powdered) for a starter? I want to incorporate some starter into an old recipe for Armenian matnakash bread, but both my grandmother's recipe and all others I can find call for commercial yeast. Here are the ingredients:
- 250g bread flour
- 1tbs olive oil
- 4g dry yeast
- 250ml lukewarm/hot water
- pinch of salt
Appreciate any advice, especially from you seasoned bakers. Anyone? Anyone?
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This is how I'd think about - generally for a sourdough you would inoculate roughly 15% or so of the flour so that means you'd want 38g of flour in your starter. If your starter/levain is 100% hydration, that means you want roughly 76g of starter to replace the 4g of dry yeast. To compensate for the 38g of flour and 38g of water in your starter, you'd reduce the flour added later in the bake to 212g and the water to 212g. Does that make sense?
http://www.wildyeastblog.com/going-wild/
Kim, something is off. 250 grams of flour and 250ml (equals 250 grams) of water an an additional tablespoon of oil (13 grams of liquid) is way too wet. That comes to 105% hydration.
Check your recipe and get back with us. We’ll help you figure this out...
Danny
Keep in mind that even a great starter can be faster some days and slower other days. If your starter is going like a rocket, less will do. With a starter, just pay attention to how things are going and get some feel for things instead of relying only on numbers and measurements.
Here is a step by step using sourdough and some additional information:
https://youtu.be/7QbuFzFYLys