The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Starter flour

Jalebel's picture
Jalebel

Starter flour

i have just started bailing sourdough and the starter is going well.  However I made it with white flour and want to use other flour such as rye oe whole meal.  Can you mix the flour in a existing starter or do you have to start a new one?

JeremyCherfas's picture
JeremyCherfas

I keep a white flour and a wholewheat flour starter, and if I want something different, usually for rye flour, I just go ahead and build with the rye flour. But I do it with just a part of the original starter so I can keep that going.

Jeremy

Jalebel's picture
Jalebel

Thanks for that.  Good hint about keeping some of the original starter.  Cheers

BaniJP's picture
BaniJP

I would also gradually change the flour, so your starter has some time getting used to it. Maybe start with 20%, then 50%, then 100%.

SoulDreamer's picture
SoulDreamer

... simply because I find it the hardest to kill. 

Once ive developed the starter by feeding it daily for a week or two, I keep it in the fridge and feed it whenever I use it. It can be weekly, sometimes every two weeks. Once I forgot about it for a month, but it survived. I can forget about it and I don’t let it run my life. In my experience, wheat or whole-wheat starters are more fragile, and need more attention. 

100% rye starter does not mean you have to make rye bread. If I want to make “white bread” I can make a levain with 30g rye starter and 100g wheat flour, and add 1000g more wheat flour to the actual bread mix. That means the rye content is only 15g out of 1100g, and that’s not noticeable. 

Ive found that any flour in the starter works find. The are all versatile. I can use any starter for any kind of levain and any kind of bread. The levain has a bigger impact than the starter. 

The key factors for me is “how difficult is it to kill” and ”how little attention does it need”. And there, 100% rye with 100% hydration works best.