Levain - when to build it and should you feed your starter afterwards
Hi there,
I have recently created my first sourdough started. It's been seven days since I started the process and it appears to be ready to bake with.
I'm slightly unsure about building a levain. Despite having done some reading on the topic, I still can't find clear answers to the following questions:
1. Can I build a levain from my starter at any point? Does it matter if I build it just before or after the starter has been fed or 12 hours after it's been fed, for example?
2. Do I need to feed my starter once I remove a portion for the levain or can I just continue the normal feeding schedule?
3. Instead of building a levain, can I just use half of the starter to bake my bread? If this is possible, when should this be done? A few hours after I've fed the starter and it's active and bubbly?
I hope the above questions make some sense (and I'm sorry if they sound silly). I'd be really grateful is someone could help me.
Thank you!
Ideally, the answer to all these questions is you feed when your yeasts are finished eating. After you feed, a healthy stater will rise 2-3x and then level off and start falling. You want to add to bread or build a levain at that point. A technique that a lot of bakers use is to feed in a tallish jar like a widemouth mason jar or weck jar. You can put a rubber band or other mark at the level it's at after feeding. Then it is super easy to see how much it has grown.
I have moved to a stiff 80% hydration starter. It makes the math a bit harder, but it forms a nice dome when it is rising and so it is super easy to see when it is leveling off.
Hope that helps!
Thank you very much. That's really helpful.
Would I need to feed it again as soon as I remove some of it to make up for what's been taken or can I just feed the starter whenever the next feed is due?
That's a great question and would love to see if anyone else can chime in on it. For mine, I haven't had any trouble leaving it for 12 or 24 hours without feeding again. If it is going to be longer, I will usually refrigerate as it gets super acidic if left out longer. I keep relatively small starters (one white and one wheat) and just feed when I am going to bake. But, I have been baking a ton (5-7 loaves a week) so it hasn't been a huge issue. If I were baking less, I would have a better sense of it.
Your starter doesn't care very much how big it is. Just a teaspoon has millions of microbes in it. Just feed when the next feeding is due unless the amount that remains will be too small to do a proper feeding. Do make sure you are feeding a ratio, however. If you have only a small amount of starter left and feed it just as much as you would have given to a larger starter, you'll dilute it too much.
Thank you both. That’s really helpful. My dough is currently cold fermenting and the starter seems to be doing fine.
I was wondering if it’s possible to not build a levain when baking bread but instead mix the active starter directly with the water and flour? Many recipes ask you to build a levain from the active starter and wait for the levain to become active after a few hours. Is this really necessary? Can’t I just remove a portion of my active starter and mix this in?
Thank you!
As long as your starter meets the requirements of the recipe, both in it's makeup and current level of activity, you can absolutely just use it directly. A levain is useful for reasons such as if you don't keep enough starter on hand, if the starter you keep on hand doesn't meet the requirements of the recipe such as type of flour or hydration, and also to help with getting the timing just right as far as the activity level. It is not required to build a special levain, though.
I made pitta’s with 5% active starter. It did take 19 ours to double in size.
My guess this wil also work with regular bread.
So it is more a choice building a levain ( I ussaly do) also takes time.
A few ours ago a made a pizza dough with 4,4% active starter for tomorrow’s pizzas.