Starter Doubts
Hello!!
I have been baking for a month or two already and now I have some questions about by starter.
I have been feeding my starter when it is at its peak (I heard that will make it stronger, is that right?). If I didn't want to make it stronger then, at what stage should I feed my starter? I guess my question is how should my starter look (at peak, while rising, while falling, when it's fully down...) feed it?
So I decided to feed at peak to make it stronger, because well, it wasn't strong enough, so here is my next question: what is considered a strong starter? What difference does it make when baking? And is my starter not strong? I feed my starter 1:1:1 and it was taking around 8/9/10 hours to peak at around 22°C. The only times the temperature was warmer (25°C) it was rising to its peak in 7h. In all cases the starter was peaking at around 2x the original size or sometimes 2.5x.
My next question it's pointed towards the saving side of this: how can I avoid feeding as many times? I have heard of the fridge technique, and I have used it but the starter was very weak after coming out and it took me somewhat around 5 feedings to get it back to normal shape. Why is that? How should I treat my starter in the fridge? How often should I take it out and for how long should it be out(if it should at all). Also, should I feed my starter from the fridge?
Thank you all in advance!
Hey Victor! I guess the first question would be how have your bakes turned out? That will tell you more about the health of your starter, when it was best to use it, etc. I think there can be a tendency to stress too much about starter maintenance and catching it at the 'perfect' time for feeds. That's not to say starters should be neglected. I just believe they are a lot more resilient than some people think. Why do you say your starter wasn't strong enough?
I would say fairly young starters should be used often rather than parked in the fridge for long periods of time. If you are using it once per week for weekend bakes, take it out of the fridge on Wednesday or Thursday, feed it every day for 2 or 3 days, watch what it does and when, and time your last feed accordingly, to get as close to peak as possible for your dough build. I've switched to doing a 1:2:2 or 1:3:3 feed approximately 12-16 hours before I need to use the starter--this slows the activity down a bit and makes the starter nice and happy. I would start with 1:2:2 on a fairly new starter to make sure it can handle the extra flour. This also cuts down on the number of feeds since a 1:1:1 starter will likely require twice a day feeds (if it is rising and falling in about 8-12 hours).
I also keep a smaller amount of 'mother' starter, so I only keep 50g of my main starter (which lives in the fridge when I'm not using it) because I got tired of either pitching so much discard or trying to find ways to use up the discard in other recipes. I just think it is less wasteful this way. You can build a larger starter with your feeds if you need more. Some people keep even smaller 'mother' starters. You take it directly from the fridge, discard (if applicable), add water and flour for the feed, stir until smooth, leave it out on the counter for a few hours until you get some rise, then you can pop it back in the fridge until you need to build for a bake. If I'm baking a lot, I leave it out on the counter and feed every day (at the 1:2:2 or 1:3:3 ratio). I usually try to feed my main starters that are in the fridge once per week, but have gone as long as 3 weeks in between feedings, with no real ill effects.
If you want to speed up the rise of your starter, use warm water. I normally use tap water for my starter feeds and builds but bottled spring water (no bubbles) for my bakes. Water quality can be something to think about too for your starter feeds if your tap water isn't great. Conversely, you can slow down starters by using cold water. I usually put the jar on a thick, woven pot-holder so it isn't sitting directly on a cold counter, which helps keep it warm. You can also park it in the cold oven with the light on if you want to speed up the rise.
Hope you find something useful here! Best of luck and Happy Baking!
Thanks for your answer!
Well my last loafs have turned pretty well (at least for my standards). I will attach a picture because I am a bit proud ? (if you notice anything strange or something that could be improved let me know. I am proud of my load, but that doesn't mean it's perfect). I said my starter was not strong because I heard it should take around 4 hours at 26°C to double in size or to peak and mine doesn't. My starter takes around 7/8 hours to peak after a 1:1:1 feed.
Regarding your second paragraph: I have fed my starter 1:2:2 and 1:3:3 and it handled it well, it took longer to ride but I think that's normal. I also suppose by what you wrote that you feed your starter once it has fully deflated?
And about the tips to make the starter stronger I will try using them and see how that works out. I have already been using warm water (around 30°C)
Thanks again for your answer and here are the pictures from my last loaf.
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That looks like a lovely bake, Victor, with excellent crumb! So, I think it is safe to say your starter is doing just fine. I forgot to mention that the type of flour you are using can also affect starter rise times. AP starters will rise quicker (in my experience) than WW starters, but the WW starter holds its peak for longer and falls later than an AP starter. I think you'll see your starter get healthier and rise quicker the more you use it, feed it and build with it. As far as your question about the timing of the feed, if it is a room temp starter or one I am trying to perk up in prep for a dough build, it usually works out that it gets a feed after it has fallen. If I am just doing a maintenance feed to keep my fridge starter happy, I take it out of the fridge, warm it up a couple hours at room temp, do the feed, let it rise a couple hours, then pop it back in the fridge (same process for feeding left-over starter after a dough build). Hope that helps! Enjoy that lovely bread!
Thanks!!
(I think I will make some bread tomorrow to bake the next day, let's see how it works after it's fridge break for the last week) Oh and yes, I took it out and have been feeding it for some days, it's already back to normal so we will see!
The trick to saving flour is to start small and build up to the amount you'll need for a bake. This both saves resources and keeps the starter healthy. Example, to bake every 4th day and needing 100g starter that day, using a 122 feed ratio so we feed once a day;
D4 100g
D3 20g
D2 4g
D1g - the starting amount, left over from last bake - we'll call it 1g as the amount needed to rebuild is so small it's really only what you can't scoop out of the jar.
Bake more often, start with a little more starter. The above is for every 4 days, bake every 3 days just drop the D1 line and start from D2 (4g stated needed). Bake less often, keep dividing by 5. The fridge is really best suited for longer term storage where there will be an extended length of time without feeding. And, longer it's in cold storage, the longer it can take to get back in shape. It's easy to get a lot of starter in a short period of time, so let's take advantage that to not get so much starter. Enjoy!
Disclaimer - all numbers may be approximate - I haven't even had coffee yet ;-)
Very good idea to build up to the starter you need, I might do that.
Thanks for the advice!