Amount of Levain Based on Retardation of Shaped Loaves
Hello all! This will be my first post in The Fresh Loaf, I'm excited to join this community!
So basically my question is this: is there a general rule for the percentage of starter/levain that you would use in a sourdough formula based on how long you want to retard the shaped loaves in the fridge?
I've been making bread for my partner who is a chef to use at his restaurant, with mixed results. One of the issues I've been running into is that my schedule is a bit inconsistent, so I've been unable to control exactly for how long the loaves rest in the fridge overnight. In general, it spends about 14-16 hours I would say. I've been using 12.5% levain in my recipes, and sometimes the loaves rise wonderfully when they bake, sometimes not.
If anyone with some experience experimenting would this could help out, I would really appreciate it! I've been wanting to experiment myself, but haven't been able to find the time.
Thank you all in advance! I've included a photo of one of my better loaves :)
Well, the general rule (and one of the basics) is, less leavening agent = longer times, and vice versa.
I always figured x amount of starter/yeast will do something in 4 hrs, 2x would be 2 hrs, .5x would be 8 hrs., if everything else is the same. Is that exact - hardly, but you get the idea.
The variables would make it difficult of not impossible to give exact numbers, especially as I would imagine you would be looking for a high level of consistency in the loaves. Keep notes, make changes, track observations and results , see what happens with your starter (no 2 are exactly the same).
Hmm, here's a thought, if you can control temps, you have a quick easy solution. Remember, cooler takes longer, warmer takes less - time. Enjoy!
9-10% of prefermented flour to total amount of flour (including the prefermented flour). I try to stick to under 12 hours of fridge time at 38F but often end up with more than that. Hope this helps.
I think one of the most overlooked post on sourdough on the internet is this one and its accompanying spreadsheet. Sadly Bill hasn't been active for quite a while but the math stands up. His insight about logarithmic activity is really useful.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com//node/6660/comparing-sourdough-fermentation-strategies
Google sheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19gUTdsXJttJPJRX7P3Qrqs2Yz4vTDLmk6qB0RarfmcY/edit?usp=sharing
For your purposes the sheet most useful is probably the one entitled "table"