Another sourdough delimma??
Hi: I am having quite the time with making sourdough bread. I have sucessfully grew my yeast using the sourdough ladys recipe. It is now 3 months old. I do not know much about hydration? This could be my problem.
My first recipe was the recipe for the sourdough ladys recipe. I followed it exactly and it did not want to raise. So I got frustrated and put it back in the fridge. 2 days later I noticed that it had grew a bit in the fridge, so I took it out again and it took 8 hours for it to raise and it was not too bad.
My next attempt was Gaarp's 5 grain seeded bread. I followed it exactly again and it would not raise very much. My stiff starter was not so stiff either. thats why I am thinking that hydration is my problem. Anyway I cooked the bread and the squirrels just love it.
My first question is: What hydration is the best for the sourdough breads and how do I get it to be the right hydration.
My next question is: When I want to make bread..do I take the starter out of the fridge, feed it and wait for a few hours before I can use it....or do I take it from the fridge, stir it and take what I want and use it before I feed it.
Any help would be very much appreciated.
Thanks
Lucy-sue