Stiff and Liquid starters and baking Rye bread
OK, can you stand more newbie sourdough baking question from me?
I know you can have stiff (50-60% hydration) starters and liquid (100-125% hydration) starters. I read Bread by Jeffrey Hamelman and he makes reference to being able to convert your starter between the different hydration states, and in an appendix gives specific directions about how to convert a liquid starter to a stiff starter. He doesn't explain how to convert from stiff to liquid. Can this be done successfully?
In his sourdough section, he specifies liquid or stiff starter in each recipe. In the rye section, he just specifies "mature culture" and an amount. Does anyone know if this means liquid or stiff starter?
At the moment I have a 60% hydration white flour (KA Bread flour) starter and a 100% hydration rye flour (Hogson Mills whole rye flour) starter.
So if the rye recipe needs a liquid starter, I'm good to go. If it needs a stiff starter, I have to convert my liquid rye starter to stiff or my stiff white starter to rye, both of which should be do-able.
I tried the rye in Glezer's Blessing of Bread and both times building the rye sour from my 60% hydration white starter, using the Hogson Mills whole rye flour, not the light rye she specifies, as I haven't been able to find any, and after 24 hours I just had a ball of cement. So I thought I'd try one of Hamelman's rye recipes unless someone has a suggestion.
Finally, for the 1-2-3 sourdough, can someone just confirm that this is the process:
Mix the discard starter (with water added to the equivalent of 100% hydration), with double that weight of water and triple that weight of flour. Let sit for 15-30 minutes of autolyse. Then knead or stretch and fold in the bowl fo develop the gluten. Form into a ball and let ferment (What is the endpoint for this fermenting period, a certain increase in dough volume or a time period?). Divide the dough and shape it. Let if proof (again, is there an endpoint for this, the finger in the dough imprint test?) Score it. Then bake (425-450 dF for a free form loaf on a baking stone, and a bit lower for a pan loaf) until 190-200 internal temperature.
Finally, what can I do with my discards besides 1-2-3 sourdough? I found a waffle recipe in KA All Purpose Baking Cookbook (which I just borrowed from the libraby) but I don't own a waffle iron.
Thanks for everyone for their patience with my questions.