1, 2, 3 Sourdough Question
Happy 2013.
1, 2, 3 Sourdough is popular here among TFL members so I thought that someone here would know the answer to my question.
Background
I’ve been making a variation of this bread for a while. Once I did not have enough starter for the amount of dough that I wanted, I had half of what was called for, so I made “1, 4, 6 Sourdough”. I wanted this to fit my work schedule so that start to finish this bread would take 24 hours. The bread turned out great. I would mix it up at 5 A.M. one day, shape it in the late evening and then bake it at 5 A.M. the next day. The only problem with this bread is during the summer when it is much warmer, the bread will be way over proofed.
Question
How would you expect the change from “1, 2, 3 Sourdough” to “1, 4, 6 Sourdough” to affect the end product?
Name | Starter | Water | Flour | Salt |
1, 2, 3 Sourdough | 200 g | 400g | 600g | 12g |
1, 4, 6 Sourdough | 100g | 400g | 600g | 12g |
Which would you expect to be sourer?
Any other differences that would be noticed?
I will try a side-by-side experiment some time and see what I can tell is the difference from a real bake, but until then I would appreciate all thoughts on this issue.
Thanks, Dwayne
Hi Dwayne,
One dough is 100g smaller than the other for the obvious reasons with the same amount of salt, so the smaller loaf will be slightly saltier too because there is 50g less flour. (assuming a 100% hydration starter)
Watch out when comparing loaf flavour that your tastebuds don't confuse salt and sour. (you might want to adjust salt to total flour content)
Chances are good that the loaf with the smaller amount of starter will generally be more sour and/or more flavorful due to longer fermentation.
-Mini
Mini,
I very much appreciate your comments. Yes, I should have adjusted the salt when I gave the ingredient weights. When I do a side by side test I will make sure the the Salt percentages are the same. I am interested in getting a more sour loaf. My feeding of the starter needs to be more regular, right now it is just when I think of it. I may reduce the starter by half again and extend the start to finish time to 36 hour.
Thanks, Dwayne
Fermentation control can be manipulated by using water temperature (refrigerated), decreasing the amount of starter, using a retarder at around 65 degrees (more difficult for home application) or slightly increasing salt, or a combo of all of these. Trial and error will be your best friend.
Along the lines of “1, 2, 3 Sourdough” to “1, 4, 6 Sourdough” - I am about to search the forums for this - intriguing!
Hope this helps,
B2B
B2B,
Thanks, it had not occured to me to just reduce the amount of starter during the summer months, I will try that. Durning the warm months I usually just make non-sourdough breads. Great tip.
Thanks, Dwayne