February 23, 2013 - 11:45pm
Established my starter. Beginner question!
Hello everyone-
I just successfully established a whole wheat starter (it now doubles within 3-5 hours!) and it's fairly vigourous and consistent. My question is, when I want to make naturally leavened bread, and a recipe asks for a "mature starter", what does that mean? Should I measure it right after feeding, or when it has doubled already, or after it doubles and slightly deflates?
P.S. If you have a formula that you'd like to recommend, please share it.
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A mature starter is a stable starter, and generally you'd use it around about the time it has doubled. Some time before or after will not ruin the process. The basic formula I use for my daily bread is a 1,2,3 formula (hey, it's easy to remember ;).
1 is your levain (starter)
2 is water (2 x the amount of starter, by weight)
3 is flour (3 x the amount of starter, by weight)
So a loaf might be 150g starter, 300g water, and 450g flour, which comes in at a hydration level of 71%, assuming that the starter is 100% hydration.
Thank you so much for your answer, I'll definitely try your formula.
The 1/2/3 formula works well but don't forget the salt. About 2% of the flour. If using whole wheat, I I use a little more water and let it soak with the flour for about an hour before adding the starter.
*cough*
Good spot; definitely don't miss out the salt! ;)
I always salt and use autolyse by default, but good eye! Thank you!