May 4, 2014 - 2:25pm
vermont sourdough
I have a question about the Vermont sourdough recipe. I've never tried it, but I'm curious.
What does "unfed" starter mean in this case? I feed mine every 12 hours, at ca 8am and 8pm. If I were to make that recipe in the morning, meaning I would prep the overnight starter at 8pm the previous night, would "unfed" mean the previous day's 8am feeding would be the last food the starter should get?
Also, the recipe asks for rye flour. I have some in the house, but by now it's 7 months old, because I use it so rarely and in such small amounts. Should I toss it and get new rye flour?
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If the rye were a year or older, then yeah, you might want some new stuff just to be confident. Since I'm pretty frugal, I'd probably still keep it for starter feedings, but I wouldn't expect it to taste as good in a baked good. But at 7 months, probably still okay. Is it a light rye flour, or a whole grain/dark rye flour? If light, I feel more confident recommending that you use it; more refined flours tend to degrade slower. If it's dark, it's probably not aging as gracefully, although its nutrient profile is probably not what it once was. Likely still fine, especially if it hasn't been kept in a particularly warm environment.
As for the "unfed starter", you can just use your most recent discard starter. So, if you are making your levain build in the morning, take your 8pm starter and refresh it as usual. Take the portion of the 8pm starter that didn't go into the 8am refreshment and use that hungry little guy to begin your Vermont sourdough.
Did I explain that well enough? Let me know if that was confusing.
--although I still have one question: do I keep the starter that I set aside for 12 hours to be used for the overnight starter in the fridge or can it sit out on the counter? And if it should go in the fridge, should I take it out a while before using so it can come to room temp?
To make sure we're still on the same page, when you say "the starter that I set aside for 12 hours to be used for the overnight starter", are you referring you your regularly maintained starter? You can keep it wherever you usually keep it.
Are you thinking to set aside discard starter and then wait another 12 hours before turning it into your levain? I'm not sure from your phrasing, so I want to make sure I understand your question well so I don't confuse you by going off on an unrelated tangent.
I would say, use the amount of starter * usualy half the starter * that your take out before feeding and use it for the recipe that calls for unfed starter.
I do that when I enhance /enrich a basic white loafe and not Sourdough.