Timing starter refresh.
Can I modify the amount of time it takes my starter to double? I would like a faster doubling so I can get started with the dough sooner than the two days of starter refreshing that it now takes me . It is a 30/30/30 all-white flour mix. When I take it out of the frig and rebuild it takes 8 to 10 hours to double. Subsequent refreshments still take 6-8 hours to double.
I have the impression that some bakers refresh their starter every four hours or so, whether or not it has doubled. Does this "push" the starter to become more vigorous and faster doubling? I'm in a tropical location so the daily temperature in the kitchen hovers around 80F. Should I push the starter with frequent (say 4 hr.) refreshment? Should I just leave the starter out and keep refreshing until I get a relatively quick doubling and then go forward with the preferment?
Thanks for sharing any insight!
GregS
HI GregS,
Yes, if you have an active starter, generally the more frequently you feed, the faster it will grow. Of course this is tempered by ambient temps and the liquidity of the starter (firmer/dryer starters will grow more slowly). So a frequently fed, liquid (more than 100% hydration starter) should yield the fastest growth rates.
At 80F, you are closest to the fastest replication temperature for yeast (C. milleri), and a happy temperature for production of lactic acid bacteria...although S. cerevisiae (if you happen to get any commercial yeast in your sourdough) replicates fastest at somewhere between 90-95F.
If your schedule permits, try feeding 3 times a day. What hydration do you keep your starter?
Never mind, I see you keep your starter at 100% hydration.
Mine is 100% hydration, I feed mine every 24 hours and he grows fast and furious, if I feed mine more often it looses the sourness that I love.
Hi PetraR, Do you keep your starter at room temperature all the time? What do you do when you are away for a few days?
GregS
to 4 months without refreshing and use a small amount of it to build a levain each week. I do a 3 stage increasing size build build of 4 hours each.without throwing anything away. If it doesn't double after the 2nd stage (this never has happened to me) I would repeat it by throwing away the first 2nd stage amount. The size of the levain at finish depends on how much sour I want, how fast I want it to be and whether it is summer or winter. Here is a table to go by - worse case is 12 hours total but usually only takes 9 in the summer so i cut back to 3 hour builds in my mid 80's AZ kitchen. Happy Baking
Thanks dabrownman, that little chart is a treasure. I'll put it to good use.
And while I'm at it, sincere thanks for your steady stream of innovative recipes and great photos, it really enhances TFL and is a credit to your baking skill.
GregS
It seems that most of the stuff I know about bread, that is worth knowing at any rate, I learned here from other Fresh Lofians. It really is a communtiy of bread bakers who pass on what they know to others who want to know it, Things change with bread all the time. Now the new thing is sprouts and there is much to learn.
The next couple fo weeks it is exploring Kamut around here. I baked a 100% Kamut boule at 102% hydration about 2 years ago and Lucy thought it was going to have a grand outcome but.... it stuck to the basket ( before we used 100% rice flour) and it turned out a bit less than beautimous. So this week we will revisit it, add sprouted Kamut to the mix and hope it doesn't stick.
Glad you like the posts - you are too kind. Here is this week's levain build we will start tomorrow for Friday's bake. Since it is now cold here 72-75 F in the kitchen adn the starter 10 weeks aged in the fridge adn alsomight be slow, we upped the stater amount to 6 g, twice the usual amount and cut back the first feeding to 6 g each of flour and water. Once built. this levain will be retarded for 24 hours before being used and it will make up 10% of the flour in the loaf.