November 19, 2014 - 4:31pm
How does one get to say 300g of mature starter from an active refrigerated starter
I'd be grateful for a lesson about process:
If I have an active starter in the fridge, i.e one that is bubbling away, has been fed recently and doubles in four to six hours and also floats, I would like to know how I get to 360g 'mature 100% hydration starter'. My active starter weighs 100g and was fed with 50g AP and 50g water.
I am a bit muddled here.
Thank you
Share
for clearing that up for me. I managed to forget the bit about a teaspoon or tablespoon of starter..an essential bit I might add.
I do mine in one step - for this, I'd take 72g of mother, add 144g of flour and 144g of water. Mix and leave covered for 4-5 hours and its good to go.
In number terms, I take 20% of the target weight from the mother then top-up with double that weight in flour and the same again in water. So if you needed 400g of starter, then it would be 80g of mother + 160g of water + 160g of flour.
Don't forget to top-up the mother with half flour and water of the quantity you took out. (36g each if you took out 72g of mother)
-Gordon
It doesn't take much mature starter to inoculate a flour and water slurry and make more starter. The portions are not critical. Make a little more than you actually need. The unused portion goes back in the fridge -- no discard!
All of the comments have been very helpful. As I bake more, I realize how much I don't know in spite of voracious reading. This site is super helpful