December 13, 2014 - 4:15pm
Carl's Starter - when to add
I am brand new to sourdough.
I received Carl's starter and got it started with the 1 Tbsp flour/water, after the initial softening. I am now at just over 24 hours. I am seeing a tiny bit of activity, I think.
When do I add the next flour/water, and how much? I have read so many different instructions, I am confused. I don't want to kill it.
At this point, I am pretty confused, so, if I could get a simple answer, I would be super appreciative!
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at carlsfriends.net/revive.txt
I have read and reviewed the instructions on the Carl's friends website, as well as printed them off. I am unsure how bubbly it is supposed to be when I need to add the second flour/water addition.
There are two different sets of instructions on the website. Carl's original brochure and an additional one by "Carlos" that the website tells you to read as well.
Allow me to try and help. I have Carl's starter as well, and it is quite forgiving of goofs. It would have to be for it to survive under my care and tutelage. All you are doing is feeding it. If you feed it early, it simply takes longer for the critters to digest what is in front of them. So the next point when you'll start seeing bubbles will be delayed. That's all, the next feeding will be delayed.
It will become less difficult when you have a larger quantity than you have presently, because you will actually see the dough expand over a period of hours and then start to collapse back down. And in a clear container you will see air pockets, just like any other leavened dough.
If you want to do your next feeding, go ahead. I would add two TBLS water, mix, add two TBLS flour mix again. Adding the water first "insures" that the liquid is full of yeast and as it hydrates the flour it distributes the yeast evenly. Then the whole process will start again.
Carl's SD has survived the civil war, the first world war, the second world war, numerous young girls learning from their moms how to bake bread and keep a culture going. It will survive in your kitchen as well. -It will probably outlive all of usI
Message me if you need more help with this,
mc
You answered my question.
That is exactly what I needed to know!
How much should my starter rise?
It seemed to be growing very slowly, so, on the advice above, from Conjuay, I went ahead and did the second feeding. There seemed to be immediate activity, but, then seemed to slow way back down to almost nothing.
Yesterday, I went ahead and added 1/2 c of water, and 1/2 cup of flour and it got bigger and bubbly right away. But did not really grow, and surely did not double in size.
The smell is intensifying, but, I do not think it smells "bad" at all, just strong, which is what I want, a strong sourdough.
Am I just expecting more activity or growth than is normal, or is this just how "MY" sourdough starter acts?
I have read, and re-read, and re-read both instructions on carl's friends and really wish I could see pictures.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
1/2 C of flour and 1/4 C of water instead of equal volume of each. The starter will be too thin to rise as it should if you feed equal volumes. . You will just see the bubbles as they rise and break instead of having bubble be formed and trapped in the culture to make it rise.
I added the amount you recommended.
What kind of double time should I anticipate?
Should I have added even more flour since it was too thin before?
Thank you!
so if you tossed all but a half cup of starter the half cup left might weigh 100 g or so and at 1,66 hydration you would have 100/1.66=60 g of water and 40 g of flour, by adding 60 g of water (1/4 cup) and 1/2 cup of flour (65 g ) your hydration is now(60+60) /(65+40) or 114% still too thin, You could add another 30 g of flour and get it to 89% hydration . But it depends how much of the original starter at 166% hydration you kept after tossing.
I got lost in all of that.
Was I supposed to discard some of starter before I added the last 1/2 c flour and 1/4 c water? I didn't. Right now I have about 1 cup of starter.
I am now seeing volume increase after the last addition. Calculating hydration is so far out of my understanding. I can measure and weigh, but I am really confused on the hydration.
keep to feed 1/4 C of water and 1/2 c of flour? I can see where you would be confused since what I posted was wrong so i will to correct it here. Since water weighs 238 g per cup and flour weighs 140 g per cup if you were feeding equal volumes before (1 cup each) 238 g of water and 140 g or flour your hydration would be the water divided by the flour or 238/140 = 170% hydration
So if you took 100 g of starter at 170% hydration the amount of flour in that 100 g would be 100/ 2.7 (the flour is always 1 and the water in this case is 1.7 for 170% hydration) of the total or 37 g and the water would be 100-37 or 63 g.
If you fed that 100 g of starter 1/4 c of water (238g /4 = 59 g) and 1/2 c of flour (140g / 2 = 70 g) you now have a mix that weighs 100+59+70 = 229 g with a hydration of (63+59) water / (37+ 70) or 122/ 107 = 105% hydration - still too high. If you feed this mix another 30 g of flour, then the hydration would be 122 water / 137 flour = 89% hydration . This should be thick enough to get it to rise well and have enough food in it to feed it well too..
Hydration is always the water weight divided by the flour weight. If you know the hydration and the weight of a mix say 100g weight and 82% hydration the amount of flour in the mix can be determined (flour is always 1 and in this case, the water is .82 of the flour. So for every 100 g of flour there is 82 g of water . If you divide the weight 100 by the flour and water 1.82 you get 55 g of flour and that leaves 100-55= 45 g of water.
Sorry to confuse you and others before.
That explanation made a little more sense. I think I am understanding the hydration.
If I knew I was going to need to understand math to make sourdough.......
I have not discarded ANY starter at this point.
I did rise and did not quite double in volume, but, has since gone back down.
At what point would I discard and how much would I feed next?