New to this forum
Hi from Ontario. This is my first post on this forum. I only discovered this forum because I was looking for a solution to my attempt at sourdough starter. I have been reading through all the suggestions and I'm hoping to find success. As with some other readers, my starter looked good for 3 or 4 days and then began going flat - no increase in volume at all. I was feeding it twice a day l:1:1. I've decided to let it sit for a while to see what happens. It's so easy to get discouraged. This is day 8. A few years ago I did find success and made some nice breads. Then, let it go. Darn.
I have a wood fired brick oven. Unfortunately it is not in the province where I live but at our summer cottage in P.E.I. I have certainly made lots of pizza in the past few years but really want to get back into baking bread. Especially sourdough. I find it so rewarding. First, I have to get this darned started going.
It's so nice to find this forum. Thank you for everybody who shares their successes and failures.
Linda
it is normal for the starter to go dead at day 3-4. The good news is that the good yeast and LAB are winning the the battle of the culture from the bad ones who don't like an acid environment. All is well. no need to feed it until it starts to perk up again in a day or two.
Happy SD baking -and that's a nice oven too.
Thank you Dabrownman- I do hope it picks up after the next feed.
To encourage their Starter over feed it. So all goes quiet days 3/4 (which is normal), they wonder what's going on and think feeding it more will "encourage" it. Trick is to wait till you see activity and then feed, stirring it every now and again.
Over feeding can be detrimental. Yeasts are trying to take hold and all what's happening is you're getting rid of them and refreshing it. It's a waiting game.
"WELCOME" :)
Some nice sourdough, and some PEI mussels done in the wood-fired oven... :)
Welcome!
You know, I've never done mussels in the oven. Certainly beside the oven in a big pot and as an appetizer before pizza -- but mussels and sourdough sure sound good. Lobster season opens on Friday too - May and June in our area. Can't wait.
Where in Ontario, I am from Buffalo Ny, Welcome, nice Brick oven. There's a lot of good information that you can get from this form.
Unfortunately it is not in the province where I live but at our summer cottage in P.E.I.
Mrs. Duffy remember it is your primary residence not your cottage ;)
Gerhard
You brought my morning smile, Gerhard. Yes, I know only too well about Mr. Duffy. I am Canadian, but since P.E.I. is not my primary residence, I have to pay almost double property tax. So it irks me even more about Mr. Duffy. Lol.
Linda
Just couldn't help myself even though I am not as upset with Duffy as many seem to be.
You are very lucky to have a summer home on Prince Edward Island, if it was financially feasible for us I would love to be able to own a second home on Cape Breton.
Gerhard
I'm so happy - finally on day 11 - activity. I was really discoraged because there was no growth previously - only a few surface bubbles. I was feeding twice daily. l:1:1 - then I read on this site that I should just leave the starter at room temp for a few days and stir occasionally. I had found the starter very soupy. So - I did as suggested and waited.Then I added a little flour to thicken up the starter and went out for the afternoon. WOW - by the time I got home it had doubled. I fed it and it doubled again. I have not made any bread yet but I'm pretty confident that this starter is going to work. So happy! Thank you for all the advice. I really was about to give up and throw it out. Very helpful to me.
A recipe for you...
VERMONT SOURDOUGH
by
Jeffrey Hamelman
Bakers’ Percentages
Flour : 100% [90% bread flour, 10% rye]
Water : 54.5% [Final hydration including levain : 65%]
Salt : 1.9%
Levain : 39.76% [20% starter + 125% water + 100% bread flour]
Final Recipe
Flour : 490g [440g bread flour, 50g rye]
Water : 267g
Salt : 10-11g
Levain : 196g @ 125% hydration
Levain Build : 14g starter + 102g water + 80g bread flour [12-14 hours before]
METHOD
Yes, great feeling when it comes to life. I'm not really familiar about working with bakers percentages but I think I grasp the idea. I do have Jeffrey Hamelman's book on Bread - Techniques and Recipes and have to say I have never used it. I have mostly used Peter Reinhart's - The Baker's Apprentice. I have made quite a few breads from his book. Working with percentages certainly makes more sense and I will try and figure it out. Did Jeffrey Hamelman introduce the idea of autolyse? I took a short course a few years ago and the teacher recommended this procedure. I think Reinhart adds the salt at the beginning with the yeast - that's what I'm used to but I will try Hamelman's method. What do you think?
I've scaled it to one loaf and will fit a 900g - 1kg banneton. About 2lbs.
I like to share this one because I think its great to start with and very enjoyable. Just do the preferment the night before by taking 14g from your starter and feed it like suggested then 12-14 hours later proceed with the recipe. When you're ready.
The preferment, or levain build, is high hydration and with bread flour so expect it to be more fluffy and won't rise as much. But what a wonderful smell and marshmallow like.
Autolyse is a subject greatly debated here on TFL. Strictly it should be just flour and water. But many do flour, water and levain minus the salt. I think this is a bit of an autolyse giving the levain time to inoculate the dough without the salt for 30min.
So your starter has doubled twice and is predictable doing so within 12 hours. Sounds great. Now subsequent feedings will serve to strengthen it. Your starter is still young! I think a few more feedings then on to the recipe. If all goes well then time to think of storage and maintenance. But carry on till you've done your first successful bake. Why don't you aim for Sunday/Monday doing the preferment the night before from the discard. If the preferment responds well then onto the recipe.
Any questions don't hesitate to ask.
Will do a few more feeds then to strengthen it. I left my banneton baskets in P.E.I. so have to find something else to use here in Ontario for the time being. I have baked seeded sourdough in my wood oven in P.E.I. but have not baked it in a traditional oven. Do you spray the oven to create steam? One more question - how often should I feed the starter in the next few days? More than once a day?
...and towel. Or it can be done free standing. Its quite a low hydration dough and if you get a good gluten formation then free form works fine. I've given up trying to intoproduce steam into my mini oven. I have found a way which makes the best out of the situation though by switching off the fan to stop the dough from drying out and having the heat come from below. I'm not the best person to ask when it comes to this. I think till you've baked then every 12 hours if its responding well! When you're ready then you'll keep in the fridge and work out a schedule according to your needs. My way is this...
I keep a little 90-150g in the fridge. When I wish to bake I'll take some off each time and build preferments. When my whole rye flour starter in the fridge runs low (no less than 1 tablespoon) then I'll top it up with equal amounts of flour and water by weight. Leave it out for a couple of hours so its active but not fully fed and then return to the fridge. And the process starts again.
I find whole rye starters are very hardy and keep well. When building preferments I simply build with the flour stated in the recipe and to the specified hydration.
Easy!
But everyone here has their own method. Learn from everyone and find a way that suits you.