May 17, 2015 - 6:45am
How many builds do you do?
How many builds do you do b/f final levain build? And over what period of time? I find my loaves come out better if I do 2 or more builds over 24 hours b/f the final levain build.
Thanks in advance.
hester
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However many the recipe calls for and none before that. That is for simple one stage levain I go directly from starter to final build.
reply. Some just say, "for the final build do this:....".
hester
Whatever takes my fancy :)
I weigh up time available, guidelines from recipe and mood.
I used to think that builds were always necessary and a recently activated matured starter was the only way. But recently I've learned that a few here just put their starter into the dough straight from the fridge, even if it was fed a couple of days earlier, providing its too the correct specifications and they have enough. But bear in mind that this way the bulk fermentation will be longer. If one is following a recipe and it specifies a build then don't forget they've taken everything into consideration including timing.
This is one school of thought.
We build for a few reasons...
1. If one doesn't keep a lot then builds are necessary
2. To build to the correct specifications
3. To make sure all is ok
Another school of thought is more builds the better and the better success.
I guess this is sourdough.
I suppose if its been a while then always good to do builds. You don't want your starter to fail on you when in the dough. What a waste that would be.
For myself I always do atleast one build. If I see it is good then I proceed. My last bake I did a single build. But should I think its sluggish and misbehaving then I'll do another. If I'm trying something really fancy then I'll do the full few builds and give it all the time and care it needs.
I'll just stick to my 2 until I'm more confident and have reliable loaves (which is happening, thanks to YOU).
I use it directly from the fridge.
Unless I need more than I keep in the jars, then I'll bulk it up with one part mother to 2 flour and 2 water (wheat & spelt based starters). That takes 6 hours or so.
-Gordon
I use the overnight sponge method - 50% of the flour is fermented this way so as I use the dabrownman method, I start with just 10g of rye starter and build this up with feeds at 4 hour intervals. The 'feeds' contain double the amount of flour to that already in the starter. The final feed takes the sponge up to 50% prefermented flour and that is left 12 hours to get working. Then in the morning, I just add the final 50% flour, water and salt. It works beautifully.
for thought.
I usually just bake one loaf at a time, so I keep enough refrigerated starter for one bake with some left over. So I just use what I need, then feed the remnant enough flour and water so I'll have enough for my next bake, let it rise for a while, and refrigerate it before it peaks.
When I do need more, I do one build, making enough to leave some remnant, which I feed and refrigerate as above.
Another method might be more convenient for people whose baking schedules are different. I bake a couple of times a week on average, but irregularly; e.g. sometimes two days apart and other times nearly a week.