Good books on starter/leavan management
Hi all,
Can anyone provide a good intermediate to advanced book or resource on starters?
I love Tartine and FWSY by Forkish, they are both wonderful launching points. Hammelman's Bread book is good too, but I am looking for something that really dives deeper into natural starters. I want to better understand best practices on managing their development, what I get with different types like high vs. low hydration, cold vs. warm storage, different flour make ups, different feeding schedules. etc.
So many books, focus on the bread making part and for good reason, but I am now interested in getting to know my starter better and would love to read up on it.
So, does anyone know of places where I can learn more? Books, articles, blogs, other forum posts? I'll take anything I can get my hands on. :)
Thanks!
http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Science-Chemistry-Craft-Making/dp/0977806804
Mike Avery has a good web site at http://www.sourdoughhome.com. I also agree that Emily Buehler, Bread Science is a good book.
Ford
Thanks for that info... I've also been looking for info on this before I start my own fridge science project.
Thanks MichaelH & Ford. Looking forward to learning more!
Hi!
The issue of starters is that different countries and different companies (that manufacture and sell starters) have totally different starter traditions and publish in different languages. So, unless you read in different languages, it is difficult to embrace the topic comprehensively on intermediate/advanced level.
A comprehensive text on German starters for example is a 400 pages Handbook of Sourdough in German (Handbuch Sauerteig (2006), edited by Brandt, Ganzle, Spicher).
In English, the same level of coverage (a bit more scientific and still practical) is
Handbook of Dough Fermentations, (2003) edited by Kulp and Lorenz
Handbook on Sourdough Biotechnology (2013) edited by Gobbetti, Ganzle
Basic French starters are covered in Raymond Calvel's books, The Taste of Bread is translated, obviously, his Boulangerie Moderne is not.
The Bread Bakers Guild of America can sell you a manual on sourdough starters, they had a Sourdough Seminar with Calvel, Sugihara, Takeuchi and other personalities in 1993:
Sourdough Seminar, Printed Materials, Las Vegas, October 1993
The full variety of methods for French starters is described in French here
Les Nouvelles de la Boulangerie Pâtisserie. Supplément Technique. I.N.B.P.. 1er mars 1996. N° 49
Swiss starters are described in this book
http://www.richemont.cc/en/238/Swiss-Bakery-&-Confectionery.htm
Good information on Italian starters is published in Italian manuals for bakers, in Italian language, Spanish - in Spanish language, Portuguese - in Portuguese, etc.
I think that's enough to get you going. Articles you can always find yourself, by googling and limiting search results to articles. For example, what happens when you switch between liquid and firm versions of sourdough, how it affects them and the resulting baked goods, their taste and aroma:
Diversity of the Lactic Acid Bacterium and Yeast Microbiota in the Switch from Firm- to Liquid-Sourdough Fermentation
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4018931/
The article above also describes typical procedures of handling sourdough, propagating it, in four different Italian bakeries, a useful practical information! :)
good luck!