March 23, 2022 - 11:49pm
starter
Hi there
I have a question about starter strength. If it takes 8 hrs for my starter to double after I take it out of the fridge and feed it, is it ok to use it or should I feed it again until it doubles in a shorter amount of time?
Thank you.
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Not sure if your question can be answered definitely without more info. FYI, my very weak SD starter was able to double in 2-4 hours with a 1:1:1 feeding ratio. Good luck!
Hi Leah, we'd need more information to better guess. What is the feed ratio? What is the temperature of the water used and fermentation temperature?
The final answer is that of course you can bake with it, some recipes call for discard and can bake a great loaf. But how well it turns out depends on a lot of factors, trying to get open crumb hearth loaf with well past peak or not fully active starter might be harder to do than a pan loaf.
Benny
Hmmm I don't take temperatures but I guess I should. I usually "wing it". But most of the time I do a 1:1:1 feeding. Even though I try to vary my water temperature depending on when I want the starter to peak, it never seems to peak when I'm ready to mix my ingredients. By water temperature I mean I'll use fridge water or room temp water or water I've nuked a bit til it feels a bit warm. So I don't actually measure the temperature. It usually goes like this for me. Oh no the starter has peaked but it's 10pm so I can't stay up til 1am to do my 4 sets of stretch and folds so I'll have to feed it again but it's probably really active so it's gonna peak at 2am if I feed it now. Then the loaf of bread I promised my friend doesn't happen. That's why I wonder if it's ok to just use it at the peak after its first feeding out of the fridge because sometimes the timing works out for me.
Yes if the starter is ready before you are, then you can do another feed to delay it, it’s like having given it a bigger feed initially. Another option is to refrigerate it to slow it down and use it several hours later.
I’m sorry I didn’t read your question correctly and misinterpreted it earlier…