March 25, 2023 - 4:01pm
Recipe calls for Stiff
I have a mature regular starter. 1:1:1 using 50/50 malted bread flour and whole grain rye flour. Definitely not liquid, but also not stiff. I have a recipe that calls for 16 grams stiff starter. Would using 16 grams of my starter be equivalent? I just started a stiff starter for the heck of it but I would like to bake tomorrow. Is the weight of a 100% equal to the weight of a stiff starter?
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It's not going to make much difference in the final dough. "A stiff starter" is a bit non specific. However it's usually 60% hydrated or less. So let's compare a stiff to a liquid starter at 16g...
The recipe calls for a stiff starter probably because it was formulated by someone who keeps a stiff starter and no other reason. Unlike some traditional recipes where the starter and pre-ferments are at a hydration for a specific outcome.
I think you can just use 16g of your starter and not notice too much, if any, difference at all. If you want to be pedantic then you can us 12g of your starter - 6g water + 6g flour - and add an extra 4g flour which will be missing from the pre-ferment or final dough. In other words if you use 12g of 100% hydrated starter you have the same amount of water in the starter. I assume you will be building a preferment so add an extra 4g flour.
Thank you Abe. My high protein malted bread flour and whole grain rye starter is certainly not light and fluffy and full of bubbles on the outside of the glass. It has a beautiful web when go to feed it and always more than doubles. I believe I will just simply swap out my starter for the stiff starter called for in the recipe. It is for levain so I will add the extra 4gm of flour. Very much obliged!