Starter log and first loaves pictures !
(More recent updates first : starter logs below).
- Update 21/05/2020 - Baking ! :
Finally, some pictures of the second loaf made tuesday with this starter (more pictures in comments) :
It is the overnight country blonde from FWSY. Bulk fermentation lasted about 9h at 22°C. After this bulk fermentation, it seemed that the dough already passed the finger dent test, but since the starter usually fully rises in 10h, I let the dough proof for about 1,5h. I could try a longer bulk fermentation or proofing but not sure because of finger dent test ?
Update on the starter : It is now fed every 12h or 24h at 1:5:4, and reaches peak in about 9h (at 22°C).
- Update 12/05/2020 - Starter pictures :
Some pictures taken today [1] : starters have been refreshed 14 hours ago with 16% and 11% inoculation ratios. They probably reached their peak about 6 hours after feeding, I will measure this today.
- Update 11/05/2020 - After 20 days, starter finally rose ! :
Finally, it rose [2] ! So, 3 days after increasing feedings of my main levain from 13% (1:4:4) to 50% (2:1:1), it finally started rising. Coincidence or is it that after 20 days it finally reached that point ? I don't know for sure*. It would certainly have rose sooner if I had switched to 50% sooner. The smell completely changed : it now smells like a mix of beer and fruits, whereas before it smelled more like something sour.
Also, note that a few days ago, I switched from tap water (that rested overnight) to bottled water.
Currently, I feed it every 12 hours. I began with a 2:1:1 feeding, and will now increase feedings, little by little. Currently, I feed at 1:1:1. It seems it is still not enough because the levain peaks only 4 hours only after feeding... Next step will be to make it rise longer, and switch from whole rye (T130) to T65 wheat flour.
*because there is no levain I kept feeding at 11% for comparison : I stopped feeding my other levain (which was fed at 11%) and switched it to 33% (1:1:1) at the same time I switched my main levain to 50%, and it rose equally well at the same time (and they behaved exactly the same before they both rose, either at 11%, 33% or 50%...).
- First log - 08/05/2020 : Beginning of the journey (see refresh planning for details and pictures) :
So after reading two articles from Debra Wink ("The Pineapple Juice Solution") that were truly enlightening, I finally decided to not give up after the first few days of bacterial overgrowth.
Day 4 to 9 : 25-30% (1:2,5:2,5) inoculation every 24h. A fermentation smell (what I suppose to be !)
Day 10 to 13 : 10% (1:4:4) inoculation every 24h. A few little bubbles, no rise. Still a fermentation smell .
Following LittleGirlBlue's advice : it seems I overfed the starter. From now on, I will use 30% (1:1:1) to 50% (2:1:1) inoculations. And even try to let starter rest for more than 24h.
Day 14 : 30% inoculation refeed and rest for 40h. A little bubbly (but no rise) when I stirred after 24h rest.
Day 16 : No bubbles, no rise after 40h rest (but a stronger fermentation smell, I could describe as sour smell but not sure at all; same smell since day 9 but stronger this time). 50% inoculation refeed and rest for 48h. Here again, a little bubbly (but no rise) when I stirred after 24h.
Day 18 : No bubbles, no rise after 48h rest (still that fermentation smell, stronger (?) at 48h than at 24h). 50% inoculation refeed.
At that point, I'm a bit lost : I don't know if I'm starving or overfeeding the starter ? It has (a few and little) bubbles at 24h, but nothing at 48h... Today (day 18), before refeeding, I took a bit of the starter to let it rest another day (72h). We'll see.
(From day 10, I began a starter from the first one : it follows the same refresh planning but with 10% inoculation ratios. Up to now, no difference between the 2 : little bubbles and no rise, but still this fermentation smell).
- Conditions (Updated 11/05/2020):
Whole grain flour (french equivalent : T150) -> I switched to whole rye (T130) from day 14.
Water always poured at 32°C (89°F) -> Reduced to 30°C (86°F) from day 14. -> From tap water to bottled water from day 16.
Levain rests at a constant 22-23°C (71,6-73,4°F) -> It raised to 25°C from day 14 to 17. Now (day 18), it is about 24°C (75°F).
- Refresh planning (see below : update 11/05/2020) :
Day | Refresh hour | Remaining levain (g) | Flour (g) | Water (g) | (Levain / Total weight) ratio | Note on what happened before refresh |
1 | 13h | - | 50 | 50 | - | - |
2 | 13h | 100 | 50 | 50 | 50% | Nothing |
3 | 13h | 100 | 50 | 50 | 50% | Very bubbly, volume trippled (rubber band does not show initial levain level, forgot to set it!) Image : https://imgur.com/a/CsUDV9y [3] |
23h00 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 33% | More than trippled in 4 hours, and peaked after 6 hours (here rubber band does show initial level) Image : https://imgur.com/a/qRs38tB [4] | |
4 | 13h | 45 | 57 | 57 | 28% | More than trippled, very bubbly (peak probably during the night) |
23h | 45 | 50 | 51 | 31% | No increase in volume, some bubbles | |
5 | 18h | 30 | 50 | 50 | 23% | No increase in volume, even less bubbles |
6 | 18h | 30 | 50 | 50 | 23% | No rise, no bubbles (or very few). |
7 | 19h | 32 | 50 | 50 | 24% | Very rare bubbles. No rise. |
8 | 22h | 38 | 50 | 51 | 27% | Rare bubbles. No rise. |
9 | 23h | 40 | 51 | 51 | 28% | Rare bubbles. No rise. Images : https://imgur.com/a/VYuUzYK [5] |
10 | 20h | 16 | 51 | 51 | 13,60% | Few bubbles, no rise |
11 | 21h | 16 | 50 | 50 | 13,80% | Few bubbles, no rise |
12 | 22h | 16 | 50 | 50 | 13,80% | Few bubbles, no rise |
13 | 21h | 16 | 51 | 51 | 13,60% | Few bubbles, no rise |
14 | 00h | 50 | 50 | 50 | 30% | Pictures of day 13 refeed and 16h after (Day 14 - 13h)* : https://postimg.cc/gallery/1qygzS1 [6] Day 14 refeed : A few bubbles, no rise. |
* I also checked 2h, 4h and 9h after, it was about the same as the 16h picture.
Day | Refresh hour | Remaining levain (g) | Flour (g) | Water (g) | (Levain / Total weight) ratio | Note on what happened before refresh |
15 | 00h (24h of rest) | 50% | Just stirred. It was a little bubbly, but there was no rise. | |||
16 | 16h (40h of rest) | 100 | 50 | 50 | 50% | Absolutely no bubble, no rise. Still that fermentation (?) smell. I decided to give a 50% inoculation feed. |
17 | 16h (24h of rest) | Just stirred. It was a little bubbly, still (*sigh*) no rise. | ||||
18 | 18h (50h of rest) | 100 | 74 | 74 | 40% | Absolutely no bubble, no rise. I decided again to give a 50% inoculation feed (made a mistake, did a 40% inoculation) |
Day | Refresh hour | Remaining levain (g) | Flour (g) | Water (g) | (Levain / Total weight) ratio | Note on what happened before refresh |
19 | 18h50 | 48 | 25 | 25 | 49% | Few little bubbles, no rise. |
20 | 18h40 | 92 | 46 | 46 | 50% | Doubled !!! Lot of bubbles, smell completely changed (a mix of beer and fruits), bubbly and stringy texture. |
1h30 (night) | 100 | 50 | 50 | 50% | Same, it may have raised in less than 6h. | |
21 | 13h00 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 33% | Same, peak probably reached in 4 hours. |
TBD | Same, peak reached in 4 hours (after the 13h00 feed of day 21) |
Thank you for reading this and helping troubleshooting this starter !