Well, I finally have put this slab duplex to good use. Apparently the musty smell leads to REALLY good sourdough!!!!
So, I baked my first loaf yesterday, after starting it the night before. OMG. So delicious. I left the baby starter out during five warm days, then put it in the fridge for five more. Yesterday was baking day. It was the easiest loaf I've ever baked. So lively! I want to do it again. I fed the starter immediately after starting the loaf two nights ago. I left the re-fed starter out over night, then put it in the fridge, where it's been since yesterday morning (about 36 hours).
I want to bake again!
Is it too soon to use the re-fed starter? I tasted it. I tasted very mild in comparison to the way it tasted after ten days, and it was those ten days the made the amazing first loafs.
Any advice?
Thanks.
Glenn
Replies
RIght now, I'm a "refridgerator starter" person. Feeding every 12 hours will be too difficult, so I'll go with the fridge. So, I re-fed it, left it out for about 16 hours, and put it back in the fridge. How long before it'll be strong enough to bake with again?
Should I call "it" "him?" He's alive, right?
Is there a hybrid approach wherein I could re-feed him and leave him out for nearly two days before re-fridging?
Thanks!
Glenn
Hi Glenn,
One approach is to take and amount of your starter (say 90g). You feed that with 45g flour and 45g water (the flour can be any type/blend you like). Leave that on the bench. Hopefully if it is good and active it should double in size in 3-4hrs (but could be longer depending on temperature). Use this as the base for your dough.
To the remainder of your base starter, feed that with 45g flour and 45g water (you are just replacing the amount that you took out) and put it back in the fridge.
Leave it there until next time you want bake and repeat the above.
If you are really confident about the activity of your base starter then you could go straight to preparing your dough. In this case you would take 180g out for your dough prep and feed the base with 90g flour and 90g water.
All of this is based on using a starter at 100% hydration. If you are using something different then adjust the amounts accordingly. Similarly the amount of starter (levain) prepared/taken for your loaf should match your recipe.
Keep on bakin'
Farinam