Starter Question

cajun_1

This morning I fed my starter ( 1 cup of water & 1 cup of A/P foour, by volume, to 1 cup of starter), and thought I'd see how long it took to rise.  It took 2hrs to rise and then start to decrease.  I thought something must be wrong, so I let it sit for 6 3/4 hours and fed it again. (Same process as before), and again rising time is 2 hours.  i had assumed that the rising would take longer than 2 hours. Now the question is: Is there something wrong with my starter or is it just that active?  I baked with it last week and everything baked great.  Anyone have any thoughts on this?  Thanks in advance  ... 

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Replies

panfresca 2011 October 20

What's your ambient temperature? The warmer it is the faster the rise.

That's also a much higher proportion of starter to feed than I would usually do - it's amazing how much you can cut down the starter and still have it rise, and it will happen more slowly.

You could even try a teaspoon of starter to that amount of feed. Or you can decrease the amount of water.

These are the sorts of adjustments you can make to make the starter's cycle more convenient to your own timetable.

cajun_1 2011 October 21

[quote=panfresca]

What's your ambient temperature? The warmer it is the faster the rise.

That's also a much higher proportion of starter to feed than I would usually do - it's amazing how much you can cut down the starter and still have it rise, and it will happen more slowly.

You could even try a teaspoon of starter to that amount of feed. Or you can decrease the amount of water.

These are the sorts of adjustments you can make to make the starter's cycle more convenient to your own timetable.

[/quote]  Temp is about 75/80 in the oven with the light on. I agree it was quite a bit, but I hadn't fed it in about 3 weeks and wanted to give it a good jolt .  Thanks for the reply  ...

gongoozler 2011 October 20

 

... I'd say that everything is fine.

As panfresca says, you can make adjustments to suit your timetable. Keeping the starter in a fridge will slow down the rise for example.

I bake once a week. My loaf requires 60grams (I always work by weight) of starter with which I make a levain/poolish/sponge (call it what you will) to be left overnight. I take 50 grams of the remaining starter, mix it with 50g of water and 50g of flour then put it straight back in the fridge. This just about lasts the week and gives me just over the 110g I need (60+50) for the next bake allowing for starter stuck to the side of the container etc.

cajun_1 2011 October 21

[quote=gongoozler]

 

... I'd say that everything is fine.

As panfresca says, you can make adjustments to suit your timetable. Keeping the starter in a fridge will slow down the rise for example.

I bake once a week. My loaf requires 60grams (I always work by weight) of starter with which I make a levain/poolish/sponge (call it what you will) to be left overnight. I take 50 grams of the remaining starter, mix it with 50g of water and 50g of flour then put it straight back in the fridge. This just about lasts the week and gives me just over the 110g I need (60+50) for the next bake allowing for starter stuck to the side of the container etc.

[/quote]

 

I usually work by weight also, but wanted to give it a jolt after a 3 week non feeding. Thanks for the reply  ...

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