I'm a bit confused, after trying to make a starter from many different recipes I'm trying this site's starter recipe.
I don't fully understand what the necessity is of discarding 3/4 of the starter every time....
If any one would care to elaborate... most other recipes just keep adding fresh flour and water...
I don't fully understand what the necessity is of discarding 3/4 of the starter every time....
If any one would care to elaborate... most other recipes just keep adding fresh flour and water...
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Replies
Cheers,
Scott.
Btw i forgot to mention this in my first post: this is quite a brilliant site... this kind of in depth information is hard to come by, let alone discussing it....
Like Scott said, it's basically to keep the volume manageable, and, provide your beasties with food at a regular pace, important if you want to establish a stable starter, and, achieve a happy combination of acidity level and leavening power.
If I may digress and talk about handling my already established starter...Since I'm a homebaker, I don't keep a hard and fast rule of 'doubling' my starter at each feed. Sometimes, I just top up to the amount I need and guestimate the burping peak. After more than 3 years of sourdough baking (still have lots to learn!), I more or less know the peaking pattern of my starter, and, am able to time feeds/volume without discarding any starter along the way. Here are some of the ways I do it. When my starter is regularly fed for 2 days, it expands to 4 times its volume...a lovely sight, indeed. Remember to do your feeding in a container which allows that much expansion or you'll get a runaway starter, lol, tho you're likely to indulgently smile at their exuberance.
Keep us posted on your progress.
Best
TP
Matthew
I find that if I have 3-4 days between bakes with the method of pulling 1% starter and 99% flour for a refresh brings my starter back to full strength in a warm area of my house after a day out of the fridge. Then she goes right back to the fridge with only my portion to bake, about 1/4c. This is followed by several feedings within the 24 hours to build that nice airy, frothy, and well refreshed sponge to full power and a start to a perfect levain.
[quote=LeadDog]Here is the most obvious reason, sourdough pancakes.[/quote]
...and some say chapatis.
I created my starter about April this year and at first I was following the rule of discarding half and replacing with fresh flour and water. Once my starter was fully active and I had used the quantity I needed I would then store the remainder in the fridge. I generally bake with sourdough once a week so I would remove it from the fridge a couple of days before needed and remove half and feed. I would then use the half I had removed for delicious sourdough pancakes but soon got pancaked out. I then started reducing the amount of starter I returned to the fridge to about 40-60g, which I would feed with the same amount (without discarding any). I would build this up with regular feeds over a couple of days until I had about 240-260g of starter, which, after baking a standard loaf using 200g starter, I would be left with 40-60g, which I again return to the fridge and repeat weekly without having to waste any at all. I get fab results every time using various recipes.