breadlicker45/breadchat-save2000
3B • Updated • 93
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potato flake starter / poor 2nd rise
Hi,My bread, with a potato flake starter will barely rise to the height of the loaf pan on the 2nd rise.I have had a potato flake starter that I have used with great success for the last 20 years. Some months ago, out of the blue it began to smell like acetone and the loaves taste... | When you said starter, I thought sourdough
Obviously, that's not the case. How about some more details, please? The complete recipe and process, temperatures, times, and other useful information. That will give people an opportunity to help diagnose the problem. What might be easier for you to do, since you are usin... |
Desem starter
Ever since reading about Desem bread in Laurel's Bread book years ago, I've been eager to bake with it, but have felt a bit intimidated about the whole process of creating a healthy starter. I was wondering if anyone has a Desem starter they would be willing to share. I can offer an exchange of some sta... | Desem
www.sysmatrix.net/~jkandell/Desem-web-jk6.doc is an interesting article on Desem, by Jonathen Kandell. In this article he presents a much less strict method of making desem, as well as suggestions for baking with it. |
Giant holes in loaf :(
I’ve found this site to be a great resource so I finally made an account! I’m a sourdough beginner - this is my fourth loaf. The first two turned out ok, kinda flat but decent crumb and tasted good. But the last two loafs have had giant holes on the bottom and I’m not sure why! The first one was ... | Under Fermented
From the look at the stage just before shaping and the baked loaf then i'd say it's under fermented. For now don't shape till the dough has doubled. |
Folding Butter Experiment?
Hi guys - Has anyone tried to fold in cubes of butter prior to overnight fridge fermentation? Kind of like folding in cubes of cheese...but with butter. I'm curious if it's even possible and if it is...what is it like when it's baked? Will it just be pockets of melted butter in my sourdough? ... | Pretty close to pockets.
Pretty close to pockets. Enjoy! |
Mad millies Instant Sourdough Starter - Question.
Hi TFL,Ive recently purchased some Mad Millies Instant Sourdough Culture / Starter. My question is, Is there anyway to convert this into a regular starter which requires feeding and maintaining (Adding flour + Water) to help reduce the time it usually takes to create a ... | Never heard of it
But it looks like sourdough culture with added yeast! If it was just sourdough culture it'd need cultivating. The quick action is from the yeast. Does this make your final dough a true sourdough bread? I think not! At best you might get some sourdough flavour.Nothing more satisfactory then getting you... |
Sourdough formulas interpretation in Advanced Bread and Pastry
Hello everyone,My name is Srdjan and this is my first post/question on this forum :)I recently acquired Advanced Bread and Pastry by Michel Suas, found a really good deal at the local bookstore.I found the book to be really informative and well written, eve... | Bread flour 95% (0.348 kg)Medium rye flour 5% (0.018 kg)Water 50% (0.183 kg)Starter (stiff) 80% (0.293 kg)Total: 230% (0.843 kg) Final dough formul |
New starter, 7 days in, do I still feed if no activity?
Hello All!I'm 7 days in on a new starter. Building with a 70%/30% ratio of unbleached all purpose flour / 100% stone ground rye flour. Had 2x growth days 2 & 3, days 4 & 5 I had minimal growth but had that strong, pungent, funky/cheesy smell and very thin consis... | Progression
By now you should be feeding at a 1-2-2 ratio [starter-water-flour]. The goal is to grow a concentrated colony that has the strength of population to eat larger amounts of flour. Once it's doubling or tripling consistently every 4-8 hours with 1-2-2 feedings, it's ready to make levain. But it's helpful i... |
Imitation SFSD: I Nailed It!
After trying and trying, I think I've got my recipe for imitation sourdough or "sour bread" making an acceptable replica of the old-school sourdoughs we used to get from such S.F. area bakeries as Larraburu, Colombo, Toscana, Parisian and the rest.It is a basic yeasted loaf with sourness ad... | Ordered
I've ordered that lactic acid. I'll report on my results. |
Sourdough to flour ratio
What does the ratio of starter to flour in levain and levain to the rest of the ingredients in the finished dough depend?For example: I'd like to design sourdough challah bread. Does the amount of levain depend on how much acidified dough you want to get mostly?Have a good day! | The idea is, regardless of
The idea is, regardless of the amount of starter and where it's added, more make things happen faster, including the production of acids. Enjoy! |
Is my hybernated starter back-up coming to life?
Hi, this is my first post.I am doing an experiment. I have a 9 month old active, well-established starter that is in regular use. When 6 weeks old I took a small portion and refrigerated as a backup. 7 months later as I forgot about it, I decided to experiment to see if ... | IMO
If it takes as long to revive a starter as it does to make one from scratch then it's a new starter. Yours looks good and has come back to life in a relatively quick time. Can we be 100% sure it's not a new starter? No. Can we be confident that because of the quick amount of time and with very few feeds it came bac... |
Please help troubleshoot! Underproofed? Overproofed? Starter problems?
At the start of the pandemic, I had a minor panic about not being able to access good bread and decided I would learn how to bake my own sourdough. I got some starter from a family member. I used Maurizio's simple sourdough recipe, but substituted m... | Under fermented
I think it's needs a longer bulk ferment time. Why do you move onto shaping when you thought the dough hadn't risen much? Perhaps you need to be a bit more adventurous. And on top of that your fridge is very cold. So you have a poorly bulk fermented dough which comes to a complete stop in the fridge the... |
Another Starter Troubleshooting
Hello! I created a starter this past May and it was quite active and happy for a good while and giving me some good boules! However, I had to move and go on vacation which was then followed by the start of the school season leading to me forgetting to feed a couple of times (worst was ro... | Well continuing to feed it
Is not going to help. If I were you I'd keep it in a warm place and forget about it. In the meantime get started on a new one in case this one is more than just hibernating. |
Little or no rise in bulk fermentation/proofing stages
Weak starters/underproofed loaves????I've been baking sourdough bread off and on for about 6 months now, trying various techniques and recipes. So far, I've had only modest success; my loaves taste good, but are lacking in the crumb department and don't seem to ge... | Question
Your starter build is 1:2:2 and takes 9 hours to double which granted is slow. Before we delve more deeply into your starter can you answer this... If your high inoculation starter build takes 9 hours to double then why would a more modest starter to flour ratio in the final dough only get 6-8 hours? Perhaps u... |
When is the proofing done?
Hey all - its my first time here just registered to get involved with the various baking forums.I recently followed the Sough Dough Starter guide from the Clever Carrot website and its all gone quite well. I am on day 6 and my starter is doubling in size roughly when fed within 2 hours. I cre... | how much rise
well, a complete recipe should really tell you how much of a rise you are trying to achieve during bulk ferment, or include pictures or other descriptions of how the dough will look/behave when it is done proofing. maybe you can find some similar recipes online with more details? i like breadtopia’s recip... |
Overproofing & crust texture? Troubleshoot me, friends
Hi there,I started baking sourdough in April and have done it almost every week since and fallen in love with the process. Now i know it's going to be part of my life it's time to get serious about my (usually tasty but not so perfect) results and tweak my techni... | Whoops... that's not...
"white" bread flour, based on the color of dough and crumb.That is a common problem when using a foreign formula with local ingredients... the ingredients just don't match up even though the names of the ingredients might lead you to believe they do. "white" flour in the US would be .50 to .55% ... |
Tartine bread please help
Tartine Bread
I am new to sourdough bread baking. I have had a couple of dozen attempts at Tartine Bread as per the Chad Robertson book. I have tried to adhere to the quantities and temperatures quoted within the book but as the attached picture shows, I keep getting large and inconsistent hol... | I think it looks under fermented
If you have tried varying the times of bulk ferment from 2 - 4 hours at the desired temperature with the same results then I can only suggest you either go for an even longer bulk ferment or you need to take a closer look at your starter/levain build.
Tell us more about your starter, y... |
An observation about starters
Made a starter with 50g yeast water + 50g whole rye flour. When it bubbled up and peaked I then stirred it back down, completely degassing, after which it bubbled up much stronger and peaked higher! Well first things first... A starter has a lot more life left in it after peaking. Not only... | Do you mean the idea is to
Do you mean the idea is to stir the starter before mixing the bread dough, and let it peak again? |
Cold weather starter
So the temperatures in my area dropped suddenly last week and I'm having a hell of a time trying to adjust the timing and ratio to feed my starter. A once a day feed seems too long (is soupy the next day), but a 12 hour feed doesn't seem long enough. I've tried bumping it to 1:6:6 for a one day fee... | You need to either find a
You need to either find a warm spot for your starter, or create one. Something like transparent storage container and pet heating pad with a digital temperature controller will do the trick. |
Does sourdough absorb heat? It seems that at some point even if its cold the dough will heat up and overproof if I dont watch it
It's the weirdest thing. Even if I dont supply heat (with an oven light or cup of hot water for example), it seems that a cold dough will eventually just heat up and then overproof if I dont ... | Yeast makes heat
https://www.google.at/search?q=does+yeast+produce+heat%3F&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-at&client=safari |
Looking for crumb feedback
What do you guys think of the crumb of my tiger bread roll? I am super new to sourdough baking so I really have no idea if it's good or bad. I used an 8 day old starter and the sourdough flavor was nice and strong. | Great
I don't think I've ever had a tiger roll, and I don't know what you are looking for. I'd be happy with this crumb, looks nice and even! If you like it, it's all that matters, there is no sourdough police who will give you trouble for a "bad" crumb :)Welcome, and well done, great beginning with such a young starte... |
Spreadsheets and Seed Culture
My spreadsheet is setup according the BBGA standards, with the exception of the seed culture. Up until now it is handled as follows.The seed is not listed in the total doughThe seed is listed in the levain (pre-ferment section) and is calculated as a percentage of the total flour in the le... | Thus is a test - https://1drv
Thus is how I look at it - it's either wet or dry - choose one and don't worry about it.This is the Phazulator (right click and download - it's excel spread). The seed is dry and added as such, if there's a soaker as they call it, it's wet and also added as such. Everything is also calcula... |
Ridding the dough of thiols - but what is what of 5:3:5?
My dough turn to batter, so better go to battle.Found here on forum the cure beeing feeding thrice a day and keep it in the refrigerator (for some 10 days) Now, feeding 5:3:5 does tell us the ratio but not the components. Well, starter, water and flour one can su... | Normally, the first number
Normally, the first number in a refresh ratio is starter. Many use the next number as water, though I don't know if that is universal. I did check this post, and Debra Wink did mean starter water flour http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/18144/sourdough-loosing-elasticity-please-help#comme... |
How brown is too brown?!
My go-to recipe is Ken Forkish’s Country Blonde sourdough from ‘Flour Water Salt Yeast’.I was a complete newbie back in April, and after months of practice, trial and error, and some invaluable advice from members on here, I now get really consistent results every week!I love a dark, crunchy cr... | Looks fine to me! Some may
Looks fine to me! Some may call that “just over” but I like it. Bravo. |
Khorasan (Kamut) with long fermentation
I'm thinking of doing a no knead bread using Khorasan.The recipe will be something like this... 500g kamut flour (100%)375g water (75%)10g salt (2%)5g starter (1%) This is a variation of the "Do Nothing Bread" where you mix the dough and bulk ferment for 24 hours, giving one fold... | Prepare for flatness
I worked with home-milled kamut (Khorasan) a few years ago. It had a few interesting characteristics to learn about.It has a lovely color and flavor-golden and nutty. But the quality of the gluten was very loose-any 100% kamut loaf I made was very flat, unless supported by a pan. Very extensible. I... |
Making a Sourdough starter with Water kefir
I am using wholegrain rye flour with water kefir and i do no discarding, its already day 12 but theres only bubbles no rising or doubling in size , does anyone share similar experience? Or maybe you just have some advice? | Keep going - except thicken
Keep going - except thicken it up. Enjoy! |
Pumpkin sourdough
Hello home bakers :)Sharing a few pics of my recent pumpkin sourdough loaves. | Beautiful bread!
I especially love the creative, pumpkin-shaped loaf.Yippee |
SD Brown n Serve Rolls?
Hey... you know those Brown n Serve Rolls that you buy once a year at the supermarket?Yeah, those.You get them for Thanksgiving... with the once-a-year turkey (Why do I only do this once a year???).Anyway... can something that light and soft and moist be made with sourdough? I want to try it...D... | Dinner rolls
Hi there, Maurizio just put some up the other day - this kind of thing? 100% SD!https://www.theperfectloaf.com/super-soft-sourdough-rolls/They look amazing. |
Pressure-caramelized oat bread by Modernist Cuisine
Made this loaf by Francisco Migoya because I was curious what the wheat gluten may add to the texture!I don't think I saw much difference in the final bread texture.. If not, I found the crumb to be more dense that I am used to in loaves.I read that it can help in bre... | More gluten=more chew
Think of bread as a bunch of balloons held together by netting.If the netting is thin and flimsy (low amount of gluten strands), it will not hold many balloons and the bunch will be small as the balloons escape.In bread terms, it will be either a crumbly,cakey loaf or a flat,dense loaf, depending ... |
High hydration newbie and tight crumb
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Hi all,I’m new here - wondering if anyone can offer some advice. I’ve started experimenting with high hydration sourdough (today’s loaf is 82%) and thought I would be rewarded with a beautiful open crumb - alas. It’s still fairly ti... | Handle roughly during ferment
Handle roughly during ferment, gentle during proof and proof long enough (longer = get bigger holes). Enjoy! |
Starter doubled in size 2 hours after feeding - ok to use?
Hi everyone, this is my first post but I’ve been coming onto the website for a while looking at all your tips - thanks to you all. My question... if my sourdough starter is bubbling and doubling in size after 2 hours, and passing the “float test” is it good to... | The amount of time it takes
The amount of time it takes your starter to peak will vary based on different factors. As you mentioned temperature plays a big role. Since you said you live in the tropics I imagine your ambient room temperature is higher than most. I used to live in Puerto Rico so I remember how hot it can... |
Levain Calculation
Certain repeated questions turn up from time to time that are valuable, but the replies required are lengthy. This post was written with the thought that it can be linked for future replies to the question of Levain and how it is calculated.There are 2 main methods used to calculate the percentages o... | But how much starter?
Thank you so much for this clear explanation. One thing I am still confused about is what percentage of starter to add to the Levain. In other words, when I started baking sourdough, I followed recipes that would call for making a levain the night before with 100g water, 100g flour and 1 tablesp... |
Chocolate and Cherry Sourdough from Moderniste Cuisine
I have been eyeing this recipe for a long time. I finally screwed up the courage to bake it this weekend...and wow, what a spectacular result. I followed the original recipe with one exception; I omitted the commercial yeast, and added 90 minutes to the bulk ferme... | Super nice, Bart!
How would you describe the flavor and texture?Do the cherries make it sweet?Danny |
Dry Layer on Top of Starter?
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Hello Everyone, I'm new to sourdough baking - I've only done two loaves so far. I'm kind of stumbling in the dark in regard to my starter (homemade) and I'm looking for some insight. I have a 100% hydration einkorn starter (Leroy). I feed him once a day and he ... | Leroy looks good!
Hi Sam, Leroy looks healthy to me! My starter also dries out on the top layer (I live in a very dry environment), and I just stir it in. Mold would take a LOT longer to develop and is usually pinkish/orangish. I wouldn't worry about washing your jar so often either (I wash my crock maybe every othe... |
How do you guys slice your loafs?
Is it just me or are these high hydration loafs incredibly tricky to slice? And yes I'm waiting several hours prior to slicing... | Hey! What do you mean by
Hey! What do you mean by tricky to slice? Are your loaves gummy/sticking to your bread knife when you slice them? If you have a photo of the crumb that will probably help us to see what's up! |
I was told to put some dough in a very small jar while i'm doing bulk ferment and wait for it to double. Is that right?
I was told to put a small amount of dough in a small, straight sided jar alongside the rest of my dough while it bulk ferments. Once the dough in the small jar has double, bulk ferment is done. Does t... | If the bread was good, it
If the bread was good, it sounds about right, although I would suggest to try different levels of fermentation. Enjoy! |
What am I doing wrong? (Starter and Levain) - Flour Water Salt Yeast book
Hello,I've been following Ken Forkish's Flour Water Salt Yeast and working through all the recipes in the book. I've been loving it so far and recommend it to any new bread bakers. I'm now at the section where you develop your own levain and afte... | Seems like you're doing fine
You've noticed the very normal life cycle of a starter (or levain using Forkish's preferred terminology). An initial burst of activity and after day 4 a quieter period. Some even 'go to sleep' but it seems yours didn't quite go that far and just quietened down. Yours seems healthy and is o... |
Aliquot Jar to determine bulk fermentation rise
Can I share a recent trick that I have been using to fine tune my sourdough baking? I am now using an aliquot jar to gauge bulk fermentation. A small piece of dough, about 30 g, removed from the dough after the first set of stretch and folds and placed into a small jar ... | I am also using this methode for my last bakes.
I use a thin marker to set a start line.So far I was missing a real straigth small glass but I just found a local store where the have them for 0,95 euro cent. It is also intressting to see what happens if you leave the small sample for ours more. |
Autolyse with or without levain included, with or without kneading
I've been tweaking around with my process and have been trying autolyse for the past several bakes, mixing the main bulk flour and water together and letting them sit for an hour or so before adding my levain and salt.Here's the thing. It just doesn't ... | It's your bread, so you get to call the shots
If that means you want to knead it, go ahead and knead it. What you've described is a very typical approach. Whether you call it mixing or kneading, the autolyzed flour/water mixture has to be combined with the levain and the salt. If the autolyzed dough is stiff and the ... |
For the life of me I can't get sourdough bagels to float.
I've tried two different recipes (two times I tried one and one time the other) and I couldn't get 'em to float. I got good bagels, but no floating. I boil straight from the fridge. I've overproofed them and proofed them correctly (I read that underproofed bagel... | One thing you could do, which
One thing you could do, which is recommended in bread bakers apprentice is to do a float test in some cool water before boiling. You take one bagel and see if it floats within 10 seconds. If it does, your good to go. If not, pat it dry with a towel and let if proof a bit longer checking ev... |
5 months and still a disaster
Please help me!I started tackling sourdough 5 months ago after many years of baking chemical yeast bread. I bake on average 2 loaves per week. Generally I stick with three recipes on theperfectloaf.com (awesome website): the 50/50, Tartine #33, or all-purpose loaf. I obsessively read or wa... | Hi Emily,I think most of us,
Hi Emily,I think most of us, from time to time, have experience some of the frustration you described. I have a suggestion that you may want to try. Some time back we had a Community Bake that featured Kristen’s (FullProofBaking) Basic Open Crumb Sourdough. I suggest this particular bread b... |
New to artisan bread making / sourdough
Hy all,firstly I need to say hello to all of you and that I'm completely new to this but also forcefully dragged by intuition that if I want to bake bread I need to do it this way...I bought a book from Vanessa Kimbell and mostly I can say I like it, but it got me to some confusi... | Welcome! Absolutely, you can
Welcome! Absolutely, you can use any starter with any flour for baking any bread :) |
Attempted a marbled loaf
I'm pretty happy with this marbled chocolate sourdough! I think next time, I need to pop some of the bigger gas bubbles while shaping before the cold retard, though, cause the holes are juuust a little bigger than I like. Does anyone have any tips on how to get more distinct marbling? I layered... | I tend to bulk each
dough colour separately and combine when shaping. Beautiful loaf! |
Sourdough Yeast
Is there a dry yeast like Red Star that will produce sourdough bread? I realize there are many different types of SD microbes, based on locale. But in brewing beer at home there are hundreds of different types yeasts available, each imparting a different flavor. If this is possible, why hasn't some c... | Not sure if this is what you
Not sure if this is what you're looking for but I saw this on the Internet.https://redstaryeast.com/red-star-platinum-instant-sourdough-yeast/ |
Using Both Water Kefir and Milk kefir for Sourdough Starter
Hi Fresh Loaf members i was wondering if one can use water kefir and milk kefir added together to make a gluten free starter veganI use plant based milk - like coconut milk to make my milk kefir. When i use this to make my sourdough with GF flour like sorghum ... | I don't think I can help you,
I don't think I can help you, but what is water kefir? Do you add kefir grains to water? Nothing will ferment then... |
Loaves rising in the center, but no the ends
I've been making sourdough loaves for a few months and I've had a recurring problem and I haven't been able to figure out a solution to it. First of all, I've taken a really long time to get to where I am. I'm kind of a self-learner and stubborn and so I'm not a real recipe ... | A few things I missed about
A few things I missed about the process: I mix my flour with salt and water and let it autolyse for an hour or so (I know some say don't salt in autolyse, but it doesn't appear to matter in terms of final result). I add a tablespoon or so of malt after the autolyse when I add my starter. I d... |
Crumb diagnosis
Hello lovely people,I need some help understanding how to improve my bread. This is one of my first SD breads and would love to know how to make it better.I used 50-50 WW and AP (both are regular Indian flours and I understand them to be quite weak). 20% levain (70% hydration. The levain rises quite ... | I'd reduce starter amount -
I'd reduce starter amount - the entire process seems rather short - and that would limit gluten development. So reduce the starter, give more time to get good gluten. But, you'll have to be careful - weak flour can only develope so much gluten, and it won't be the strongest so, the fine line... |
Underproofed / Overproofed?
Currently following this recipe for sourdough which has given me pretty good loaves: https://foodbodsourdough.com/the-process/ Only change I’ve made is adding 50g more starter and 25g more water - I find the higher hydration & boost from the extra starter has helped a lot.I’ve made 3 loaves ... | Rougher handling is about it.
Rougher handling is about it. Enjoy! |
Strengthening a starter for a bake, vs regular feeding
I was wondering if there is a difference in the type of yeast and bacteria that develops within a starter when the feed is a higher percentage ratio 1:5:5 or more, as opposed to a lower ratio 1:1:1 or 1:2:2? Does a type of feed create more bacteria development as o... | Do a search for Debra wink
Do a search for Debra wink and check last few posts for more info. Enjoy! |
Overfeeding Starter? Too hydrated?
Hi! I'm new to these forms and to sourdough! I'm excited to learn more about the art of sourdough. So I started a sourdough starter about two weeks ago following a youtube tutorial. I began with organic rye flour, pineapple juice, and filtered water gradually bringing it up to four ou... | Thicken it up to a wet dough
Thicken it up to a wet dough like consistency - stir 2-3 times a day - don't feed (important). When it stops rising (however long that is) start with a 122 (adjust water to keep the dough like consistency) daily feed. Enjoy! |
Sourdough bread never rises as much as when using commercial yeast
Hello everyone,I've been baking for around a year and I am mostly happy with my yeasted breads, but when I use sourdough exclusively they are always a bit smaller than their yeasted counterpart. Is this expected or is it something I can overcome?For exa... | Yeasted breads can be bigger,
Yeasted breads can be bigger, I wouldn't say always though. Sourdough is a different beast - literally, and as such has a different technique (and while similar there are some very different processes involved). I'll say the production of acids (how much acid and when it's created) is a bi... |
new to sourdough
Hello all! I am new to sourdough baking, but am starting as an enthusiastic hobby baker. I enjoy reading many of the threads in this forum for advice and tips. I began my starter in September, and finally got it mature to start baking mid October. I have gotten to the point where I think I am pretty h... | Wow!
That is most excellent!And as a bonus, your "bunny" not only has an ear, there is an "eye" in just the right spot.And after only two weeks, that's even more impressive. You've obvious baked bread before.Welcome to TFL ! |
What can I learn from this bake?
I would like some feedback from the experienced bakers here: These loaves were 80% KA-BF 20% KA-WhiteWW. 76% hydration. A bulk fermentation w/3 stretch & folds + shaping + bench time of about 6 hours. Temp was 72-75 in oven w.light on. Overnight retard in the refrigerator. Took it out a... | I think they are both
I think they are both beautiful and artistic with the "wing". And now I will sit back and listen to the more experienced bakers as I have only made sourdough bread 3 times (trying the 4th in a day or two!). And note, my first attempts were horrific and dismal failures but I am already getting bet... |
Deck Oven Problems, Steam?
Hi Everyone, new to this site but been baking for a while and was planning on opening a small neighbourhood bake shop early this year. Plans got delayed a bit but getting to play around with the new oven I though would be a fun experience. I currently use my home oven and get decent loaves wi... | Steam
I believe you can buy a steam generator aftermarket and most deck ovens have a port for injecting it. A big deck oven is going to need a lot of steam, obviously. So spraying a mist into it by hand will likely be ineffective. You could also make or buy something like this: https://pleasanthillgrain.com/rofco-oven-... |
pinkish and grey spots: safe to use?
Hello :)I'm new to sourdoughs so I'm very unsure of my starter. Picture below.This is the first stage of my sourdough starter: 50g of whole rice flour plus 50g water, 24hours at 30°C (86°F). It smells good, not sour, is very fluffy and the pink is very faint. Can I still continue wi... | The rule I follow is - grey
The rule I follow is - grey or black, it'll come back. Red, better left for dead. That's for a flour starter, rice may be different, but if the rule stands, try another. Better safe than - well, something else! Enjoy! |
Trying to figure the hydration of a Soaker
I am hoping to determine the "neutral" hydration of a soaker. Meaning the amount of water that it takes to completely absorb the dry ingredients in a Soaker, but not so much water as to change the hydration of the Final Dough. So when the Soaker is added to the Final Dough Ing... | The grains will absorb at
different rates and amounts.Take 20g of any one grain and cover with 100g of water. Soak. Strain and weigh the water and the soaker separately.Repeat with all the grains and seeds individually. Take good notes and this is a lot of fun and experience! Play with the figures later. You can... |
Larraburu Starter Inconsistency
This post is for my fellow S.F.SD aficionados who have been trying to reverse engineer the Larraburu sourdough formula which has been published several times in different places over the years. There appears to be an inconsistency in the formula described in the article by A. M. Galal et... | Le travail sur trois levains
"Le travail sur trois levains" or "The work of the three levains" was the old style method for making Pan au Levain until around 1920 in France. A little historical perspective helps in understanding San Francisco French Sourdough Bread (SFFSDB). French Bread in San Francisco was traditiona... |
Dough doesn't fill banneton after fridge ferment
Helloo, So I'm pretty new to this whole thing and I recently bought an oval and round banneton at 9.8in and 8.6in respectively. The ingredients in the recipe I use weigh 1773g altogether at 76% hydration. Even though it divides into a little under 900 grams per loaf they... | Just let is proof longer with
Just let is proof longer with some warmth till it fills. It'll get there. Enjoy! |
Five starters compared (not very scientifically)
I went crazy back in fall and bought 4 starters from Sourdough International on a buy 3 get 1 free deal. I chose the Finnish, Russian, San Francisco and Tasmanian. The 5th starter in this comparison is the one from King Arthur (KA below).I activated them according to the... | Great Experiment!
Well done Gary - a very interesting and useful experiment. It's almost a shame that you didn't find any decisive flavour differences; perhaps we fret too much about our starters?Lance |
freezing sourdough dough
We are going to be traveling in our caravan for an extended period, 2-3 months, and I don't have room in the freezer too take more than one loaf. Has anyone frozen their dough? If so after the first or second proof? Thanks in advance | I freeze the bread
I freeze already-baked loaves of bread (already sliced) all the time.If you have a refrigerator and the ability to bake bread, you might want to try Jacques Pepin Easy Bread.https://www.keyingredient.com/recipes/793365032/one-pot-bread-jacque-pepin/The original youtube is also out there if you want t... |
Converting Whole Wheat Starter to Bread Flour
Hi all,Finally my whole wheat starter is alive and it all thanks Debra Wink, I found out about the articles she wrote and it helped me a LOT. (I'll share the link below so that if you guys stumble upon this message and have the same problem making a new starter, you can che... | Start by doing a feed of 122
Start by doing a feed of 122 (adjust water for a wet dough like consistency), then just stir about every 12 hrs till it comes back (don't add anything, just stir. But, if at any point it loses structure and gets soupy, feed immediately. It'll get back to normal pretty quick and you'll disco... |
Is it normal, underproof or overproof?
Hello guys,I've been baking sourdough for two months now but i'm not happy with the rise, almost rather flat. My starter is active (2x rise), i feed it 3 times a day with 1:2:2 ratio except for the night 1:5:5. This was my last bake, round/boule with ingredients* Bread flour 350gr... | The crumb is beautiful, I'd
The crumb is beautiful, I'd be happy with this bread.For the oven spring, have you tried lower hydration? Might be easier. And while I'd say this is fermented nicely, proofing less will probably give better spring.Does it look like the loaf is flattening immediately after turning out of the ... |
Can you recommend a recipe/any advice that leads to an open crumb?
I've made a lot of sourdough but I almost never seem to get an open crumb. Even if I go higher hydration or do fancy folding techniques. I have tried both a high gluten flour as well as wheat, bread flour, and an expensive all purpose flour. I dont even... | According to Travis, it's 80%
According to Travis, it's 80% fermentation and dough handling. He has a book that's very comprehensive if you're interested. I'm sure you can learn here as well, as his book is very detailed although he does provide a few summary tables at the end if you just want the overall message. From... |
Where did I go wrong with my sourdough?
I know the question is one that could have a ton of answers. This was my absolute first time making sourdough. I’m really not even much of a good bread baker so am probably out of my element. I followed Reinhart’s directions for making the bread by creating a starter, then barm, ... | Looks good to me
OK, there are none of those giant holes that some people like, but getting those takes quite a bit of work, practice and confidence. To me, your bread looks great, and if the taste was pretty good, I would call that a win. It might be slightly underproofed, but certainly not much. For a first effort, I... |
Crumb diagnosis hints?
Hi folks - do you have any advice about this latest effort, re compression (or... lack of expansion) of the crumb on the top? Pictures below, and further details of baking recipe/process below that. Thanks!The finished loaf (above) looked pretty good.The crumb (above) seemed a bit compressed... | thumbs
Mg: unfortunately, you linked to the thumb-nail images and not the full image.You don't need to re-upload the photos. The full size images are there.If you can edit your post, delete those images from the post (not from your files tab), and then insert the images that do not have "thumb" in the name. It should ... |
Weak dough
Hi,Beginner sourdough maker here. I've tried 3 times now making sourdough and the dough tends to be weak after proofing. Twice with the Modernist's sour dough recipe (V3 p63), the dough flowed from the cold proofing (14 hrs) and I couldn't cut it with the lame because it was so sticky and fluid. However, ... | I find the biggest issue with
I find the biggest issue with following a "recipe" is the timing. Play around with that and you'll be good. Enjoy! |
Is this starter safe to use?
https://imgur.com/N3SNYS1 I left this starter in the fridge for around 2 weeks without feeding it. When i removed it it had formed a hard skin on top. I discarded that and saved about 1 tablespoon and fed that. Its been 2 days and it seems to be showing signs of life. I a just scared that i... | Probably ok
As long as you scraped off a thick layer of the top and took your tablespoon from normal looking/smelling starter, your fine. It is ok if it smelled like acetone-that just means the starter is starving. However, if the neglected starter smelled like old socks, cheesy or sewer-like, that would be a differen... |
Whole Grain Wheat Starter Help
I have made artisan bread in the past using my own sourdough starters, but for some reason this year I am struggling to get mine going. I am using organic whole grain wheat berries and grinding them within days of use like I have in the past. I am two weeks into the creation of this one a... | If comparing this starter
If comparing this starter with this flour, and the others used a different flour, I wouldn't expect to see the same results. Besides - the starter looks just fine to me - I don't see any problems at all. I'd use it remembering regardless of flour used it's still on the young side and some adju... |
why is my dough so stiff?
I watch videos of people making dough and it just seems that my dough is much stiffer, even with 84% water. And when I add salt and starter it's so stiff I can barely work it. The result is there's very little strength by the time I put it in the oven. If I put the resulting dough in the fridg... | I can understand the dough
I can understand the dough spreading out in the oven at 84% hydration. I live at 7,800' above sea level and my wettest dough is under 75% and all my breads are baked on a stone. Yours seems more like a ciabatta.Sorry if I'm not understanding this, but I feel like we're missing some informatio... |
Air travel with starter?
For those who have travelled by air with their starter, particularly if you’ve gone from Canada to USA and vice versa, how did you pack your starter? Was it noticed during the examination of your luggage, was it questioned?Benny | Are crackers allowed?
Are foodstuffs like crackers allowed? |
Liquid Starter Patent
Here is another sourdough formula from the U.S. Patent Office. It uses a liquid starter. LIQUID STARTER Flour100.0%Water250.0%Previous liquid starter38.0%Salt2.0%Develop 6.5 hours @ 75° - 80° FDOUGH Flour100.0%Liquid starter38.3%Water40.3%Salt1.9%Proof 7 hours @ 86° FRead the full patent here:htt... | Interesting
Especially the use of salt to slow down lactobacilli growth relative to yeast.This mixture is such high hydration, would it stir with a magnetic stirrer?Lance |
HELP! Will my dough keep overnight?
I thought I'd timed everything to perfection but...My shaped dough went into bannetons about 4pm and then into a 3°c fridge at 5pm intended for baking first thing tomorrow morning, BUT I couldn't resist a cheeky peak just now (10pm) and they're domed nicely and springing back slowly ... | maybe, maybe not.
One of the dictums is "watch the dough, not the clock." The dough out-ranks the clock. |
What's the sharpest blade out there?
There's this saying in my language, "if you can't dance, the floor must be crooked".So I can't score my breads, I always end up sawing them with the blade because it just won't go through in one smooth pass. And even in a non-smooth pass it's quite a struggle. So you know, it has to... | what is this "slash" of which you speak?
The bread? Why would you slash bread? Don't you mean slice?Or did you mean slash (as in "score") the dough?Sincerely,-Mr. Literal. |
Newest bake
Just sharing my newest bake. It's been over a month since I baked my last sourdough and I feel like I'm getting pretty consistent now. Weather has cooled so proof time has changed.This is 50% whole grains (150g whole wheat bread flour, 100g rye, 250g white bread flour) 80% hydration. Really nice caramelizat... | Looks good enough
to eat ? |
My lovely oven spring and ears have disappeared
In search of a more open crumb, I may have gotten a little cocky and tried a higher hydration dough (85%) with less than perfect results. My beautiful ears have completely disappeared and my oven spring was not great. The crumb is definitely more open than before but look... | Weird, giant holes
Most probably caused by shaping. Which, with an 85% hydration dough, is very hard. You can get nicely open crumb with anything from 68%-72%. At 85% you’re really making ciabatta. Dough handling and shaping IMO is more important than hydration in achieving a nice open crumb structure. |
Sourdough crumb question
Hello! I’m wondering if I can get some feedback on my sourdough crumb. I’ve only baked 4 loaves in the last 2 months, but they’ve had wildly different crumbs. Similar number of foods for each (5-6x over 3.5 hrs), an hour autolyse, then levain added, then salt added. Both loaves rested for 4+ hr... | Larger photos?
Hi mgo!Those photos are too small. It looks like you linked to the "thumbnail" photo and not the actual real photo. I see "thumb" in the filename:https://www.thefreshloaf.com//files/u158505/thumb_C8629A51-653B-4D48-A661-68132C487DE4.jpeg |
Easy in-bowl-shaping method, quick and less messy.
I have been working on a simple recipe and easy method to help friends bake sourdough with good results, no matter what tools you have. I finally finished a video on this the other day, It's a pretty unique technique, I haven't seen anyone else shape their bread this w... | I think you made a great
I think you made a great video voor beginners as well as for more experienced bakers. One thing I have started to use is a good kitchen thermometer. Here in the Netherlands you can get one for free from the food healt organization. For Dutch bakers here is the url. https://www.voedingscentrum.... |
How can I get my sourdough to rise up instead of out?
I have tried working on my shaping which has helped, I've even tried to lower hydration and that didn't seem to do much. I cant figure it out. Here's a picture of my most recent crumb. By all means, it seems alright. But I see people posting crumbs that almost have ... | A few thoughts
First, I think your bread looks just fine. That said, if you want more loft, you might think hard about your bulk ferment timing. After two years of futzing around, it seems that I get my best oven spring if I retard (refrigerate) my dough after only a 25-30% volume increase. It keeps rising for quite a ... |
Size of baking vessel in relation to loaf
Hi All,I've baked boules with a lodge 5qt combo cooker up until now, and now I want to get into baking batards.I have a Baking Steel Griddle (18" x 14") and have incoming a Granite Ware 18-Inch Covered Oval Roaster (15" x 11" x 4") that I intend to use upside-down as a lid. My ... | That's my setup
I use an enameled roaster that has the same dimensions, overturned on my baking stone. Works great for my batards (same size as yours) as well as my boules. My usual loaves are about 1,100g.Rich |
Baguette baking videos
I’ve recently started filming some of my techniques/procedures I use that I learned during the Baguette Community Bake.. The thread for the community bake is a treasure trove of information but it can be intimidating to read through. Alan (Alfanso) put together a PDF summary of the information i... | I've enjoyed all of your videos.
Thanks, Benny. I've enjoyed all of your videos. They are very well produced, explanations are clear and informative, and your enjoyment of baking bread is obvious. Richard |
Overfermenting
Hi there,I've been waking up to overfermented dough lately. I normally shape and retard in fridge for 12-24 hrs then bake straight from fridge. Should I skip this step if it's overfermented?ThanksLL | Whatever it takes to fit the
Whatever it takes to fit the schedule. Enjoy! |
Seeds hydration and a stiff dough
Hi all,So I've been experimenting with seeded loaves. What I do is I soak my seeds and then subtract the extra water they take on from my dough.But what I end up with is a very stiff dough as obviously the water in the seeds doesn't necessarily leach out into the dough. I add them in a... | Some research is here...
This user did a lot of research on that in 2019:http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/61245/soaker-ingredient-hydration-percents-some-data |
Shaping Sourdough Dilemma
Hi folks!when i learned sourdough the initial technique i learned was after the initial short fermentation , one would then shape the bread then let it sit for the final long fermentation. Then the baker would carefully " tease" the loaf out , and bake it as is. (method 1)Ive also seen some o... | "when I learned sourdough..."
OK, more info please... Flour types? Amount of starter to dough? Starter hydration? These are all relevant to how the sourdough is handled. Each flour type and starter amount in the dough will influence the dough differently. Also if the sourdough is a wild yeast or a pure cultured o... |
Any help. Tips. Thank you in advance
Hello everyone. This is my second loaf and to be honest I am happy with it. Yet I do have a problem. When cut into it it seems rather “doughy” if that is the proper term. my leaven was 35 g of my starter 35 g of bread flour 35 g of whole wheat W/ 70 g of filter water it was left ove... | The picture
CD324203-CE71-4AA3-AE3A-8FF03589A890.jpeg |
Finally, a none ugly loaf!
I finally produced a couple of loaves I’m actually proud of and I could not have done it without the tips on this forum. Thank you bread friends!I still think I could push the fermentation further, but it’s hard to know how far is too far. | Those are beautiful Sarah,
Those are beautiful Sarah, both inside and out.Benny |
Double Lamination and Adding Inclusions
I’ve just uploaded a video demonstrating how I do a double lamination and add inclusions for my purple sweet potato sourdough with black sesame seeds. Please have a look and like, I’d appreciate it.Benny | Fascinating
That looks like a lot of skill. Do you have a picture of the finished loaf? |
Help with gummy texture
Hi all! Hoping to get some insight as how to to solve the weird texture in my sourdough - it’s this tacky, gummy crumb that seems to happen in all my sourdough no matter if I change up recipe or fermentation time. I’ve tried changing up the recipes - bread flour: ranging from bread flours 12-13%... | Narrow things down and choose a recipe
Then learn it. Gummy means too much water in the finished product. Water can be removed from the finished product by longer and/or hotter baking, or by lower hydration in the dough. In my opinion many people on this site over emphasize high hydration. It causes more problems th... |
Starter growth - Upscaling limits?
I maintain about 3/4 cup by volume of starter in my fridge. Some recipes I've been looking at are asking for 1 cup of starter. So, my question, by way of example, is that I presume I could take about 1/2 cup of the starter add 1 cup flour (~113g) and 1/2 cup water (~113g), let ferm... | Tango, yes , it is hard to
Tango, yes , it is hard to word the question, though of course, I don't have a real answer other than it depends. Normally, we refer to feeding schedules by a ratio where the first number is starter, the second is water ( I think ) and the third is flour.One common ration is 1:1:1 - so... |
Help with a recipe
Hey guys! So I was given a small amount of levain, along with a sourdough recipe for it, and the levain recipe (pictures attached).I'm assuming it means the starter for this recipe, as the recipe doesn't have any starter (as you can see) I'm trying to break down the levain recipe so I could keep maki... | Your levain percentages are correct
I'm curious about the bread formula numbers. Presumably 62.02% refers to water, 14.82% refers to levain, and 2.78% refers to salt. Was that information provided with the formula when you received it?Paul |
Stiff vs. Liquid--What's really the difference?
I ask this question because I had trouble converting my stiff starter to liquid recently. I have a very active stiff starter that I refresh at 50% (per Dan Leader's formula). It is very durable and always doubles within 8-12 hours. I followed the advice I found on here... | Just a stiff...
Since no one else seems to have tackled this, I thought that I would give it a shot.
I've spent some time wranglng with "my teacher" over the stiff vs liquid issue and here's what has come of it.
There is a line of thought that says that liquid levains will allow more lactic than acetic acid development... |
Descending into Sourdough Cavern
Hi All,I started to make sourdough in August and am generally having a blast, but my most recent attempt left me baffled once I cut into it. It looked deceptively fine from the outside, but as you can see, there's a huge cavern that runs pretty much through the entire loaf, and everythi... | Looks like
underproofed indicated by the dense crumb at the bottom of the loaf. The cavern was probably introduced during your folds and shaping. The 3 hr bulk is probably quite short for the UK this time of year unless you regulate your ambient temp. ( I remember the cold damp fall days when I lived there) |
PASTA MADRE IS AT 4.3 pH and I want 4.1
Chef, I’m trying to get my pasta Madre pH in the 4.1 range but I’m still stuck at 4.3I’m bounding it for the purification phase after vacuum sealing it and keeping it at 65F. I’m doing the cold water bath in the morning with 1liter of h20 to 3 grams of sugar for 20 minutes. After... | same issue here. did you find
same issue here. did you find out what the issue was. |
Are there any tests to determine starter's ability to make sourdough rise?
Hello friends,I have been struggling for the last couple of months trying to figure out what is going wrong with my sourdough loaves. I have tried Hamelman and KAF's Vermont Sourdough twice, Tartine's Country Loaf about 4 or 5 times and Forkish... | What is the feeding ratio you
What is the feeding ratio you use for the starter? |
Stirred Starter?
I'm just wondering if anyone has ever dabbled with a continuously stirred starter (well more likely a levain) and whether this would be "a good thing"?I was thinking about a little motor driven propeller mixer, maybe running at about 30rpm and whether this would give more vitality to levain builds. My ... | Like at Nunzio...https:/
Like at Nunzio...https://youtu.be/tH_qc0NiumU?t=306Skip to 5:06 as above link |
Anyone here feed their starter ABC+?
(The Central Milling flour)Just wondering if there are any side effects to the growth from the malt. | I have used ABC+ for starters
I have used ABC+ for starters in the past with no problems. It seems to me that most flours work well with starters. Switching and substitutions have never been an issue for me. Whole grains - no problem. |
Grey tinge to sourdough crumb
Hi, So I’m seven loaves into my sourdough baking addiction! I’m slowly seeing good progress in things like my oven spring, scoring and the openness of my crumb is getting there. The one thing that’s puzzling me is that my crumb has a grey tinge. Initially I thought this was due to my star... | I worked out how to add a
I worked out how to add a photo! |
Boule bulging either side of the score line
Hi, I'm new here - I joined because I read this forum so much and now I have an issue that I can't get to grips with and I hope someone can help! As you can see from the picture my boule is bulging too much either side of my scoring and pinching in the middle. I'm happy with ... | 2 dimensional scoring.
Welcome to TFL ! Very good oven spring! Congratulations. The single end-to-end score line works fine for batards (oblong or oval loaves), but as you see, is not optimum for boules (round loaves).Most people do a cross/plus/X, or a # sign, or a circle on their boules. And after that, you can get... |
Dehydrated Pasta Madre?
At my local Italian grocery store today I noticed a packed of "dehydrated pasta madre with leavening" and though I have no experience with sourdough or pasta madre, I bought it. I have been long tempted by pasta madre anyway. However, what I don't know is whether this mix can be used to make an ... | Try It!
Why not try it out? Treat it as you would some dried starter. Most of us have some dried starter in an air tight bag or jar to rebuild our starter in case of a bone headed error or loss of our starters. I keep mine in the freezer. Depending on the seasonal room temperature, it might take 3 or 4 feedings to buil... |
Is my sourdough dead ?
hi, I created a sourdough starter for the first time on 1 October 2020.I have been feeding it 30g water and 30g flour. I started using farina00 flour as I did not have rye or bread flour at the time. I have been feeding it everyday and on day 3 I fed it twice. It smelt a bit like cheese during da... | It's fine
This is a perfectly normal quiet stage. It's not only not dead this is the stage where the little critters are sorting themselves out to become a symbiotic culture. Stop feeding, keep warm and stir twice a day. It might take a day or two, or even three, before it begins to wake up again. When it begins to sho... |
Preferred (stiff) Starter Hydration
I understand that a stiffer starter can produce a more sour loaf of sourdough, which is what I'm currently after. With that said, I'm looking to develop and keep a stiff starter to achieve a good sour loaf. The bread recipe I intend on using is the KA Extra-Tangy Sourdough found her... | Weekend Bakery's San Francisco Sourdough
Calls for a stiff starter at around 65% hydration and uses a lot of fridge time to build up flavour. I've done this recipe a few times with excellent results. In my latest bake I included add-ins but the plain loaf too is excellent. In my opinion a very ripe stiff starter does ... |
Best flour for a long fermented Levain
The most popular flour recommended for feeding starters is All Purpose. When considering a Levain for a dough that uses a relatively large percentage of pre-fermented flour and the final fermentation of that Levain is built overnight, wouldn’t a stronger flour (such as King Arthur... | Makes sense to me Dan. It
Makes sense to me Dan. It would take longer for the proteolysis to negatively affect the gluten if there is more gluten to start with. |
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