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Questions tagged [sourdough]

Questions regarding baking and working with wild yeasts and starters (also known as levains or chefs).

Sourdough is generally used to refer to baked goods made using a culture of wild yeasts and symbiotic bacteria (usually Saccharomyces and Lactobacillus, respectively). This culture may be referred to as a starter, chef, levain, or mother. These cultures are usually maintained by adding a mixture of carbohydrates (such as flour, starchy vegetable matter, and/or sugar) and water to the existing culture and allowing it to rest in a warm environment while the microorganisms reproduce. A portion of this culture is then added when making a dough to leaven it.

For questions regarding other biological leavening agents see , and for questions regarding chemical leavening see or .

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Help! Too much salt in my sourdough dough!

Help! I added three times the amount of salt needed for my sourdough bread recipe (1/4 c. versus 1 T.) Can I save it?
K Nels
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Flour types and their effects in levain

The first time I made a levain, I used all-purpose white flour. This took over a week-two weeks to become active. I recently started a levain using whole wheat flour, and found it to become active much faster from the more nutritious flour. Now due…
JWiley
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non-grain options in sourdough starter

Is there any reason not to try adding dried fruit to a sourdough starter? The reason I'm imagining is that different sorts of yeast live on dried fruit vs on grains. This could turn out to be delicious or terrible. As well I've never seen sugar…
mroll
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Forgot to feed my 6-day old sourdough starter yesterday, can I just carry on today?

I just realized that yesterday I forgot to feed my 6-day old sourdough starter, can I just go about feeding it as usual? I know there are some similar questions on here but they are a little vague. I want to be specific that it's a brand new starter…
Gette Wilson
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Can tested yeast be used for anything?

I tested my yeast using the method explained on this video: https://youtu.be/p8ydC1Of_Zw (go to 2:05 min) Here is the method in case you can't access the video: 1) dissolve 1 tbsp of sugar in half a cup of warm water 2) add 2 and 1/4 tsp of dry…
Maira Bay
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Questions about the how and when of baking homemade sourdough bread

First, an important introduction with potentially relevant details: I've been maintaining some sourdough at home for several months now, initially made from organic white bread flour, then from half organic barley flour (I think it's white but it's…
Rok
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Why does my sour-dough bread have a tail?

I just baked this bread using sour dough. Everything looks fine until I take it out of the owen. Pre-oven it looks like the first picture, but when I take it out it got a "tail" (see red circle in second picuture). The texture seems to be fine. What…
smoksnes
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switching yeast to sourdough

I have a recipe for a pizza dough, that was originally with yeast (500g flour and 300ml water). I tried to make it twice now with sourdough. I took a bit of starter, mixed it with a 50-50% flour-water mix, let that rest for around 10 hours and than…
fbence
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How to determine amount of mother starter to use to build a levain for STIFF/dry sourdough starter?

I have a healthy, active dry sourdough starter (50% hydration). Most of the recipes I want to use it in, ask for anywhere between 100 g, 150g and 200 g. How much of the starter would I have to use in order to prepare a levain of those quantities?
user73192
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Sourdough starter gone wild

Why is my starter bubbling out of the container within minutes of mixing. I used 2 c. bread flour, 2 c. water and 2.25 tsp active dry yeast.
Liz Pelton Albrecht
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Does package yeast inhibit wild fermentation?

I baked my first “sourdough” boules today and there was zero detectable sour or tartness. After about day four of zero activity in my baby starter I added a packet of packaged yeast I bloomed bloomed with a tiny bit of honey. Ever since then it has…
Preston
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Sourdough starter stopped growing, is it normal?

I posted a question a few days ago. This was my first sourdough starter: My sourdough starter split in 2 on the 3rd day. What should I do? and I decided to only keep the foamy part and throw the other half away. After another day that sourdough…
Andrei CACIO
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Sourdough starter not buoyant

If my sourdough starter does not float in water, does that mean it is not ready?
Michelle Gourley
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Storing fresh sourdough

I would like to know what is the best way to store fresh baked sourdough so that it maintains a nice crunchy crust and a nice soft, slightly moist, light texture? I usually store it at room temperature in a large tupperware with a loose fitting lid…
Jeremy Hackett
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Sourdough more rise in the oven

It is a while sinse I baked any sourdough. After 6 days of feeding the starter and 2 12 hour proofs the rise in the loaf was not fantastic but about doubled when I baked it. Is this normal?
Locky
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