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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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Why does this sourdough recipe call for 2 and 1/3 cups starter? Isn't that too much?

The recipe at this popular site says 2 and 1/3 cups of starter and 3 and 1/3 cups of flour, along with water (1 cup). Is there a printing error? Other recipes are about tablespoons, not cups.…
Joao Noch
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Milk in fermented bread dough

I would like to ask if the role of milk in bread dough fermentation, is to increase the population of microorganisms similarly present in sourdough bread? If so, can it be said that this kind of bread recipe comes close to sourdough bread?
wearashirt
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Mix parmesan cheese & garlic into sourdough bread dough before or after first rising?

If I wanted to put parmesan cheese and garlic into sourdough bread dough (mixed into the dough, not just a filling), should I do it before or after first rising? Will it prevent a proper rise if I put it in with dough, water, and starter right away?
Creature
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Rule of the thumb for judging the leavening?

I have done a focaccia and a small piece of dough to see if I can make bread with the same recipe I'm using for the focaccia . Both dough have almost doubled in size in about 9 hours, and I have used about a 1/3 in sourdough starter and 2/3 in flour…
user2485710
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My sourdough starter is thick with small bubbles but isn't rising

I started my sourdough starter on the 17th. I was doing 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup flour with one feeding a day, discarding half before each feeding. It rose with bubbles the first two days and then began having hooch every day. I started feeding it…
Alyssa Gamez
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Levain Ratio x Sour

I always used the 1:2:2 ratio in preparing the dough, of course, it always gets sourer. I have doubts about some proportions that I have found in some books, but I cannot find the explanation of why. 1:2:2, 1:1:2, 1:2:3 to 1:4:4 or greater. What are…
Fausto Branco
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3 day old sourdough starter splits after feeding

My starter consists out of 150gr All purpose, 60 grams of whole wheat and 210 grams of water. On day 2 it bubbled nicely, but I fed it only with half a feeding fearing it would otherwise not stay within the jar. It then rose within hours to double…
David
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I get a smaller volume loaf from mixing sourdough in mixer - what am I doing wrong?

I have made my same recipe (74% hydration) of sourdough by both the stretch and fold and the Kitchenaid mixer method. I get a denser, lower volume loaf when I use the mixer, whether I refrigerate the dough or the shaped loaf. The stretch and fold…
Diane Nielsen
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Sourdough starter used too early

So I was making my sourdough starter for almost three weeks, and it still wasn’t floating in water. I used this recipe: https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2019/03/beginner-sourdough-starter-recipe/ However, when I was searching, I could not find I…
Maddie Carroll
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Does the towel touching the day 1 starter and absorbing the liquid matter?

On day 1, I’ve noticed the towel is wet. Does the towel absorbing anything from the starter ruin the starter and prevent it from reaching its desired outcome?
Kathy
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Converting Yeast Recipe to Natural Levain

Like many people, I've been doing a good bit of sourdough baking during the quarantine and, like many people, I am in a state of near-constant panic that I have to use up the starter that is constantly growing! I tend to bake breads but am branching…
rougon
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How Much Milk Should I add if I Already Have Butter and Sugar in my Recipe?

I am trying to create a sourdough sandwich bread loaf recipe using baker's percentages and I want to replace some of the water for milk. However, I have no idea if it will be too soft or not at the percentage listed below. Is that percentage just…
Tug
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Can I leave flour to autolyse for long period of time?

So, as many people in lockdown I wanted to bake a sourdough bread. I received a starter from a friend that I keep in my fridge. I took the starter out of the fridge, fed it, and mixed the flour and water for it to autolyse. However, my starter…
David O
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Sourdough dough collapsed, not rising again... Need help!

A few days back I started a bread following a Youtube recipe, it had 400gms of flour and 350 gms of water. I had never made such high hydration bread before. I did 1 hour of autolyse followed by 4 round of 5 min kneading by hand. Still it was rising…
saicode
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What is the optimal autolyse time for sourdough?

I would like to know if there is a formula or technique for understanding the ideal/optimal conditions for dough autolyse? I understand that different flours/grains have different absorption techniques and I understand calculations related to dough…
Mark
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