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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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What is the best way to catch wild yeast for sourdough?

What is the best way to catch yeast? I just heard you can do this and I had no idea that you can do this. Do you grow and catch or just catch? This is to make sour dough bread.
Karen
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Sourdough bread uncooked from inside

My sourdough starter is 9 days old. Today it doubled in around 6 hours. Following this recipe, I performed following steps: I mixed 400g AP Flour, 160g starter, 230g water and 10g salt. Kneading: I kneaded it for about 20 minutes until I observed…
Laschet Jain
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Is it safe to keep reusing a portion of old dough?

My grandma told my mum a weird process of making flatbread dough recently that she started to use. But I am not sure about it's safety at all. Initially, normal wholewheat bread dough made with Instant Yeast. Used to make bread but a small piece is…
Sam
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Sour Dough Starter - proofing in less than 24 hours?

I recently started with making sour dough. I created a new starter yesterday. After feeding it one time in less than 24 hours it's already doubling it's size. I'm not using self-rising flour just normal wheat bread flour. Is it usual that it picked…
Lucas Kauffman
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Sourdough starters with different smells - is this normal?

I am very new to sourdough baking and gaining an interest in the subject so please forgive what may seem like newbie question. I have two starters on the go at the moment. The first starter came as part of a "sourdough kit" which I was given as a…
Mark
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When to add the rye flour if it really makes a difference?

I wish to use a small amount of rye in my wheat sourdough bread, because supposedly it improves the flavor of the bread. What I'm wondering is whether it makes a difference if I introduce this rye flour into the levain or if it is better to put it…
user50726
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My sourdough splits at final proofing (pic included), advice?

The last couple of times I've made bread the dough starts "splitting" during final proofing. Does anybody have any idea why? The bread is still great but it doesn't get as much oven spring as I'd like.
marregrande
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Sourdough Starter Black Spots

Hi All! I tried to make a sourdough starter, and after 24 hours I uncovered it and discovered black spots and 2 white fluffy areas. The black spots are only at the top layer so can I still use it after removing this layer?
user3721
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What is the difference between a wild yeast starter and a sourdough starter?

Many people only seem to distinguish between 'regular' bread (made with store bought commercial strains of yeast) and sourdough (made with 'wild' yeast). If this is the only distinction - was all bread before 1850 sourdough? Is there no naturally…
Jos
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What went wrong with this bread?

I just baked this bread using sour dough. Why is there a large hole in it? What can I do to prevent this from happening next time? Pre oven: Post oven:
smoksnes
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Mold or dry sourdough starter? (pic included)

I fed my starter and left it out for two days. See attached pic. It smells like beer (which as I understand it is good), the top is dried out a bit with a rubbery surface, underneath it seems nice and active with no signs of mold. I can't tell if…
Brad
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Can I selectively breed my sourdough starter?

I have a nice bowl of sourdough starter sitting in my kitchen, and I love making my bread as sour as possible. Right now I let my loaves rise for a little longer, but is there a way I can alter my starter's environment to select for a sourer mix of…
Kupyn
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How to grow sourdough starter for increased production?

I am a commercial baker, and we are going through lots of sourdough starter. But I wanted some ideas or help for growing sourdough starter without throwing away lots of starter. Will the sourdough starter be strong enough if we do a three day turn…
John
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What's are the benefits of different sourdough starter consistencies?

Is there any real differences between keeping a sourdough starter at a thick dough like consistency compared to a more watery consistency? Aside from the general thoughts of thicker being easier to keep.
Corsara
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2000g sourdough boule in medium sized dutch oven

I've been just starting to get into baking. I made my own starter and I've been following the tartine bread recipe to reasonable success. The problem I continually run into, though, is weak oven spring. I understand that there are a bunch of factors…
j.feld
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