Cooking Stack Exchange
Cooking Stack Exchange

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 .

277 questions
4
votes
1 answer

Sourdough Starter Crust forming

I am creating a sourdough starter and read to use a "non-airtight" container and store in a warm location for the first 24 hours before beginning the feeding schedule. My issue is that 12 hours in my dough has formed a crust. It is obviously…
Wendi Leah Waldner
  • 41
  • 1
  • 2
4
votes
1 answer

How to make my sourdough sweet?

When I was much younger, my father would bring home a really good bread about twice a year. He told me the mother of a coworker would make it and her son would sell it at work. I didn't know it was sourdough at the time, but when I thought about it…
Dalton
  • 729
  • 3
  • 11
  • 21
4
votes
2 answers

How can I "cheat" on dough maturation?

I found a good balance between leavening and maturation while using my favourite flour, my oven and my sourdough starter, the only problem is that the whole process, from mixing the ingredients and producing a baked dough/focaccia requires more than…
user2485710
  • 411
  • 1
  • 6
  • 14
4
votes
2 answers

Is sourdough actually sour?

Why is sourdough called 'sourdough'? Is it because it is sour to the taste, or for a different reason?
Jason
  • 1,273
  • 7
  • 20
  • 30
4
votes
3 answers

Help with sourdough bread

I've been experimenting with whole wheat sourdough bread for a few weeks now. My starter uses T110 wheat flour at 100% hydration, and bubbles nicely. I make the bread using: 1.5c T150 wheat flour, 1.5c T150 spelt flour 1/4c starter (also tried with…
Kricket
  • 853
  • 3
  • 11
  • 19
4
votes
1 answer

What do I do about mold on my sourdough starter?

I started my mother yesterday at 6:00am. with 2 tsp salt and 2 tbsp honey, 4 cups potato water, 4 cups unbleached natural wheat flour. I was told to wait two to three days. Well, 24 hours later I lifted my wicker top and the thing was absolutely…
user17211
  • 41
  • 1
  • 2
4
votes
2 answers

Are the bubbles in the sourdough starter caused by yeast cultures?

I'm new to sourdough starter, so I'm a little confused regarding a statement I read recently which said that the yeast is formed AFTER you see bubbles forming in the starter. Yet, it makes sense to me that the yeast is the cause of the bubbles in…
Freddie Mesquit
  • 41
  • 2
4
votes
1 answer

How do I fix my flat sourdough loaf?

I have made sourdough bread several times using roughly the same technique that I use when I make artisan bread. I let it ferment several times folding between them. I have found that when the dough has risen enough it is so acidic that even a…
Sobachatina
  • 47,417
  • 19
  • 159
  • 254
4
votes
4 answers

Sourdough starter - will it set off my allergies?

I'm very allergic to mold, among other things (all airborne, no food allergies). I also adore sourdough bread. If I were to make my own sourdough starter so I could bake sourdough regularly, would it a) be similar enough to mold to set off my…
Yamikuronue
  • 8,776
  • 20
  • 71
  • 108
4
votes
1 answer

When stretching and folding dough and it gets tight, is that time to let it rest?

When I make my sourdough, a rested dough will stretch and fold 3-4 times before quite suddenly going tight. At this point it's likely to tear if I stretch much more. Should I put it down and rest it again, keeping stretching with some tearing,…
Chris H
  • 42,952
  • 1
  • 86
  • 147
4
votes
3 answers

Sourdough pizza crust for wood-fired oven

I can consistently make a nice, well-blistered, chewy pizza crust in my wood-fired oven. My recipe is Caputo flour (the red bag), 60% hydration, 2.5% salt, 0.25% instant yeast; knead until smooth; form into balls; age at 9 C for four days. I've…
Sneftel
  • 25,774
  • 3
  • 70
  • 91
4
votes
1 answer

Stiff vs Liquid Starter, what are the differences between hydration in a sourdough starter?

I stumbled on the concept of a stiff starter from Northwest Sourdough Baker and have kept a high hydration starter (100% hydration) since I started baking. Was wondering what notable differences do Stiff/Liquid starters have with one another (apart…
Denis Tsoi
  • 231
  • 2
  • 8
4
votes
1 answer

How does water behave in Dutch oven baking?

Recently I made a research about how steam works in baking. I found four main functions: Steam condenses and keeps the dough surface cool, preventing the crust to form too soon, what could hinder the oven spring. As the water condenses, it…
guistoll
  • 41
  • 3
4
votes
2 answers

Enzymatic reactions that happen when water and wheat flour is mixed?

What happens when you mix water and wheat flour? A seed would start to sprout eventually. Does water start reaction inside of the flour?
Hendrik
  • 141
  • 1
4
votes
4 answers

Sticky, messy sourdough: overfermented, or ambient factors?

I've made the same sourdough bread a dozen times before, with small variations in parameters: 360g white flour 240g whole wheat flour 390g water That's a 65% dough with 60% white and 40% whole wheat flour. I've been using the sponge method wherein…
Dan
  • 163
  • 7
1 2 3
…
18 19