The chunk I remove from the jar in step 1 is usually almost the size of a golf ball, and I mix it with 500g flour, 2 tsp sea salt, and ~1.5 to 1.75 cups of water (use about half the water while mixing, then slowly add more until it hits a moist but sticky consistency. If it gets slimy that’s too much, but you can still cook with it.
Kneed it however works best for you, cover it and let it sit for a few hours (or in my case overnight), kneed it again, and after another few hours it should be bubbly and happy and ready to bake.
As for the rest of the colony in the jar - room temperature is fine for feeding it. As long as you give it a few hours to eat the fresh flour/water, it’ll be happy. Once it gets bubbly and expands, you can put it in the fridge and it should be fine for a week or three.
Once again, when you are ready for the next loaf, you pull it out of the fridge, let it get to room temp for an hour or 3, take about half of it for the loaf and repeat.
The important thing to remember is to maintain a routine if you can. It’s a living colony, and even if it doesn’t seem super enthusiastic at first, as you keep going then the yeast cells that survive will be the ones to multiply and eventually the whole colony will be made of a culture literally bred for your care style.
I’ve been trying this method for my last several loaves, and it works well so far. My only complaint is that my bread is so much less sour! Any tips on using a frugal method like this while increasing sourness?
I had thought that a starter kept in cooler temperatures would be more sour, but so far that’s not the case. I guess I could discard some and go through more builds before making dough.
Glad you are making progress! If you want to cultivate the sour taste, that means you want more acetic acid. There are a few things you can do to accomplish this:
-After mixing all ingredients, make sure the dough consistency is on the DRIER side, at least for the initial rises.
-Storing the rising and fermenting bread dough in a cool location, preferably in one of the coldest spots in your house. This will take longer, but develop a much more sour profile.
-Punch down the dough once or twice during the rising.
-Use whole-grain flour.
If you do one or more of these, you should notice a marked flavor difference!
The chunk I remove from the jar in step 1 is usually almost the size of a golf ball, and I mix it with 500g flour, 2 tsp sea salt, and ~1.5 to 1.75 cups of water (use about half the water while mixing, then slowly add more until it hits a moist but sticky consistency. If it gets slimy that’s too much, but you can still cook with it.
Kneed it however works best for you, cover it and let it sit for a few hours (or in my case overnight), kneed it again, and after another few hours it should be bubbly and happy and ready to bake.
As for the rest of the colony in the jar - room temperature is fine for feeding it. As long as you give it a few hours to eat the fresh flour/water, it’ll be happy. Once it gets bubbly and expands, you can put it in the fridge and it should be fine for a week or three.
Once again, when you are ready for the next loaf, you pull it out of the fridge, let it get to room temp for an hour or 3, take about half of it for the loaf and repeat.
The important thing to remember is to maintain a routine if you can. It’s a living colony, and even if it doesn’t seem super enthusiastic at first, as you keep going then the yeast cells that survive will be the ones to multiply and eventually the whole colony will be made of a culture literally bred for your care style.
I’ve been trying this method for my last several loaves, and it works well so far. My only complaint is that my bread is so much less sour! Any tips on using a frugal method like this while increasing sourness?
I had thought that a starter kept in cooler temperatures would be more sour, but so far that’s not the case. I guess I could discard some and go through more builds before making dough.
Glad you are making progress! If you want to cultivate the sour taste, that means you want more acetic acid. There are a few things you can do to accomplish this:
-After mixing all ingredients, make sure the dough consistency is on the DRIER side, at least for the initial rises.
-Storing the rising and fermenting bread dough in a cool location, preferably in one of the coldest spots in your house. This will take longer, but develop a much more sour profile.
-Punch down the dough once or twice during the rising.
-Use whole-grain flour.
If you do one or more of these, you should notice a marked flavor difference!