Storing and refreshing sourdough
So after my last post I realised I would not be baking every 2-3 days, but rather once a week so I decided to place my starter in the fridge. I think this is a concern for most homebakers since keeping a starter alive would mean feeding it once or twice a day, plus discarding, it seems a lot of flour and water going down the sink. There are many ways to keep a starter 'dormant' and unless you are going away for months, you can just keep it in the fridge. Of course there are many ways to go about this and we can these methods are readily available on the Internet.
Anyway, I kept my starter in the fridge and I took it out in advance to refresh it for the next round of baking.
Day 1
I took my cold sourdough starter out of the fridge and left it for 1-2 hours to defrost completely.
It looks so cold and still. And since I won't be needing all the starter, I only took some out and kept the rest in the fridge. After resting outside for 2 hours, it was bubbly and active again.
So I fed it with 1/4 cup bread flour and 1/4 water.
After 3 hours it was still rising, until about 8 hours.
By this time I was ready to go to bed, so I discarded most of it and fed it again before going to bed.
For this time I wanted to reduce the sour aftertaste, which could be reduced by more feeding, so I decided to increase feeding to 3 times a day. I also stirred it more often, like every 2-3 hours.
Day 2
I continued discarding and feeding it 3 times a day. This time I used a mixture of rye and bread flour and adjusted the water content according to the consistency of the starter. If it was too runny (like soupy) I reduced the amount of water.
Day 3
The starter was still bubbly but started to have a sour smell. It could sometimes happen, but seeing that the starter was still bubbly, I decided to go on with it. But I changed to just feeding bread flour, instead of rye. This is because rye flour has a slightly stronger smell that could affect the sourdough smell.
I was also concerned whether the smell was coming from the dried starter on the sides of the container so I changed to a new one to be sure.
Day 4
I discarded most of the starter and fed bread flour and water 3 times a day. The sour smell seemed to be fading away. Perhaps I should go into more detail on the smell. It's like smelling a bottle of vinegar just when you open it. A hit of sour gases just punches your nose. A little scary, huh?
Day 5
Baking day. I did not intend to 'defrost' and refresh the sourdough for so long, but things got caught up in my schedule so... typically 1-2 days in advance is enough.
Anyway, did a last discard and feed in the morning and waited about 6-8 hours for the starter to rise. I measured out how much I needed for baking and put the rest in the fridge.
Baking
Using the same ratio previously
150g bread flour
90-100ml water
50g starter
1. Combine everything in a bowl until a dough comes together. Knead / slap and fold the dough for 15 minutes. Proof at room temperature for 3 hours, until doubled in size.
2. Fold the dough from side to side on all ends. Shape and put into a lined baking tin. This time I broke out my baking tin with a cover. I bought it previously but seldom used it. Proof for another 2-3 hours.
3. When the dough has doubled in size, score the bread with a knife and sprinkle some water on the dough. The latter is to create some steam during the baking process, and gives the bread a lovely crust. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Bake it covered (my baking tin has a cover, but if you want to improvise, you can use aluminium foil) for 25 minutes and then remove the cover and bake it for 10 minutes. The last 10 minutes give a brown colour to the bread. Tap on the baked bread and it should give a hollow sound.
4. And the bread is done!
Slice the bread after it has been completely cooled.
Love the pore structure and bouncy-ness of the bread. Also, kudos to my diligent feeding, no sour aftertaste! Now I that I have started on sourdough breads, really wonder how I could go back to instant yeast breads. The taste of sourdough is much richer and better than normal bread. And also, the texture is so good and remains even after days. Perhaps only when I am in a hurry and need to whip up something for a crowd. :)
Some helpful links
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_hR43eMgug
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APEavQg8rMw&index=3&list=PLURsDaOr8hWWSiMZBLGP2UEs8w3nQDTVY
Anyway, I kept my starter in the fridge and I took it out in advance to refresh it for the next round of baking.
Day 1
I took my cold sourdough starter out of the fridge and left it for 1-2 hours to defrost completely.
It looks so cold and still. And since I won't be needing all the starter, I only took some out and kept the rest in the fridge. After resting outside for 2 hours, it was bubbly and active again.
So I fed it with 1/4 cup bread flour and 1/4 water.
After 3 hours it was still rising, until about 8 hours.
By this time I was ready to go to bed, so I discarded most of it and fed it again before going to bed.
For this time I wanted to reduce the sour aftertaste, which could be reduced by more feeding, so I decided to increase feeding to 3 times a day. I also stirred it more often, like every 2-3 hours.
Day 2
I continued discarding and feeding it 3 times a day. This time I used a mixture of rye and bread flour and adjusted the water content according to the consistency of the starter. If it was too runny (like soupy) I reduced the amount of water.
Day 3
The starter was still bubbly but started to have a sour smell. It could sometimes happen, but seeing that the starter was still bubbly, I decided to go on with it. But I changed to just feeding bread flour, instead of rye. This is because rye flour has a slightly stronger smell that could affect the sourdough smell.
I was also concerned whether the smell was coming from the dried starter on the sides of the container so I changed to a new one to be sure.
Day 4
I discarded most of the starter and fed bread flour and water 3 times a day. The sour smell seemed to be fading away. Perhaps I should go into more detail on the smell. It's like smelling a bottle of vinegar just when you open it. A hit of sour gases just punches your nose. A little scary, huh?
Day 5
Baking day. I did not intend to 'defrost' and refresh the sourdough for so long, but things got caught up in my schedule so... typically 1-2 days in advance is enough.
Anyway, did a last discard and feed in the morning and waited about 6-8 hours for the starter to rise. I measured out how much I needed for baking and put the rest in the fridge.
Baking
Using the same ratio previously
150g bread flour
90-100ml water
50g starter
1. Combine everything in a bowl until a dough comes together. Knead / slap and fold the dough for 15 minutes. Proof at room temperature for 3 hours, until doubled in size.
2. Fold the dough from side to side on all ends. Shape and put into a lined baking tin. This time I broke out my baking tin with a cover. I bought it previously but seldom used it. Proof for another 2-3 hours.
3. When the dough has doubled in size, score the bread with a knife and sprinkle some water on the dough. The latter is to create some steam during the baking process, and gives the bread a lovely crust. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Bake it covered (my baking tin has a cover, but if you want to improvise, you can use aluminium foil) for 25 minutes and then remove the cover and bake it for 10 minutes. The last 10 minutes give a brown colour to the bread. Tap on the baked bread and it should give a hollow sound.
4. And the bread is done!
Slice the bread after it has been completely cooled.
Love the pore structure and bouncy-ness of the bread. Also, kudos to my diligent feeding, no sour aftertaste! Now I that I have started on sourdough breads, really wonder how I could go back to instant yeast breads. The taste of sourdough is much richer and better than normal bread. And also, the texture is so good and remains even after days. Perhaps only when I am in a hurry and need to whip up something for a crowd. :)
Some helpful links
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_hR43eMgug
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APEavQg8rMw&index=3&list=PLURsDaOr8hWWSiMZBLGP2UEs8w3nQDTVY
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