Started Oct 29, 2017 using whole grain flour
Started Oct 29, 2017 using whole grain flour
1 cup whole rye | pumpernickle | whole wheat flour | spelt
1/2 cup cool non-chlorinated water
70g flour 70g water
Levain is the French term for a mixture of flour and water that has been colonized by yeasts and bacteria.
There may be different populations of yeasts and bacteria depending on where
you live, only certain types of bacteria and yeast will want to make their
home in your levain. Whether you live in San Francisco,
Seattle, Des Moines, Memphis, or Schenectady, your levain will foster
basically the same yeasts and bacteria as anyone else's. What will give your
bread its uniqueness are ingredients, method, time, temperature, shape, and
technique.
One scant cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 1/2 cup cool water (if your house is warm), or lukewarm water (if your house is cool) Combine equal amounts by weight of starter, water, and flour. For example 50g starter, 50g water, and 50g four. Cover and let starter sit for 1-2 hrs at room temperature until light and bubbly. Cover and return to fridge.
Cover it tightly and place it in the fridge. Feed it at least once a week (5-10 days) Let the starter sit out overnight to give the yeast time to recuperate before putting it back in the fridge.
14 days in fridge, recovered after 1 feeding.
Spread starter on to parchment paper and let dry. Crumble the starter and store
in an air tight container in the freezer for years.
For best results, use bottled water, as chlorine can kill the yeast/bacteria.
When making the initial mix, use unsweetened pineapple juice instead of water. This will make the mixture slightly acidic, helping to prevent unwanted bacteria from invading, while promoting the growth of the wanted lactobacilli. Feed with filtered water thereafter.
Discard half the mixture, add 1 scant cup unbleached all purpose flour, 1/2 cup cool water (lukewarm if house is cold)
Feed as usual, let starter rest for 6-8 hours. Remove no more than 1 cup.
1 cup fed, vigorous starter 1 1/2 cups luke warm water 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour beat vigorously cover and let rest at room temperature for 4 hoursRemove from fridge Remove Feed Let stand for Add starter Fold Retard Refridgerate 16-18 hrs (up to 24 hrs, but no more)
Start your starter with whole-grain flour, feeding it regularly with whole grains increases your starter's chance of attracting unfriendly bacteria.
For best, most consistent results, feed your starter with unbleached all-purpose flour. Do not use bleached flour, as its chemicals tend to harm sourdough.
If you're using your sourdough in a bread recipe without any added yeast, then you absolutely need to feed it before using. You may even need to feed it several times, to make sure it's very active and ready to provide your bread with the leavening it needs.
Use sifted flour
Use rice flour or semolina to coat banneton
To increase sourness: 1) Use a higher ratio of flour to water when feeding starter. 2) Use whole grain flours. 3) do not throw out the hooch. 4) Use a longer slower rise.
100 grams (1/3 - 1/2 cup) starter 250 grams (1 cup) water 8 grams (1.44 teaspoon) kosher salt 394 grams (3 cups) white bread flour (You'll also need rice flour for the 10-inch banneton) - Let ferment for 4 hours, folding at the 2 hour mark - Form loaf and transfer into prepped banneton (10 inch) - Retard dough in fridge for 10-12 hours, can be left up to 24 hrs, cover completly in plastic - Let rise in warm (70 - 75 degrees) spot for 3 to 5 hours or until it passes "poke test" - Transfer to parchment lined cookie sheet - Brush off excess flour and spray surface with water - Bake at 450 F. for 25 to 30 minutes - Spray inside of oven to produce steam 1 cup starter weights 280 grams
Standard recipe mixing ratios
| Ingredient | Ratio | 1.66 lb / 0.75 kg | 2 lb / 0.91 kg |
| Flour | 100 | 394 g | 479 g |
| Water | 63 | 250 g | 302 g |
| Salt | 2 | 8 g | 10 g |
| Starter | 25 | 100 g | 120 g |
100 394 g flour 63 250 g water 2 8 g salt 25 100 g starter
Use ratio 1 starter : 2 water : 3 flour
In baker's math, every ingredient is expressed in terms of the flour weight, which is always expressed as 100 percent. For a typical French bread:
Flour: 100% Water: 66% Salt: 2% Instant yeast: 0.6% Total: 170%
Decide how much dough is needed, and work backwards. For 1 kilogram of dough we first need to figure out how much flour we need. Divide the total of all the ingredient percentages added up (170% = 1.7) into the total weight of the dough:
1000 grams / 1.7 = 588 grams of flour (rounded to nearest gram).
Now that we know the flour weight, we figure out the weight of each of the ingredients by multiplying their percentage by the flour weight, just as we did above.
Water = 0.66 * 588 = 388 grams Salt = .02 * 588 = 12 grams (rounded) Instant yeast = .006 * 588 = 6 grams (rounded)
Step 1: Rising
4 hours, folding at 2 hrs 70 degrees
Step 2: Bulk fermentation / Retard
Transfer to banneton 10-18 hr in fridge / cool location A slower bulk rise will encourage more flavor and structural development up to a point.
As byproducts of manufacturing simple sugars, lactobacilli produce flavorful organic acids: lactic acid, which adds a rich, mellow flavor to bread; and to a lesser degree over a longer period of time, acetic acid, which gives sourdough bread its sour tang.
There are two types of lactobacilli: homo-fermentative, which produces primarily milder-flavored lactic acid (yogurt) and hetero-fermentative, which produces lactic acid, but also stronger-flavored acetic acid (vinegar).
Since homo-fermentative lactobacilli do well at room temperature, dough raised at room temperature will generally yield a milder-flavored bread. Hetero-fermentative lactobacilli prefers temperatures around 50°F; so raising bread dough in a cooler spot (as cool as the refrigerator) will bring out its vinegary acidity.
By varying the liquid/flour balance of your starter, and the temperature at which it's fed; as well as the temperature and duration of a sourdough loaf's rise,
you can make sourdough bread that's richly flavored, with barely a hint of sour; or one that's truly mouth-puckering.
A 9x5x2 3/4 loaf pan needs between 1.25 and 2 lb of dough, which roughly means recipes with about 3-4 cups total flour. This creates a "large" loaf. A 8x4x2 1/2 needs between 0.875 and 1.5 lb of dough, which roughly means recipes with 2-3 cups of total flour. Makes a "standard" loaf. A 7x3x2 1/2 needs between 0.6 and 1 lb of dough, which roughly means recipes with 1.5-2 cups of total flour. Makes a "junior" loaf. A round 8 inch brotform banneton needs between 0.5 and 1 lb of dough, which roughly means recipes with 1-2 cups of total flour. Makes a "small boule". A round 9 inch brotform banneton needs between 1 and 2 lb of dough, which roughly means recipes with 2-3 cups of total flour. Makes a "medium boule". A round 10 inch brotform banneton needs between 2 and 3 lb of dough, which roughly means recipes with 4-5 cups of total flour. Makes a "large boule". A round 11 3/4 inch brotform banneton needs between 3 and 4 lb of dough, which roughly means recipes with 7-8 cups of total flour. Makes a "mega boule".
Round 7 inch 0.5 lb 8 inch 1 lb 9 inch 1.5 lb 10 inch 2 lbs Oval Rectangular
Watch that the handles do not burn at high temperatures Standard size: 1.66 lb /0.75 kg 5qt Lodge Staub 5.75qt $225 | $170 Le Creuset
