Really glad wordloaf is coming back!!! I struggled a bit to get my first starter going, but thanks to all the helpful tips from your original posts, I now have two healthy starters! Snagging a rare bag of AP from Whole Foods that they had bagged up from their bakery during the pandemic shortage in the spring seemed to do the trick, and got my second starter to a healthy point weeks ahead of the first one I started from an older bag of King Arthur AP that I had stored in the pantry from pre-pandemic times. I like to think the whole foods flour had some of their bakery's yeast hanging around ... maybe? Making a fresh loaf every week has been a major highlight of working from home these last several months ... really excited to see what you have in store for us!
Hope you are doing well. 20 years gluten free, now I'm eating imported wheat flour (Caputo 00 for now) with impunity. It's not the gluten - stupid!, rather our Soilent Green flour. Tried some sourdough earlier this year, to mixed results. Hoping to learn more and do better! Super Peel production suffered severely from Covid, but is making a comeback!
Gary - Glad to have you here, and to know that the Superpeel is surviving. You can bet I'll be talking it up on the newsletter sooner or later. (Have you considered testing whether you can tolerate sourdough but not yeast-fermented gluten?)
Mixed results I mentioned above were just related my sourdough baking results not the "gluten" issue. I'll keep working on it........ Also, ordered some pasta from Italy - small farm, organic....... Eating that with impunity!! Sourdough fermentation does not seem to yeild any improvement for me with US flours I've tried. Rather, still a mystery for now. You know I'll keep experimenting! 🤣 Can you recommend any super "clean" flours I might try?
So great to have you back! I baked my first ever sourdough back in March/April and have been cranking out 2-3 lovely loaves per week ever since! I now self-identify as a bread baker; although just a one-trick pony (sourdough boule) for now! Looking forward to learning more...
Thanks for the post -- I wonder if you could elaborate a bit more on why you're saying to put the starter in the fridge after it has risen. Another guide -- I can't remember where to be honest -- said to put it in the fridge about a half hour after mixing. The mix might have been different than what you're suggesting, too, I think less starter and more flour (20g starter & 100g each water and flour). Would you change your suggestion and put it in the fridge sooner if your starter were half rye and half AP?
Kevin - The method I describe is what works for this particular formula, and it's entirely possible that another method would be more appropriate to a different formula. I do know if that you put this one in the fridge early, the culture won't have had a chance to get a foothold on the new substrate. The point in this instance is to get it really moving and then suspend it, so it's ready for use straight from the fridge. It's possible that a long stay in the fridge might get a culture to a similar state, but I have no idea how long that might take. // If I wanted to do something similar with a 50/50 mix of rye and white flour, I'd put it in the fridge when it is about halfway through its full room temp cycle, however long that might take. But I can't vouch for how long it would remain viable in the fridge, given the extra nutrition.
Good point -- ready to use right from the fridge. and perhaps I should use less rye flour for maintenance, because I have noticed that sometimes the starter will have risen a bit -- not quite doubled -- and then collapsed a bit after a week. Thanks for the insight!
Do you refresh (re-feed with flour and water) your starter each time you use it for baking? I haven't done this all summer, but have seen other recipes that say to refresh when using it to bake.
Yes, definitely. But using the cold-storage approach means only having to do it once a week or so. Are you saying you haven't refreshed yours all summer and you have been baking with it all along?
Not exactly! I have not refreshed it immediately after using it for baking. I have taken what I needed for the recipe and then refrigerated the remainder. Then I took it out of the fridge at least once a week and fed it and either put it back in the fridge or used it and then put it back.
Lisa - I'm still a little confused. Sounds like you are refreshing it once a week and either using it or putting it back into the fridge for later use. Which is good! As I said above, if it goes back into the fridge after doubling, it will be ready for use for a week or more.
I know I am being obtuse but I feel a bit confused. Once my tiny sourdough was mature I started a process of feeding two jars and leaving it overnight where it tripled in volume by morning. I used one for baking and put one in the fridge. I have had excellent baking results. When I baked again (usually about two weeks) I repeated this feeding overnight. I quit keeping discard as I didn't use it. I now understand that if I put in the refrigerator when it doubles, I can use it out the fridge without feeding if I use it within a week. I think I will convert to the double volume and fridge method as it allows me to use cold storage. But my question is whether convenience is the only reason to do this or is there another reason?
Edith - I'm not sure what you mean. It sounds like you are already sort of doing this, but doing it between two containers, letting the starter triple rather than double, and only using the starter in bread after feeding it at room temperature. My approach means one less container to fill and a slightly more robust starter because you are putting it away before it has peaked. I haven't shared them yet, but there are plenty of recipes that use freshly fed starter as well. The approach I describe above is simply the baseline routine for keeping a starter happy and healthy in the fridge, it doesn't preclude other types of starter building. (Also: convenience is an excellent reason to do something!)
Thanks, Andrew. Somehow my reply was posted twice so I tried to delete and it deleted both. Arg. My comment was that I am sure I am overthinking this. I was worried that I my fed starter was too mature since it had tripled. I take it that your recipes are for cold stored starter that has been fed and put in the fridge after doubling? If you say fresh starter then it is okay to use tripled starter? Also, I love convenience as it is much easier to plan baking starting with cold storage. I found I had three jars in the fridge -- a small backup, a discard, and fed starter. My method reduced it to one jar in the fridge. Thanks for answering my questions!
Edith - Rather than overthink it (I know how that can be), just be sure to read my recipes for what kind of starter you can use. Not everyone's recipes are specific, but they should be, and I make mine so. So far I only have a few recipes up here, and they are pretty flexible in terms of what kind of starter you can use in them, and I am clear to say so. In the future, I'll be sure to detail what I mean when I deviate from that sort of approach. (For example, I'm working on a recipe that works best when you let the starter double and then use it right away—it'll work if you let the starter triple, but the flavor will be different. More on this soon.)
Good to see you! Funny thing, I just looked this info up yesterday and the bake-off begins today. 41* in MN. Perfect baking days.
41? That can't be right. ;)
Yeah. Freak of nature. Was 90+ last week.....too hot to bake. But here goes.....👍
Welcome back! So excited to see what's next!
Really glad wordloaf is coming back!!! I struggled a bit to get my first starter going, but thanks to all the helpful tips from your original posts, I now have two healthy starters! Snagging a rare bag of AP from Whole Foods that they had bagged up from their bakery during the pandemic shortage in the spring seemed to do the trick, and got my second starter to a healthy point weeks ahead of the first one I started from an older bag of King Arthur AP that I had stored in the pantry from pre-pandemic times. I like to think the whole foods flour had some of their bakery's yeast hanging around ... maybe? Making a fresh loaf every week has been a major highlight of working from home these last several months ... really excited to see what you have in store for us!
Glad to see you’re back; hope you and yours are well!
Hope you are doing well. 20 years gluten free, now I'm eating imported wheat flour (Caputo 00 for now) with impunity. It's not the gluten - stupid!, rather our Soilent Green flour. Tried some sourdough earlier this year, to mixed results. Hoping to learn more and do better! Super Peel production suffered severely from Covid, but is making a comeback!
Gary - Glad to have you here, and to know that the Superpeel is surviving. You can bet I'll be talking it up on the newsletter sooner or later. (Have you considered testing whether you can tolerate sourdough but not yeast-fermented gluten?)
Mixed results I mentioned above were just related my sourdough baking results not the "gluten" issue. I'll keep working on it........ Also, ordered some pasta from Italy - small farm, organic....... Eating that with impunity!! Sourdough fermentation does not seem to yeild any improvement for me with US flours I've tried. Rather, still a mystery for now. You know I'll keep experimenting! 🤣 Can you recommend any super "clean" flours I might try?
So great to have you back! I baked my first ever sourdough back in March/April and have been cranking out 2-3 lovely loaves per week ever since! I now self-identify as a bread baker; although just a one-trick pony (sourdough boule) for now! Looking forward to learning more...
Thank you, Andrew. I had been mistreating my starter, and did not know why!
Thanks for the post -- I wonder if you could elaborate a bit more on why you're saying to put the starter in the fridge after it has risen. Another guide -- I can't remember where to be honest -- said to put it in the fridge about a half hour after mixing. The mix might have been different than what you're suggesting, too, I think less starter and more flour (20g starter & 100g each water and flour). Would you change your suggestion and put it in the fridge sooner if your starter were half rye and half AP?
Kevin - The method I describe is what works for this particular formula, and it's entirely possible that another method would be more appropriate to a different formula. I do know if that you put this one in the fridge early, the culture won't have had a chance to get a foothold on the new substrate. The point in this instance is to get it really moving and then suspend it, so it's ready for use straight from the fridge. It's possible that a long stay in the fridge might get a culture to a similar state, but I have no idea how long that might take. // If I wanted to do something similar with a 50/50 mix of rye and white flour, I'd put it in the fridge when it is about halfway through its full room temp cycle, however long that might take. But I can't vouch for how long it would remain viable in the fridge, given the extra nutrition.
Good point -- ready to use right from the fridge. and perhaps I should use less rye flour for maintenance, because I have noticed that sometimes the starter will have risen a bit -- not quite doubled -- and then collapsed a bit after a week. Thanks for the insight!
Do you refresh (re-feed with flour and water) your starter each time you use it for baking? I haven't done this all summer, but have seen other recipes that say to refresh when using it to bake.
Yes, definitely. But using the cold-storage approach means only having to do it once a week or so. Are you saying you haven't refreshed yours all summer and you have been baking with it all along?
Not exactly! I have not refreshed it immediately after using it for baking. I have taken what I needed for the recipe and then refrigerated the remainder. Then I took it out of the fridge at least once a week and fed it and either put it back in the fridge or used it and then put it back.
Lisa - I'm still a little confused. Sounds like you are refreshing it once a week and either using it or putting it back into the fridge for later use. Which is good! As I said above, if it goes back into the fridge after doubling, it will be ready for use for a week or more.
After feeding it is important to leave the starter out for a few hours or can it be out right in the fridge?
Lisa - you need to let it ferment for a few hours (until it doubles) before putting it away, or it will not remain active in the fridge.
I know I am being obtuse but I feel a bit confused. Once my tiny sourdough was mature I started a process of feeding two jars and leaving it overnight where it tripled in volume by morning. I used one for baking and put one in the fridge. I have had excellent baking results. When I baked again (usually about two weeks) I repeated this feeding overnight. I quit keeping discard as I didn't use it. I now understand that if I put in the refrigerator when it doubles, I can use it out the fridge without feeding if I use it within a week. I think I will convert to the double volume and fridge method as it allows me to use cold storage. But my question is whether convenience is the only reason to do this or is there another reason?
Edith - I'm not sure what you mean. It sounds like you are already sort of doing this, but doing it between two containers, letting the starter triple rather than double, and only using the starter in bread after feeding it at room temperature. My approach means one less container to fill and a slightly more robust starter because you are putting it away before it has peaked. I haven't shared them yet, but there are plenty of recipes that use freshly fed starter as well. The approach I describe above is simply the baseline routine for keeping a starter happy and healthy in the fridge, it doesn't preclude other types of starter building. (Also: convenience is an excellent reason to do something!)
Thanks, Andrew. Somehow my reply was posted twice so I tried to delete and it deleted both. Arg. My comment was that I am sure I am overthinking this. I was worried that I my fed starter was too mature since it had tripled. I take it that your recipes are for cold stored starter that has been fed and put in the fridge after doubling? If you say fresh starter then it is okay to use tripled starter? Also, I love convenience as it is much easier to plan baking starting with cold storage. I found I had three jars in the fridge -- a small backup, a discard, and fed starter. My method reduced it to one jar in the fridge. Thanks for answering my questions!
Edith - Rather than overthink it (I know how that can be), just be sure to read my recipes for what kind of starter you can use. Not everyone's recipes are specific, but they should be, and I make mine so. So far I only have a few recipes up here, and they are pretty flexible in terms of what kind of starter you can use in them, and I am clear to say so. In the future, I'll be sure to detail what I mean when I deviate from that sort of approach. (For example, I'm working on a recipe that works best when you let the starter double and then use it right away—it'll work if you let the starter triple, but the flavor will be different. More on this soon.)
Pls make it easy to print a recipe or guide
Your site is GREAT, but another is www.theperfectloaf.com. Very complimentary to yourd.