Question for Sourdough Bread Makers

[GaryInCO]

A cup of flour is a lot to feed a new starter, but I really doubt it would kill it. Feeding a starter seems to be a pretty resilient procedure. But I’ve never woken up a frozen starter, nor have I used dry flour, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Or a cup of flour.

 

[Eucerin]

I was away for 3 month and left the starter in the fridge. Obviously it was not a good idea, I am paying the consequences
Since then, I have made sourdough bread twice, sourdough dinner roll 3 times, they are all failures. I have added the King Arthur flour and costco purify bottle water to wake it up for days, but there are bubbles on the surface with no rising. Based on what I read in the forum, I concludes it may be still hangry, I am continue to feeding it until it rises.
I am doing the soul searching and see what I did wrong.
1. I am in northeast new england area, my house set at temperature 70F, I read that it needs to be at 78F, how do you keep it at 78F in the winter?
2. for those freeze your starters, do you use glass bottle or plastic bottle? glass bottle would crack in the freezer temperature, but glass bottle is recommended for starter
Thank you in advance,

 

[calmloki]

I have some starter from last season we were here in the freezer in a wide mouth, straight sided glass jar. Left the lid off till frozen. Just pulled it out and took a pic. Zoom in - aside from the frost the frozen bubbles are pretty neat to see.

 

[walkinwood]

I was away for 3 month and left the starter in the fridge. Obviously it was not a good idea, I am paying the consequences
Since then, I have made sourdough bread twice, sourdough dinner roll 3 times, they are all failures. I have added the King Arthur flour and costco purify bottle water to wake it up for days, but there are bubbles on the surface with no rising. Based on what I read in the forum, I concludes it may be still hangry, I am continue to feeding it until it rises.
I am doing the soul searching and see what I did wrong.
1. I am in northeast new england area, my house set at temperature 70F, I read that it needs to be at 78F, how do you keep it at 78F in the winter?
2. for those freeze your starters, do you use glass bottle or plastic bottle? glass bottle would crack in the freezer temperature, but glass bottle is recommended for starter
Thank you in advance,

You could keep it on top of your water heater or near your furnace.
Typically, when you freeze starter, you smear the starter on parchment paper before placing in the freezer so that it freezes quickly. Then you lift it off the sheet and place it in any kind of container. However, I don't see why a glass container would crack in the freezer unless you pour something hot in it.

 

[audreyh1]

You could keep it on top of your water heater or near your furnace.
Typically, when you freeze starter, you smear the starter on parchment paper before placing in the freezer so that it freezes quickly. Then you lift it off the sheet and place it in any kind of container. However, I don't see why a glass container would crack in the freezer unless you pour something hot in it.

I think a glass container is OK as long as it doesn’t have a narrowing neck. Straight sides probably OK.

 

[Eucerin]

I have some starter from last season we were here in the freezer in a wide mouth, straight sided glass jar. Left the lid off till frozen. Just pulled it out and took a pic. Zoom in - aside from the frost the frozen bubbles are pretty neat to see.View attachment 53263

That's icy. The entire season without cover, it would be interesting to know if the starter still alive

 

[Eucerin]

You could keep it on top of your water heater or near your furnace.
Typically, when you freeze starter, you smear the starter on parchment paper before placing in the freezer so that it freezes quickly. Then you lift it off the sheet and place it in any kind of container. However, I don't see why a glass container would crack in the freezer unless you pour something hot in it.

Its purely chemistry that curved in my brain back to younger time in school, that glass bottle with liquid in the freezer would cause crack.

 

[audreyh1]

Its purely chemistry that curved in my brain back to younger time in school, that glass bottle with liquid in the freezer would cause crack.

If you are freezing broth in a glass jar that narrows at the opening it will likely crack because water expands when freezing. That was my understanding.

 

[calmloki]

I waited till the starter was frozen, then put the top on. Lots of head space, straight sides, no problem yet.
Decades ago I had an old cast iron wall hung bath sink lift off its hanging cleats thanks to the drain pipe freezing and directing the force up and down in the drain. Downward force didn't "flow" around the P-trap or compress into the 1 1/4" sink tailpiece, so up the sink went!

 

[Eucerin]

Thank you @audreyh1 and calmloki

 

[Eucerin]

I checked the starter again this morning, it is still flat but with excess water on top of it. I drained the water and some starter, added 1 tbsp flour and 1 tbsp water to restart. won't know if it works until tonight. Keep trying

 

[Eucerin]

Good news!!!
Happy to report that after eight days of struggle, my starter finally doubled itself this morning
I fed it again in two jars. One currently is sitting in the freezer--uncapped until it freezes; the other one is in the fridge to be used whenever.
I will figured out how to attach the pictures someday in the future so I can share the pictures with you all
Thank you for your help and listening to me rumbling in the past few days

 

[street]

Good news!!!
Happy to report that after eight days of struggle, my starter finally doubled itself this morning
I fed it again in two jars. One currently is sitting in the freezer--uncapped until it freezes; the other one is in the fridge to be used whenever.
I will figured out how to attach the pictures someday in the future so I can share the pictures with you all
Thank you for your help and listening to me rumbling in the past few days

Great!!!
I'm still hoping my starter wakes up and comes alive. I'm going to give more time. I did notice this morning I have a thin layer of alcohol on top which is a good sign.

 

[walkinwood]

If you are freezing broth in a glass jar that narrows at the opening it will likely crack because water expands when freezing. That was my understanding.

Ah - I didn't think of that. Water is heaviest at 4C, so the top would freeze first. Then when the rest freezes and expands, it will crack the glass if it can't push the ice that froze first higher up the bottle. Love this forum - retirement & physics!

 

[zaqxsw]

I read this somewhere and it has worked for me.

After I bake sourdough bread, I leave 1/2 cup of starter in my starter crock. You can do this by discarding some of it for pancakes or just adjust your startup flour/water amounts when you feed the starter the next time.

I then cover the 1/2 cup of starter with 1 cup of flour (whole wheat or bread), thoroughly mix it in (it's really dry), and then immediately refrigerate it.

Whenever I want to bake sourdough bread:

1) Remove the starter from the refrigerator during the afternoon 2 days before baking and add 1 cup of water. Try to break it up. Let it sit and stir a few times that day. Ferment overnight.

2) The next day add ¼ cup flour (whole wheat or bread) in the morning. Add ¼ cup water? Stir until somewhat smooth. It will be starting to come alive.

3) That evening feed ¼ cup of flour (whole wheat or bread) and ¼ of rye flour, or just ½ cup (whole wheat or bread) flour. Add just enough water for smooth consistency when stirring.

4) (Optional) If wanting discard on the baking day for pancakes, add another ½ cup (whole wheat or bread) flour and up to ½ cup water.

5) Cover starter crock with lid to trap water. It makes scraping the crock walls easier on baking day. I always scrape the crock before dipping out the starter for baking. Good stuff there! Ferment overnight.

6) Bake bread the next day. Discard if needed to reduce starter to ~ ½ cup. Save discarded starter for pancakes.

7) Repeat.

I've kept starter several months with this method and restarted it in the two days I mentioned above.

 

[zaqxsw]

Oh, by the way, I use 2 cups of active starter when I bake bread.

 

[zaqxsw]

Sourdough Pancakes with Discard (makes ~4)

1) ½ - 1 cup discard sourdough starter. Cold from the fridge is fine
2) 1 egg
3) 1 teaspoon baking powder
4) ½ teaspoon baking soda
5) 2 teaspoons sugar or brown sugar
6) ¼ teaspoon salt
7) 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional: maple syrup, chocolate chips, blueberries, etc.)
8) 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
9) Add just enough flour for consistency if needed

Whip it in a bowl with a whisk and cook on a griddle/skillet at med-high heat until it bubbles and then flip them for another 1-2 minutes. You won’t be hungry for lunch!

 

[Chuckanut]

Has anybody tried the King Arthur Basic Sourdough Bread recipe? I noticed it uses a lot of starter, more than the flour added. And also some yeast, I assume to rise faster.

 

[zaqxsw]

If you are referring to the bread machine recipe, yes it was the basis for my recipe. I also use the 2 cups of starter and 1 1/2 tsp of bread machine yeast. The starter yeast makes up the rest. With the shorter bread machine rise times you need the yeast. I've tried different bread settings: whole wheat, etc., but settled on just the basic bread cycle. Comes out great!

I've doctored the recipe up a bit for more texture and hardiness.

 

[street]

I read this somewhere and it has worked for me.

After I bake sourdough bread, I leave 1/2 cup of starter in my starter crock. You can do this by discarding some of it for pancakes or just adjust your startup flour/water amounts when you feed the starter the next time.

I then cover the 1/2 cup of starter with 1 cup of flour (whole wheat or bread), thoroughly mix it in (it's really dry), and then immediately refrigerate it.

Whenever I want to bake sourdough bread:

1) Remove the starter from the refrigerator during the afternoon 2 days before baking and add 1 cup of water. Try to break it up. Let it sit and stir a few times that day. Ferment overnight.

2) The next day add ¼ cup flour (whole wheat or bread) in the morning. Add ¼ cup water? Stir until somewhat smooth. It will be starting to come alive.

3) That evening feed ¼ cup of flour (whole wheat or bread) and ¼ of rye flour, or just ½ cup (whole wheat or bread) flour. Add just enough water for smooth consistency when stirring.

4) (Optional) If wanting discard on the baking day for pancakes, add another ½ cup (whole wheat or bread) flour and up to ½ cup water.

5) Cover starter crock with lid to trap water. It makes scraping the crock walls easier on baking day. I always scrape the crock before dipping out the starter for baking. Good stuff there! Ferment overnight.

6) Bake bread the next day. Discard if needed to reduce starter to ~ ½ cup. Save discarded starter for pancakes.

7) Repeat.

I've kept starter several months with this method and restarted it in the two days I mentioned above.

Awesome info!!!
I will try it still having issues with my first try to bring alive my startah from freezing over winter.

I will give it a try and thank You!!

 

[zaqxsw]

Good luck! I'd be interested in knowing how it worked for you. The first day and night out of the frig I just cover with a cloth. The second night I use the crock lid to soften the sides by keeping more moisture in. My starter crock is an 8" diameter x 4" deep stoneware crock. It makes stirring easy and has never overflowed.

 

[street]

I will see how it goes and if it comes alive, I will post success. I have mine in a qtr. Kerr jar with coffee paper rubber banded on top. I need to find a wider mouth jar that is more convenient like yours.

Thank You.

 

[Kings over Queens]

Has anybody tried the King Arthur Basic Sourdough Bread recipe? I noticed it uses a lot of starter, more than the flour added. And also some yeast, I assume to rise faster.

There are a few basic king arthur recipes. the one i use is.

227 g fed and active starter
397 g h2o
600 g flour
18 g salt

I'll often go 50/50 whole wheat to bread and when I do I add a good glug (25g) of honey. Honey and whole wheat go well.

this is an old loaf.

 

[Trailwalker]

I think I make a smaller loaf than you folks.

98 grams active starter
257 grams water
8 grams salt
100 grams whole wheat flour
288 grams King Arthur bread flour

 

[Kings over Queens]

^ same hyrdration, just smaller loaf.

I've got one proofing now that is 75% of my recipe. My daughter and her boyfriend are coming home for christmas and I like to have a fresh loaf of bread on the counter, but we've got hordes of people coming an food out the wazoo, so I shrunk the recipe a little bit.

I like to leave the bread on the island sitting on a cutting board with the butter bell next to it so people are invited (tempted) to lop off a slice anytime they want. "eat this, it will make you feel better."