How do I modify sourdough recipes for use with my small starter?
I have a 125% hydration starter that I got from some chef friends of mine, but I've been instructed that if I care for it properly I should be using no more than 90g of starter from the base culture at a time. Lots of recipes I've seen suggest using much more starter than this (multiple cups at a time). How should I go from my small amount of starter to a larger one? Is it correct just to use a preferment to increase the volume? If so, how long should it be?
Best Answer
Increasing the volume of your starter is easy. Just add flour and water and let it sit at room temperature for until it becomes ripe (you can tell because the mixture will be very bubbly). The time depends on how much flour/water you add, what temperature you are fermenting at, how active your starter is, and what percentage of water you are using. Wait a few hours at least if you are significantly increasing the volume.
If you don't want to store the larger volume for your recipes, just increase the fermentation time for the recipe. The only caveat is that you shouldn't try to increase the volume of your starter by more than a factor of three at any one time (and keep in mind you'll need to reserve some sponge for the next batch of bread). Thus if you have very little starter, you may have to triple it, wait for eight hours, then double it, wait, then use, for example.
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What happens if I use less starter in sourdough?
As a general rule, the less sourdough starter you use, the slower your dough will ferment - resulting in a more sour flavored loaf. The more starter you use, the faster your dough will ferment - resulting in a less sour loaf.What happens if you add more starter to sourdough?
By adding more sourdough starter you are actually increasing the amount of yeast you are putting into the bread. This extra yeast will make your bread rise faster and will shorten the time your bread needs to ferment and proof resulting in a less sour tasting bread.How much of my starter should I use for a sourdough loaf?
Remove however much starter you need for your recipe \u2014 typically no more than 227 grams, about 1 cup. If your recipe calls for more than 1 cup of starter, give it a couple of feedings without discarding, until you've made enough for your recipe plus 113 grams to keep and feed again.Can you use a sourdough starter for other breads?
The nutritious, tangy, and delightfully flavored loaves of bread are reason enough to keep a sourdough culture in your kitchen. But there's much more sourdough starter can be used for besides bread.Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Ryutaro Tsukata, Ryutaro Tsukata, Ivan Samkov, Andrea Piacquadio