Sourdough starter hydration
I’m making my first sourdough starter. Actually my second; the first one dried up and turned into cement. I figured that it wasn’t hydrated enough (the original directions called for 35g rye flour, 15g AP flour and 50g water), so in my new starter, I upped the amount of liquid by 25g.
Does hydration affect the fermentation process? Or rather, does over-hydration affect the process? Are there sourdough starters that are very liquid?
Best Answer
The hydration of sourdough starters can vary ...50% to 125%. Some are kept very stiff and others are kept quite liquid. A higher hydration starter will need to be fed more frequently. The hydration of your starter relates to how you will use the starter. Also, knowing the hydration percent of your starter is important when calculating the hydration percent of your final dough.
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Quick Answer about "Sourdough starter hydration"
A "100% hydration sourdough starter" means it's 1 part water and 1 part flour. In other words, for every gram of flour there's a corresponding gram of water, hence 100% of the flour is hydrated. This is the easiest starter to maintain since most recipes are written with a 1:1 ratio in mind.What hydration should sourdough starter be?
Though we recommend maintaining your sourdough starter at a hydration level of 100%, you can technically maintain your sourdough starter at other levels depending on the baked good you want to make.How do you make a 100% hydration sourdough starter?
InstructionsCan sourdough be too hydrated?
How Wet Is Too Wet for Sourdough? It is possible to make 100% hydration (or even higher) so there's really no such thing as too wet. You just want to make sure it's not too wet for you to handle.Starter Hydration Timelapse | How hydration affects dough growth | Foodgeek
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Answer 2
Yes, hydration does affect the fermentation, but to get a starter going you need not worry.
In fact, one of my favourite instruction (from a very experienced German baker and author, roughly translated) is:
Take about half a cup of flour, add enough water to make something like thick pancake batter....
Once you get your starter going and you have familiarized yourself with your new pet and know how to use it, then you might want to dive into the scientific details of how water and temperature gradients influence the flavour profile and yeast to acid-producing bacteria ratio etc. Or never bother, that’s also perfectly ok.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Jill Wellington, Ketut Subiyanto, Pixabay, Sebastian Coman Photography