Talk to me about sourdough - The Fermentation Club!

[Cosmopolitan]

Good luck, I'm sure it will be fine.

[Cosmopolitan]

Well I say that, the first load will probably be a bit weird / wrong but they get better. I do not however recommend the Vanessa Kimball book. It's so obvious that she really knows her stuff but it's like the editor took all the pages and threw them up in the air and then submitted that, it's so topsy turvy.
I do actually have a timing + recipe spreadsheet if that would be helpful.

[bramblerose]

I gave up on the idea of a sourdough starter as it just seems like so much work.

I'm going to try poolish instead.

[Pippedydeadeye]

What’s poolish? I will Google but I’d like to chat.

[bramblerose]

Similar to sour dough but just a one off use, so no feeding or anything.

I *think* you make the sponge then use it within 8 -12 hours or so.

It sounds easier

[baargain]

Yes, I think I've used poolish when making some kind of bread before. As bramble said, I made a small amount of wet dough and left it to sit overnight or a few days. You do still use a bit of yeast, but less (I think) and the bread has a bit of a sough dough type tang.

[Mountain Goat]

You can feed a poolish and keep it going for a bit like a sourdough - I've kept some going for months.

[Pippedydeadeye]

I relocated Paul to the airing cupboard and he’s doubled in size overnight. I have to split him and feed him later today, as it’s day #3.

[Cosmopolitan]

Once he's properly established, I would move to keeping him in the fridge and just taking him out the day before you want to bake to warm up and be fed. Otherwise the endless feeding gets too much!

[Pippedydeadeye]

Thanks for the tip!

[Pippedydeadeye]

Ok, he’s fed. I’m finding it a bit of a faff getting him in and out of his jar. When I use him for the first time, Paul Hollywood doesn’t actually say what to do next. Do I replace all I take out?

[Epponnee Rae]

I realized I needed a discard pot or spare jar to manage feedings. I’d just weigh out the discard and then feed the rest in the main jar. Once you take some out to start baking, feed what remains and chuck it back in the fridge (or wherever you keep it).

[purple_dress]

I feed the morning I'm using and make sure I've then got enough starter that I can put back in the fridge for next time. Mine will be 400g after feeding and I use 180g and put the rest in the fridge.

I leave it in the fridge until the day before I want to use it and then feed once the day before (100g starter, 50g flour, 50g water and discard the rest of the starter from the fridge) then leave out on the counter and feed again the the morning (to the 200g starter add 100g flour, 100g water) and then I make the bread around 5pm, put it in the fridge overnight and bake in the morning.

[overthehill]

It's funny, looking back at my first post. I've been making sourdough for four years now. Back then, it was complete mystery to me, so I tied myself up in knots, trying to work out the best/correct method. Reading everyone's posts, since then, I realise that nearly everyone does things slightly differently, depending where and who they learned from. I now take the view that, once you have your first starter established, you can stop worrying about the precise science behind it. Treat it like a loyal pet. Loyal pets are quite forgiving, and so are sourdough starters. Pretty much everyone's own method produces a delicious loaf - whichever recipe, process, or quantity of starter you use.

The only constant is that, either you need to bake with your starter once or twice a week - thereby reducing its volume - or you need to tip out the equivalent quantity. I normally bake two loaves a week but, when I don't, I just tip 3 tablespoons (for me, approx 90g) down the sink, and feed the remainder.

[Pippedydeadeye]

I’ve fed Paul for the last time before his first use, according to the recipe. Am I wrong to be tipping him into a bowl, adding the feed and putting him back into the jar (which I’ve washed out)?

[overthehill]

It's not wrong. I usually mix the feed into the original container, but you do have to change and clean the containers regularly - I just don't do it every time I feed.

[Epponnee Rae]

I definitely didn’t wash the main jar every time I fed the mother starter. You want the natural yeasts flying about a bit anyway. I mainly washed it when it got a bit crusty. But it doesn’t really matter if your starter is active and bubbly.

I do the same as OTH and added flour/water to the main jar (after taking out the discard amount). Faffing about with too many jars and bowls was tiresome.

[Pippedydeadeye]

I think I just have a really awkward jar and fear of being wrong in some way.

[Pippedydeadeye]

I tried to make a loaf with half the recipe amount and it’s not risen.

[Epponnee Rae]

How long have you been proving for? In or out of the fridge?