Fall Sourdough Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the biggest mistake you can make with your sourdough starter? ›

If you don't see bubbles, don't prune (discard), water and feed it! Give it time. The BIGGEST MISTAKE You Can Make With Your Sourdough Starter: Premature Discarding!

Most commonly, the issue here has to do with temperature (which is very important). If your sourdough starter is kept at a low temp, even 70°F (21°C), it will slow fermentation activity and appear to be sluggish, taking longer to rise and progress through the typical signs of fermentation. The solution: keep it warm.

How do I know if my sourdough starter is ready to use? When your starter is reliably rising to double or triple its size and falling in the jar anywhere between 4-8 hours after you feed it (dependent on your ambient conditions and the flour you feed with) it is ready to bake with.

It would be best if you discarded some portion of your starter each time you feed it unless you want to continue to let it grow. Eventually, you need to discard the used “food” (flour and water) that's been used to sustain your starter during the last fermentation period.

If you find your starter is rising so fast that it has sunk back down to its starting point by the time you feed it, it needs more food. You can either feed it twice a day or increase the ratio to 1:3:3 or even 1:4:4, depending on your starter.

Feeding the starter part whole wheat or rye flour will help restore the balance. About 5% whole wheat and 95% white for a few feedings seems to take care of this in a few feedings. If you are measuring by volume, put a tablespoon of whole wheat or rye flour in each measuring cup, then fill them with white flour.

If your sourdough starter is left too long it gets hungry and exhausted. You will know because it will have doubled and then the air pockets start to collapse and the mix deflates. This can happen at any temperature, but it will be slower to occur in cool environments and much faster in warmer.

Honey: Honey adds a sweetness to this dough and helps balance any sour flavor that comes through from the fermentation process. If you are looking for whole wheat bread without the honey, try this recipe. Salt: Salt enhances the flavor and helps tempers the fermentation.

What is the best flour for sourdough bread? ›

Whole wheat flour is an excellent choice for creating a sourdough starter due to its nutrient-rich composition and potential for fostering a robust microbial community. However, it's important to note that the quality of whole wheat flour can vary between brands.

Baking soda or bicarbonate of soda can be used in sourdough bread to create a less sour loaf. Added after bulk fermentation, but before shaping, it can help to create a lighter, more fluffy loaf of sourdough.

If it rises and then begins to sink a little it's still fine because it will get more food when you ise it to build the dough. If it rises and then sinks back to the original level you need to feed it again before using it. A clear container will also allow you to see how bubbly your starter is.

Blackley's sourdough starter, created from 4,500 year-old yeast, is considered the oldest sourdough starter, per Oldest. Other starters like the Saint Honoratus Wheat also are quite old. A bakery called Chrissi's Farmhouse Bakery uses it and said, “This noble starter dates back 900 years.

Yes, you can overfeed your sourdough starter. Audrey explains: “Every time you add more flour and water, you are depleting the existing population of natural bacteria and yeast.” If you keep adding more and more, eventually you'll dilute the starter so much that you'll just have flour and water.

Starvation - if you don't feed your starter for a long period of time it will develop harmful bacteria and mold. This will smell terrible and look orange, pink or fuzzy and green. Mold - mold can also occur in a well fed starter if there are mold spores on any of the equipment you've used or in the flour you're using.

Sourdough starter goes flat when it's been left too long for that temperature and it runs out of food. The starter fills with air, was not used in time, runs out of energy, and deflates. Deflation destroys the airy structure of the sourdough starter.

If you have too much starter compared to the additional flour and water you're adding, your hungry starter consumes all the nutrients and then it's not as bubbly.

If you use a starter just after you've fed it, you will be using a very weak, diluted starter and then diluting it further by adding even more flour and water.