The sourdough Starter Thread

[Bren In Pots]

Looking good Peanut

[Peanut]

Thanks very much Bren!

[Peanut]

I am not sure what to do.

Yesterday I made up my sponge, at about 16.30hrs. It looked good, nice and bubbly, so this afternoon I made my dough, this was done by about 15.00hrs and is now having its first proof. I am following HFW intructions now.

The house is unheated, the dough is sat in the living room which is 15c and could drop to around 13c overnight, but I don't want to make a loaf this evening.

Will it be ok to leave it to proof overnight, either where it is at 13-15c or can I put it in the fridge, which is between 2c and 5c?

I would then do the second warm proof tomorrow morning and bake once it's ready.

Thanks

[Snoop Puss]

Not sure if Bren will see your message this evening. She's far more of an expert than me. But in case she doesn't see your message, I'll throw my penny's worth in.

Your dough will rise at your fridge temperature, but it will be extremely slow. If I were you, I'd leave your dough in your living room to gauge how quickly it's rising. If it looks like it's growing well by bedtime, put it in the fridge to slow it right down. If it's not showing much activity, leave it in the living room. And if it's somewhere in between, see if you've got somewhere a bit cooler but not as cold as your fridge.

I have no idea what HFW's recipe might be. One crucial factor is how much starter you used, as the more you put in, the quicker the dough will rise. Are you able to post a link to the recipe you're following?

[Peanut]

Thanks Snoop, all advice very gratefully received!

Here's a link to the HFW recipe Bread with character: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipes for sourdough | Food | The Guardian I didn't use his starter, I used Tim Spector's but I made sure to use 150g as Hugh uses in the recipe above when switching over.

I could always pop it by the backdoor or bathroom, it will probably be colder there, or even in the greenhouse? That might be better, it's meant to be 12c ish.

I've taken a couple of pics to show you, the first one is after it was kneaded and set to proof, the second I have just taken, so about 2hrs 30mins later. Sorry about the cling film!



The dough is definitely getting bigger.

[Peanut]

I have taken another pic, this is 4hrs after kneading and shaping 1st rise.




It has risen well, has good bubbles. I touched it, but only gently/barelyand it felt quite firm, but what do I know!

I am leaning towards popping it into the fridge overnight...

[Mark Rand]

Put it in the oven. You know you want to!

PS:- From disappointed experience, don't let it rise too much. over proofed dough doesn't seem to rise in the oven.

I've taken to putting a sample in a parallel sided glass and drawing a line for the level with a whiteboard marker, then I can see how much the dough has risen even it it's in a bowl or bread tin.

[Snoop Puss]

Sorry, got caught up last night. What did you do in the end?

I would probably have shaped my loaf at bedtime and then put it in the fridge overnight. Then taken it out this morning and baked it.

Agree totally with Mark. Overproofed bread doesn't hold its structure in the oven and may collapse. So in fact it is better to marginally underproof than marginally overproof.

I don't use HFW's process. The recipes I mostly use are by Jeffrey Hamelman and Elaine Foodbod, as well as Maurizio Leo (The Perfect Loaf). They fundamentally do the same thing: keep smallish amounts of starter and use even smaller amounts of that to get their dough going. There's next to no flour wastage with this method and I have never had discard since my starter has been up and running.

Elaine Foodbod has a good website, though she has changed her full master recipe process page to condense it all into one page: https://foodbodsourdough.com/the-process/

Definitely have a look at her baking timetable page. She is very active on FB and all the other social media. If you're on FB, you could have a look at her account: http://facebook.com/foodbodsourdough
There's also a private group of people who use her recipes here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sourdoughwithfoodbod I haven't been on there for a while, but I remember it as being amazingly supportive.

Edited to say: as Mark says, put it in the oven whatever it looks like. At the very worst, if your dough has collapsed and feels very sticky to the touch - though that seems unlikely given your photos - pour it into a tray, poke your fingers in it a few times, drizzle some oil over it, maybe scatter some salt, herbs or garlic on it, and then bake it and call it focaccia!

[Bren In Pots]

Just catching up with the thread, you've had excellent advice from Snoop and Mark.

I'd have also baked the loaf and if the worse happens sourdough is great for dipping in soup.

[Peanut]

Thanks Mark, Snoop and Bren for all your advice, tips and recommendations, much appreciated.
Things I need to do...
Work out my timings so I can bake late morning/early afternoon.
Find one method that I like and stick to it, instead of reading 101 different ways of doing sourdough!
Take into account the temp of my house and how long proofing will take and how big a bowl I can balance on top of my router!

This loaf is currently on its final proof in its basket, it has been going for about 1hr 30mins and has started to rise, I will check it again at 11am. Then it can go in the oven as Sourdough experimental loaf no1.

Hopefully it will produce something edible and funnily enough I have made a chicken stew for today, so as you say Bren it can be dunked in that if all else fails!

[Snoop Puss]

Looking forward to seeing a photo of the finished item.

Don't forget you could use something like an insulated box with hot water bottle (or warm water bottle, so as not to overheat your dough) wrapped in a blanket or the like, not just your router.

[Peanut]

Funny you should suggest that Snoop, I have been pondering using a hot water bottle or one of those heated wrap thingys, I'm sure I have some somewhere. The router is fine for the starter while its in a jar, but the dough definitely needs something bigger.

More pics will be taken!

[Peanut]

It's not as bad as it could have been, but not how I would have liked it to be.
It tastes good though

It's a bit on the dense side.
I need to make the sponge and dough wetter.

Here's some pics...

[Bren In Pots]

That's a fine looking loaf congrats.

Luckily the photo of my first effort disappeared from the thread in a vine update.

[Snoop Puss]

Looks mighty fine to me! Bet it smells and tastes delicious.Congratulations.

Not all sourdough bread is light and holey, especially if you've used a fair amount of wholegrain flour. And in fact, my husband prefers a denser loaf as any butter and sandwich fillings stay put rather than falling through the gaps. So density isn't in itself necessarily a failing.

Happy bread baking and good luck with your next loaf.