Before you can dive in and get dirty with your sourdough recipe, it's important to understand how much starter sourdough to use for baking bread. If you're wondering if the amount matters, then stand by the answer.
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Does the amount of starter sourdough matter?
The amount of starter used in homemade bread it can vary from 50 g to about 200 g or more. However, these amounts are by no means random.
Normally, the amount of starter chosen for a specific recipe is not chosen at random, rather it is chosen for a specific reason.
In fact, you can even change the amount of starter in a recipe to suit your needs.
The less starter you use, the slower the dough will ferment, resulting in a bread with a sharp taste. On the other hand, the more starter you use, the faster the dough will ferment, resulting in a less sour bread.
The amount of starter measure is somewhat related to the flour. So the initial 50g to 500g of flour will ferment at a very slow rate, instead of the initial 200g to 500g of bread flour.
Using less starter
In general, the less starter you use, the less chance you have that your dough will ferment too long bulk fermentationwhich also reduces the risk of a sticky, misshapen dough.
With any sourdough recipe, before you start baking, you need to make sure your starter is as firm as possible.
If you are looking to bulk ferment overnight then 50g starter is probably the best option for your bread dough recipe.
Some of the best reasons to use a small starting amount are:
- You can ferment the dough for longer periods, which means you can leave your dough alone to ferment in the fridge without having to worry about over-fermentation.
- Your starter will develop beautiful flavors within the dough, as the dough can be fermented longer, which gives the bacteria more time to develop flavors within the dough.
- Using small amounts of starter means you can easily carry a smaller starter
- You can continue to make sourdough bread during the summer.
When to use more starters
You will only need a small amount of starter, but you may want to increase the amount of starter in certain circumstances.
- If it's colder than usual, you can rev up your engine to do it bread fermentation faster.
- If you are in a hurry and want to get your starter to ferment faster then you can increase your motor up to 200g and reduce the bulk fermentation time.
- If you want your engine to run less sour then use more starter.
Sourdough starter nutrition reports
Your beginner is literally a living culture. The combination of flour and water harbors millions of yeast cells and bacteria living within it. This living culture requires fresh food, so more flour and water.
The more you add to your culture, the more life there is within it, so more food is needed. Knowing how much food is the right amount to feed your starter makes all of us yeast bakers rub our chins, but there are a few ways to approach it.
Minimum feed 1:1:1
Basically, you need to feed the dough starter with 1:1:1 food. It means it should feed your starters with sourdough with equal parts flour and water by weight.
For example, if you have 10g of starter and you are trying to feed it 1:1:1, then dilute 10g of starter with 10g of water and 10g of flour. Flour and fresh water are enough to feed the wild yeast becoming part of it so that it can ferment in time to ripen. Recipe for sourdough bread.
Another nutrition report
While 1:1:1 is the typical ratio used in most sourdoughs, you may find that some bakers use 1:2:2 or 1:3:3. These ratios represent the amount of flour and water you give your sourdough starter.
So, does the amount matter?
Yes of course. The amount of sourdough starter used in any sourdough recipe will always affect the overall the flavors of your sourdough breaddepending on what you hope to achieve.
If you want a reset, start with mine sourdough guide for beginners and mine sourdough recipe for beginners!
Frequently asked questions
Can you use too much sourdough starter in bread?
Yes. In fact, the more starter you use, the faster your dough will ferment, resulting in a less sour bread.
What is the best ratio for starting sourdough?
The most common feeding ratio is 1:1:1. For example, 40 g of flour and 40 g of water.
How long before the start of sourdough should be used instead of yeast?
You can use 300g of sourdough starter to replace 2 teaspoons of yeast.
How many starter grams of sourdough should I keep?
You should aim to save the initial 220g of sourdough each day. For example, 20g starter of baked dough, 70g all-purpose flour, 30g wholemeal rye flour and 100g water.