The sourdough starter can cause many questions. From how often to feed it to how to use the toss to where to store it, bakers keep our telephone line Busy. But to answer that last question (and others too!), we have a new favorite tool: the House of Sourdough.
The Sourdough Home, by Brod and Taylor, creators of small evidence box that we want, is a ceiling fixture with a temperature indicator that can be set to warm or cool settings ranging from 41°F to 122°F. Whether you're looking to feed and waste less, improve the quality of your starter, or simply make the best bread you can, this little device is the tool for you. Let's look a little closer.
Healthy starter it needs two things: stable food and a stable environment. The feeding part is simple: if you regularly feed your pooch with good flour, you're good to go. The environment can be trickier – it's hard to get a consistent ambient condition if you keep the engine on the counter because there are so many variables, especially when the seasons change.
Photography by Danielle Sykes; Food styling by Liz Neily
I don't know about your kitchen, but my house is cold in the winter. While this is fine for me with my hat and scarf, my engine doesn't handle it so well. It slows down in activity and my bread suffers. Poor volume, slow growth, underdeveloped tastes – does this sound familiar? And in the warmer months I see the other side of the spectrum. Hot days lead to over-resilient doughs, sticky shape and spots with cuts that won't open. In both examples, the initial temperature and its effect on dough activity is the culprit. But using the temperature switch on House of SourdoughI can control temperature and activity regardless of the season.
Here's how. In the warmer months I set my own “room temperature” cool, about 72°F. It's not too hot and not too cold, maintaining a consistent temperature that allows my engine to double or triple in volume in about eight hours. And in the cooler months when the engine needs a little encouragement, I set the dial to 75°F and give it a warm place to rise. In both scenarios, I can control the temperature to set the growth rate. So either using my engine for preferences or just throwing some in a bowl for a straight forward baking method, I know I'm on my way to great fermentation (and bread).
Photography and styling by Martin Philip
But wait, there's more – House of Sourdough it can also reduce shedding. Using the temperature dial on Sourdough Home, I can slow the growth rate to a level that allows me to ignore it for a few days, reducing feeding, and then discarding it.
Here is an example. In my house, we often bake on the weekend. Before Sourdough House, I would feed my starter on a Saturday or Sunday and refrigerate it until Thursday morning, when I would take it out for multiple feedings (producing a lot of leftovers) to revive it. By Friday evening it would be ready to go. An effective system … but it's clumsy and produces a lot of waste.
Using Sourdough Home, I'll feed my starter after a weekend of baking, using a 1:4:4 ratio (that's 10 grams of starter, 40 grams of flour and 40 grams of water; see Brod and Taylor FAQ for more details) and set the temperature to 45°F or 50°F. In cooler conditions, the initial activity slows down, allowing me to leave for a few days. And, unlike a refrigerator, where conditions are so cold that the motor effectively stops, Sourdough Home slows it down, but not by much. Then, eight to 12 hours before I need active sourdough, I feed it, set the switch to 78°F, and watch when the activity picks up again. Less maintenance, less throw away and ready when I want it? What more could you ask for?
Photography and styling by Liz Neily
And, for the everyday bakers out there or those who bake non-stop, there's also a medium temperature zone. I asked Andrew Janjigian, a frequent blog contributor, baker and recipe developer, on how he's using his Homemade Sourdough. He explained that, instead of keeping his starter at room temperature and feeding it twice a day, “I use Sourdough Home to keep my engine at 65°F, feeding it once a day, which keeps him happy and active without having to feed him twice a day.” Another example of how the temperature indicator can reduce waste (and operation) without cutting quality.
So whether it's revving my engine with a warmer environment or hitting the brakes with colder conditions, giving my batter its own temperature controlled house it has allowed me to bake on my own schedule with great results, and it may help you too.
Looking for more sourdough inspiration? Read!
Cover photo by Danielle Sykes; food styling by Liz Neily
