Fall Sourdough Recipes (2024)

FAQs

How quickly should a sourdough starter rise and fall? ›

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. When the starter is at the peak of its rise, it is called ripe, fed, or mature.

The secret to sourdough is simple: water. The more water you add to your dough will affect how open the crumb (bigger holes and softer texture) will be once it's baked.

Past-Peak and Falling: If your starter/leaven is past-peak and is beginning to fall in height, it is beyond the optimal point to use it for baking, but it will still work.

stir your starter in between feedings - try stirring it twice in between feedings and really give it a chance to get oxygen into the mix. This will help to activate your starter without too much effort.

If your starter gets completely covered on top with bubbles but does not rise, it is healthy but may just be a wet mix. Try reducing the water in your next feeding and see if you have different results. Also, the type of flour you are using can impede the rise of your starter.

Keeping the lid on for the first part of baking allows steam to expand between the gluten fibers to rise the bread and create a fluffy loaf. Step 4: Remove the lid and bake for an additional 12-14 minutes or until the crust is crispy and golden brown. Once you take the lid off, the bread likely won't rise anymore.

Over the past decade-plus of baking, I've tested all manner of flour from whole grain wheat to spelt to einkorn, and while they all do work, my preferred flour to use when creating a sourdough starter is whole grain rye flour and white flour (this can be all-purpose or high-protein bread flour).

The sourdough starter is the real secret to getting a good fermentation going. Essentially your sourdough starter is old dough, which has already pre-fermented and contains Lactobacillus culture. Lactobacillus culture has a sour taste and is an active culture that lives off natural yeast spores from the air.

Keep feeding your starter, and you'll see normal activity (bubbles) return in a few days. If your starter has a bit of dark liquid on top, it's not dead! It simply means it's hungry and that it's time to feed it. Unless your starter has a pink or orange hue or is beginning to mold, you probably haven't killed it yet.

Why do you throw away sourdough starter? ›

If you don't get rid of the excess, eventually you'll have more starter than your feedings can sustain.

Long term lack of feeding at room temperature can absolutely ruin your starter. Contamination: The yeast and bacteria in your sourdough starter are willing and capable of keeping some contamination at bay.

With each sourdough starter feeding, you'll be discarding some to avoid it from becoming overly acidic. Most will compost or trash this discard, but you can save it and use it in other recipes!

Just remember that sourdough fermentation doesn't degrade gluten completely. So if you have celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity, it's best to avoid sourdough bread made from wheat, barley, or rye, all of which contain gluten.

Sourdough Wheat Bread is NOT Safe for Folks with Celiac Disease.

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.

Often, the starter will double in size in 12 hours or less. Sometimes it takes 24 hours. If you get good bubbling and the starter doesn't double, that's OK. Feed the starter again - this time discard half the starter, add 1/4 cup, or 50 grams, of water and stir the starter.

Reasons your Sourdough Starter Might be Sluggish

Feeding schedule: A sourdough starter needs to be fed regularly to maintain its activity. If it is not fed often enough, the yeast and bacteria will become weak and the starter will become sluggish. I recommend you feed once every 24 - 30 hours, every 24 hours is better.

If your sourdough starter won't rise anymore, reset it by putting 25 grams of starter in a jar and feed it 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water. With this ratio, your starter should double in size in about 12-24 hours. If your starter has never risen before, follow a proven guide to create an active starter.