Panettone: How to Correct the Balance of Pasta Madre
Hi All, looking for some advice from any experienced panettone makers out there:
I’ve been making panettone for a few years now, each year bringing new challenges. This week, going into the last week before Christmas, my pasta madre shifted to an off bitter/acidic flavor, I’m guessing too much lactic fermentation. Does anyone out there have suggestions on corrective measures to bring back the pasta madre into balance? I would typically put it down to rest for a few days, but I don’t have the time to wait. I
For background, I typically feed my PM 1:1 starter:Flour 43-45% hydration. Triples in 3.5hrs. However, prior to the shift towards lactic bitterness, I fed it 1:1.2 for the morning feed, no bagnetto for a few days, and warm refreshed 1:1 to try to get more acetic acid activity.
this is a very helpful page and goes through various issues you will encounter with pasta madre. For me, keeping it in water solved the acidity issue.
https://bake-street.com/en/how-to-make-stiff-sourdough-for-panettone/
Some common suggestions are:
try several feedings at 1:2:.4 to dilute the PM with double its weight in flour at each feeding, and 40% hydration based on the weight of the flour. Measure pH 12 hours after each feeding to check progress.
add some egg yolk to ONE feeding only, (do not repeat), I don't remember the percentage of yolk, I can check this..
keep the maintenance temperature a bit higher as opposed to cooler, which encourages the yeasts as opposed to the LABs.