January 17, 2010 - 4:41pm
Reinhart barm question
I have looked at a number of previous questions about this an am still confused. I just made Peter Reinhart's barm (it's bubbly but hasn't puffed up the plastic yet). Once I use it, how do I refresh it? He says to double it, but how do I calculate that? Do I discard some? At one point he says to add a cup of flour and "some water." How much water? Help!
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Its best if you have a scale.
Just weigh what you got, then add enough flour and water to double it (he keeps the barm at 100% hydration, so that would be equal parts flour and water).
For example, if you have 4 oz barm, add 2 oz flour and 2 oz water.
I found that it seemed healthier with slightly larger feedings, like a triple or quadruple (eg: 4oz barm, 4 oz flour 4 oz water to triple)
Thanks. How much do I need to keep? It seems like I now have a large amount compared to other starters I have used.
I think it would depend on how often you bake.
I have been keeping around 8 oz, then pull out what I might need to use, when it gets down to 2 oz I will rebuild up to 8oz. (though if it hasn't been fed in a week, I'll discard all but 2 oz and build up from there)
ps. is there a carl bergensis link to baking? I have a brewing background and lager yeasts are classified as sacharomyces carlbergensis
Thanks. I just wanted to choose a yeasty forum name so I dropped the first s in carlsbergensis.