March 30, 2023 - 6:57am
Trouble with nuance
I can't seem to get a proper rise from the time I finish my folds before the shaping stage. So for the heck of it, I left my dough out all night after my 4th fold which was around 9pm last night. This morning the dough looked good, it had doubled, which I usually struggle with if I stick to timing intervals. The dough smelled a bit more sour so I'm not sure of the end result. What can I do to correct my process? Is my starter not active enough? Is my kitchen not the right temp, usually around 65. I'd like to double the bulk without and overnight ris.
Thanks, I look forward to catching up here.
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You need a stronger starter. Enjoy!
The starter I have is fabulous I think my problem is maintaining its original character and my feeding schedule is off. I get confused on how to maintain her without having 20 gallons of starter.
The starter doesnt match the process - simple. Enjoy!
Rougcut, you don't need a lot of volume to maintain a starter. If you to refresh it regularly, just discard all but a small amount. I commonly refresh with 7 grams of starter, and 7 grams each of water and flour, though you could drop it to 5 if you want. In terms of getting the timing, ambient temperature and amount of starter will be the two main things you can vary, Add more starter ( and remember to subtract that from the flour and water to keep those ratios the same - so for example, if your recipe was 100 grams of flour and 70 grams of water and 2 grams of salt and you used 20 grams of starter normally, then switched to 40 grams of starter, you would want to use 90 grams of flour and 60 grams of water, since by adding an additional 20 grams of starter, you were adding 10 each of flour and water ). Having a proofing box can help you manipulate the temperature which will greatly impact the timing - there are some DIY suggestions in the section on baking equipment.
This was helpful
i also usually have an ambient temp of 65 degrees (or less in very cold weather) and that appears to be a *lot* colder than most recipes expect.
i do an overnight or all-day bulk for recipes with ~5-10% pre-fermented flour (you don’t say what your recipe is). and i expect to 1.5-2x the bulk times in most recipes the first time i try them. as barry points out, the alternative is to increase the amount of starter or buy/build a proofing box.
hope that helps!
-c
sorry barryvabeach: edited because i mixed up who had already replied.
Mine is
200 g starter
750 g water
1000g flours
20g salt
Roughcut, sorry, I bake with 100% whole wheat, so my timing would not really relate to yours, but I would guess 68 to 75 is the more common range for room temp fementation in the US, so 65 would definitely be on the cooler side. Even if you don't want to make a proofer, you might want to use an IR gun to see if you can find a warmer spot ( on top of the refrigerator - or behind a TV , or a desktop computer - since they all give off some heat, or just try using a cooler, and putting in a container with boiling water in the cooler - the boiling water will raise the temp inside the cooler - though of course the impact will fall off over time. Some put a cup of boiling water in a microwave ( with the microwave off ) and rest the dough in there since it can retain heat.