Sourdough 101.
Starter:
Starter is simply a mixture of flour and water that ferments and becomes natural yeast used in baked goods. A starter is something you feed indefinitely and can last you many lifetimes if taken care of. Below are some tips on starter maintenance. While there is a lot of information on the internet about starters, this is what has worked for Riverwoods’ homegrown starter.
When do I feed my starter? Feed your started at least once a day. A good schedule will be to feed right before you go to bed. You can then use the discard to make levains for the next morning. If your starter is struggling, try feeding it in 12-hour increments for a couple days to get it strong and healthy.
What do I feed my starter?
Discard all but 10 grams of starter. This does not seem like much, but carrying over a lot of starter will make it sluggish.
100 grams fresh water (you need purified water, not tap water).
100 grams of flour. We use a mixture of 80:20 of bread flour and a little dark rye flour, but you can use whatever works for you.
What if I don’t need to use my starter for a while? I you’re not going to be baking with your starter for a while. Give it once last feeding, wait for it to activate and bubble up (3-6 hours), then stick it in the fridge. If it’s in the fridge for a long period of time, it will begin to develop a liquid on top called “hooch”, this is totally normal. Your starter should live in the fridge for months. When you need to use it, pull it out of the fridge, pour off the hooch, let it come to room temperature, then give it a normal feeding. It should take a day or two to become strong enough to bake a loaf with.
How do I know if my starter is strong enough to use? You should be able to see a pattern in your starter. It should be active, bubbly, and almost doubled in size 3-6 hours after feeding it. Your starter should reach maturity within 9-12 hours and will then begin to fall.
Is my started dead? Probably not. Starters are very resilient and can take a lot of abuse. If you haven’t fed your starter in ages and think it might be dead, don’t throw it out just yet. Feed it a couple times and monitor if there is any activity. If there is activity, keep feeding it on a regular schedule and it should become strong enough for use. If there is no activity, or any signs of mold growth, throw it out and start over.
Levain:
A levain is made with an off-shoot of a mature starter. Unlike the starter, the entire levain will be mixed into the dough providing your dough with a fresh population of yeast and bacteria. The levain can be made with a combination of flours to provide more flavor to your bread. Without sounding too complicated, a levain is essentially another starter you grow to that will be mixed in your dough and baked.
Autolyse:
The autolyse period (auto-lease) is the first step in the bread making process where only flour and water are mixed. This process is essential because it allows the flour to hydrate and the gluten strands to activate. This process also increases the dough’s extensibility (allows the dough to be stretched and molded without tearing).
Bulk Fermentation:
This process occurs after the levain and salt has been mixed. It is when the dough begins to ferment, rise, and become a bubbly, active mass. Most methods require you to perform a series of turns during the bulk ferment which help strengthen the dough. This step is critical in developing structure and flavor to your bread.
Proof:
This is the final rise of your dough, which can occur in a warm place for a couple hours or can occur in the fridge after final shaping. Allowing your dough to proof in the fridge allows the dough to ferment longer often giving your bread better flavor. The fridge method also allows you to bake bread in the morning versus in the evening in most cases.
Temperature:
One of the most important steps in bread baking is controlling the temperature of your dough. Maurizio from The Perfect Loaf suggests treating temperature like an ingredient. If a recipe or method calls out specific temperature for water or during the bulk ferment, it is important and will make or break your loaf.