When I first started making sourdough bread, I often wondered, "how was the amount of starter in this recipe chosen?"
Not to mention, so many of the recipes call for a different amount...
Truth be told, the amount of starter you use in your recipe is very important and can affect many aspects of the sourdough baking process. The typical amount of starter used in a recipe varies from 50-200g - these are not random amounts.
Generally speaking, the amount of starter chosen for each recipe has been chosen for a reason.
And guess what? You can change the amount of starter you need to fit your specific needs.
GENERAL RULE:
The less starter you use, the slower your dough will ferment - often resulting in a more sour flavored loaf.
And you guessed it..the more starter you use, the faster your dough will ferment - resulting in a less sour loaf.
Using Less Starter to STOP Over-Fermenting Your Dough
Using less starter in your recipe will help slow down the fermentation process. So if your schedule has you away from home for awhile, or you want to do the bulk ferment over night, I'd recommend using less starter.
In my Basic Recipe I use 100g of starter, but for overnight bulk fermentation, I cut it to 50g -this makes it much easier to fit sourdough baking into my day (or night).
A Few Reasons to Use LESS Sourdough Starter:
you can ferment your sourdough for longer periods, which means that you can comfortably do an overnight ferment (as long as it's not too hot in your house).
you can develop a nice flavor with a little starter because your dough can ferment longer giving the bacteria more time to develop flavor in your bread.
You can maintain a smaller sourdough starter.
You can continue to make sourdough during the hot, humid summer months you- this is ideal for me in south Florida!
When to Use MORE Sourdough Starter:
For the most part, a smaller amount of starter is all you need, but there will be times you need more.
Some examples:
If it's particularly cold, you could increase your sourdough starter to make your loaf ferment more quickly - when it's cold, you can ferment 100g of starter overnight easily (not something I ever have to deal with where I live).
If you're in a hurry and you want to make your sourdough ferment more quickly, you can increase your starter up to 200g and decrease your bulk ferment time.
You want your bread to be less sour - using more starter decreases fermentation time, making your starter less sour - this is a personal preference, not everyone likes the sour taste, while some love it.
And remember, regardless of if you decide to use more or less starter, you want to make sure that your sourdough starter is as strong as possible.
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And as always, Happy Baking.