Have you ever wondered why the amount of sourdough starter in the recipe you're following has been chosen? And why do so many recipes use different amounts? It gets confusing....
I'm hoping I can simplify it for you. The point of this post is to help you understand why a certain amount of starter is used and how you can adjust the amount to benefit you.
The ratio of sourdough starter to flour in your sourdough recipe is important and can affect many aspects of the sourdough baking process. As a general rule: the less sourdough starter you use, the slower your dough will ferment, resulting in a more sour flavor. The more sourdough starter you use, the faster the dough will ferment, resulting in a less sour flavor.
When To Use Less Sourdough Starter:
During the summer when you run the risk of over fermenting your dough due to warm temperatures. For example, if you are bulk fermenting overnight and it's hot in your house.
If you have a busy schedule and need to allow for a longer bulk fermentation.
You want a more sour, flavorful bread.
You are bulk baking - when you make multiple loaves at once, your dough will ferment faster, so I usually add less starter to help ensure my dough doesn't ferment too quickly.
The takeaway here is that the less starter you use in your dough, the longer the bulk ferment - so if you ever need to extend the bulk fermentation due to any of the above, just use less starter!
When To Use More Sourdough Starter:
For the most part, a small amount of sourdough starter is all you need. But here are some instances where you might want to increase the amount of starter you use:
If it's really cold, you could increase your sourdough starter to make your bread ferment more quickly.
If you're in a hurry and you want your dough to ferment faster, you could increase your starter up to 200g - this will help decrease your fermentation time.
You want your loaf to be less sour - using more starter decreases fermentation time, making your starter less sour.
Do I have to Adjust the Water and Flour Amounts if I Change the Starter Amount?
The simple answer is NO. But you do need to understand that changing the amount of starter might change the level of hydration in your bread. This isn't always a big deal - I think it really depends on how much starter you're adding or subtracting.
I recommend experimenting with different amounts of sourdough starter based on the time you have available and the ambient temperature.
Personally, I use anywhere between 75-100 grams active sourdough starter in my Classic Sourdough Bread Recipe. And this is always dependent on the time, temperature and how many loaves I'm making.
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