That routine will certainly work. Over many years, I've grown starter from AP flour with tap or distilled water, much less rigorous feeding, etc. with usually good results. After I've used my starter a few times, I may stop baking bread for many months (sometimes over a year). The starter remains in the fridge, often unfed unless I happen to remember it. When I do want to bake, I remove the starter from the back of the fridge, set it out, feed it some AP flour after pouring off the hootch. Next day I discard half and feed again. Usually it then springs back to life. I continue to feed it and usually by day 3 it's strong enough for baking. I mark the jar with a rubber band rather than a marking pen.
I began a starter in the winter and it's pretty cool in my house and it took me about a month to get a starter going enough that I can bake with it so please be patient
I really love your videos which I have learnt so much about sourdough bread! My sourdough starter is about two years old now . I use a cooler , a block of ice , a thermometer to keep a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius or sometimes 28 if I want a same day bread ! Thank you my friend ! Blessings from The Caribbean … Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹!
@@CulinaryExploration you gave me that advice when I was having problems with our country’s temperature which is mostly 32 degrees Celsius upwards. Lots of love Phil ❤️
Excellent video on the starter creation, Phil. I have several dried commercial starters from all over the globe which I have mixed to create the "Starter To Rule Them All" (in my head, anyway!) but I suspect that after a few cycles of my particular tap water, flours, and environmental inputs building them up to baking activity, I have actually ended up with pretty much what I would have got if I'd started from scratch! (Natural Selection - or here Artificial selection - in action! 😂 )
Cheers bud, pleased you enjoyed the video. I suspect you are probably right about the starter but the story wouldn't be anywhere near as good if you hadn't created the cocktail. Surely that makes the mixology worthwhile, doesn't it? :)
I did some sourdough around 4 years ago. I failed to get a strong starter regularly (although I got to get a good bread sometimes). Instability with results pushed me to quit. Although I got to realize that the reason is the weak starter. Thank you for this video, it motivated me to try again. Strange but at the first day the starter got some bubbles, today is the 2d day and the starter rose twice with lots of bubbles and smelling rather good. The process looks too fast unexpectedly ) despite pretty cool weather. May be because for the strong wheat flour part I used Manitoba with 14% of protein.
I'm really pleased you're giving it another go. Everyone's journey creating a starter will be slightly different. The most important thing is to keep feeding for at least seven days before expecting to see some rhythm. Keep me posted.
@@CulinaryExploration Exactly. Now it goes with 7th day and things go better, although with a little delay, obviously the colder weather is one of the key factors. You did mention it in your video and it really helped.
@@vitalyromas6752 A cooler kitchen will make a difference in the speed of fermentation. The community member I mentioned in the starter video had an ambient temp of around 20C and still had great results. Things may get a bit sluggish if the temp drops more than that. Keep me posted :)
Me too, starting today. Having a blonde moment !question please...after day 7 I just continue to feed in the same jar? ..no more discarding? Or as before..new jar etc?
@@naturegirl5483 You need to keep discarding and feeding (you can use two jars or one, whichever is easier) for at least 14 days after the fermentation kicks off, but you'll have better results if you keep the process up for a month. None of the discard will go to waste, I'll show you how to use it in an upcoming video in the series. In the next video, I'll show you how to transition the starter from a daily feeding routine to a maintenance-free method. Keep me posted!
I'm on day 4. The first few days went swimmingly, and my ferment never developed those off-odors you mentioned. It was nutty, yeasty and a tad alcoholic. Nice bubbles. Today? No sign of life. I guess I'm in the dormant stage. Still smells nice, but nothing is happening. Waaaah.
@@lisaairey6010 You narrowly avoided a very stinky experience! Yep, a starter can go quiet for up to several days. Keep going and trust in the process... and keep me posted!
Not related to this video, but a general sourdough question. Why do a lot of sourdough bakers (including yourself) use time intensive methods such a lamination or stretch and folds with long waiting times. Recently I've tried old fashioned kneading and that gave a me a smooth strong dough in 10 minutes and I could plan my day much better. So I'm really wondering what the advantages are of 'no-knead' methods. (I'm a beginner). Thank you for your answer.
It's to make sure the gluten forms evenly. The leaven and microrganisms are lazy, they will eat just the nearly flour. When you stretch, fold and laminate the dough, you are distributing evenly the components so the fermentation gets the same in every cm of the dought.
"at this point, the starter smells like a, I don't know, a mixture of paint stripper and vomit, that's kinda, I don't know, capable singing off your eyebrows" Too funny!!!!!
Hi Phil, a struggling fan here. I created my very first great starter with your previous recipe. I’m ashamed to admit it has been neglected in the fridge long enough that I decided to make a new one with this recipe. I’m using flour with 14g protein for both wholewheat and white. On days 2-3 of this recipe, my starter grew huge, it tripled in size at some point. As soon as I switched over to no wholewheat (day 4 if I remember correctly), my starter lost its will to live. I was patient because you said it’s a common thing to happen. Today is day 11 and my starter is still… as flat as it could be. On days 4-6 or 7 it became quite loose and had some water on top, but now it’s definitely more dense. However, apart from a few bubbles, there is no growth or gluten structure whatsoever to be seen. It hasn’t risen at all since days 2-3. Do you have any ideas what might have caused this? I don’t have great tap water and I don’t own a filter, so I used bottled water, I don’t know if this could be the issue. TIA.
@Random-dm5eo I have the exact same problem. My starter had no sign of life after I switched from the whole wheat to bread flour.... Did you figure out how to overcome this yet? 😢
@@wanyeegoh4959 I switched to tap water, although not happily. Restarted the whole process again, with my first starter, so basically I did 4 weeks instead of 2. It seems to thrive now, though. But it doesn’t go as high as triple in volume.
Did you manage to overcome your problem? Even when using wholewheat flour, the fermentation tends to die off after the first few days and can take several days to kick off again. I suggest being patient and continuing with the process. If after 14 days you've got no sign of life, I'd suggest trying a different bread flour (especially if you doubt the quality of the flour). You can use wholewheat in your starter, but I get the best fermentation and flavour using 100% strong white bread flour. We have many community members who swear by using blends of bread flour/rye and whole wheat. It’s worth experimenting. I hope this helps, Phil
@@CulinaryExploration the problem vanished as soon as I switched back to tap water. I must say it confuses me a bit. Could it be due to the bacteria that’s present there, and not in bottled water? As for the flour, I’m pretty confident it’s good quality.
Hello, I really like your work here :) I've been baking bread myself for years, I've had my starter for years, I also make pizza, it taught me how to work well with dough, but unfortunately I can't make this starter at all. I'm from the Czech Republic and I bake our classic sourdough bread from rye starter and that's not a problem. But even though I have tried to make the wheat one several times, it has never succeeded. I've been feeding it for a few weeks, it has bubbles, but it never doubles its volume. I also tried to bake bread, but of course it didn't rise well. I don't know what the problem could be, maybe our wheat flour is simply different. :-(
Not gonna lie. I don't know how it happens, but I get more consistent results by NOT using a scale. I go by feel and look. I know that's a hot take and probably not true for everyone, but I sucked at sourdough when using a scale and grams.
There's nothing wrong with the Matt. I don't think it would suit everyone but it works for you and you enjoy then why not! Happy baking bud. Do you use multiple flours in your recipe? Do you add the water by eye or by feel?
@@CulinaryExploration I have been using just whole wheat because my doctor told me to stick with whole grains due to me needing to lose weight. It's a long story, but I add the water by feel mostly. I also check to see if it's the thickness or wetness that is right for the recipe.
So, after starting the inoculation with WWF, you switch to entirely feeding with BF. Is the purpose of the WWF just to act as a broad-spectrum inoculation as well as using the bran and germ as a rapid-fuel? And then transitioning to just BF feedings to calm the rate of metabolism and select for the slower fermenting cultures?
The WW flour kicks the fermentation off well at the start. Switching to 100% BF produces a starter that doesn't ferment too quickly, has a great flavour profile and is nice and strong.
@@CulinaryExplorationthanks much for the explanation! I was also wondering the same. I followed some other video for my 1st starter and it failed miserably. But your video and instructions are very clear and I'm now on day 4 and my starter is tracking very closely to yours! I feel so encouraged!
@culinaryexploration I’ve been following your steps to a “T” for about 10 days. The first few days I saw a lot of activity. However, as soon as I got to day 4 or so, when I switched to only bread flour, I’ve seen pretty much no activity for the past week or so, despite daily feedings. Did something go wrong? Or do I just need to push through this dormant phase? Thank you!
It's normal to hit a dormant stage, and I would suggest pushing through. If you don't see activity soon, I would try switching up the flour and trying a different brand. You can always drop me an email if you need to. All the best, Phil
@@CulinaryExploration thanks so much for the prompt response! Unfortunately, before I saw your response, I got impatient and followed a redditor’s advice and put my starter in the oven with the light on overnight. The next morning, it was baked! Anyway, I’m starting over again and will keep going with half whole wheat half bread flour and hope for the best. Thanks again!
Hai i follow your instruction, day 2 i see activity, its double, but after that until now day 8, nothing happen, just flat, how i know i have to change different brand of flour to make a change?or i have to wait until when?thx
I live in Greece, it's a little warmer here lol. If you want to create a starter I'd try to find the warmest spot in the house that's at a constant temperature (but not abouve 25C) and keep it there. I hope this helps, but let me know if you have amy specific questions. Phil
You can still make sourdough at 32C. I do it in my kitchen, but it's tricky. The fermentation can run riot at higher temperatures, so it's best to find a way to keep the dough cooler. You can use a cool box and ice bricks to create a cool fermentation chamber. You'll need to test how many ice bricks you must use. Aim for a target temperature of around 25C. I hope this helps.
Love the videos but that cast iron bread pan being $300 is insane. You can buy a cast iron dutch oven for like $50. That's the same price as Le Crueset and they have enamel on theirs as well as a luxury brand name. To get that shipped to Canada with taxes and everything is nearly $500. I could get a handmade Japanese knife for that!
You don't need to use a cast iron pan. I mainly use a baking stone and a no-name enamel baking lid as cloche. Some of our home bakers in our community achieve amazing results using a foil turkey roaster to cover their dough while baking. Get creative and you'll find a cost effective solution that suits your pocket and produces awesome sourdough :)
For decades, I've used a large stoneware crock with a glass lid borrowed from a pot. Bought it at a thrift store for maybe $3. I have also used other heat-retaining vessels, too. Just about anything within reason will work. No need to spend $$$.
Hi there ! This is such a great video series, thank you ! But there’s a thing my adhd brain and I don’t understand… why do we need 3 jars ? Haven’t I seen you using only 2 ? Sorry and thanks in advance 😅
So I'm on day 14 and I remembered your bit about tasting it, and i'll be honest, the whole bit where you said "it'll taste like bananas, it'll taste a bit sweet" etc. I thought this was "sommelier level bollocks (NO DISRESPECT INTENDED! WE'VE ALL DONE IT AS CHEFS!) but damn mate if you weren't right. Straight up tasted like bananas, and had a really mild taste I'm thinking of doing my first loaf within the next few days as I don't want it to get too strong.but at the same time, I kinda wanna leave it to 21 days to see what "strong" is like. Is it the sour that I despise because of my singular experience ? Or will it be something else that I enjoy ? So is there a way for me to do both ? Could I just make a levain on day, say 17, and then keep the schedule up ? Or will me making that levain (because it leaves only 5g in the bottom and is basically "rebuilt" ?) screw it up, and I need to do the full 21 days of doing is way ? Sorry if this is a faffy question.
Sorry for the delay Andy. I like using the taste of the starter to judge when it's ready to use. Yep, it sounds a bit fluffy, but you can tell a lot from the smell and the taste. The banana flavour shocked me lol. I'd always suggest waiting until the starter has been fermenting properly for at least 14 days. Leaving it longer is no problem and you'll only increase your chances of getting great spring. You could make the levain on day 17 and then feed the leftover scrapings with 20g of water and 20g of flour and then keep going. The smaller inoculation of starter (5g) just means that it takes longer to ferment. Hope this helps buddy.
Help please. Is there a difference between regular King Arthur white bread flour and "strong white bread flour?" What is the "strong?" Is this a British thing? I've never seen that here in the US. Is there a way I can make my regular white bread flour into a strong one? Also, why did you cut out the whole wheat flour after a few days? What if you want to make breads that's mostly whole wheat?
I use a whole-wheat flour for the first few days to give the starter a boost form the additional bran and germ. I've found that feeding with wholewheat flour for a prolonged period of time produces an overly acidic starter that ferments super quick. Switching to 100% strong white bread flour gives me the best possible results. I have created starters with 100% home milled wholewheat and while they do well I still prefer my strong white starter. Experiment and see which you prefer.
@@CulinaryExploration thank you!!! I think I’m going to switch mine to 100% white as mine has turned acidic before. I have a newer one now that is very fruity and I don’t want to ruin it!
48C is too hot for fermenting sourdough. I would suggets creating a cool fermentation place using a cool box and ice bricks. Aim for a temperature of 25C.
Well, failed again…14 days in a Brod & Taylor temp set @ 77 degrees and followed this video to the letter…I even have his scale… nothing happened. I am so frustrated
Hey Richard, I'll be happy to help you out. Drop me an email using the address on the website and I'll work with you to get your starter up and running.
Sigh. Fuck it. I'll make a sourdough then. Been trying to do bread for literal years now and I just can't crack it. My kneading never works out (I have a mangled back but that shouldn't matter), it never rises properly, after rising and trying to score it it's always like trying to drag a knife through wet paint. So many recipes online are sourdough but I genuinely despise the taste of it - who wants sour bread ?! - maybe I can make one that isn't actually all that sour. I'm at the end of my rope with this, if I don't crack it soon I'm gonna lose my marbles.
Hey Andy, If you want any pointers you can drop me an email (using the address on the website). If you've already got a starer up and running but it's been in the fridge for a while, I'd suggest giving it a feed using the recipe in this video (20g starter, 20g flour 20g water) until it has found a rhythm again. Then follow the second video in the series where I show you how to make a simple loaf. It uses a sensible hydration and unless something is seriously off (type of flour, temperature etc) it should produce a great loaf. Keep me posted
@@CulinaryExploration Oh no mate I've literally done nish so far, I decided today seeing your vid pop up about you starting from scratch with a new one, felt like one of those signs from god innit ha. Will grab some rye or whoemeal flour today and give it a go. Can't be any worse than my yeasted! 80% humidity kitchen, gas oven (so pulls out all steam you add our the back), that also runs at 270c on gas mark 8 (so I got a dutch oven), kneading never becoming smooth no matter what (13% marriages/65% hydration), brita filtered water. I'd never get that STRONG dough. It always ended up with these huge thin balloons in the skin, then after shaping and final resting, when tipping it to score it, it was like scoring glue. Unless I proofed it for 20mins, but then you just had underproof issues instead. So my last chance at getting this right is sourdough and you seem like a decent bloke who just explains things really well and cuts through the fluff, so all my hopes are pinned on you (no pressure eh ?). If this fails I'm going back to normal food. This is just getting embarrassing lol
That's a lot of wasted flour. And typical of starting with nothing other than flour and water. The reason there are places from which famous fermented/naturally preserved foods/wines come is because each place happens to have a naturally wild microbiome which smells and tastes good to us. San Francisco is one example, its famous sour dough is likely related to the salty breeze and cool fog from the Pacific ocean. Most places have wild microbial life which smells and tests bad to us. Which is why it's typical of early sourdough starters to smell and taste terrible. Which is why I start with no more than 3% of the water's weight in salt. As that favors salt tolerant lactobacteria. And also an interesting "trigger". A spoonful of it at the very beginning is enough. One option is the juice from active sauerkraut. Or a spoonful of kefir, or active yogurt. Or the whey which collects in yogurt. Or a spoonful of active kombucha. Or most interestingly some times on a walk a tiny wild fruit, like a rose hip, will be over ripe or slightly fermented, and will smell nice and yeasty, and possibly have white faint "dust" on it. Which is most likely yeast. Lastly the nests of Eurasian Formica wood ants (which spray formic acid) have a unique microbiome. In which the most abundant and consistent phyla are Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria. One stick from such an ant nest dropped into milk makes great yogurt. And also makes great sourdough starter "trigger". Out of curiosity you can start with nothing but water and flour, maybe you get incredibly lucky and happen to have a wild microbiome that makes great sourdough. But most likely you don't, so you'll have to throw away a lot of flour to get to good testing and smelling starter. Or consider starting with a trigger. Any fermented source that smells and/or tastes good. It should make your very first starter smell and taste similarly. And hopefully remain good form then on.
You can’t create a starter by feeding it once a week. It takes at least 14 days to build a healthy vibrant starter from scratch. Once you’ve created it you can switch to a weekly feeding schedule. If you get great results without weighing, and enjoy it, crack on. But most beginners will see more consistent results be weighing.
That routine will certainly work. Over many years, I've grown starter from AP flour with tap or distilled water, much less rigorous feeding, etc. with usually good results. After I've used my starter a few times, I may stop baking bread for many months (sometimes over a year). The starter remains in the fridge, often unfed unless I happen to remember it. When I do want to bake, I remove the starter from the back of the fridge, set it out, feed it some AP flour after pouring off the hootch. Next day I discard half and feed again. Usually it then springs back to life. I continue to feed it and usually by day 3 it's strong enough for baking. I mark the jar with a rubber band rather than a marking pen.
I actually do the same as well especially when I’m traveling!
I began a starter in the winter and it's pretty cool in my house and it took me about a month to get a starter going enough that I can bake with it so please be patient
I really love your videos which I have learnt so much about sourdough bread! My sourdough starter is about two years old now . I use a cooler , a block of ice , a thermometer to keep a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius or sometimes 28 if I want a same day bread ! Thank you my friend ! Blessings from The Caribbean … Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹!
Awesome Susan! I’m pleased the cool box works well 👍
@@CulinaryExploration you gave me that advice when I was having problems with our country’s temperature which is mostly 32 degrees Celsius upwards. Lots of love Phil ❤️
@@susand.m3894 Awesome, I'm pleased you got the process dialled in properly. Well done!
I'm new to this. This is overwhelming
...whew.😂❤
Excellent video on the starter creation, Phil. I have several dried commercial starters from all over the globe which I have mixed to create the "Starter To Rule Them All" (in my head, anyway!) but I suspect that after a few cycles of my particular tap water, flours, and environmental inputs building them up to baking activity, I have actually ended up with pretty much what I would have got if I'd started from scratch! (Natural Selection - or here Artificial selection - in action! 😂 )
Cheers bud, pleased you enjoyed the video. I suspect you are probably right about the starter but the story wouldn't be anywhere near as good if you hadn't created the cocktail. Surely that makes the mixology worthwhile, doesn't it? :)
That's great advice, and it's so true, they're like a child! They love routine!
I did some sourdough around 4 years ago. I failed to get a strong starter regularly (although I got to get a good bread sometimes). Instability with results pushed me to quit. Although I got to realize that the reason is the weak starter.
Thank you for this video, it motivated me to try again. Strange but at the first day the starter got some bubbles, today is the 2d day and the starter rose twice with lots of bubbles and smelling rather good. The process looks too fast unexpectedly ) despite pretty cool weather. May be because for the strong wheat flour part I used Manitoba with 14% of protein.
I'm really pleased you're giving it another go. Everyone's journey creating a starter will be slightly different. The most important thing is to keep feeding for at least seven days before expecting to see some rhythm. Keep me posted.
@@CulinaryExploration Exactly. Now it goes with 7th day and things go better, although with a little delay, obviously the colder weather is one of the key factors. You did mention it in your video and it really helped.
@@vitalyromas6752 A cooler kitchen will make a difference in the speed of fermentation. The community member I mentioned in the starter video had an ambient temp of around 20C and still had great results. Things may get a bit sluggish if the temp drops more than that. Keep me posted :)
I love the graphs so so so much
Excellent tutorial! I started! The day one mix is in a jar!!!
Awesome, keep me posted!
Me too, starting today. Having a blonde moment !question please...after day 7 I just continue to feed in the same jar? ..no more discarding? Or as before..new jar etc?
@@naturegirl5483 You need to keep discarding and feeding (you can use two jars or one, whichever is easier) for at least 14 days after the fermentation kicks off, but you'll have better results if you keep the process up for a month. None of the discard will go to waste, I'll show you how to use it in an upcoming video in the series. In the next video, I'll show you how to transition the starter from a daily feeding routine to a maintenance-free method. Keep me posted!
I'm on day 4. The first few days went swimmingly, and my ferment never developed those off-odors you mentioned. It was nutty, yeasty and a tad alcoholic. Nice bubbles. Today? No sign of life. I guess I'm in the dormant stage. Still smells nice, but nothing is happening. Waaaah.
@@lisaairey6010 You narrowly avoided a very stinky experience! Yep, a starter can go quiet for up to several days. Keep going and trust in the process... and keep me posted!
Not related to this video, but a general sourdough question. Why do a lot of sourdough bakers (including yourself) use time intensive methods such a lamination or stretch and folds with long waiting times. Recently I've tried old fashioned kneading and that gave a me a smooth strong dough in 10 minutes and I could plan my day much better. So I'm really wondering what the advantages are of 'no-knead' methods. (I'm a beginner). Thank you for your answer.
It's to make sure the gluten forms evenly. The leaven and microrganisms are lazy, they will eat just the nearly flour. When you stretch, fold and laminate the dough, you are distributing evenly the components so the fermentation gets the same in every cm of the dought.
"at this point, the starter smells like a, I don't know, a mixture of paint stripper and vomit, that's kinda, I don't know, capable singing off your eyebrows" Too funny!!!!!
Pretty accurate though :)
Best channel!!
Hi Phil, a struggling fan here.
I created my very first great starter with your previous recipe. I’m ashamed to admit it has been neglected in the fridge long enough that I decided to make a new one with this recipe.
I’m using flour with 14g protein for both wholewheat and white. On days 2-3 of this recipe, my starter grew huge, it tripled in size at some point.
As soon as I switched over to no wholewheat (day 4 if I remember correctly), my starter lost its will to live. I was patient because you said it’s a common thing to happen.
Today is day 11 and my starter is still… as flat as it could be. On days 4-6 or 7 it became quite loose and had some water on top, but now it’s definitely more dense. However, apart from a few bubbles, there is no growth or gluten structure whatsoever to be seen. It hasn’t risen at all since days 2-3.
Do you have any ideas what might have caused this? I don’t have great tap water and I don’t own a filter, so I used bottled water, I don’t know if this could be the issue. TIA.
@Random-dm5eo I have the exact same problem. My starter had no sign of life after I switched from the whole wheat to bread flour.... Did you figure out how to overcome this yet? 😢
@@wanyeegoh4959 I switched to tap water, although not happily. Restarted the whole process again, with my first starter, so basically I did 4 weeks instead of 2. It seems to thrive now, though. But it doesn’t go as high as triple in volume.
Oh gosh!!! Me too!!!
Did you manage to overcome your problem? Even when using wholewheat flour, the fermentation tends to die off after the first few days and can take several days to kick off again. I suggest being patient and continuing with the process. If after 14 days you've got no sign of life, I'd suggest trying a different bread flour (especially if you doubt the quality of the flour). You can use wholewheat in your starter, but I get the best fermentation and flavour using 100% strong white bread flour. We have many community members who swear by using blends of bread flour/rye and whole wheat. It’s worth experimenting. I hope this helps, Phil
@@CulinaryExploration the problem vanished as soon as I switched back to tap water. I must say it confuses me a bit. Could it be due to the bacteria that’s present there, and not in bottled water?
As for the flour, I’m pretty confident it’s good quality.
Hello, I really like your work here :) I've been baking bread myself for years, I've had my starter for years, I also make pizza, it taught me how to work well with dough, but unfortunately I can't make this starter at all. I'm from the Czech Republic and I bake our classic sourdough bread from rye starter and that's not a problem. But even though I have tried to make the wheat one several times, it has never succeeded. I've been feeding it for a few weeks, it has bubbles, but it never doubles its volume. I also tried to bake bread, but of course it didn't rise well. I don't know what the problem could be, maybe our wheat flour is simply different. :-(
How to print out simple instructions to get this starter going? The schedule shown looks to take out multiple pages. Thx
Really enjoyed this video!
Pleased you enjoyed it 🤩👍
Not gonna lie. I don't know how it happens, but I get more consistent results by NOT using a scale. I go by feel and look. I know that's a hot take and probably not true for everyone, but I sucked at sourdough when using a scale and grams.
There's nothing wrong with the Matt. I don't think it would suit everyone but it works for you and you enjoy then why not! Happy baking bud. Do you use multiple flours in your recipe? Do you add the water by eye or by feel?
@@CulinaryExploration I have been using just whole wheat because my doctor told me to stick with whole grains due to me needing to lose weight. It's a long story, but I add the water by feel mostly. I also check to see if it's the thickness or wetness that is right for the recipe.
I don’t have a good quality wheat flour that I would like to start this with. What are your thoughts on using wheat gluten instead?
So, after starting the inoculation with WWF, you switch to entirely feeding with BF. Is the purpose of the WWF just to act as a broad-spectrum inoculation as well as using the bran and germ as a rapid-fuel? And then transitioning to just BF feedings to calm the rate of metabolism and select for the slower fermenting cultures?
The WW flour kicks the fermentation off well at the start. Switching to 100% BF produces a starter that doesn't ferment too quickly, has a great flavour profile and is nice and strong.
@@CulinaryExplorationthanks much for the explanation! I was also wondering the same. I followed some other video for my 1st starter and it failed miserably.
But your video and instructions are very clear and I'm now on day 4 and my starter is tracking very closely to yours! I feel so encouraged!
My starter took 7 days to come alive. It's now 3 years old. 😁
Seven days isn't a long time to invest especially when you consider that they can last forever and produce awesome bread!
@culinaryexploration I’ve been following your steps to a “T” for about 10 days. The first few days I saw a lot of activity. However, as soon as I got to day 4 or so, when I switched to only bread flour, I’ve seen pretty much no activity for the past week or so, despite daily feedings. Did something go wrong? Or do I just need to push through this dormant phase? Thank you!
It's normal to hit a dormant stage, and I would suggest pushing through. If you don't see activity soon, I would try switching up the flour and trying a different brand. You can always drop me an email if you need to. All the best, Phil
@@CulinaryExploration thanks so much for the prompt response! Unfortunately, before I saw your response, I got impatient and followed a redditor’s advice and put my starter in the oven with the light on overnight. The next morning, it was baked! Anyway, I’m starting over again and will keep going with half whole wheat half bread flour and hope for the best. Thanks again!
I want your shirt that's Awesome!!!!
👍👌 thanks buddy. The links in the description if you want to see all my designs.
Hai i follow your instruction, day 2 i see activity, its double, but after that until now day 8, nothing happen, just flat, how i know i have to change different brand of flour to make a change?or i have to wait until when?thx
How do you maintain 22 degrees in the UK? We maintain our home between 18-20.
I live in Greece, it's a little warmer here lol. If you want to create a starter I'd try to find the warmest spot in the house that's at a constant temperature (but not abouve 25C) and keep it there. I hope this helps, but let me know if you have amy specific questions. Phil
I live in Alaska. To maintain a constant warm temperature, I place my starter in my oven, with the oven light on.
What is the upper limit for temperature? Is 32 Celsius too high?
You can still make sourdough at 32C. I do it in my kitchen, but it's tricky. The fermentation can run riot at higher temperatures, so it's best to find a way to keep the dough cooler. You can use a cool box and ice bricks to create a cool fermentation chamber. You'll need to test how many ice bricks you must use. Aim for a target temperature of around 25C. I hope this helps.
Love the videos but that cast iron bread pan being $300 is insane. You can buy a cast iron dutch oven for like $50. That's the same price as Le Crueset and they have enamel on theirs as well as a luxury brand name. To get that shipped to Canada with taxes and everything is nearly $500. I could get a handmade Japanese knife for that!
You don't need to use a cast iron pan. I mainly use a baking stone and a no-name enamel baking lid as cloche. Some of our home bakers in our community achieve amazing results using a foil turkey roaster to cover their dough while baking. Get creative and you'll find a cost effective solution that suits your pocket and produces awesome sourdough :)
For decades, I've used a large stoneware crock with a glass lid borrowed from a pot. Bought it at a thrift store for maybe $3. I have also used other heat-retaining vessels, too. Just about anything within reason will work. No need to spend $$$.
Hi there ! This is such a great video series, thank you ! But there’s a thing my adhd brain and I don’t understand… why do we need 3 jars ? Haven’t I seen you using only 2 ? Sorry and thanks in advance 😅
So I'm on day 14 and I remembered your bit about tasting it, and i'll be honest, the whole bit where you said "it'll taste like bananas, it'll taste a bit sweet" etc. I thought this was "sommelier level bollocks (NO DISRESPECT INTENDED! WE'VE ALL DONE IT AS CHEFS!) but damn mate if you weren't right. Straight up tasted like bananas, and had a really mild taste
I'm thinking of doing my first loaf within the next few days as I don't want it to get too strong.but at the same time, I kinda wanna leave it to 21 days to see what "strong" is like. Is it the sour that I despise because of my singular experience ? Or will it be something else that I enjoy ?
So is there a way for me to do both ? Could I just make a levain on day, say 17, and then keep the schedule up ? Or will me making that levain (because it leaves only 5g in the bottom and is basically "rebuilt" ?) screw it up, and I need to do the full 21 days of doing is way ?
Sorry if this is a faffy question.
Sorry for the delay Andy. I like using the taste of the starter to judge when it's ready to use. Yep, it sounds a bit fluffy, but you can tell a lot from the smell and the taste. The banana flavour shocked me lol. I'd always suggest waiting until the starter has been fermenting properly for at least 14 days. Leaving it longer is no problem and you'll only increase your chances of getting great spring. You could make the levain on day 17 and then feed the leftover scrapings with 20g of water and 20g of flour and then keep going. The smaller inoculation of starter (5g) just means that it takes longer to ferment. Hope this helps buddy.
The starter always failed on day 6. Could you tell me which brand of strong bread flour you are using?
Help please. Is there a difference between regular King Arthur white bread flour and "strong white bread flour?" What is the "strong?" Is this a British thing? I've never seen that here in the US. Is there a way I can make my regular white bread flour into a strong one?
Also, why did you cut out the whole wheat flour after a few days? What if you want to make breads that's mostly whole wheat?
Why do you stop using whole wheat flour?
I use a whole-wheat flour for the first few days to give the starter a boost form the additional bran and germ. I've found that feeding with wholewheat flour for a prolonged period of time produces an overly acidic starter that ferments super quick. Switching to 100% strong white bread flour gives me the best possible results. I have created starters with 100% home milled wholewheat and while they do well I still prefer my strong white starter. Experiment and see which you prefer.
@@CulinaryExploration thank you!!! I think I’m going to switch mine to 100% white as mine has turned acidic before. I have a newer one now that is very fruity and I don’t want to ruin it!
What if the temperature in my country 48 c?
48C is too hot for fermenting sourdough. I would suggets creating a cool fermentation place using a cool box and ice bricks. Aim for a temperature of 25C.
❤ Россия
Я правильно поняла? кормим:
- 1 раз в день в одно и тоже время
- 14 дней в комнате при 25°
That's correct!
Спасибо, отлично!!
Буду ставить 👍👍👍
Thabk you for the video! What is the strong wheat flour? How can i know it is strong when im buying it? Thank you.
A nice percentual of protein. I believe around 13% is ok, maybe a stronger one if you have easy access to it.
Well, failed again…14 days in a Brod & Taylor temp set @ 77 degrees and followed this video to the letter…I even have his scale… nothing happened.
I am so frustrated
Hey Richard, I'll be happy to help you out. Drop me an email using the address on the website and I'll work with you to get your starter up and running.
Sigh. Fuck it. I'll make a sourdough then. Been trying to do bread for literal years now and I just can't crack it. My kneading never works out (I have a mangled back but that shouldn't matter), it never rises properly, after rising and trying to score it it's always like trying to drag a knife through wet paint. So many recipes online are sourdough but I genuinely despise the taste of it - who wants sour bread ?! - maybe I can make one that isn't actually all that sour. I'm at the end of my rope with this, if I don't crack it soon I'm gonna lose my marbles.
Hey Andy, If you want any pointers you can drop me an email (using the address on the website). If you've already got a starer up and running but it's been in the fridge for a while, I'd suggest giving it a feed using the recipe in this video (20g starter, 20g flour 20g water) until it has found a rhythm again. Then follow the second video in the series where I show you how to make a simple loaf. It uses a sensible hydration and unless something is seriously off (type of flour, temperature etc) it should produce a great loaf. Keep me posted
@@CulinaryExploration Oh no mate I've literally done nish so far, I decided today seeing your vid pop up about you starting from scratch with a new one, felt like one of those signs from god innit ha. Will grab some rye or whoemeal flour today and give it a go. Can't be any worse than my yeasted! 80% humidity kitchen, gas oven (so pulls out all steam you add our the back), that also runs at 270c on gas mark 8 (so I got a dutch oven), kneading never becoming smooth no matter what (13% marriages/65% hydration), brita filtered water. I'd never get that STRONG dough. It always ended up with these huge thin balloons in the skin, then after shaping and final resting, when tipping it to score it, it was like scoring glue. Unless I proofed it for 20mins, but then you just had underproof issues instead. So my last chance at getting this right is sourdough and you seem like a decent bloke who just explains things really well and cuts through the fluff, so all my hopes are pinned on you (no pressure eh ?).
If this fails I'm going back to normal food. This is just getting embarrassing lol
@@andytunnah7650 LOL - no pressure then... We're in contact by email now so you can always drop me a message
@@CulinaryExploration Ah you're a good'un mate, I'll try to keep it concise if I ever need to use it. Or my version of concise at least!
Half way through the video I realised Gail's bread is probably not that expensive after all 😂
i never discard sourdough starter
That's a lot of wasted flour. And typical of starting with nothing other than flour and water.
The reason there are places from which famous fermented/naturally preserved foods/wines come is because each place happens to have a naturally wild microbiome which smells and tastes good to us. San Francisco is one example, its famous sour dough is likely related to the salty breeze and cool fog from the Pacific ocean.
Most places have wild microbial life which smells and tests bad to us. Which is why it's typical of early sourdough starters to smell and taste terrible.
Which is why I start with no more than 3% of the water's weight in salt. As that favors salt tolerant lactobacteria. And also an interesting "trigger". A spoonful of it at the very beginning is enough.
One option is the juice from active sauerkraut. Or a spoonful of kefir, or active yogurt. Or the whey which collects in yogurt. Or a spoonful of active kombucha.
Or most interestingly some times on a walk a tiny wild fruit, like a rose hip, will be over ripe or slightly fermented, and will smell nice and yeasty, and possibly have white faint "dust" on it. Which is most likely yeast. Lastly the nests of Eurasian Formica wood ants (which spray formic acid) have a unique microbiome. In which the most abundant and consistent phyla are Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria. One stick from such an ant nest dropped into milk makes great yogurt. And also makes great sourdough starter "trigger".
Out of curiosity you can start with nothing but water and flour, maybe you get incredibly lucky and happen to have a wild microbiome that makes great sourdough.
But most likely you don't, so you'll have to throw away a lot of flour to get to good testing and smelling starter.
Or consider starting with a trigger. Any fermented source that smells and/or tastes good. It should make your very first starter smell and taste similarly. And hopefully remain good form then on.
Wow. So complicated. I never weigh, and I only feed once a week. And have been baking with it every week for a year.
You can’t create a starter by feeding it once a week. It takes at least 14 days to build a healthy vibrant starter from scratch. Once you’ve created it you can switch to a weekly feeding schedule. If you get great results without weighing, and enjoy it, crack on. But most beginners will see more consistent results be weighing.
A lot of talking, just focus only to your target.
Don't eat raw starter, what are you doing man.