Don't Feed Your Starter!!! Perfect sourdough from 5-month-starved starter.
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- Опубліковано 12 гру 2020
- Ben Starr, the Ultimate Food Geek, proves the rest of the sourdough world wrong by baking a PERFECT loaf of sourdough bread using a starter that hasn't been fed in over 5 MONTHS!!! (Additionally, when that starter was created, it had just reached maturity and had a single feeding before going into the fridge for 5 months without ANY feedings at all, before being put directly into the dough.) Using the "Simple Sourdough for Lazy People" method, that perfect loaf required only 5 minutes to stir together on day 1, and less than 10 minutes of effort on baking day. NO autolyse, NO temperature controlled bulk fermentation, NO slapping, folding, or strength building. NEGLECT is the ingredient that produces a truly perfect loaf!
Simple Sourdough for Lazy People (the method, explained in detail): • Simple Sourdough for L...
Troubleshooting Simple Sourdough and FAQ: • Troubleshooting "Simpl...
How to Make Sourdough Starter: • How to make Sourdough ...
How to Care for your Starter, and why most sourdough methods are completely WRONG: • Feeding and Caring for...
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The Dutch oven I use most often to bake this bread: amzn.to/3uAmlwF (Note that this is an obscure brand and rare size, Amazon often runs out. The most important factor is the 4 quart size, so search for a 4 quart cast iron Dutch if this link doesn't lead to a product that's in stock.)
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Probably nobody is gonna read this but, in the interest of geek fraternity I’d like to let all know that I have revived an 18-month-old starter. I’m pretty happy!!! 😃👏🏼
That's great!!
Okay... not gonna lie... I watched this entire video with a sharp eyeroll thinking it could not possibly produce a good loaf of bread. I followed your instructions exactly, gave it the couple of days in the fridge for good measure, and thought for sure I'd be back here saying I was right all along. I was not right all along... or even a little bit for that matter. It was the best loaf of sourdough bread I have made after nearly two years of trying to follow these UA-cam bakers with the most complicated, time consuming, organic flour wasting recipes on the entire interwebs. This will definitely be my go-to recipe from here on out. I used whole wheat flour and wish I would have used a mix of WW and white bread flour for a little more lightness, but it was absolutely delish! Thank you!
Hi! Kinda new to this and want to try this method only thing is I don’t hear him say if where the dough rises… do you put it in the fridge or leave on a counter until shaping… I appreciate your reply ☺️
@@itsmezee-zee1840from other videos, he does first rise on the counter.
Mine too. I used his starter recipe with the pineapple juice and rye flour….. then this bread was AMAZING
You have just saved my sourdough bread making life!!! I knew baking sourdough didn’t have to be this complicated since our ancient ancestors didn’t have all of this modern technology and equipment. Thank you- no longer a slave to the dough 😂
I make mine in one day. I let it set for an hour then work it by folding. Put It in warm place and let rise. When doubled I put on pizza stone with cold oven and put in oven and turn to 450 deg.f. With stainless pot upside down over dough. When oven gets to temp I leave in ten more minutes. Then I remove pot and insert my temperature probe. Leave in oven till 210 deg. Internal temp. Works out fine for me!
🎉
Agreed!!
Beautiful thank. I could made sourdough bread ❤❤❤
This made me cry knowing I just tossed out a 20 year old starter because people told me it was not good anymore!!😭 It looked EXACTLY like yours!
Trust no one.
Love your statement, “Who wants a loaf of bread with a bunch of holes in it?” “You can’t spread butter on a holes!” I’ve always thought that!
Great video! Looking forward to using my old starter.
Ditto!! 😆
YES!!
I finally started using my starter straight from the fridge after weeks of neglect. The results are just incredible!
Welcome to the easy life.
I owe you an apology. I had put a comment up here a few days ago that I tried making this and ended up with a slaggy mess. Turned out my measurements were off and I did not have near enough flour because I was reading my scale wrong (duh). I re-did it again and it turned out fine. It looks like some good dough forming now. Just wanted to set the record straight.
No apology necessary, accidents always happen! Let us know how it turns out!
Nice to be able to admit a mistake. Make it right. Congratulations. Teach Congress that.
I Love You Too Ben!!! I made two batches because I have a white discard jar and a wheat discard jar. My white dough was very wet as well. I drilled down into your post hoping to find gram measurements since apparently i can no longer read English. Haha🥺😢😭 But, I have faith and hopefully in a few days we are going to be eating some awesome loaves of bread!!
What a great dude. Always nice to hear someone own up to a mistake and admit he is human.
Aw!!! That is a very nice message!! Thank you for your honestly and humbleness. God bless you! 🙏
I can not believe it 😮 just cut my bread, baked according to your recipe and used my 24 month, YES 2 years old starter who was “starving😂” in the fridge. It stayed 50 hours at 22 degrees Celsius before baking. It is soooooo delicious. Thank you so much for your inspiring videos 🙏
I think this is a record, at least for this comment thread!
OMG you got my subscription! This is God sent. No more wasting flour. I can now ignore the bread and treat it what it is - just water and flour. I'm even going remove the name from my starter and stop having a personal relationship with it. *Thank you for your knowledge* 👍👍👍👍
Just out of curiosity… what did you name your starter?
😂
This make SO MUCH more sense to me than the conventional methods being used. I have been grumpy and reluctant to keep trying and now I know why, the other methods didn't make logical sense. I will give this a try. Thank you!
SAME! I just posted the same thoughts. Makes so much more sense!
I was wanting to get into sourdough baking, but every video, and especially the “easy sourdough” videos, one directed people to get a calendar to help them keep up with every kneading, made it seem impossible, unless you devote a day and a half attached to the kitchen. I work outside the home with fairly sporadic scheduling, and thought it is impossible to do sourdough outside the weekend. You bring the common sense back into baking like no one else I see on UA-cam. I am convinced they are all gatekeepers posing as educational content. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
thank for this. The last thing I want to do is be confined to my home JUST because I need to feed my starter 24/7. Now I can go on vacay with ease :)
I was about to throw out my 3 year old starter after not feeding it for 3 months, but you had me going to the kitchen right away to get started on this beautiful loaf. I always LOVED the more rich and sour tasting breads with just a salty butter spread, but feel a lot of sour dough bread in my area is just all about the holes and not really the flavor. Thank you!
your "all about holes" is not just about sourdough. It's in the icecream, the manufactured honey comb, and.... ideologies, including politics, and BIG business.
“Ease and flavor” my kind of chef! Omg the sour dough starter that I’ve wasted in the past! Thanks for revolutionizing sour dough baking for me! Yay!
You're a lifesaver my man! I'm sick of all these feeding schedule bullshit.
I just want to say THANK YOU! My brain was thinking what yours did! Like, if it hasn’t been fed then wouldn’t it feed off the flour that’s in the bread recipe?? It made no sense to me to use an active starter and you confirmed that! You have saved me SO time much and anxiety lol. Love your content and I hope you’ll continue to put out more videos like this! I’ve learned so much 😊
This is pretty much how I do my bread as well. I have friends who have gotten into making sourdough telling me about their feeding schedule and all this work they are doing. Meanwhile my starter sits in the fridge neglected until I need it and I do as little work as possible to make a great tasting loaf of bread.
I only made my starter about a month ago and only baked 2 loaves of bread with it and I am already eyeballing everything. xD My starter lives in the fridge, I take it out the day before I want to use it, feed it to make enough starter to work with and then it goes back into the fridge when I'm done.
The feeding schedule and commitment to feeding times is very offputting if you want to only bake sat every other week or not that often
So there's no need to feed every other day?
I’m super green to SD baking. My first three attempts failed. Albeit, the third time my fridge went on the fritz and froze everything in there. Still baked it after it thawed out on my counter. But it didn’t really rise much. The bread had a nice SD taste. So I think I’m almost there. 😅 here’s my question. With not doing discards, how do you continue to feed it? I see some say that they only feed it after they use it. But I really don’t understand that process. Can you please explain? I won’t be offended if you explain it to me like I’m 5 years old. 😊
I would imagine the “old ways” of constantly feeding starter was due to lack of refrigeration, and a need to always be making bread bc you couldn’t just buy a loaf. So, the starter had to always be “active”. With the advent of refrigeration, and the ability to just buy bread any old time, bread making almost became a lost art.
With your starter series, and your tips on feeding it, and the simple bread skills I’m looking forward to making my first starter.
I also agree that nobody wants giant holes in their bread 🤣🤣🤣
that makes sense
L😸🤭koi
From w
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just before watching this vid, I was watching OurGabled Home... lady was talking about multiple generational recipe, that saved a bit of the s dough and put in more flour, mixing it up till it was dry as. I don't think they had fridges back four or five plus generations ago in Germany. I think the very dry material, would keep well outside a fridge. one would need to experiment.,
but the lady doesn't feed it... unless she rarely cooses too.
Some people like holes in the bread, it's not just about looks. High hydration doughs and holes makes the bread lighter and have more crisp. It's not as doughy and you don't feel stuffed eating it. But it depends, some breads are traditionally dense and heavy, while others are light and airy. I love a Italian breads with massive holes in, but I also love German breads that are like dense bricks. There are thousands of types of bread out there.
Are you KIDDING me?? I've been lied to my entire life? I can't believe no one has told me this secret 😲🤔 thanks for the amazing info!!
went to first semester of college came back and my starter was better than ever!
I'll have to try this out. I've been using the 'scrapings' method (from Bake With Jack) for the past year and am loving it. I keep only about 15 grams of my starter in a pint mason jar in the fridge. When I want to bake bread I just take it out and feed it the amount I'm going to use and leave it to double or triple. Then take out the amount I fed it, which leaves about 15 grams of freshly-fed starter in my jar. And back to the fridge it goes. I've left it in there for a month before and it still pepped right up after feeding. I feed it from cold with ~90 degree water when I do. It's a great method. I love the methods that don't use discard.
Vittoria Bakes
This is how I do it too,just keep it in a pint jar in frig
How do you get 15 grams so accurately?
That's the beauty,it doesn't have to be precise,but 15 gm is about a tablespoon.
I've also weighed me empty jar,so I can weigh it with the starter in it and know how much that is(OXO kitchen scale with pull out screen so you can read it with a large bowl)
What do you do if the liquid forms on top while not being fed that long ? The “ hootch” . Thank you 😊
@@stacisrainbownursery7825 it's fine to just mix it back in!
I never discard and many times don’t feed it before making bread. I usually make bread once a week or so. I always have great results. Glad to see you do this as well.
I can't tell you how happy I am to have discovered this video. I have been baking a LOT of sourdough loaves this year and after baking around 20 the week before Thanksgiving, I was getting burned out. I tried your method and had the best loaf ever! Thank you! I tried to add a photo but not sure how to on here.
I love this video! Ive left my starter as long as 8 months without feeding it and it's always been fine. I DIDN'T know you could make a loaf with it right away though. I've always taken mine out the night before, fed it, left it on my counterop overnight and used it the next day or two. I'm super excited to try your method the next time I forget my starter. I can only imagine how good it tastes! I agree about the big holes. I make bread to eat it and have it taste good; I can't eat air lol! Thanks for the video! 😀
I became so discouraged with trying to bake a "perfect" (meaning large air holes) loaf of sourdough all I have been baking for the last 4 months is sourdough discard recipes!! I am so glad to see this! It just seems soooooo ridiculous to try and become an artisan baker at home- all I want is to bake an easy loaf of sourdough to feed my family~~ Thank you for this video!!
😀👍🏼🍞
Same here... I am surviving on sourdough pancakes.. It almost seems punishment when i force myself to make a loaf of bread. By the way, it is silly to fuss over making a "perfect loaf" then I eat the thing in two days. Its not like we want to hang them loaves on the wall forever. Come see my perfect loaves everyone!
If you are used to german sourdough breads that are eaten as a staple food.... there is no lange holes in them. That is something that mainly other countries aspire to.
@@JC-dk7nb I prefer a closer crumb, the air holes can't be eaten !!!!
@@JVSwailesBoudicca for a german it is simply impractical to have large holes an then watch your toppings (especially nutella and jam) drop on your lap while you are eating. 🤣
This confirms my suspicions after neglecting my SD starter. I found that it easily came "back to life" if I fed it after ignoring it for "too long." I'm all about efficiency and practicality and you demonstrated both with this validating video. Thank you, you've changed my method of baking SD from now on and, yes, holes hold no flavor.
You are my hero, Ben Starr! I’ve been wanting to learn to make SD bread. I bought some 9 year old starter and was going to use a recipe I saw on UA-cam and then I found your easy SD recipe!!! After my first 2 loaves I made my husband buy a cast iron Dutch oven for an early Christmas gift. Each loaf is better than the last. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Interesting- i plan to use some of these tips especially not discarding starter, and not feeding religiously. Thanks
I've been trying to make sourdough for about a year. A lot of blood, sweat, tears, aggravation & yes some successes but I started to feel it was taking over my life😢 You have come to my rescue you💃💞 I want to thank you from the bottom of my weary heart. Seriously this is a game changer🤗 2021 is looking to have a fabulous start. 🥳
I have stayed away from sour dough because of the monotonous upkeep… your method rocks and seems perfect for my lazy cooking routine! I am on day 1 of your sour dough starter recipe now - wish me luck!
My HERO! I finally baked my first loaf, following your instructions, and it’s perfect!
It is true!! I tried it and I have the most beautiful loaf of bread ever! Now I make 2 breads every week with supermarket flower and we love it. This is the only recepie I use. I tried for several weeks to make sauerdough bread and used a ton of recepies it never worked until I found this recepie. Lots of love from Antwerp, Belgium, Myriam
Hey Ben... I've been baking sourdough bread since 3 years now with different techniques... made your recipe now 5 times... sourdough used right out of the fridge, not fed in a month or more... well what can I say.... Best bread ever! No stress, no slapping, folding or whatever... just pure pleasure, full flavor and... as you said... NO airbubbles without taste!!! This is, how a bread should look and taste like we'd say in Germany!!! Perfect... my all-day recipe for ever!!!
Yes - this is spot on. Feeding/discarding is a waste. Even making "other things" with your discard is a waste if you don't *really* want to be eating those products. Personally, I've got little interest in sourdough crackers or waffles. My starter also sits happily for weeks/months and it works great. After pulling out whatever amount of starter I need for a batch of bread, I just top the starter back up with enough flour/water to bring it back up to it's normal volume and then it goes back in the fridge. No discard, no waste, no daily/weekly feeding.
Amen
Same.
When you take your starter out of the fridge after a couple months, do you feed it first before using? Do you let it sit out before using? Thank you!
I don't do anything differently than if it had only just been sitting for a few days. I just mix it into my standard levain (usually 1:1:1 starter, flour, water) usually the night before I make the main dough.
@@nemodetroit Thank you very much!
That “Hooch” was an interesting addition to the diet’s of travelers on the Oregan trail. There was a group known as the “sourdoughers” that were kept separate from the rest of the wagon train when they would bivouac. They DRANK that liquid and it made them crazy. It had an alcohol content of about 15%
😂😂😂😂😂😂 The many ways humans have fermented and consumed foods, is just fascinating. I do a lot of small batch fermentations myself. My favorite so far is blueberries. Though bananas and pineapples were really strange and great too. :)
Wow, interesting!
I also was listening to someone that said they would save sourdough and use it as a “glue” in between their logs in their homes to keep out the cold in Alaska. When they needed starter they would just chip off some and restart it. Makes sense because you can dehydrate your starter for another time. Something I am going to try for sure - dehydrating that is.
Wow, today I learned that my lazy approach to starter tending is actually avant guard.
I am trying to make more breads and more cheeses but I'm lazy sometimes :)
😂👍🏼🍞
Ditto!! I've been throwing so much gold away..
I actually do the same and thought that no one would believe me that it works so well against all the rules, so I’m glad to see I’m not the only one! :)
One year later I don't follow any other method than this. You made sourdough bread (and pizza) very accessible for me. Thank you!
Hallelujah! Agree 100%. Had a long neglected fridge starter, all moulded over. Picked the layer of mould out, gave it a feed, perfect loaf the next day
Just fed my starter after 8 months of being starved, even it has not been in the fridge for the last month or two, amazing how it comes back to life.
You are a sourdough bread genius! Thank you. Feeding and kneading my starter has become daunting. Also, I quickly became overwhelmed with trying to use up the wasted starter. It hurt to throw it away and waste $. I appreciate this video. Thank you again.
You, sir, are right on target! I watch these "baking experts" and their 300-step sourdough method with all of the slapping and folding telling me how all that work makes the bread taste better and I always think "how???" All of that slapping and folding does nothing but distribute yeast, help form bubbles, and make gluten. The only thing that creates flavor is TIME!! Leave those little critters alone so they can work their magic in peace.
VERY well said!
Thats what I have been thinking lately. Its the same with everything. Like when I was learning to play guitar, everyone makes it so difficult. Then I eventually ignore them, sit down and figure out this is really easy. The only hard part is coming up with new unique songs...
When I look back, my first loaves were not perfect, but good. As I watch more and more videos, my loaves get worse. I waste more time, I stress, I worry, I mess up... In fact, it seemed better if i just mix it together, knead it right away. then let it ferment hours and toss it in the oven, scored... Simple.
Remember, people are generally stupid and lazy, yet, they survived and bread making is ancient. If it was so hard to do none of us would be here cause our ancestors would have starved to death trying to figure out how to slap their boules just so
@@VeluBeru I agree with you.
Is bread making a contest? An all day endeavor to get a few large holes? My European family respectfully disagrees. There are many YT videos where the sourdough bread makers don't even weigh their ingredients and their results are just as good if not better that most of these laborious and scientific bread bakers. I think they just love to hear their own voices and maybe have a bit of self esteem issues ;)
Ben Starr is very wise.
@@voidremoved I just imagine people in Biblical times, trying to survive and get by each day. Making enough bread to get them by just barely. And then in walks a UA-camr from today, to tell them that their sourdough is all wrong, and that they MUST slap and fold for 8 hours prior to shaping or resting. Imaging those women laughing hysterically and kicking that idiot out! 😂
I was so shocked when he started cursing. It was so funny. I love how he is not afraid to speak his mind!
I just baked my loaf tonight using your recipe.... I am impressed! I let my dough sit in the gallon bag for 48 hours, then it proved on my worktop for 9 hours (it's winter). The end result is pretty darn good... I wish I could share a photo.
When you put it in the bag, does it sit on the counter or in the fridge? Thanks!
So true! I have left starter in fridge for months, months, maybe even over a year.....lots of liquid on top, great smell and worked just fine with a feeding. This timely boring business of feeding a starter every week or so, so not necessary.
While I don't follow your exact system (I use a stiff starter), I appreciate that you're pointing out that you don't need to do all these wasteful feedings to get great bread!
I personally do not think that the holy bread is more beautiful . I don’t get why the craze over it. Love your videos.
If I have watch your video earlier I would not have pour my old starter into the drain😢. Thank you so much for teaching me to make sourdough bread a much easier way. ❤
This guy is right. so many untruths about starter out there. I feed mine once a month.
That was my comment too. Cheers.
How?!
@@GTAVBM
I keep my starter excessively dry. Before baking, I retain a golf ball size amount of starter and mix lots of flour into it, using a cutting motion. When really dry, resembling soft biscuit crumbs, I place more flour on top - and leave it for weeks.
I was waiting for the caveat of keeping it cold to slow the metabolism of the microbes. 5 months seems excessive. Might as well freeze it.
Pretty sure if you put a lit match to that 'water' you'd be in for a surprise 🤣🔥
You are so smart! I've felt so guilty about how haphazard I am about feeding starter. I've had ups and downs using "mal nutrition starter" for a while, but more ups than downs. Now, you've taught me that it can and should work all the time! I thank you , Sir, and you've made a subscriber out of me!!!
OMG, you are one of the best and most comprehensive teachers I've ever seen. I'm 60, was in the education system, and homeschooled until High School. I'm impressed!
I've only just found you, am just starting my sourdough journey, and have subscribed.
You and I darling, will make beautiful bread together. 💕
You are a godsend for us simple sourdough bakers!!!! Thanks a million for making this joyous baking experience so simple with our lovely, loyal little sourdough buddies in the fridge!!!! ❤❤❤❤❤😋😋😋😋🥰🥰🥰
This can work, kind of did it over the weekend. Pulled my neglected starter out of the frig Friday for the first time since May. Fed it once then used it. Let the dough set in the refrigerator overnight and it ended up as one of my best loaves, nice and tangy. Baked it yesterday afternoon, gone in 24 hours.
I have been feeding my starter after I use it then after it has been out for 12 hours and is all bubbly I just put it in the fridge until needed again, as I bake about 2 times a week it is never in much more that 3-4 days but if I'm away for a week or 2 it has never been an issue. I have never had to discard any starter. I also agree that all this aiming for large bubbles in the bread is just for show, I use bread tins and make sandwich loaves as you Americans call them, although it is just flour, water, salt and starter nothing else. the taste and texture is far superior to shop bought bread which we have not bought since I started at the beginning of the year. I even managed to get flour to bake all through lock down here in the UK, mostly white but some whole wheat as well. Supplies are fairly stable again now so all's good in the baking world :-)
Cast the hooch screw the pooch! Thanks Ben!🙏🙏🙏
HI Ben, I am glad I watched this. I think this may have answered my question I sent you earlier. Thank you so much! Kim
Ben Starr, I love this. I saw you on tv after seeing your vids on youtube. Love your personality and what works wisdom. Keep them coming!
Thanks, Joe!!
TL;DW - You can use a really old, unfed, starving starter just by making a: fairly low hydration, high salt, zero knead, long proof time dough! Neat!
Thanks! If there's one thing I am genetically incapable of doing, it's creating something that's not TL. :-D
Thank you Mr. Betts. The only thing that concerns me with old starter is the acidity of the bread.
Double the salt, got it!
@@ultimatefoodgeek how long after feeding your starter to make more can you use it in this recipe?
I just got back from my long holiday and after I have seen this video i STOP worrying about my sourdough starter in my fridge.. my life will be so flow and nice from now on😁😁😁😁
0:23 I am so excited to see your starved starter. It looks just like what is in my refrigerator. I was wondering if it was ruined or even if it was safe to use. Usually I baby my starter but with the holidays I just shoved it in the back of the refrigerator, now it’s time to bake some more and I was questioning the viability of my millet starter. I bake gluten-free so the results will be a little different, but I imagine the idea of the starter with the acetone smelling hooch will be just about the same as in your video, thank you for saving me weeks of revamping my starter.
I found this video super helpful. I'm a near novice. I made my own starter about six months ago and have been a bit of a slave to the associated rituals since then. I started cutting corners and making 'mistakes' that simplified things. But with this video Ben Starr cuts through all the crap in one go. Excellent! Thank you very much.
Yours is the second I've seen about not wasting. I can't wait to try this because I don't want to waste.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience. I am so glad I found you!
OH MY GOD!!! I stopped making sourdough bread because it was as if I'd adopted a pet. It dominated a slice of my life every day with it's feeding and care; and the waste... After all, I only needed to make a loaf for my husband and I every other week; once a week at most. And after all that, it took two days and hours every time I made a loaf of bread! It was ridiculous. So I used up my starter making Korean pancakes and gave it up.
But even though I learned how to make a low time investment loaf of lovely crusty bread using active dry yeast, I found it completely bland in comparison to the tangy flavor of sourdough bread. So I've really been feeling aggrieved...by what turns out to be a false choice that never had to be made??? OMG you are my Sourdough Savoir! THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!!!
Wow....I’m so impressed with this video. I’m learning so much about how to make my sour dough better with no waste and less fussing.
Just…such…a…great…guy. So so much appreciation for what you do for all of us.
This is incredible! You are a sourdough wizard. I’m a newbie. Instantly subbed!!
I am so thankful I found you! Your videos have been SO helpful!!! Thank you for making sourdough easy!!!!
I stepped into the world of making sourdough bread during the pandemic. Unfortunately, I came upon the uber uptight, neurotic "elite experts" first. Was losing sleep worrying whether I fed my sourdough enough! You debunk the myths and make baking homemade bread not intimidating/easy. Thanks!
I've learned a lot more just by eyeballing it. I feed my starter what I need to feed it to have enough to bake with it. Amounts can vary :D Keep it in the fridge and as long as there is no visible mold or discoloration, your starter should be fine and alive. I take mine out the day before I use it and give it a small feeding just to make sure. That's all. With a little bit of experience you can even throw the bread dough together without obsessing too much about hydration and whatnot
This solves a whole lot of problems. Thank you!
Thanks so much for making this video!! You make sourdough SO easy and enjoyable! Way more accessible than everything I was coming across when I first started out. Thanks again!
Thank you for making sourdough bread simple, your experience and knowledge is invaluable!!
Thanks to you, I got my starter going, and can’t wait for my first loaf the bread❤️
I NEVER discard. I regularly leave unfed starter in the fridge for weeks on end. Never gone 5 months because I want sourdough more often than that. I have gone 5 weeks though with ZERO issues. I see no reason why this wouldn't work.
same here, and figured it out on my own :)
that is awesome!!!!! so impressed by your courage to beat convention!
Today an update, first, Ben how are you it has been almost a year I think and no sign of you. You may be proud of me, yesterday I took out my starter that I have not fed for 11 months, yes one month from one year, fed her yesterday and OMG she is HAPPY! She overflowed in happiness on my counter during the night. People, Ben is right, stop babying your starter. I made sourdough pizza dough out of a starter that had not been fed for over 5 months, got it happy feeding her and wa-la beautiful sourdough pizza. I did leave the dough in the fridge for two days prior to allow it to ferment longer and beautiful.
Beautiful! Always had great success using your method. I use no other now.
You rock Ben! Thanks again for revolutionizing the sourdough world!
This whole artisan bread making got out of hand. Humans have been making bread for thousands of years, and I doubt they had such strict methods....so glad to see someone debunking all of this and saying its gonna be ok!
Hi Ben just wanted to say thank you for your content on here, by following your tips for how to treat the starter and also by following your sourdough simple method to the letter I’ve managed to produce my best bakes ever to date.
You have been able to bring clarity to all the white noise that inhabits UA-cam. Thanks again.
Thank you! It was nice to see where one of your "experimental" starters ended up. I appreciate how you teach and like to know how and why things work. Thanks for balancing the details and the basics so well!
Everytine i make your recipe my family and I love it! Thank you Ben! 😊
Very timely video, got a neglected starter in the fridge, so glad I saw this before I went and poured away the hooch!
Throwing away half of the starter that I was trying to cultivate dicouraged me from continuing to keep up up with starters, your method makes so much sense, I am so excited to get started once again. Thank you, I will subscribe to see what else you have up your sleeve. Thank you
I appreciate that you have this out there. I never feed my starter unless I am needing more or using it and I sometimes go months between feedings. 👌
I don't feed my starter regularly, I never discard starter, I don't weigh my ingredients, I do use a cup of wholemeal flour, I use high hydration dough, I stretch and fold, I rise my dough at room temperature and use the fridge to slow it down, I never shape the loaf, I tip the dough into a hot iron skillet, I put a pan of boiling water in the bottom of the oven and spray the top of the loaf.
Results are delicious and look artisan.
Fun & helpful to hear how others do their dough! So many diff ways to make good bread.
This is an excellent video. In the beginning of my sourdough journey I used to watch all these videos of people throwing away starter and it just pained me so I decided to just ignore them. Nowadays my starter lives permanently in the fridge. I may feed it, I may not before a bread. I may wait until it rises to its max height, I may not. I really don't care. I just 100gr starter in my 500ish gr flour loaf, refeed the starter just a tiny bit and back in the fridge. I waste ZERO flour. Also when in the fridge it just goes into hibernation so indeed it doesn't die. It's a bit like it's an inert state in the grain when you make the starter. The other foodgeek (the danish one :D) says he just keeps it outside the fridge and doesn't feed it. I guess as long as it doesn't grow anything funky in there it's ok to use. Keep up the great work!
Thanks Ben! I will try your method! Looks really easy!
❤Tried mix yesterday and bake just now. Great o sprung
Amazing education! I dislike discarding sourdough starter, even for my compost. Thank you so much for teaching me not only how to bake better bread, but how not to waste. Bravo! Sonja in SoCal
Great experimentation ! Am baking home bread since the first quaranteen aswel and I kept learning and improving through empiricism (and doing a lot of mistakes through that process, but improving my general knowledge). I noticed as you did I had a lot of flexibility with the feeding of my sourdough. Great work !
This is such good information and I am truly grateful for all of your videos. Thank you for making them and sharing your knowledge; it has helped me a lot!🥳🥰
I take the middle road for years now. No regular feeding. Feed the starter the day before. Mix and shape the bread immediately let it rise a bit and then refrigerate. Bake directly from the refrigerator. Excellent oven spring but no big holes. No big deal. I liked the scissor scoring. Very useful information about old starter. You can also air dry starter for very long period of storage. King Tutankhamun knows very well the technique.
The giant bubbles do come with a flavor difference.. the stretchiness that supports the big bubbles grant the baked bread a unique texture that’s second to none
I agree!
Absolutely love your videos, the only reason I have had the nerve to start making sourdough, and now I'm hooked, thank you!
omgosh, I got started on Sourdough bread at the Deli's in NYC, and I just love it, now I have to learn how to make it.
I'm brand new to Sourdough, thank you so much for making this process even easier!
Got a starter for xmas, glad to know i can at least go a while and not feed it weekly. Ive fed it twice, and it looks good. Thank you!
Thank you! I have great difficulty wasting starter and I feel like it has been a pet that I have to take care of constantly. I read that hooch meant I was starving it so I started feeding more and was overrun with it. I'll be trying this method!
I love sourdough bread but I didn't know how simple it could be. Thanks for your trick, I'm definitely more confident to make one now and you have a new subscriber!
Absolutely loved this. Simple and better, can’t beat that! Earned another sub today.
You just blew my mind. Excited to try this now.