Willy isn't alone. I just took delivery of my second banneton and extra blades for the lame. The wife thought I was insane when I got started (hooked, really) a few months ago. Now she pesters me for details like "when's the next loaf???" and today had me on the phone with one of her sisters to tell her all about making artisan sourdough. Among other things, I pointed her to StellaCulinary.com as a great starting point (she's not a smoker or griller or I would have suggested AR, too).
BTW, we might need to change the MBMBS acronym to something else. My initials are MBM ... and we all know what BS stands for ... ...
"Have you ever had a starter change character--go from sour to "sweet"--in the space of a couple of days, with all else remaining constant--room temp storage (mid-70°F range) and constant, identical feeding schedule and ingredients?"
Remember in ChefJacob's podcast both lactic and acidic acid like warm weather. What surprises me actually was that you constructed your starter in the mid 70's and came up with an acidic sour starter to begin with. The fact that it got sweeter and more mild at that temperature seems extremely normal to me.
Try this on your next dump and feed... 50% of the weight of your flour as bread flour, 25% WW flour, 25% Rye flour and an equal amount of water. Leave it on your counter top for 2 hours and put it in the fridge. Dump half of it out every 3 days and feed it exactly what you dumped. After 3 - 3 day feedings feed it again and leave it on the counter top and make a loaf of bread after it passes the float test.
Agreed, the fact that it was sour surprised me as well, cuz 75°F-ish didn't sound like an acid favoring environment. The other surprise was the speed at which it turned. But...three days in my faux SF cooler and it's become more sour already! Yay!
"The one difficulty I had, which in retrospect I don't believe was a real difficulty, was passing the float test. I am now pretty certain that waiting an entire day to do the FT meant that Vinnie has given his all and decided to nap until meal time."
Every starter has a different life cycle. A healthy strong well fed starter stored at about 72° will usually take about 4 to 6 hours to double in size. It's at its peak at that point. It will remain strong for a few hours and then it will starter reducing in size, collapsing in on itself. If it still passes the float test you can still bake with it but it won't be as powerful as it once was. Using your starter at its absolute peak is best, even though it will still work once it's past its peak.
On a day you're going to be home all day... After a morning dump and feed, Do a float test every hour after hour 3 and then every hour that day. Until it fails the float test. Then you will know your starters rhythm, how long it takes to peak and how long from that point you have to use it, before it fails the float test. Knowing your starter is the same as knowing your smoker.👍
"Thanks for the comments about the importance of tension pulls. The loaf that didn't cut well I had accidentally floured the bottom of before doing the pulls--natch it wasn't sticky enough to give a good pull."
My dough will never be exposed to raw flour from the time it comes out of the bulk fermentation container, until I put it in the banneton. The first thing I do when it goes in the banneton is pinch the bottom seam closed.
I think once you perfect your final shaping, tension pulls, pinching that seam off and the poke test... all of your problems are solved. Scoring will be easier, you will get better oven spring, better ears, and your crumb will be open and airy. You will have reached sourdough nirvana.😎
Tip... I dip my lame in a water glass I keep by the dough when I'm going to score it. Dough won't stick to a wet object.
Willy isn't alone. I just took delivery of my second banneton and extra blades for the lame. The wife thought I was insane when I got started (hooked, really) a few months ago. Now she pesters me for details like "when's the next loaf???" and today had me on the phone with one of her sisters to tell her all about making artisan sourdough. Among other things, I pointed her to StellaCulinary.com as a great starting point (she's not a smoker or griller or I would have suggested AR, too).
BTW, we might need to change the MBMBS acronym to something else. My initials are MBM ... and we all know what BS stands for ... ...
MBMorgan ... You are taking the path I did when I decided to learn to bake a loaf of bread. You are way ahead of where I was after 2 months, by leaps and bounds. I read your comments about bread baking and I have to remind myself you've only been studying bread for 2 months. There aren't many bread bakers with 2 months experience that can converse on your level. There are many that have been playing with bread baking for a year or more that aren't at your level yet. You are a quick study to say the least.👍
Your wife thought you were insane...😆 That's actually quite normal. I'm sure all of your male friends are saying the same thing. Most middle aged men don't just all of a sudden take up Artisan sourdough bread baking.🤔 That eventually goes away and they admire the fact that you've perfected a lots art that few people can do... Then they want more of your beautiful, tasty loves of bread.👍
Teaching others how to do it is as much fun as doing it yourself. Your sister in law will greatly appreciate your help... Pay it forward my friend.👍
Im officially changing the acronym to, MBS "More Bread Syndrome"... Done! It appears to me that with all your new gear your fully addicted.
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