To assess strength of starter, the standard recommendation to let it double in volume. THIS SHOULD BE THE MINIMUM.
My starter quadruples consistently. if I were to either feed at the doubling point or use it when doubled in making sourdough bread. I effectively weaken my starter AND have set myself up for a longer bulk fermentation time.
Bottom line is, don’t blindly follow rules, get to know your starter – a double in volume may not be sufficient!
by Some-Key-922
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I learned the past week my starter is bougie and threw a tantrum when I ran out of rye. For a week there was no activity. Yesterday rye got delivered and fed it. Today it literally tripled.
Yup, every starter behaves differently and this is one of the reasons why following the times given in recipes or charts for bulk fermentation is more confusing than helpful, especially for beginners.
I added bread flour to mine after just using wheat flour and she grew so much!
Watch the dough not the clock. Lot of people really don’t take into consideration their room temp. Recipes are more like general guidelines not set in stone rules. My baking book says to bake 20-25 ( depending on recipe ) with lid on, and then 20 min with lid off. Meanwhile I can push to almost 40 with lid off, but that’s because I know my oven and know what I can get away with.
This is helpful to know! Thank you for sharing 🙏🏼
Can you please explain the middle sentence
Kinda looks just tripled to me but the point stands! And may be the angle.