Frequently Asked Questions

Sourdough starter is merely a naturally fermented flour & water. It is really that simple!

Everyone wants their crust to stay crispy! Make sure you slice it down the middle and not from the end so you can push the 2 halves together! This will keep the middle of the bread soft. You can keep your bread on a wooden cutting board for a couple of days. After that, you can (1) store in linen bag; (2) wrap in dish towel; (3) store in brown paper bag. If the crust ends up soft, pop it into a very hot toaster oven or oven for few mins!

Bulk fermentation is the 6 hour process during which stretch & folds are performed. This process allows gluten to be formed into the dough helping to make a beautifully airy crumb! Without it, your bread will be flat!

Your starter needs to be fed once a week. If you don't plan on baking and are just feeding it to keep it alive & fresh, feed it a small amount; 50g water, 50g bread flour. Leave it out overnight covered with saran wrap, the metal ring from the lid & put slit thru top. Put in frig next morning until you're ready to make your next loaf! IF you plan on baking 1-2x a week, technically you could leave it out and feed it every 3 days a larger 100g feeding. 

Discard is UNFED starter. Typically, you'd pour off the amount you need for the recipe you're using BEFORE feeding your starter. There are tons of recipes online for discard including crackers (recipe in FAQs), banana bread, chocolate chip cookies & a whole lot more!

Well, even tho Sourdough IS your baby, you still need a break to be able to go on vaca! Before you leave, feed your starter and leave it out overnight. Store as you normally would in frig the next day. When you return, take your starter out, pour off some discard and feed the starter a large feeding of 100g water, 100g flour. If you're gone for 2 weeks or more, your starter may develop a liquid on top. Just pour off that liquid and feed the rest & leave out overnight.  If by morning it's not responding, feed it again. In a day or 2 at room temp, it should have perked back up!

You need 150g for the recipe given in class.

Do small feedings (50-75g water & 50-75g flour) when you don't plan on baking just to keep your starter going each week. The night before you want to bake, do a big feeding of 100g/100g. This really does depend on how much starter you have, how many loaves you're going to make & if you're discarding some for discard recipes before feeding! There's really no wrong way of doing this. Most likely, you'll always have 150g available to start a loaf. The smaller feedings just keep the starter at a manageable size.

Your starter is ready when the active, growing & the bubbly stage starts to subside! Typically, if you want to start a dough in a.m., feed it the night before and by morning it should be at perfect point!

- For any nuts, use 80g. 

- Wet ingredients like Olives, Cheese, Cranberries, Raisins, use 80g per ingredient.  Make you you drain and blot dry all wet ingredients so they don't add too much moisture to your dough!

- Every But Bagel Seasoning & Herbs*, use about 2-3 Tablespoons. 

* When using herbs, you can use fresh or dried. Depending on the herb, you may want to marinate it in olive oil like fresh basil or rosemary. You can thrn use 20g of the scented oil in place of olive oil in recipe.

- For a seeded loaf, combine roasted salted sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flax, hemp hearts, roasted sesame seeds totaling 80g

- Cinnamon or spices 2 Tablespoons

- Orange & Lemon Peel, I use the peel of the entire fruit and use a citrus zester like this one: https://a.co/d/drVXmix

I like using this to get the peel itself vs zest and then I chop it up and add in. 

Be creative & try different combinations! Nothing is really off limit

It's best to feed your starter after it's come to room temperature 

Your starter needs to stay cozy! Many people have told me they keep their house cool. In this case, keep your starter in oven w the light on. The light produces 75°. The day you're making your dough, take it out of oven, turn oven on to 300° for 30 min & then shut oven. Keep starter next to warmed oven.