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Sourdough Starter
$5.15
Let's get this party started.
In baker's percentages this is fed with 100% Flour (whole wheat), 100% Water, 20% Starter
Brake Bread
From St. Paul, MN...Brake Bread doesn't only deliver the goods by bicycle, we make most of them right here in the shop! We believe that good things take time and that bicycles and bread create community.
Here's a link to a more depth look at the care and feeding of your starter.
Or you can just start feeding this as the recipe you are using tells you too.
Keep in mind, this starter will need to be fed and refreshed before using it. If you're going to refresh it the day you get it, awesome. I'd do that in the evening and let it grow overnight.
If you're going to feed it later (in the next 7 days), stick it in the fridge till then.
This is what the link at the top links to:
Maintaining A Healthy Starter
Starters go by many names: Mother, Mutha, Levain, Chef, Starter… They all refer to the same thing - A portion of naturally leavened dough that is used to leaven your next batch of bread.
A starter is a living thing that needs to eat sugars/starches to grow and multiply. By mixing a small portion of active starter with a bit of flour and water the wild yeast in the starter multiplies as it eats up the good stuff provided by the flour. Adjusting the ratio of starter, flour, and water will manipulate the health and speed with which your starter develops.
STANDARD DAILY STARTER MAINTENANCE
Percent | Total Flour Weight = 50g | Ingredients |
100 | 50 | Flour (white/whole mix) |
100 | 50 | Water (room temp) |
20 | 10 | Starter (fridge or room temp) |
220 | 110 | Total Percentage |
To keep a starter active and healthy for regular baking feed your starter every 12 hrs using the above formula. You can save the excess starter (the discard) and use it to add flavor to pancakes, biscuits, and muffins.
Storing Your Starter Between Bakes
Most folks will only bake bread once or twice a week. Sometimes you may go a month between bakes! To store your starter between bakes simply stick it in the fridge when it is about 1.5 times its starting size. This will keep up to a month. If black sludge develops on top, pour it off. If orange mold shows up, throw it away and stop by Brake Bread for a fresh batch of starter.
Starter Build / Refresh Schedule
REFRESH
If the starter has been in the fridge for awhile you’ll want to kickstart it a bit. The goal of the refresh is to get some life and energy back into the starter. To help it along the refresh uses a higher percentage of starter in the mix.
The formula is 100% Flour, 100% Water, 100% Starter
A standard refresh for home baking would be 50g Four, 50g Water, 50g Starter
STANDARD REFRESH FORMULA
Percent | Total Flour Weight = 50g | |
100 | 50 g | Flour (white/whole mix) |
100 | 50 g | Water (room temp) |
100 | 50 g | Starter (fridge or room temp) |
300 | 150 g | Total Percentage |
BUILD
The standard process for taking a small amount of starter and growing it in the days prior to the bake. Once your starter is healthy and active it’s ready to move from Refreshing to Building. The percentage of starter is less, as it is more active.
STARTER BUILD FORMULA
Percent | TFW = 100g | Ingredients |
100 | 100g | Flour (white/whole mix) |
100 | 100g | Water (room temp) |
20 | 20g | Starter (fridge or room temp) |
220 | 220g | Total Percentage |
To build your starter for mixing:
- At the bottom of the sheet on page 15 write in the amount of starter you need when you will be mixing.
- Divide this number by the total percent of the starter build formula (220)
- 365/220= 1.65
- Multiply this number by 100.
- 1.65*100= 165
- This answer is the TFW (Total Flour Weight) to use in the proceeding starter build.
I suggest 1 Refresh and 1 Build prior to baking. If starter is sluggish, add an additional refresh to your schedule. The schedule below is for mixing on Saturday at noon.
SAMPLE STARTER REFRESH/BUILD
TIME NEEDED BY | AMOUNT OF STARTER NEEDED | BUILD/REFRESH FORMULA | NOTES |
Friday at 6pm | 50g | 50g Flour 50g Water 50g Starter | REFRESH 1 |
Saturday at 6 am | 33g | 165g Flour 165g Water 33g Starter | BUILD 1 |
Saturday at Noon | 365g | Use in Final Dough Formula | MIX |