Made my first loaf yesterday, it came out less than stellar. I've had a "No Discard" starter on my counter now for 9 days (8 days at the time of making this loaf), it doubles-triples with every feeding and seems to be plenty bubbly, but REEKS of alcohol (like beer almost). Would this cause the loaf to be "Over-Fermented" like this?
by Drovsy
13 Comments
I used this recipe: https://youtu.be/DiI-1PF_Mr0?si=GkyYmQ2vH1bhie2f (and followed it exactly)
Looks like my first loaf
Not a flop, because you must have a few flops before you get success. Get the flops out!
At 8 days your starter isn’t mature enough to make bread. This is severely underfermented.
Work on strengthening your starter so it’s peaking in 4-7 hours.
My first two loaves looked and smelled like that aswel! Give your starter some time and after a while you will bake good loaves. Don’t give up!
As is tradition 😉
I feel your pain. I still ate that shit with a fuck ton of butter. Solved all my problems.
Hi. This is severly under fermented. Your starters is only just coming out of the battle of the bacteria.
There are several phases to developing your starter.
In the first there is a rapid reaction as bacteria fight for supreacy create a false fermentation. That finally subsides and creates a more acidic environment that suits yeast and ‘good’ bacteria better. It needs feeding once a day.
In the next phase the activity is useually not evident but the culture goes flat and more liquid. Things are still happening in the murky depths so it still needs feeding daily.
In the last phase the character of your starter will change becoming a creamy unctious texture with small bubbles evident. The yeast cells are multiplying abd devloping CO2. With repeat feeds the fermentation will become stronger. However different flours will have different rise. Whole grain flours, thp high in nutrients and yeast will typically rise less than ordinary flour because of the bran content that inhibits the ferment and creates a coarse fibrous matrix that allows gas to escape. For this reason most yeast starters will have a high, strong white bread flour content. In the early stages of this phase feed twice daily. Start to note how long it takes to double, triple and peak. For this is the way you gauge the vigour of your starter.
Mix her thoroughly, put 15 g in a fresh jar with scew down lid. Feed 1:1:1 preferably with a flour mix of 80% strong white bread flour and 20 % whole wheat or rye. Mark level scrape down inside of jar. Replace lid and allow to ferment on counter. Note time it takes to double, triple and peak (starts to fall). Repeat feed when falling or at 12 hrs. Once she is doubling in around 4 hrs you’re good to go.
I keep 45 g in the fridge. When I want to bake I pull it out let it warm up before feeding it 1:1:1 this gives me my levain and 15g surplus to feed 1:1:1 to become my new starter. It lives in the fridge till needed.
Happy baking
It’s underfermented
This starter is not ready. 8 days is extremely early.
Your starter just isn’t ready, just keep feeding and start discarding and try again in a week or so🤷♂️
That was my first loaf too ! I worked 1 month on my starter to get this and gave up 🙁 might have to redo it again sometime
8 days is not mature enough, and the bacteria that make it so bubbly and reactive are likely not the ones you want to stick around- hence the smell. It may also upset your stomach if you eat it at this stage. Mine started making edible loaves about 3 weeks in. Give it time and the bacterial colony will adjust