What the heck does a starter look like anyways?
I realized that I’d been going on and on about wild yeast starters and hadn’t shown one yet. So here’s a couple shots of what they look like.
I keep two starters – a stiff and a loose one. The difference between them is the amount of water used each time I refresh them. The different hydration levels create environments for different types of yeast and bacteria. Bacteria in stiff starters tend to be more heavily acidic; whereas higher hydration starters are sweeter and milder. Here’s what they look like after they have just been fed.
They are fed twice a day when they are in use. I take some of the old starter, add fresh flour and water to it and mix it up. Within 8-12 hours, they are ready to be mixed with dough. When starters aren’t being used they live in the refrigerator, where the yeast and bacteria remain dormant. They can stay dormant for weeks before they need to be refreshed again.
Both the stiff and loose starters are used in this week’s breads. The Whole Wheat Levain uses the stiff starter and the Cracked Pepper Seeded Baguette uses the loose starter.
Whole Wheat Levains
Cracked Pepper Seeded Baguette
Strawberry Muffins
Notes
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