Stiff Sourdough Starter (probably the best way to make bread)

A stiff sourdough starter is hands down the best method to take your sourdough game to the next level. You will learn how to make a stiff starter and why a stiff starter might be better in most cases when trying to make sourdough bread.
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Key differences between all the starters: blog.the-bread-code.io/recipe...
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Gluten Tag. Below is a list of all the tools and flour that I am using. Some of the links contain an affiliate code, feel free to use them if you like my work. In general you can always support by spreading the word, liking my videos or subscribing in case you like the content. This way you support my dream to become a full time Baker ❤️.
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My tools:
Banneton proofing basket (25cm length, 15cm width, 8.5cm height): thbrco.io/banneton
Cooling rack: thbrco.io/cooling-rack
Digital kitchen scale: thbrco.io/kitchen-scale
Dough scraper: thbrco.io/dough-scraper
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Dutch oven round (Lodge): thbrco.io/dutch-oven-round
Dutch oven with glas lid (Brovn) - (Coupon BREADCODE for 5% off): thbrco.io/dutch-oven-glas-lid
Infrared thermometer: thbrco.io/infared-meter
Loaf pan (30cm length x 12cm width x 9cm height): thbrco.io/loaf-pan-regular
Loaf pan with lid (34cm length, 13cm width, 12cm height): thbrco.io/loaf-pan-lid
No stick spray (vegetable based): thbrco.io/non-stick-spray
Ooni pizza oven: thbrco.io/ooni-pizza-oven
Oven gloves: thbrco.io/oven-gloves
Oven thermometer: thbrco.io/oven-thermometer
pH meter to check acidity (advanced): thbrco.io/ph-meter-advanced
pH meter to check acidity (basic): thbrco.io/ph-meter
Rolling pin (Coupon BREADCODE for 10% off): thbrco.io/rolling-pin
Scoring Knife Schnittholz Olive: thbrco.io/scoring-knife-schni...
Scoring Knife Zatoba Walnut (Coupon BREADCODE for 10% off): thbrco.io/scoring-knife-zatoba
The best bread knife (made in Germany): thbrco.io/bread-knife
Weck starter jars: thbrco.io/weck-jars
My flour:
For ze Germans: Which flour in Germany?: thbrco.io/blog-flour
Mulino Padano Bread flour 15% protein (Coupon TheBreadCode for 5% off): thbrco.io/mulino-flour
Strong whole wheat flour (Coupon TheBreadCode for 5% off): thbrco.io/whole-wheat-flour
Recommended videos:
Debaked ep. 1 - Pizza journey to Napoli: thbrco.io/debaked-napoli
Debaked ep. 2 - Journey to a flour mill: thbrco.io/debaked-flour-mill
Discard starter bread: thbrco.io/discard-starter-bread
Fermentation time table: thbrco.io/fermentation-time-t...
Make a sourdough starter: thbrco.io/make-sourdough-starter
Make your starter more active: thbrco.io/more-active-starter
Recommend sourdough bread recipe: thbrco.io/sourdough-recipe
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:18 The solution
1:34 Whiteboard
3:00 The solution
3:42 Making the starter
5:34 Bread recipe
7:20 Starter maintenance
8:03 A note on "tang"
#bread #sourdough

[@the_bread_code]

You can read about this in detail in my free book called “The Sourdough Framework”. You can get it here: breadco.de/book. You can support the project with a donation, but there is absolutely no knead. I believe information like this should be free and accessible to everyone. The book is made for everyone who wants to understand the important details when making sourdough bread. Thank you!

[@lauchzwiebel]

did you know, that the active yeast in a panetonne is as well 100 flour to 50 gr water.

[@taximan1983]

I have two starters one is regular sour starter and the other has no sourness at all and i use them together 50/50. So it's fluffy and tasty. And i can increase one of them to have either more sourness or less.

[@nolagalcmb]

This is a brilliant idea! Thank you for the suggestion.

[@PAMOJA4LIFE]

Wow

[@henryjubeda7617]

I would think you can mix the dry starter with fresh water and flour the day before to get the tang

[@odiogoponto]

How did you get the sourless one?

[@erniejofo]

I will be trying a stiff starter. My dad made sour dough bread all my life. I can't believe we never talked about it because I took it so for granted. He was a cook for the sheepherders in northern Arizona and New Mexico for 17 years so he had cooking out in the country down to an art everything was cooked underground in cast iron. I so regret not asking more questions because those secrets are gone from me forever. I've been working with sourdough for about 3 months now and have only had a couple of successes. My starter's name is Pedro, in other words, Peter Pan, pan is the Spanish word for bread and Pedro is the Spanish word for peter, thus Pedro.🤓

[@carolschedler3832]

Hey Ernie! How’s the bread coming along?? Your story is sad and educational. I hope your dad is looking down to zap that bread into a great loaf!

[@kimyoung2748]

That would have been right up my ally to experience and see his cooking that way. Many primitive ways of cooking is so interesting. And different cultures cont. with that tradition passing it down generation to generation.

[@carolynjames3229]

I would really like to talk to you mu husbands family is from young and I've heard alot about the Pleasant Valley War

[@sandramary4]

Oh your dad must have had wonderful stories to tell and great cooking ideas! I am in the same position - my dad was Italian, grew up in the countryside and knew how to make everything and stupid here did not learn from him and now it is too late. Still we were lucky to have interesting fathers!

[@donaldist7321]

I come from a long line of German bakers(and millers (the house in which the bakery was is from 1150 and our mill is even older) and love bread. I lived in Paris and Spain and always found the best bakers. Your explanations are extremely good and I hope many people get convinced to make their own bread. One thing: in the States 99% of the flower is bromated. That is illegal in the rest of the world because it is cancerous. I recommend King Arthur flours: never bromated, never bleached. They have fantastic flours (I use the super high protein Lancelot) and you will find better flour only in France (and spelt in Germany). The cheap flour here in the US is actually harmful. Your "stiff" starter is like pasta madre. I recommend Ian Spampatti's channel to all bread lovers.

[@97grad]

Dear Hendrick, so glad I came across you channel. The level of detail, the experiments, the clear step by step instruction and the humor make your channel exceptional. Thank you so much for all your hard work

[@lsieu]

Henrick, I've been following your journey for the past year, and I love how you have run the complete gambit from super watery to this new stiff starter method. For a lazy guy, you've achieved a Sourdough knowledge anthology! Thank you!

[@the_bread_code]

Thank you very much 🤗. It depends on what bread I am trying to bake. With my super expensive flour I can use the liquid starter, with the default one the stiff starter seems to work a bit better.

[@agentlx7536]

I just want to say I love watching your videos and enjoy all the information you provide! I just started my sourdough journey back in January this year and it blows my mind at how much I'm still learning about the whole process! I'm very intrigued by the stiff starter and am probably going to start converting some of my 100% hydration starter into a stiff starter tonight to start experimenting with it! Thank you for all the research you've done (along with your experiments) and for sharing it with us!

[@christopherhenry282]

This really works! I just produced a fluffy loaf with lots of flavour. If you need a break from the slightly gummy texture of SD, this is the answer. Love it!

[@grannygood-law3887]

This really works!! One of my regular customers texted me saying that my "other" bread was "like steak" (and she loved it), but this week's bread made with the stiff starter was lighter "like bread", she said. My kitchen here in central Texas is quite warm, so not sure if it was due to the ambient temp or the starter, but it proofed fast and resulted in a super light dough.

[@yamakarasu]

I'm still experimenting with my stiff starter, and it has been a good experience so far! My last sourdough burger buns with stiff starter turned out incredible. They exploded in size after shaping. I never had such huge fluffy and delicious buns. I'm looking forward to my next bake, which I think might be the recipe in this video. Thank you and may the gluten be with you 😘

[@Kokeshiflower]

Hi, how long did it take you to create your stiff starter before it was ready to use?

[@amarijae]

Love this! I myself stick with a 100% hydration starter, simply because I don’t want to choose between oven spring and sourness 😋

[@chrisdirchalidis8101]

Tried the stiff starter and loved it! The result was way more spring than my regular sourdough method and it was much easier to work with as it was not at all sticky. Thank you very much.

[@the_bread_code]

Great to hear!

[@lmbruty]

I've never tried a stiff starter before...today is the day I try! Thanks for the tips 😁🍞

[@bluebird0283]

Recently found your channel! As an electrical engineer , finding relaxation with bread- making in my kitchen, I absolutely luv your analytical style! Thanks to all your pointers I am finally seeing some success with rise and crumb, thank you so much! You are a terrific teacher. THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! I knew I shared many things in common with my many Germans friends , my Leica, my Eurasier puppy, and now its my sourdough! Hooked on your channel- keep up your great work! Cheers!👍🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

[@the_bread_code]

Hahah, thank you very much!

[@solangetinnerello2318]

The best solution ever! I was tired to maintain a liquid starter and also the waste of flour it’s insane.!. I decided to give a try to the stiff starter and my relationship with sourdough starter changed for good. The Bread Code is the best resource to learn about sourdough. Danke schön!

[@dominodarwin]

Love from a new subscriber! I’m so enjoying your content and learning a TON about baking bread and raising starters. I traveled around Germany about 20 years ago and just loved the country and the people. I miss it! Gluten tag!!

[@pinkfinproduction493]

I gave up making sourdough bread in the past because it came out flat. Now I know why😃😃. Thank you for sharing this knowledge. Right now, I am on day one of stiff starter process. Wish me luck!!!

[@daviddawson7900]

Love your videos. A couple of thoughts to thank you. Hope they prove of interest and value. 1. When scoring proofed bread prior to baking - dip the sharp thin blade in olive oil to lubricate it. It reduces the potential of tearing the dough. 2. Try short autolysis times - 1 to 30 minutes. Less destruction of gluten network, more improved taste than longer times.

[@AJansenNL]

Ah! Now I understand why my new starter works so well. It's stiffer than my previous one. It doesn't stick (yeah!), and has an excellent rise. And so yummy.

[@bittersweet2510]

I'm from Costa Rica and love to learn from you. All I really understood about sourdough is thanks to you.

[@stellah1643]

Thanks for all your tips! New baker here and it is mind boggling at all the information! 🤯

[@GregPerkins]

I made 2 loafs, one with my regular starter and the other with my first stiff starter. I did the stiff first, I kept your basic recipe as close as I could, 80% hydration using white bread flour and whole wheat BF. The day was hot, 77 (25) in the house, very unusual for April in upstate NY. They both fermented nicely with the regular sourdough inflating more than the stiff even though it was started an hour later. The most surprising thing is the ph of the stiff was much lower at time of baking, 4.05 vs 4.2. The spring was great, but I bungled the scoring on the regular starter loaf, so it isn't very symmetrical. Thanks for all the experiments you do! I usually make 2 loaves at a time since my oven will fit 2 dutch ovens so I can do my own experiments. I've started half baking one loaf and leave it in the fridge until I need it. It works great.

[@mkrstn]

I actually started to use the stiff starter from when I first watched your yeast vs sour vs mild video and i super love my bread ever since! The tang that it gives is really right for me. I dont personally like too sour bread and it's especially hard before since it's easy to mess up the fermentation when living in a hotter climate. Using the stiff starter is truly a game changer! (I super love your videos and Ive probably watched your videos at least 10 times per video for reference 😂) Much love and greetings from singapore!

[@the_bread_code]

Haha awesome! Thank you. Also love your comment as it shows how much this all ultimately boils down to personal preference. To the others, this video doesn't mean this is the best option, it's just another alternative. Sometimes it's a little hard to put that all in one video 🤣

[@marklbreen]

Hello Random stranger from Singapore, greetings from Ireland. I love Singapore and think of it often.

[@shteevale395]

I have a stiff starter aka lievito Madre and I can say it is an amazing starter! It is ready for bread making after even 4 hours! Although I like to wait til 6-7 hours. What I love about it is it's not sour and can be used in sweet doughs also.

[@peterwhitaker4231]

Thanks Hendrik. I have experimented with a stiff starter for 2 months or so. I have had moderate, but not the "kaboom whay hey look at my bread, folks" sucess as with my 100 pc hydration starter. I find I have to pay attention to the fermentation more, and it is in danger of over fermenting, even with only 50pc expansion in bulk rise, with 12 percent protien.

[@NeilDougan]

Thanks for this video. I live in the bush in west Australia and it’s summertime now so my kitchen which is outside ranges from mid 20c overnight to upwards of 40c during the day. I agonised over failure after failure trying to create good crumb until I started to think about this yeast and bacteria balance. At last I’m making reasonable sourdough. With the info in this video I can feel greater success coming. By the way the dogs are quite happy with a bit of the gooey sour pancake bread. And the worms in my worm farm love it. 🙄

[@herecomesgranny]

Love this technique. Gonna try it!

[@nalanitorres7106]

I’m so happy I found your site! Thank you for sharing your knowledge! Plus I appreciate your sense of humor! 😊

[@Anesthesia069]

Oddly enough, I have been doing this myself since the summer completely independently. I prefer it!

[@kickinitwithkaren]

Thank You for the simple explanation.

[@richardlighthill3228]

As a newbie, my first starters were either watery or at least thin. The results were hockey pucks. Even before I saw this video I started experimenting with thicker starter... not as thick as yours, however. The thicker starter (it hardly wants to come out of the jar!) resulted in more proofing and oven spring (by the way, I live at 4,300 ft elevation). So I know that you are on the right track for me! Thanks for the video!

[@iDigsGiantRobots]

Thanks for such an informative and considerately written video. 😊🍞

[@KarloEMelendezPena]

I feed my starter twice a day at 100% hydration. I will definitely be trying out the stiff starter for a bit. The local flour we have in PR doesn't really work for breads above 65%, and I supplement with vital gluten to achieve that. Still, I've been baking daily for over two years now! It's really interesting to keep learning more about it!

[@azannah]

I pretty much decided to give up baking sourdough because all I could make flat sour pancakes. You have given me hope! I will try this method.

[@Caroline-lg8wr]

I use Lievito Madre (Stiff/ Mother Dough) for all my breads since last year. This look like Lievito Madre minus the sugar water bath method. Tq for sharing Hendrik ❤

[@alexischavez3238]

Unfortunately I already fed my 100% hydration sour dough starters so I will have to wait until tomorrow to transition one of them into a stiff one, thank you so much for this educational video!

[@janmelenhorst5237]

Great combination of information and wit

[@the_bread_code]

One warning and note, after converting your starter into liquid starter you will permanently change your starter's microorganisms. I couldn't get back the acetic vinegary notes. This vinegary flavour is excellent though in case you are making rye bread for instance. So please keep this in mind and also make a backup. Also another note, some people who make the starter initially from fruit water never get the vinegary notes at all. It's fascinating and just shows one more time how unique every sourdough starter is. Sank you. Edit: Had fun with my new camera 🤣. What do you think? What can I improve? Edit 2: I also just wrote down the key differences of all the starters in my blog post. I hope it helps: ​ blog.the-bread-code.io/recipe/2021/10/24/all-you-need-to-know-stiff-liquid-regular-starter.html

[@thaejsooriya3313]

Would the extra adult balloon filling of the stiffer starter not be because there is more “fuel” with more flour? The available carbohydrates that can be decomposed into CO2 is much higher than a liquid starter even if it is a activity highway.

[@davidcostello7320]

Honestly, your new camera is too good. The bokeh is so strong it makes you look like a cartoon character. But it is great for filming the starter and dough and bread, basically anything on the counter. Just not your face ☹️. Sorry to say.

[@pjarnfelt]

Yeah, I felt like it was almost like a green screen. The depth of field is very weird, either 100% or 0% blur.

[@mikeharris896]

I would like more silly German jokes and craziness please. Especially the scary voices. Very entertaining. I think it would be great to hear you speak in whatever voice you think the bread might be making or perhaps the micro organisms and wild yeasts. That would be such fun.

[@the_bread_code]

​@@thaejsooriya3313 Great point! I accounted for that in the experiment. Each of them had the same amount of fuel.

[@ulissesgenguini4621]

I'm new at making sourdough bread, but since the start i don't know why but I have always used the stiff starter, and I like it a lot, and since a like a more mild bread and I don't have easy access to really good flour it's a win win

[@veganaoeltsch]

Macht echt Freude, soviel Wissen mit so einer großen Portion Humor zu sehen. Echt cool.

[@the_bread_code]

Danke 🤣👍

[@lindacat]

Enjoy your videos a lot - entertaining as well as informative! I'm day 3 on my stiff starter, but it looks dry, is rising but has cracks (!). I have it covered. Do you think my particular flour needs more water? I grind my own wheat berries, and usually have to add more water to ordinary recipes for that. Maybe go 60% instead of 50%? I've been doing the 1/2 and 1/2 white and whole wheat. Thanks!

[@MyParamedicAfterLife]

LMAO. Thanks for this video. I have always used a thin starter, but I was living in California where temps were always moderate to warm. Now that I’m in Maine, my starter has been soo sad! 😢 I actually started increasing the flour at feeding instinctually, but I’m happy to hear that I’m on the right track. I may get this SOURDOUGH ART yet. ❤

[@Jan-kr3fg]

I used to experiment with low hydration starters as well. What I noticed is that they (at least for me) ran bad much quicker than 100% hydration starters. And as I sometimes leave my starters in the fridge for more than a month without feeding them the 100% hydration works much better for me. Never had any mold issues or bad smell with these. Probably because they are more sour I suppose.

[@ccubillo]

Thank you so much for sharing all of this great info! I have learned so much from watching your channel. I am new to sourdough and am finally starting to get some decent/edible results lol

[@videoastaMN]

Hallo Hendrik, great new look with the camera, love the zoom ins and the jump cuts. Keep the great videos and recipes coming…. Danke

[@deviangel6463]

wow an excellent experiment. my previous starter died from neglect. beginning a new one so challenging 😢. but I want more yeast than bacteria so am following your Stiff Starter method. D1 results impressive, now into D2. Here in MY really difficult to find 15%hp flour so am waiting to see how this SS improves texture n taste of d 11%hp dough. Thanks so much for all yr bread engineering journey, can't find a more useful site than yours, keep up d good work Henrick 👍

[@LordJombi]

I've left my starter in my fridge unfed for almost two years. It never dried out and never died. When I decided to bake again, I had to feed it twice in 24 hours for Margaret to come back to full health. I feed it a couple days in advance only when I'm going to use it. It's hard to kill a sourdough starter. I love how low maintenance it is. Thanks for the video. I'm going to try this out. Mine has always been 100%.

[@edwardlevitan5416]

Switched my starter from 100% hydration rye to 50% KA bread flour. Didn’t make liquid starter step. Baked 3 times with the stiff starter, great results. Flavor is not sour at all. Stupendous oven spring!

[@Anaximander2048]

Hello! Thank you for the excellent content. I already have converter my starter to a stiff one and the results were just amazing, even without a fancy technique or a fancy flour (here at the grocery stores, we have not good bread flours), even with an unexpected 20-minute blackout from my power provider during the steam-baking process!!!! (the cast iron dutch oven is life-saviour in such cases) I have a question though. If we have 25 celsius degrees and we used in the past 20% of starter having equal parts, the 20% must be decreased when using a stiff starter? This question occurred due to the sourness of my last sourdough bread.

[@JanWeinhold001]

Great video! I will try the stiff starter. How do you incorporate the stiff starter after autolyse to the dough and do you stick to your 20% sourdough ratio with it? Cheers Jan

[@jlmaylan]

hahaha... my day... so many surprises in this video. Good one!

[@homegrownstu72]

Currently making my first SD loaf using a stiff starter, its a malted 8 seed & grain tin loaf. Using a regular 100% hydration starter this loaf comes out super soft, so I'm interested to see the difference using the stiff starter makes.

[@trishgoski4944]

Loved this video!

[@the_bread_code]

Glad you liked it!!

[@sharoneicher4131]

Great, succinct summary of so much good bread teaching. This video is a bit too slapstick for my taste, but I am glad you are having fun!! ❤️🍞 ❤️

[@galiapetrova45]

Thnaks for this great explanation

[@lbamusic]

I've been experimenting with a way to get more Oven Spring Using a DO. After multiply trials, this works very well !! Before preheating DO, pour boiling water in half way up sides. Cover and place in oven @ 500°F. After 1 hr, carefully pour the water out but leave the insides wet. Place the dough inside and bake as usual. You get a very steamy environment with the water added prior to preheating, and then discarded and leaving water vapor behind before baking. Results are very similar to the Rofco and Anova Bread ovens which bake with injected steam.

[@salwahmm15]

I made a small loaf from a stiff starter and it turns out fluffy and delicious I don’t have a strong starter yet (mine is 2 weeks old) and all my bast loafs was failed so I think I’ll just stick to the stiff starter for now thank you so much (excuse my weak english)

[@BorgeMendes]

Once again, amazing video my friend! I love how you're a German guy, making videos in English and your KZbin is in Spanish! Cheers from Brazil.

[@the_bread_code]

😂 😂 😂

[@lizgrieve140]

Hello Love all your videos Do you check the pH of your stiff starter before adding to the dough and if so what is the measurement Thanks Liz

[@amorosa101]

Just love the monthztztz. English is also a second language for me and that is always one of the difficult ones, like schedule and sheets. (I still wouldn't say the last one in front of young children! 😅) Thank you so much for this video. All those different starters and uses for them can be very confusing. I'm going to try the sausage for me next bake. 😊

[@afroditemoser579]

I jus say linenihave trouble. With allot of words like sheep ships and sip is all the same to me.

[@krauz111]

Ive been using the 50% sourdough here Mexico since your cheap flour video and it does works wonders with my 12g proteing flout

[@missingair]

What flour did you get with the 12g? I only find the whole wheat has enough protein :’)

[@richardmh1987]

Wow, I loved when I got my starter going, but neither my wife nor me are into the vinegary notes or too sour flavors, so I´m currently switching to liquid starter and in a couple of weeks switching to stiff, so looking forward to see and taste the results.. Thank you for the tips

[@the_bread_code]

Please let me know how it goes. Good luck!

[@richardmh1987]

@@the_bread_code I finally finished going from regular to liquid to stiff and yeah, is just like you said, you need to check how the smell changes, but in the third day after switching to stiff the starter more than doubles once fed, and the bread is really soft and even fluffier than if you use regular dry yeast. Lovely oven spring considering I only cover it with a steel bowl since I don't have a dutch oven yet and it still has some acidity but not excessive and no longer tastes vinegary, my wife loved it. Oh, and it tastes incredible with Nutella (hope I don't wrath the bread gods hehe). Thank you so much.

[@jakiosborn1274]

Hello! Last year I purchased an old copy of Arizona Recipes from a thrift store. One of the sourdough starters used soured milk and flour. I'm both lactose and gluten intolerant, but decided to give it a try. I'm using whole rye flour and, instead of milk, I used the whey milk left over from making raw cream butter. Ironically, I have a tolerance for raw milk and cream... I'll let you know the results. The starter is still very new, but very tangy, like I like it!

[@the_bread_code]

Hey Jaki. Oh noes! In that case please try making a liquid starter. And - please try using ancient grains such as Einkorn. Let it ferment for a long time and then store it in a loaf pan. Wait for it to increase in size again then bake it. This way you will have as little gluten left as possible. Only take a tiny bite to see how it impacts you. The key is really to have a very long fermentation.

[@jakiosborn1274]

@@the_bread_code Thank you! I have 4 starters going: Stiff. 50/50 rye flour and spring water. Liquid: 50/250 rye and water Milk: 50/50 rye and soured milk The last is a combination of water and milk with the rye. They all taste different. Favorites so far for flavor are the liquid and the milk ones. I'll try to find einkorn flour. My local healthfood store can order I it for me. Thank you again!👍

[@hootiebubbabuddhabelly]

VERY interesting...thank you!

[@ismailbeevikmpitchai3650]

Hi,tks for the tip. Does the water ratio increase if I use stiff starter. Tks again

[@thomjanssens]

Hi Henrick, great tip! So far I'm having great results with the stiff starter. I always used my starter at 100% hydration, but the organic flour in Belgium tends to be not very high in protein. I suppose you adjust the hydration level of your dough when using the stiff starter since you add less water to the dough with the starter?

[@monilim4659]

I have tried a couple of loaves with stiff starter and they have fluffier and lighter crumbs. Thanks for the informative video, you are funny too.

[@jimreagan6510]

Hendrik You are funny and you make watching you fun i love it

[@ima7333]

I personally am in love w/ stiff starter (60% hydration). It helps me tremendously since i live in the tropical Indonesia. 100% hydration doesn’t work for me coz i don’t bake every day or even once a week. Stiff starter is the one for me.

[@LiveWithAnastasya]

wow your videos are so so helpful! As a new sourdough adventurer, I find it incredibly knowledgeable. I can't eat wheat so I attempt to make bread with 100% spelt flour (rye starter). And it is always flat, maybe I should use different proportions for the dough?

[@nickyg2059]

I like your recipes thanks very much!

[@the_bread_code]

My pleasure 😊

[@krystalblanchard79]

100% agree. once i started using the stiffer starter everything changed

[@wereachhomestead6348]

hello from The Bahamas. Will give this a try!

[@denisebradt]

Hilarious! Love it. Thanks.

[@FraeschD]

I have been baking with this method for a while now. Stiff starter made of 100% wheat whole grain, baking 80% white flour/20% whole grain breads. I use good flour and all, but lately my fermentations have been quite weak. Not as much gas production and mediocre oven spring. Not sure what it is, i feed it at least twice from the fridge before use. I will try out the doubled amount of starter in the recipe. In the coming days i will test, if you can store the stiff starter in a freezer and use it directly for standard recipes. I'd have several 10 g balls of stiff starter in the freezer. For each bake, take one ball, thaw it, feed it twice over 24 h at 1:1:2 (10+10+20 = 40 g; 40+40+80 = 160 g, or ~100 g of flour) and put everything into a standard recipe for a 500 g flour bread.

[@kathynix6552]

Some bakers used to store their stiff starter in the bag of flour

[@jonjonkwan]

Hi there, Firstly, thank you so much for your wealth of knowledge, teaching us about sour dough! I would like to ask, I watched your other video, The LAST Sourdough Bread Recipe You Ever Need, and in there you autolyse your dough for an hour first. Would you still recommend doing that when using the stiff starter? Also around how long does it take for 1:5:2.5 feeding take to reach the peak state (ready for baking)? And also, if I am consistently using a stiff starter, how would I adapt the stiff starter for other sour dough recipes? I also remember you said we could use the stiff starter in non sourdough recipes? How does that work? appreciate your help!

[@johnwilliamson9453]

Thanks!

[@helenan.i.kristiansen1635]

Hi Hendric Thank you for this awesome video. I have been baking sourdough breads for some time now, and have newly found some new bread type, I did not know about, it is called shokupan sourdough bread,very conmon in Asia, they use some method called yodane or tze thong. It is when you use water and flour, in a pan, over heat, mix it till it stiffens, and cool it down in the fridge, then you allso use your sourdough starter, and flour, and water,you can those to use eg, cream and butter as well. It is a very floffy, and sweet bread. Would you consider trying to make it,and doing a video on that type of bread, since you are so awesome a baking nerd, (meant positive)😀👍 Thank you again, new supper!🤩👍 From Denmark 🇩🇰

[@christibustard2060]

I just made my first loaf with the stiff starter and I love it. How do you convert the use of a stiff starter into other recipes that call for a regular 10% hydration starter?

[@Piper7cub]

It took a couple of seconds for me to realize you said "adult balloons". 🙂 Thank you for explaining everything so well and differently from other videos I have watched that were more basic that didn't go into the different ways of hydrating your starter. I have struggled over the years making sourdough .... I usually get very dense bread. I will give your method a try.

[@Saya-nb7cq]

What a great explanation especially using the diagram. I’m just wondering if is it possible using two starters in one dough? A liquid starter to achieve some dairy notes and a stiff starter for the oven spring. I’m just curious on what should be the right ratio. Personally I’m having a hard time using 100% hydration starter because of the climatic condition I have. Using the stiff starter indeed yielded better results on the bread’s stucture, however I am really fond of the sourness the more hydrated starters give. Thank you very much for your dedication to this art and science. Greetings from PH.

[@KogakuKing]

Fascinating! Do you just keep feeding 1-1-2 everyday until you decide to bake? Then this “stiff” starter is used in the leaven? Thank you for any helpful comments 😊

[@user-es6gc8jz8g]

My 88yo grandma used to do this type of starter since she was start to learning how to make bread

[@kelliewonderly6841]

Hallo aus Amerika! I will be this video is great, I look forward to trying this out. I will definitely be following your videos.

[@KingJL25]

Great video, once again I learned something new. Currently I'm in a transition phase for my starter. I baked quite a few frisbees again the last few times, even with a stiff starter, as the bread then overfermented and there was no time to do some reshaping (also it would not have sticked together, as riceflour was already on there). Now I'm getting towards the fruity notes once again (smells like very ripe peaches) and hopefully I can get back to making amazing bread once more. Am Ende hilft nur eins - mehr the bread code videos schauen ;)

[@the_bread_code]

Haha. Oh noes! I would try to put your stiff starter on a healthy diet for 3 days. Then feed it one more time in the evening, in the morning use 20% stiff starter calculated based on the flour that you are using. You will be inducing a highly active starter with not too much long-prefermented flour. In summer times change this to 10%. With the 20% my bulk fermentation now in cold Hamburg takes around 10 hours to complete.

[@KingJL25]

@@the_bread_code I gotta bake a discard loaf first with your recipe, as it would be a heck of a waste/waaay to much flour to feed the starter rn for 3 days in da row. I'd feed the starter close to 1kg of flour.. in 3 days this is to much for my 1 person bread needs. Thanks for the tips :)

[@the_bread_code]

@@KingJL25 You can always just use way less starter too and do all on a smaller scale. I just used those numbers to make it easier 🤓

[@AndersSvensson_norrkoping]

This is a game changer! Cred!

[@sheilakemp5914]

Another excellent video, and I must try the sausage method. Recently I talked to a spokesperson of the flour type that I am working with. Trying to achieve a stronger, bubbly starter. This method is to discarded twice a day the same amount and replaced the same amount back in. That is a lot of waste! and can be expensive. With this method there is no waste, am I clear about that? Also, I checked out your video with Chris, and even though my starter wasn’t the best; the loaf was one of the best that I have ever made. There is hope for me yet. I would like to share a photo someday if I can get one of my kids to teach me.

[@gwtdrago]

I have been baking 100 percent whole grain from freshly milled wheat for several years now. I switched to a stiff starter and got the best bread rise and ear I’ve ever had. The stiff starter did make me add a slap and fold technique after the autolyse to incorporate the stiff starter well, but it is worth the slight increase in effort.

[@the_bread_code]

Glad it worked out for you! Any tips for working with fresh milled flour?

[@gwtdrago]

@@the_bread_code, the health benefits of using 100 percent whole grain is that the glycemic index of the bread is much lower. This means you can eat it every day with less risk of diabetes or obesity. This is the reason I have made the switch to 100 percent whole grain breads. The health benefits are amazing. I would start with a 50 percent bread flour and 50 percent red hard spring wheat and work your way up to 100 percent loaves. Both your taste buds and your technique will have to adapt, but they certainly will. Getting a good bread rise and ear is the hard part, but with your skills, you will succeed. The combination of stiff starter, a slap and fold technique after a 45 autolyse, and leaving the lid on the cast iron Dutch oven 30 minutes instead of the usual 20 minutes, has given me terrific oven spring and a perfect ear that is hard to tell from my former bread flour loaves. Thanks for asking!

[@andrewfuller8440]

I have let the starter sit in the fridge for months with only one feeding after 3 months. It still works even with this starvation timing

[@miloudekoning3829]

This is such useful information! Thank you for that! Now have a conventional and stiff starter going! But as a very new bread maker I have a question.. my uncle (due to having a donor kidney for 20 years) he isn’t allowed to have salt in his bread / diet or at least the minimal amount to stay healthy. Is it possible to bake a great sourdough loaf from whole spelt flower without salt? Or what is the minimum percentage for sourdough bread? Thank you so much for the advice!

[@telepatimo]

Hey! I've been wondering. What are your thoughts on the following: I have an active 75% hydration starter (perfect balance imo between regular en stiff) and I bake 75% hydration breads. Would I be necessary to maintain a separate starter at all? What if I mix starter, flour and water; separate 100 grams of the dough; add salt and knead the other part of the dough and bake this? Then the separated 100 grams can be my starter for the next day (24 hrs later) right? The second question would then be, what if I would mix all ingredients together (including salt) en would separate 100 grams of the total mixture as starter (pate fermentee)? Would this work in your opinion?

[@lbamusic]

I love these vids and the explanations and uses for stiff and non-stiff starters. What I'm not clear about is which is more powerful for baking and max oven rise? Also when it's ripe and ready, is it double, triple, in size?

[@the_bread_code]

Hi Ben. For max oven spring the stiff starter will be your choice. It's ready to be used when you flip the jar over and see some pockets of air near the bottom.

[@lbamusic]

@@the_bread_code thank you!

[@janellelucido4444]

Loooove my stiff starter!!! So much sweeter and more flavorful

[@tlockerk]

Wow, Pun-O-Rama... always good to laugh. Neat idea, going to try it for travel.

[@am-di8th]

Excelente 👌👌👌

[@IvanReyna]

Gluten tag. Do you have a video where you explain how to go from high hydration to stiff starter?

[@Cristiano7007]

i will try it my friend :-)

[@peterwhitaker4231]

Hendrik, will you be doing a video about the benefits of bathing a stiff starter, to wash out acetic acid? I get best results baking after bathing!

[@mirthadurand8901]

As I read in your Book, do you think I can make a panettone with a stiff starter instead of lievito madre or pasta madre? Thanks.

[@nakahara2sunako7]

Hi. I'm just curious if I could use a different brand of flour (but the same kind) when feeding my starter?

[@kxkhoo309]

Hi. Could you please advise how can I get a liquid leaven at 20% hydration for a 200g stiff levain from my current 100% hydration liquid starter?