7 Sourdough Starter Tips (REGULAR vs LIQUID vs STIFF)

With this video you will learn the key differences between different starter types and bake better bread by following these 7 tips.
Get the merch (shirts and infographic): thbrco.io/bread-shirts-hoodies
Thanks again Frederik ( / frederikroesch ) and Tristyn ( / tristynwebbstock )
Also thanks everyone who helped me find large adult balloons. I only had very small ones at home 🤣. If you don't know what an adult balloon is please consult grandpa or grandma.
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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 ❤️.
Merchandise:
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Happy sourdough shirt: thbrco.io/happy-opencrumb-shirt
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Sourdough infographic poster: thbrco.io/infographic-poster
The perfect batard sourdough: thbrco.io/batard-shirt
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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
Dough scraper golden: thbrco.io/dough-scraper-gold
Dutch oven for batards (Challenger Bread Pan): thbrco.io/dutch-oven-batards
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
1:55 Make your bread taste like mild yogurt
4:30 Make your crumb more open
8:20 More starter leavening power
10:40 Understand starter feedings
13:20 Stiff starter to fully replace dry yeast
18:20 Improve your sourdough bread taste
20:50 Bonus tip
#sourdough #sourdoughbread

[@mikelbarea6839]

I called my starter Paula, after my best friend, because she needs to be constantly fed, hydrated and loved 😂😂

[@the_bread_code]

Mikel :-D. Could you send me a quick email please with your address information? I want to send you a shirt. Please choose one here: shop.the-bread-code.io/. And also send me the size then. Thank you! Greetings to Paula, hopefully the gluten is strong with her!

[@mikelbarea6839]

@@the_bread_code Hi! I sent you the email yesterday, I hope you received it properly. And thank you once again! 🙏🏻

[@keithepstein2812]

My starter is named "Ruby". Last year I dehydrated Ruby and stored the dried flakes in a plastic bag against the chance that Ruby died. Then in December 2020, I came down with Covid-19 and was in the hospital for close to 3 months. When I got home, Ruby was gone. I grew a new starter, but it was never as good as Ruby and I was always disappointed with the bread from the starter. I thought I might have lost my touch, but then I remembered the dehydrated Ruby. I re-hydrated Ruby over three days and I think she's even stronger than the original from which she arose. Every loaf I have baked with Ruby-arisen-from-the-ashes has been quite satisfying. I have played with different flours and settled on 50/50 blend of Rye and Bread flour. I have never tried dropping the hydration of the starter below 100%, so I'm looking forward to that experiment. Thanks for the excellent Tips video. I always look forward to new experiments from you. Keith

[@theblerdshow]

Glad you recovered like Ruby. Mine is Lucy 2. I got my did because I got lazy. But I had some in the freezer.

[@alexischavez3238]

How do you dehydrate your starter?? And how long can you store it for, and where? (Fridge or freezer for example)

[@keithepstein2812]

@@alexischavez3238 I spread a layer of starter on a sheet of parchment paper and allowed it to dry out at room temperature, but you could use a dehydrator if you have one. When dry, it peeled back from the parchment easily and I stored the pieces in a plastic bag in my pantry flour box (cool and dry). I'm told it will last for years. Mine was about a year old when I reconstituted it.

[@keithepstein2812]

@@IslandKate Thank you. Very kind of you.

[@alexischavez3238]

@@keithepstein2812 😯thank you so much that was very helpful, also I am glad to hear you are better in health may God be with you and your loved ones!

[@MxThem]

The white flour starter is named Fred. The whole wheat starter is named Myrna. I can get out of social events by telling people I have to get home to feed Fred and Myrna, and they assume it's either 1) my grandparents or 2) my dogs.

[@Nikisgettingfit74]

😂😂😂

[@jaxperience414]

I just now realised that you start your videos with "Gluten tag" and I genuinely laughed waaay too hard.

[@alfonsz.4288]

I made my starter from imported Italian flour. He was a bit moody with an attitude in the beginning ... so I called him Toni Sourprano 😎🍕

[@kakanibalaprasad]

Never heard such a long lecture since I left college. So much of information! Must see this video multiple times to digest it completely and correctly. Thank God it's the weekend.

[@the_bread_code]

😂 😂 😂 sorry

[@lsieu]

🤣 I get what you mean. I pace myself. It takes me a while to catch everything and have to take it a tip at a time. There's no time limit. All good info!

[@elisabethgill1646]

@@lsieu @kakanibalaprasad , True don't forget you can slow down the video to make sure we grasp all the good content in time !

[@Jahloveipraise]

My starter is named “McLevain” its a Superbad reference, the nerdy dude McLovin lol Thanks so much for all of your hard work! I truly love the scientific approach to sourdough. By far the best bread channel on the internet!!

[@the_bread_code]

Hahaha. Good one!

[@bunhelsingslegacy3549]

"adult balloons" My starter is called Thing 2 (from Dr. Suess). I started it in March last year at the same time as I was reviving Thing 1 which I started accidentally some years before while making dumplings and had been in my fridge unused and unfed for like a year. Thing 1 caught an infection later in that year (got a wrinkly skin similar to the texture a Brettanomyces infection in wine looks) so I discarded it and focused on Thing 2.

[@tomepperson1]

I had two starters in the beginning, Fred and Wilma but Fred unfortunately committed suicide by leaping from the fridge. Needless to say I did everything possible to revive Fred. Fred did not go down without a fight. We will miss Fred. Wilma on the other hand has proven to be strong, reliable and very tasty.

[@alterego9395]

Nice video! Here is a nice little tip that I came up with. Use whey in your starter when feeding or just making from scratch. Makes for a crazy good starter! 😮😊 If you don't know what "whey" is. It's the stuff that drips down if you strain yogurt or any other kind of dairy. It's also nice to ad some when making your dough. Happy baking everyone! 😁🙏

[@pmarcum7146]

As a scientist myself, I absolutely love the scientific approach you have adopted for bread-baking. Knowing *why* one does such-and-such in the bread-making process is so much more powerful than just being told to do such-and-such. I suspect a lot of sourdough myths have developed over the years because people didn't know *why* they were doing what they were doing, and so instructions got misquoted or misconstrued as recipes got passed down from one generation to another. And also, how could we not be amused by the rather creative use of "adult balloons"🤣 My sourdough starter originated in Jan 2019 during the U.S. federal government shutdown (or "furlough"), which seemed like the perfect opportunity to take up a new hobby and get my mind off of not being able to go in to work. My sourdough's name is therefore "Furlo".

[@TinyPirate]

Absolutely correct. Coming from brewing it sometimes seems bakers I aging all sorts of properties for yeast that don’t really exist.

[@christianhviid2167]

I guess you can say it was made during “fur-dough”😂

[@MachinamasProduction]

I love how he called it an adult balloon.

[@dillonjaglal2517]

You’re easily entertained

[@vaazig]

My starter is named Rutger Sour, after the Dutch actor Rutger Hauer. R.I.P. My second starter is Mandough, as in The Mandoughlorian. I might rename him to Landough Calrisen. Not sure. 😅

[@aayeff]

I have been regularly watching your videos. Amazing. You are a legend! Truly! Its not just the passion for sourdough but the thoroughness with which you study each aspect, experiment, take notes and most importantly share your knowledge and learnings. I started watching when I was a beginner in baking breads. Just a hobby to de-stress. But your videos and knowledge have got me upto speed. The nuances on reg starters vs liquid starters, lowering % of starter to extend fermentation, monitoring dough growth to get it at the right time etc. A big thank you!

[@sensetaste7716]

Thanks for the master class 'sourdough' I use a stiff starter always made with rye. The name of my starter is BUBBELS.

[@waqup4054]

I LOVE this channel. Keep experimenting mate your discoveries increase all our knowledge and results and also you show how beneficial and fun it is to play around with starters.. I've named my starter "Gunner" because it's the flavour that develops over time that gives my bread it's "Bang"...

[@Xanderqwerty123]

My starter is named "Ida." I've been growing them since August 2021, when hurricane Ida was wreaking havoc , and my sister liked the name for it. I've later used it as an acronym for "Indefinite Dough Ascender" for its amazing power to last for weeks in my fridge with few refreshes and to raise my dough like some delicious form of necromancy.

[@marywood9076]

My starter's name is John Dough. I mostly feed it whole grain organic rye.

[@cesarhans]

Awesome tips, incredible the quality of material you are bringing to us. Thank you SO MUCH!!

[@the_bread_code]

Glad you enjoy it! My pleasure!

[@winglau7713]

Thanks for all the tips and experiments. Keep up the good work!

[@elboberto7]

My starter's name is doughby - I think this video was great but I think it would be cool if you did a follow up video where you did the same recipe with all three types of starter and compared the resulting loaves (and shared the recipes!) - then went and explored using the stiff starter in traditional recipes from there

[@davidkeefe9468]

Yes I agree. Show loaves from your liquid. South Africa and the Madre

[@ThrivingGG]

Thank you for making these summaries of your experiments, love the format and great information. I would love to see some sweet recipes like cinnamon buns and such with sourdough!

[@the_bread_code]

Yes! 100% I will reserve that for autumn season :-)

[@Phlya1]

Thank you for sharing these results. Couple of points. To compare the gas production I think it would be much more fair to compare the starters based on the amount of flour in them, not total weight. So e.g. in 150g 100% hydration starter there is 75g flour, while in the 50% hydration there is 100g flour. And flour is what gives food to the yeast (and LABs/AABs). Additionally, about pH: it could be different just because flour can buffer the solution, and with different hydration the same amount of total acid (TTA, ) will give different pH reading. However the taste is more affected by TTA than by pH, afaik (pH will affect the point when gluten starts getting degraded though!).

[@yvonnekorner3782]

Thank you so much!! What a discovery! I am now creating a ”stiff starter” (after a liquid one on the way)! I have tried so long to get a more ”open crumb”, but not succeded! So please give us more tips and new recipes of fluffy open crumb-bread!! Thank you for sharing! 💐 So excited!!

[@evonnelynlee8677]

Superb video with many valuable tips for both beginners & seasoned SD home-bakers. Keep up the *great*💪work!

[@the_bread_code]

Thank you 🤗

[@marcpicou1935]

My sourdough starter is called Brienne of Starch. I love your videos. Thanks

[@leonguglielmetti]

Amazing work, love your videos

[@blackcrowartistry]

Hello from Texas! I loved your video, so educational. I recently started researching to make my own bread so I started two starters. Their names are Doughy and Crusty.

[@michaeljohnrizzo6643]

You did it again with an amazing video filled with very geeky information that I am thrilled about! Thank you! My two starters are Maitri and Ryan and they are very interested in allowing some of their offspring to become stiff starters!

[@gigalulmansur]

What an amazing discovery! Excited to see more on the stiff starter

[@the_bread_code]

Thank you!

[@afi6061]

What a great video! Love the science stuff. 👍

[@dreamoodreamoo]

my starter is named bibbidi bobbidi boo! cos it works just like magic, from plain dough to such a flavorful bread. also thank you for another great video and all the effort you have put in. its so informative and insightful. i hope you have a great day!

[@shainabeil4320]

I can't wait to watch this! I just successfully made my first sourdough creation today with the discard from my new starter -- waffles! They were... hearty. I think I need to add the sugar AFTER the overnight fermentation. I think all it did in the overnight fermentation was feed the beasties. Ha!

[@lancykwan8176]

Greetings from Hong Kong! My sourdough starter's name is "Benji" named after my last dog who was always by my side when I baked breads. Long live "Benji"! As for your video, it's great! You provided some really good information and explained in a way which is easy to understand. Thank you very much! I look forward to learning more from your videos.

[@bear532]

RIP Benji

[@tda1044]

I'm a newbie home baker from Canada. I made few regular white loaves with active dry yeast. Now, I am venturing into creating my 1st sourdough starter after watching many of your videos. Thank you for creating them. I made whole wheat flour of Italian Farro wheat to use for my starter. I've named my starter after the Italian Academy award winning actress - 'Sophia Loren'. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood cinema - 50s, 60s and 70s. As of 2022, she is one of the last surviving major stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.

[@mindbodyengineering]

Wow, I love how you have discovered so many options for flavours and fluffiness! My starter is named Gretchen and my daughters tease me that she is now the fourth daughter because I feed and love her more than I do them. Not true …. but kind of 🤷🏼‍♀️😂

[@dianachka100]

lol i like that...how funny..im just starting out...wish me luck...lol I been forgetting to feed my starter so i do it when i remember...Do you think that makes a big difference if its not every 12-24 hours

[@mindbodyengineering]

@@dianachka100 Yes, it makes a huge difference how often you feed it. If I am going to bake, I feed every twelve hours for a couple of days. If not, I will feed every 24 hours. If I am going to be away, I will put Gretchen in the fridge until I return. The starter, once back to its original height in the jar, is hungry.

[@owenchen6576]

I have two starters, Klaus and Kathy. Klaus was conceived on Christmas Day and hence the name. Kathy is the daughter conceived on Boxing Day. I was feeling sad about consigning Klaus to the bin. I alternate between Klaus and Kathy for my bakes and they have different flavour profiles. Every bake is a new discovery. Now I have started a liquid starter named Kris inspired by your video. I hope in the coming days I will be able to cultivate Kris into a more lacto flavour starter for my bread. Wish me luck. Thank you for all your videos. They have been most inspiring.

[@yamakarasu]

I was originally gifted a sourdough starter that had a piece of tape on the container with its previous name, "Mom". I decided to turn the tape around and my starter found its name: "Wow". 😃 I more recently did a sourdough starter swap, and Wow became the sibling to a completely different starter. I decided to name this second starter, what else, but "Wee"! Wow and Wee are good friends and have collaborated a few times since. 😊♥️ Love your videos so much. What a wealth of knowledge! I am looking forward to trying out both liquid and stiff starters!

[@tikio93]

Woweee :D

[@naipsiefilderussatser4067]

@@tikio93 ah the youngest sibling

[@TravelinMama73]

This tickled me 😆 Wow and Wee. How fun!

[@rebeccaswinney8771]

Is it my imagination or do two starters add a whole new dimension? More lift? more flavor? It doesn’t seem to matter that they were both from the same batch a month ago.

[@KevinGilbertDC]

Produced my starter during the lockdown last year... so appropriately named "Covey"

[@the_bread_code]

Good choice!

[@earthcandleco]

I named my Floraloha since I just moved back to Florida from Hawaii. Thanks for this informative video!!

[@evelynwald9132]

Empress Tangy is my sour dough’s name. Someone put me on the spot to name it and that’s what I, literally, blurted out. She rules! She is made of 20% dark rye, 80% bread flour and 100% water. Your experiment with starter was very interesting to me. I had the best rise in my bread when I used a bread flour that was 14,2% protein vs regular bread flour that is around 12%. The total amount of flour I use is 390g, of which 290g is bread flour and the remaining 100 grams could be rye, whole wheat or khorasan (kamut) flour mixed with 60g of starter and 280 - 300 grams of water. I use more water with rye and less with the Khorasan. Thanks for all of your interesting experiments and videos.

[@auntied4950]

Thank you! So much information to absorb! ❤️ My starter is Brø'ma (Brød-mor ~ Bread-mother)

[@bills.6201]

I have three starters. I named my rye starter, Sampson. This is my first starter. I used Sampson to create two other starters. Delbert is my whole wheat starter. Zenji is my white flour starter. All three are doing well. I would like to see you use the stiff starter (with baker's%) in place of commercial yeast in different bread recipes. Coissants (of course), breakfast breads and rolls, pizza, flour tortillas, pita bread.

[@mattymattffs]

My starter is called Adam, because I have to make Eve (levain) from it!

[@thomaswilson1616]

I have been following your uploads as I'm starting my own culture for making sour dough bread, I love the adult ballon testing 😂

[@wanderingstar2717]

Love your videos. I would be interested in finding out how a sourdough baguette will turn out.

[@RicardoHernandez77]

This is by far one of the best videos about sourdough I've seen for ages! Thanks! By the way... mine is called Frikachu. He started being called Pikachu because of its ability to evolve, but changed to Frikachu after a few weeks in the fridge.

[@michellechiang9673]

Amazing video, thank you so much!!!

[@julietleblanc9197]

My starter is called Michael Bubblé. Just found your channel and love it!

[@andersjeppsson8499]

I have been replacing yeast with my sourdough starter for cinnamon buns etc, for a while now with great result y two starters are "Betty Loo" and my new 25 year old one is "Annie"

[@eugeemz6591]

Yes! Ive been waiting for this

[@jacquigriffin5973]

Souron, one starter to rule them all!

[@glycyldi]

Loaf Ericson, son of Eric the Bread.

[@RichardHoltVen]

Thanks Hendrick for the videos and experimentation. I'm getting a less acidic sourdough by feeding my starter at about 200%. I keep in a 1 quart jar and feed with 1/4 cup whole wheat and 1/4 cup of de-chlorinated tap water. I use enough starter to create a poolish of about 200% hydration as well. This helps to keep the volume of starter from growing too fast. Starter named Marco created while waiting for Hurricane Marco to arrive in Louisiana in 2020.

[@imanh9193]

Hi...I didnt undersrand, was ut a starter that you used or a poolish or , do you mean both together? I alwsys do poolish 100% with equal parts of water and flower for my pizza dough, but I wish to have a more soure taste in the crust. So do you add a peice of stiff starter to the poolish the night before, and if so, how much stater you add? Thank you in advance

[@ncoppens]

I have not named my starter yet, I just recently started baking sour dough bread and a good name did not come to me yet. I love your video's and this one just gave me the most amazing result with the stiff starter. I don't really like the sour taste in white bread and making it with the stiff starter gave me a neutral tasting yummie white bread and the crumb is very fluffy and open. I love the scientific approach since I'm a huge nerd. Without your video's I would not have been able to have this result withing 2 weeks of baking sour dough bread. Liebe Grüsse aus Osttirol

[@gregwmanning]

Great info, great video. Ok i'll use a stiff start. Please recommend which bread making video (recipe) I (a beginer) should follow using the stiff starter. Many thanks Greg

[@the_bread_code]

I can recommend this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aWeqlXqKZb2Mrac. It will allow you to make great bread and also baguettes. It looks at a fairly simple dough.

[@user-yl9jr9wt7n]

Thank you so much! I've 22:49 learned so much! My sourdough is good, but with your hints and techniques, it will be awesome! My sourdough's name is Lucy. She's a stiff one.

[@teresaolofson2221]

I am REALLY AS Excited As YOU ARE! i feel so calm knowing I know how to proceed as a baker :) The idea that stiff started can replace fresh yeast! A plus nothing could make me happier. I used kefir to help start my starter . I'll name him Lacto. He is so masculine.

[@the_bread_code]

😂 😂 😂

[@nancypeterson2489]

The most success I’ve had in sourdough Baking has been with stiff starters in lower percentages coupled with at Least an hour autolyse and bulk fermentation times under 5 hrs. Have to leave some gas in the tank to rise in the oven. Thanks for your hard work.

[@lennyk70]

interesting video, I am currently experimenting with using less starter/pasta madre in my panettone.

[@dea9985]

I named my sourdough starter Spelt Geesus and he is resurrecting wonderfully and his feet doesn't smell anymore and he brings warm, rising happiness to our household. Kind regards from Sweden. 😊⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🌞🧡

[@davidkeefe9468]

I love your videos. Science plus funny and silly is the way to go. Keep up the great work. My liquid starter’s name is Craig

[@the_bread_code]

Thank you!

[@rk.diamond6449]

Greetings! I would love to see you do a ciabatta as well as sourdough English muffins and/or crumpets. I have a rye starter named Darwin. Thank you for your videos and sharing your knowledge!

[@mcomeslast]

Yes, that’s one of my favorites.

[@abrahamj.palmalopez7309]

Hi. My family was complaining about the sour flavour in my bread, so I found your video. Thing is I can only bake one bread a week (correction: I am allowed to use the kitchen for my stuff once a week), and I was keeping my sourdough in the fridge for so long that it developed acetone smells. Your experiment gave me an idea which I am trying right now. I take one teaspoon of sourdough from my old dough when it has raised and keep it in an empty jar for one or two days. When this small ball is fluffy, I add five spoons of water, stir the starter and let it sit for one day. Then I add two or three spoons of flour, until the starter looks like pizza dough and let it rise for one or two days. The day before mixing a new dough, I hydrate the stiff starter until it looks like cream. The day of the mixing six days have passed and the starter smells milky. I am baking a hard wheat variety that cannot rise too much, and the hydration must be very low. I'd say it's 55% including the water in the starter. The dough will take a whole day to rise, then I take another teaspoon for the next starter and bake the rest. It's not hard work and it's done in seconds. I just need to not forget to do the chores. So far, the result is great. We've eaten two breads, and even in the third day after baking it's still not sour. A note on the wheat I am using. it is the opposite of a cake flour: it makes a very hard dough with plenty of strength but it barely rises. A slice of this bread can hold anything on it and it won't break. But that's our local variety. On the other hand, it tastes really good.

[@karlgoatley]

Yes please to learning more about ciabatta making 👍😋

[@rafaelcampora3287]

I’m in Brazil working on a starter I’ve named Pãozito, or “lil’ bread.” He just turned a week old and started doubling in size. I might feed him more flour from now on…

[@francinekeane9900]

Hi Hendrik, Thanks for another great video. Could you please give recipe for that wonderful bread?

[@the_bread_code]

Thank you! Just take any sourdough recipe and use a stiff starter :-). The basis was my overnight sourdough bread recipe.

[@faithfarmforever4795]

Thank you for your great helpful videos - I had been trying (on & off) for months - probably a year to get a sour dough starter going - never had success until I filled your rye flour recommendation. I appreciate that - ordered my 1st weck jars from your link. hope that helps - again thank you! (ps I named her "Bessy" - seemed like a good name for a stubborn mule starter lol 😆

[@peterwhitaker4231]

Mine is called Prince Buster. Sings to a reggae tune: It's good to lift bread when you're young, cos you're only young but for once.... great video, tons of knowledge, will have to watch again to fully digest. Ciabattas next please. Am currently baking loaves in Southern Germany with 1.5 percent sourdough, oven ready after 16 hours.

[@triciamiller4993]

Great Info . My starter is named Arthur after the brand of whole wheat flour I used .

[@petroglyf1973]

Excellent video Henrik, the balloons were an unexpected touch :) I use a stiff starter that is very vigorous, but lately I've noticed it is very dense with no visible bubbles on the wall of the container. I get good oven spring but a dense crumb on my 80% hydration strong flour breads. Wondering if I need a wetter dough still to get open crumb, or if the fault is in my dense starter. Any ideas?

[@barrychambers4047]

My new sourdough starter's name is Puddintain, and, if ya ask me again I'll tell you the same! Interesting video, Hendrik, thanks! I especially like your analogies on extensibility!

[@barrychambers4047]

For more extensible flours try incorporating just 5-10% spelt into your dough mix. This way you can still use higher gluten flours with your dough mix.

[@kerryh3918]

Lol I giggled my way through this great video….the ‘adult balloons’ were the scene stealers & just so comical. What a genius idea & I thank you for all of the work you out into your very informative videos. Hi from Adelaide in South Australia & I’m happy to send you an Aussie starter if you’d like one for your global starter collection?? My starter is called Chevallier

[@TheLugiProductions]

Amazing video, you've given us a lot to think about and experiment with, Can't wait to try a stiff starter! What kind of flour did you make the last bread with though?

[@the_bread_code]

That was an experiment with caputo flour :-)

[@lizgrieve140]

Hello Great video Love all your videos. What temperature do you ferment the stiff starter and how long does it take to reach peak ready to use Want to try it today 🙂Thanks Liz

[@the_bread_code]

Hey Liz. That was around 25°C. Peak ready use depends on how you feed it. But if you feed it 1:5:5 it will take around 5-10 hours :-)

[@tgif1207]

Great information! I'm a newbie...only been making sourdough since fall, 2022, but I am hooked! So delicious! And soooo different from "grocery store sourdough!" I actually never liked sourdough until I ate artisan...and made my own! My question/comment is this: as a retired educator, I know a lot of people are VISUAL LEARNERS. But not just with flow charts 😉 ... seeing the real thing! Maybe you could discuss these different types of starters, liquidy to stiff, and show us exactly what they look like!!? Thank you for sharing your knowledge and your passion for making sourdough!!

[@the_bread_code]

Thank you. Great comment!

[@chrissyluders7558]

Somehow I have 5 starters 😳. My first two are Anthony and Cleopatra. Third, Hail Caesar. Fourth was gifted to me so I kept the name, Albus Crumbledor, and finally Lazarus. I use only one really as I bake every day. I dehydrated one which I share with others by mail but a small amount of each (about 2T.) are kept in small jars in the fridge which I only feed about once a month.

[@candywalker483]

Good to know you don’t have to feed as often as I thought and have tried to do, even refrigerated starter.

[@SL-wk4em]

@@candywalker483 yes!! I have an extremely active starter (Molly) that gets one feeding a day and sometimes sadly starves for a day or two at room temp and my bread does extremely well :) in the fridge you can really go quite some time without feeding with little ill effects. I did accidentally leave her out for a week once at warm room temp and thought I killed her, but after a week of rehab she’s strong as ever. Sourdough really isn’t as strict as it seems

[@deg00gleurself91]

Hi there, have you used sweet sourdough starters? Use them for sandwich breads, croissants etc. Fantastic performance and consistency. Love you work, your oven spring is epic!!!

[@the_bread_code]

Thank you! Have not used them yet. I'd say you can totally use the stiff starter for the sandwich bread too :-)

[@abbasduman6963]

12:36 I always store just a small amount of Sourdough in the fridge and feed it the day before I bake bread - so I am using the no discard method from "Bake with Jack". But I experienced that you get even more oven spring, when you put your sourdough back to the fridge, when it doubled its size - about 8 hours later, generally in the early morning, so that when I make the dough, it is still at about its peak point.

[@rlrett1]

certain yeasts (Lager) propagate better in cooler environment!

[@DickyDean]

I had to cultivate a new starter because I allowed the first one I got bubbling in 2018 to sit in the fridge too long without refreshing and it became moldy. Very disappointing, but a valuable lesson learned. This new one has been active for a couple months and I finally decided to bake a loaf of bread with it this weekend. The result was similar to my very first attempt at sourdough bread. It's like learning to bake all over again. Everything seemed to go as expected during fermentation, but almost no oven spring. Honestly, I'm not sure if I fermented too long or not long enough. Still, despite being a little flat and dense, the texture is softer than I expected and the taste is tangy and delicious. I like the taste of this bread much better than those I baked with my first starter, so I'm feeling optimistic even though I didn't achieve ideal results on this first bake. Just like my first starter, I don't measure the flour and water, but I keep it fairly stiff. I use a combination of AP flour, spelt, and dark rye, similar to the dough I normally prepare, only for the dough I'll use a stronger bread flour instead of AP flour. My original starter was quite active. Hyperactive, in fact. After feeding, it would expand by three times or more and collapse within a three to four hour window. My starter 2.0 has a less dramatic, much longer, and more sustained rise. It doubles in size or maybe a little more after four to six hours and stays at that level for up to 12 hours. This behavior translates to the dough so I think it will be challenging to learn how to bake a big, fluffy loaf of bread with this starter, but I'm hopeful I'll get the hang of it after a few tries. I'll probably invest in a pH meter soon, just to satisfy my curiosity. I do wish I had purchased one earlier so I could compare with my original starter. A good thermometer is a fantastic idea. My oven is old and there is no temperature reading. I'm certain it runs much hotter than the temperature setting on the dial because I seem to get the best results when I bake bread at 400° F. Thanks for posting these videos. I could talk about bread all day long, but I don't have any friends or family who are into baking. It's fun to watch a fellow bread nerd get excited over new techniques and discoveries. Cheers! Oh, and I think I'll just called this starter 2.0. :)

[@Jan46]

My starter is named Odin, Since you showed your drowned starter I liquefied mine and every time I make bread I use it to start a 1-5-5 which I use at peak for my bread, that makes nice equilibrated flavours. I would suggest to find some ancient red wheat flour it has amazing slight sweet taste, although they are a challenge to work with, I use Rouge de Bordeaux flour. thanks for all the good info you give us.

[@dickchaser9725]

I don't particularly like him as a personality, and he rarely explains himself but Joshua Weissman has a video where he makes baguettes with a stiff starter. Supposedly a ton of bakeries in france use sourdough in everything. One of the best croissants in France is leavened with sourdough starter. I'm very interested in how to apply stiff starters scientifically and I think you should try crossiants first for sure. I've played around with stiff starters for one off things like making donuts n stuff. I am very interested to see your chronicles unfold gluten master. Also my starter name is Marissa, she's a girl I fancy and ever since I named my starter after her, my bread making process has been complicated. Just like my relationship with my crush. Maybe one day I'll have a good relationship with both my baking process, and her.

[@Cristiano7007]

I call my starter Leonardo da Vinci :-D The great knowledge. Thank my friend. There a lot to learn. I will try a more stiff starter.

[@wyattalexander4041]

Just wow…. Wow this should be put into a book I would buy it man….

[@suzannesteele2292]

My starter’s name is Bubbles. Thanks for your great videos!

[@solangegouveia3618]

Super info! My neurons are uncontrollable after all the knowledge you passed on. Have you ever used Brad pit to make sourdough bread in a breadmaker?Thank you ..

[@GypsyWomanWindy]

I have two starters my first is "Pooh" my favorite fluffy bear , and "Grace" because she rises with such grace.

[@margan59]

I love the sour in sourdough!

[@christiazeiter2758]

Thank you so so much for all the info! Beginner sourdough baker over here in Japan where rye flour is nonexistent. As such my sourdough starter is 100% 12% protein bread flour. I’m interested in your thoughts on not using rye or wheat flour. My starter’s name is Sanfransokyo, referencing San Francisco, the capital of sourdough, and Tokyo where I currently live and where the starter was born.

[@raymondmoderski3216]

My sourdough starter is about 30 to possibly 40 years old and has been moved from Pennsylvania to Delaware, now back to Pennsylvania. I tend to keep it a consistency of 100% flour and 75 water. As I make bread I try to get as close to 75% hydration as I can, but I am having some issues and now my consistency is in the PITTS (for Brad). What would you recommend? I used potato water to begin my starter. Thank you for your amazing videos, Ray Moderski.

[@rh3308]

Hello Ray. Can you share your sourdough starter recipe? I have failed in the past n given up. I'd love to make some sourdough bread.

[@asmamugheairbi8975]

I prefet stiff starter lately, I’ve been making great bread with my stiff starter my oven spring has been amazing and my crumb got much better.

[@ingridgillette5573]

What is the hydration of the stiff starter? That loaf is gorgeous! I learned so much!

[@keithepstein2812]

I have the same question. I'm guessing it's 50%, but not sure. Also, that's the whitest dough I've seen. Did you use a super high hydration recipe? Your final bread reminded me of my favorite high-hydration (86%) video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGGahYGIZZppm6c. If there were such a thing as bread porn, that video would be it.

[@the_bread_code]

Thanks! @Ingrid - around 50% hydration :-). @Keith - that one looks great. The hydration of the dough was around 80%.

[@artvandelay1555]

Mine is named Morris. O.K. man, this better help! Now it is summer here and my apt. is not climatisé, so that does not help much. Did not your German baker friend say to make the starter thicker? My Great Grandfather was a baker from Germany for what it's worth. The pressure is on. Thanks for these tips. Every bit of knowledge and practice helps.

[@eddieagha5851]

I currently have two. Lucy made with whole wheat and water, and Abigail made with 50/50 Rye wheat + whole wheat and water. I had a tough time getting the starters started. But then I thought, maybe they're too dry? So I added more water to both, and within two days I had very active starters!

[@alexischavez3238]

I named my starter Fran Fine from The Nanny cause she's a sassy lil starter, she's almost a year old and I experiment with different hydration and flour ratios all the time😊

[@rebeccahazel2124]

I have two 1: Dwight Shrwheat 2: Rye N Reynolds I love your channel!

[@usteinberg4093]

My starter is HAPPY 💯🥰

[@lillysmith5247]

I am celiac so I have a gluten free brown rice starter named Bobby. I used to bake a lot of wheat bread and loved it but hadn’t tried sourdough till a few months ago. I wish there was someone who really looked into the science of gluten free sourdough like you do! I wonder if I would get the same kind of results using the different hydration amounts for my starter. Because there is no gluten I usually use xanthan gum to give a similar property to my dough. I still love watching your videos. I get ideas to try with the gluten free versions 😊

[@maureenperez9999]

"adult balloon"? We know what you really mean.😎🤣🤣🤣 This is a great video. Very educational.

[@chessastockton5645]

Thanks for this amazing information. Mine is Audry ll from Little Shop of Horrors.