# Sourdough feeding question



## msbirdchat (Dec 1, 2015)

When doing the 3 feeds to the mother starter, (In preparing to make a loaf) should the starter fall before I do the next feed or
should I feed as soon as it doubles?


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

Get yourself a coopy of this book and search under sourdough recipes. IIRC it's french sourdough, the simplest. *Bread A Baker'S Book*.


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## fatcook (Apr 25, 2017)

I would let it fall back. 

I'm not sure why you would need three feeds though? Unless you keep a very small mother and need to feed it to make enough to use? 

I am a very lazy sour dough keeper. Mine comes out of the fridge, warms up, gets fed and once it doubles, I make a preferment for my bread. I feed the kept starter, give it about 2 hours and back in the cold it goes.

Every 3 months or so, I use rye flour instead of AP for the feeding.


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

msbirdchat said:


> When doing the 3 feeds to the mother starter, (In preparing to make a loaf) should the starter fall before I do the next feed or
> should I feed as soon as it doubles?


Are you just creating the mother, hence the 3 feeding?
I do mine like fatcook. My starter is over 30 years old and very sour. I keep mine in the fridge. I'll take it out the evening before I'm going to bake. After removing the amount i need for the recipe, I feed the starter with bread flour, a couple tablespoons light rye flour, and water. I mix, allow it to bubble, then back it goes to the fridge.


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## msbirdchat (Dec 1, 2015)

fatcook said:


> I would let it fall back.
> 
> I'm not sure why you would need three feeds though? Unless you keep a very small mother and need to feed it to make enough to use?
> 
> ...





fatcook said:


> I would let it fall back.
> 
> I'm not sure why you would need three feeds though? Unless you keep a very small mother and need to feed it to make enough to use?
> 
> ...





fatcook said:


> I would let it fall back.
> 
> I'm not sure why you would need three feeds though? Unless you keep a very small mother and need to feed it to make enough to use?
> 
> ...


I do 3 feedings based on instructions from book 'Wild Bread'. I keep 15 oz of starter in fridge. When ready to bake bread, remove from fridge and feed 2.5 oz of flour and 2.5 oz of water, let rise. Repeat two more times. At end of their feed their will be 30 oz of dough. Remove 8 oz, feed with 3.5 oz of flour and 3.5 oz of water ((total 15 oz), that goes back into the fridge for next time.
The remaining 22 oz is now ready to add more flour and water to make a loaf of bread. 
I started three starters in early April and they are is very strong and fast starters. I gave one away to my cousin.I have made 3 loaves so far and they all turned out great.

But, I still have a lot of questions about the feeding process. I never know whether the feedings should occur at the peak of the rise or after the collapse. My book says that fewer than 3 feedings will "stress the culture".
Also, I am never sure how long the loaf dough should rise Before deflating it and shaping it. I have read different opinions.

I started the starters with unbleached white flour from Wheat Montana. It was the only flour I could find at that time and I was able to buy two 5 lb bags. I just ran out of that flour and am now using Red Mill flour.

Why do you add rye flour every so often? I added a small amount of White Whole Wheat to my last loaf, but only to the loaf dough, not to the 15 oz that I put back into the fridge. That loaf was also very good.


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

Well, I've read countless books about sourdough, but experience has always been the best teacher. Recipes are basic information.
Some cooks and authors go on and on about how this should be this way and not that way, when the fact of the matter is that sourdough is a living organism that gets it's flavor from the environment it lives in. Each one will taste different because of this.
Personally I don't get the three feedings either but that's the authors recipe.

As for the rye flour, it's all about flavor baby!!!


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## dueh (Mar 4, 2015)

If I am reading correctly it sounds like the book is instructing you to keep building on a starter for your final dough by just adding a little water and flour to get up to the amount of preferment needed. 

What matter most in my experience is consistency. If you stick to a schedule for your starter you will obtain reliable and consistent results. I keep my home sour culture in the fridge till i want to use it, or feed it every two weeks when I don't plan to use it. Using around a 5:5:1 ratio of flour and water to spent sour, and it slows down and ferments at a slower pace in the fridge and also in a loaf of bread. 

At work I use a 2:2:1 ratio to promote a much more active starter that is far more acidic (sour), and it gets used and fed daily. 

It really comes down to what works for you and what bread you want.


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## msbirdchat (Dec 1, 2015)

chefross said:


> Well, I've read countless books about sourdough, but experience has always been the best teacher. Recipes are basic information.
> Some cooks and authors go on and on about how this should be this way and not that way, when the fact of the matter is that sourdough is a living organism that gets it's flavor from the environment it lives in. Each one will taste different because of this.
> Personally I don't get the three feedings either but that's the authors recipe.
> 
> As for the rye flour, it's all about flavor baby!!!


I just bought some rye flour and want to make a rye starter. Once it is ready to use is it only for rye bread or can I continue to use AP flour to make a white sourdough? Also, I tried making one loaf with my starter and then using BREAD flour for the loaf and the bread tasted good but it was very rubbery. Any ideas why?


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

A rye sourdough starter is easier to maintain than a wheat one. The rye doesn't form a slurry the way wheat does and it smells better too (like fruit) it's also more forgiving than a wheat starter when feeding time comes along.
I use only a tablespoon of rye flour when I'm feeding my wheat starter to aid in the flavor development.
...and yes.....you could add rye starter to either a mixed grain bread or rye sourdough.


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