I finally picked sourdough over commercial yeast for my shop's bread

I run a small bakery in Portland and had to decide between sticking with instant yeast or switching to a sourdough starter for our daily loaves. Went with the starter about 3 months ago and it's been a wild ride - my proofing times doubled and I had to toss 4 batches before I got the hydration right. Has anyone else made the switch and dealt with inconsistent rise times during colder months?

2 comments

2 Comments

miab8718d ago

Portland winters killed my first attempt too. I had to start keeping my starter in a cooler with a warm water bottle wrapped in a towel to keep it around 78F overnight. Also found that cutting my hydration back to 70% instead of 80% made the rise way more predictable when the temp drops below 60 in the kitchen. Took me about 6 weeks to stop tossing failed batches after that change.

anna98318d ago

oh man, the warm bottle in a cooler trick is genius... I did something similar with a heating pad on low inside a cardboard box last January when my kitchen was like 55 degrees. and yeah, dropping the hydration made a huge difference for me too - mine was way too soupy before and it wouldn't double no matter how long I waited. I actually kept a little notebook and tracked the room temp and rise times for like two months before I felt like I had any control over it. it's such a relief when you finally figure out what works for your space.