My first sourdough loaf vs my 20th, night and day difference

The first one came out flat as a pancake and hard enough to break a tooth. What changed? I started feeding my starter twice a day instead of once and waited until it actually doubled before baking. Has anyone else seen a huge jump in quality just from better starter care?

2 comments

2 Comments

ellis.robert1mo ago

Hang on, I'm gonna push back a little here. I've actually had way better luck with a lazier starter. I feed mine maybe once every two or three days, keep it in the fridge, and my loaves come out perfectly fine with a great crumb and crust. Twice a day feeding feels like a lot of extra work for maybe a tiny difference, and honestly, I think people overthink the whole starter thing. Your first loaf probably failed because of a bad recipe or bad technique, not because you weren't feeding it enough.

olivia_carr71mo ago

Exactly. People way overthink this. I keep my starter in the fridge and feed it maybe once a week when I'm planning to bake. Sometimes I go two weeks. It still doubles and makes great bread with a nice open crumb and a crust that cracks when you bite it. The whole twice a day feeding thing is for people trying to win some competition or bake for a bakery. For a normal home baker making a couple loaves a week it's totally unnecessary. And yeah the first loaf failing is almost always something else like not letting it rise long enough or a bad oven setup.