Hey guys,

I've been baking with sourdough for a little while now, and have
pretty much gotten the hang of working with my whole wheat starter,
though I do usually use the same recipe every time.

Anyway, the King Arthur Whole Grain Baking book that I have been using
has a recipe using a spelt starter, so I made one from scratch, and
that went well; within a few of days it was bubbling up quite nicely.
So I tried
making the bread. The recipe calls for one tablespoon levian to be
mixed up with 1 cup spelt flour and 1/2 cup unchlorinated water, and
left overnight at room temperature. The next day, the levian is
supposed to be bubbly and expanded.

However, the next day there was barely any activity. I decided to
leave it be, and see what happened, and after about another 12 hours,
it did look bubbly. Of course, then I didn't have time to bake.

What went wrong?

Could it be:
a) that too small an amount of starter was used? To me, a tablespoon
seemed a pretty small amount...The other breads I've made have used
more, even the ones left overnight.

b) the (possibly) too cool temperature of the room? It's winter here
in montreal, and I have baseboard heating...

c) something else???

What should I do next time?

Should I:
a) use more starter? If so, how should I adjust the liquid/flour
content of the recipe?
b) expect the pre-ferment to take twice as long? Will this make the
bread really sour?
c) use a different recipe altogether? (suggestions...)

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Sarah

Sarah wrote:
Hey guys,

I've been baking with sourdough for a little while now, and have
pretty much gotten the hang of working with my whole wheat starter,
though I do usually use the same recipe every time.

Anyway, the King Arthur Whole Grain Baking book that I have been using
has a recipe using a spelt starter, so I made one from scratch, and
that went well; within a few of days it was bubbling up quite nicely.
So I tried
making the bread. The recipe calls for one tablespoon levian to be
mixed up with 1 cup spelt flour and 1/2 cup unchlorinated water, and
left overnight at room temperature. The next day, the levian is
supposed to be bubbly and expanded.

However, the next day there was barely any activity. I decided to
leave it be, and see what happened, and after about another 12 hours,
it did look bubbly. Of course, then I didn't have time to bake.

What went wrong?

Could it be:
a) that too small an amount of starter was used? To me, a tablespoon
seemed a pretty small amount...The other breads I've made have used
more, even the ones left overnight.

b) the (possibly) too cool temperature of the room? It's winter here
in montreal, and I have baseboard heating...

c) something else???

What should I do next time?


Just go with your regular whole wheat recipes which worked for you and
if things need to be changed because something does not work out, go
from there.

And - why grow a "specialized" spelt starter if you have a whole wheat
going? I'd grow it - if it's a full grain wheat - on spelt, case closed.

The points you made - too little, too cold could be a cause. Maybe just
being a new starter and untested if it works is another point to look at.

Sam