* jeff higgins > 2003-10-28:
> After the many helpful suggestions I received when I last posted, I am
> happy to report some real success.

Congratulations! Sounds like you have made great progress.

> I haven't found a way yet to maintain consistent temperatures within
> the recommended 80f - 85f range.

Me either. With the cooler weather upon us I have returned to thinking
about building my thermostatically controlled proofing chamber, but more
on that another day.

> So, all of the above took place at
> ambient temps ranging from 85f at the beginning down to 75f after 10
> hours, with most of the time in the 80 to 82 degree range.

Should be fine, sourdough is not delicate. The only problem is timing.
I find that things happen about twice as fast at 85F when compared to
70F.

> I then used 4oz to make the "firm starter" for the
> Basic Sourdough Bread recipe from BBA, pg. 233.

My normal procedure is based on this recipe, I find it quite successful.

> I refed the
> remaining starter with stone ground whole wheat (KA) and spring water
> to double the weight and left out for 4 hours at which point it had
> doubled in volume and I refrigerated it along with the firm starter.

Perfect.

>
> Today, I finished making the above bread. I finally got the
> appropriate rise and the bread is good. It's a bit more sour than I'd
> like but the texture of the crumb is just right. The crust is a
> little chewy but not as firm or thick as I'd like.

Most likely not enough steam.

> Although I seem to have finally produced a viable starter, I suspect
> that I haven't been feeding it as regularly as I should have.
> Perhaps, this is the reason for the higher degree of sourness than I
> would have preferred. I'm also considering increasing the ratio of
> flour and water in the next feeding (tripling vs. doubling) to see if
> I can improve this to my taste.

Degree of sourness of the final loaf is most dependant on time and
temperature of ferment. Did you stick close to Reinhart's timing?
I typically use a primary ferment of 3.5 hours at 75F and a final rise
of 2.5 hours at 75F. Timings must be adjusted to compensate for
temperature.

Also your culture has probably not stabilized yet and will continue to
evolve over time. The more feeding cycles you put it through the faster
it will stabilize. When you get your sample of Carl's try that for
comparison.

>
> I'll look forward to your thoughts and suggestions. As I said above,
> I have a lot to learn!

The joy is in the journey. Great work!

--
Steve W
s (dot) wal (at) verizon (dot) net