I made enough batter for two loafs, but I only want to bake one of them. What's the best way to store the remaining
batter, refrigerate it or freeze it? How long can I store it if I just put it in the refrigerator, and when I want to
bake it (a week later), is it just a matter of letting it warm up for an hour and then baking normally?

On Thu, Jan 1, 2009 at 11:19 PM, jbclem > wrote:
> I made enough batter for two loafs, but I only want to bake one of them. What's the best way to store the remaining
> batter, refrigerate it or freeze it? How long can I store it if I just put it in the refrigerator, and when I want to
> bake it (a week later), is it just a matter of letting it warm up for an hour and then baking normally?

One week of a good starter in the fridge deteriorates some but would
be still ok to use in making final dough.
To freeze it and then thaw and use it for making bread without yeast
would not work IMO.

Personally, I stay away from those situations as much as possible:
making too much starter for one baking and having to deal with
left-overs beyond the small amounts (35 g) for the next baking.

As I said, one week of keeping in fridge does deteriorate some and
what I did is to double it to refresh but then, I have again possibly
too much starter with different properties and so it goes... one
changed situation leads to another one etc. Just not worth it...

Sam

Sorry, but I was asking about batter (flour, water, salt, starter all mixed and kneeded but before rising). I've kept
starter in the fridge for a month at a time and it always seems to come back when I refresh it, although I can't say if
it loses properties such as taste and strength.



"Samartha Deva" > wrote in message
news:mailman.24.1230878387.3709.rec.food.sourdough @www.mountainbitwarrior.com...
> On Thu, Jan 1, 2009 at 11:19 PM, jbclem > wrote:
> > I made enough batter for two loafs, but I only want to bake one of them. What's the best way to store the remaining
> > batter, refrigerate it or freeze it? How long can I store it if I just put it in the refrigerator, and when I want
to
> > bake it (a week later), is it just a matter of letting it warm up for an hour and then baking normally?
>
> One week of a good starter in the fridge deteriorates some but would
> be still ok to use in making final dough.
> To freeze it and then thaw and use it for making bread without yeast
> would not work IMO.
>
> Personally, I stay away from those situations as much as possible:
> making too much starter for one baking and having to deal with
> left-overs beyond the small amounts (35 g) for the next baking.
>
> As I said, one week of keeping in fridge does deteriorate some and
> what I did is to double it to refresh but then, I have again possibly
> too much starter with different properties and so it goes... one
> changed situation leads to another one etc. Just not worth it...
>
> Sam

On Fri, Jan 2, 2009 at 12:32 AM, jbclem > wrote:
> Sorry, but I was asking about batter (flour, water, salt, starter all mixed and kneeded but before rising). I've kept
> starter in the fridge for a month at a time and it always seems to come back when I refresh it, although I can't say if
> it loses properties such as taste and strength.

OK - so mixed dough, ready to rise.

There are a couple of issues.

A - amount of dough i. e. volume to cool - the larger, the longer and
the more it ferments in the middle since cooling is delayed.

I see bodies of cooked vegetables - cubes of 6 x 6 x 6" put in the
freezer still unfrozen in the middle after 24 hours.

B - Hydration increases with fermentation i. e. the dough gets wetter
the longer it ferments.

So - I'd say, freezing is out of question because it will destroy a
lot of your dough sourdough organisms needed for rise.
With cooling the dough, maybe overnight or 24 hours max and then with
a reduced hydration to compensate the additional water by fermentation
during cooling down.

If anyone has better ideas, please post.

Sam

On Fri, Jan 2, 2009 at 12:32 AM, jbclem > wrote:
> Sorry, but I was asking about batter (flour, water, salt, starter all mixed and kneeded but before rising). I've kept
> starter in the fridge for a month at a time and it always seems to come back when I refresh it, although I can't say if
> it loses properties such as taste and strength.

OK - so mixed dough, ready to rise.

There are a couple of issues.

A - amount of dough i. e. volume to cool - the larger, the longer and
the more it ferments in the middle since cooling is delayed.

I see bodies of cooked vegetables - cubes of 6 x 6 x 6" put in the
freezer still unfrozen in the middle after 24 hours.

B - Hydration increases with fermentation i. e. the dough gets wetter
the longer it ferments.

So - I'd say, freezing is out of question because it will destroy a
lot of your dough sourdough organisms needed for rise.
With cooling the dough, maybe overnight or 24 hours max and then with
a reduced hydration to compensate the additional water by fermentation
during cooling down.

If anyone has better ideas, please post.

Sam

On Thu, Jan 1, 2009 at 11:19 PM, jbclem > wrote:
> I made enough batter for two loafs, but I only want to bake one of them. What's the best way to store the remaining
> batter, refrigerate it or freeze it? How long can I store it if I just put it in the refrigerator, and when I want to
> bake it (a week later), is it just a matter of letting it warm up for an hour and then baking normally?

One week of a good starter in the fridge deteriorates some but would
be still ok to use in making final dough.
To freeze it and then thaw and use it for making bread without yeast
would not work IMO.

Personally, I stay away from those situations as much as possible:
making too much starter for one baking and having to deal with
left-overs beyond the small amounts (35 g) for the next baking.

As I said, one week of keeping in fridge does deteriorate some and
what I did is to double it to refresh but then, I have again possibly
too much starter with different properties and so it goes... one
changed situation leads to another one etc. Just not worth it...

Sam