Old-Fashioned Sourdough Gingerbread Cake Recipe • The Prairie Homestead (2024)

FAQs

How do I make my sourdough starter stronger? ›

The most common issue is not kneading enough between rises. The yeast cannot float through the dough, so it has to just eat the flour near it. If it exhausts that supply, it's stuck. Kneading the dough a bit - and it doesn't take much - puts the yeast and bacteria back in touch with fresh food.

Sourdough crumb should be even, meaning there won't be any areas that are super tight or with giant tunnels. The crumb should be light and fluffy - not wet and gummy. The holes inside the sourdough may seem shiny. This is a sign that the gluten is very well developed.

Whole wheat flour is an excellent choice for creating a sourdough starter due to its nutrient-rich composition and potential for fostering a robust microbial community.

If you have too much starter compared to the additional flour and water you're adding, your hungry starter consumes all the nutrients and then it's not as bubbly.

If you over-ferment the dough you run the risk of the gluten structure degrading and the loaf turning into a puddle of goo before your eyes, never to be retrieved and destined for the bin.

The speed and metabolic efficiency of the yeast depend almost entirely on temperature, with the optimal speed of fermentation occurring between 80–90°F (27–32°C). That temperature is optimal, but you can get a faster rise with warmer temperatures (to a point) or a slower rise with cooler temps.

You can cold ferment or cold proof your sourdough overnight because the cold temperature of the fridge stops the dough from over fermenting. If you were to leave your shaped dough on the counter overnight, you'd wake up to a soupy mess (unless it was freezing in your home).

A HUGE misconception in the sourdough circle is 'big holes mean job well done'. The size of the bubbles dont matter. To me, a job well done and properly fermeted loaf will have similar sized bubbles evenly distributed in the loaf. This is what you're looking for!!

The secret to sourdough is simple: water. The more water you add to your dough will affect how open the crumb (bigger holes and softer texture) will be once it's baked.

What temperature do you bake sourdough bread? ›

Preheat the oven to the desired temperature, typically between 425°F (220°C) to 475°F (245°C). Preheating the baking surface helps achieve a crisp crust. 2. Shape the sourdough: After the final fermentation and proofing, carefully shape your sourdough loaf into the desired form.

It would be best if you discarded some portion of your starter each time you feed it unless you want to continue to let it grow. Eventually, you need to discard the used “food” (flour and water) that's been used to sustain your starter during the last fermentation period.

Just a note here - it is normal for a sourdough starter to be stiffer when you first feed it and then thin out a little as it ferments. It should however be mousse like and aerated when it peaks. It may become runnier if you then don't feed it and let it go back down.

You can keep a “peaked” starter in the refrigerator for about 12 hours (sometimes more), and still use it directly in your mix. You do not need to let it come up to room temperature. If your starter is well past peak (a few hours) and visibly falling, you can give it a “refresh” feeding to reactivate it.

Feed with different flour.

Flour with more protein and nutrients make sourdough starter more active, so consider feeding your starter with bread flour, whole wheat flour, rye flour (or a combination of these) to increase fermentation activity and rise.

Yes. A more mature starter will have a better established colony of lactobacillus (the good bacteria that give you the distinctive sourdough flavor). So as your starter matures and ages, it will develop a much stronger sourdough flavor.