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Calling Allen. Allen to the bread phone, please


Dirtyhip

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@Allen

So, I bought the SF Boudon SD starter.  It is active and bubbly.  I have cared for it, and it is at the point where after I feed, it doubles in size.

Here is my dilemma, I hate waste.  I hate food waste.  The idea of tossing out flour starter makes me ill.  However, I can't bake and cook breads daily.  I have tried to use any leftover in all my bread recipes.  The directions for caring for the mother calls for I part starter to 2 parts flour and one part water.  It reads that a little extra water might need to be added.  The directions tell me that she must be fed every 12- 24 hours.  We travel.  We travel a lot.  So, I just fed her and put her in the fridge.  The directions say that I should feed her weekly, when in the fridge. The directions also say that you should do two to three feedings, before she wakes up again.  So, when she comes out of the fridge, I have to toss out portions that are inactive.  AHHHH...waste.

Do these instructions sound right?  If I pull her out and feed her, I have to toss out 3 feedings of waste product.  Shit.  I hate that.  

I reduced the amount I keep back.  I went down to 1/3 cup of starter, so that I can keep feedings smaller.

 

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3 hours ago, Allen said:

Yep, that’s right. One throws out a lot of starter. Unless you are baking every day there is going to be a good bit of waste. 

You can get away with only one feeding when it comes out of the fridge.  

 

Can "starter" be used as some sort of fertilizer or compost?

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  • 1 month later...

@ Allen

I have been feeding my starter weekly.  I mostly keep in the fridge, except, when I wake her up. It gets bubbly in the fridge, after I feed.  Does this mean that I could use the first or second discard for some baking?  Scraping into the garbage or compost crushes my soul.

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19 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

@ Allen

I have been feeding my starter weekly.  I mostly keep in the fridge, except, when I wake her up. It gets bubbly in the fridge, after I feed.  Does this mean that I could use the first or second discard for some baking?  Scraping into the garbage or compost crushes my soul.

Feed both the discard and the mother. Put the mother back in the fridge and bake with the fed discard. 

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3 minutes ago, Allen said:

Feed both the discard and the mother. Put the mother back in the fridge and bake with the fed discard. 

Yeah, I still don't bake that much.  Plus, if you keep at room, you have to feed twice a day.  That is a ton of discard.  Can you put more than a 1/2 cup of discard in a baking recipe?

A giant dough ball will soon consume the Klamath Basin.  HAHA

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2 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

Yeah, I still don't bake that much.  Plus, if you keep at room, you have to feed twice a day.  That is a ton of discard.  Can you put more than a 1/2 cup of discard in a baking recipe?

A giant dough ball will soon consume the Klamath Basin.  HAHA

Yes, you can use more than 1/2 cup. 

Too much discard is why I use yeast water so much. 

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27 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

My results with using more starter seems to require much more flour.  My starter is pretty sticky and wet.

I wish I could test my starter to see how much yeast is in it.  Like, are some starters more active than others/

You’ll learn your starter. It’ll settle down and become constant. 

 

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  • 4 months later...

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