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Sourdough Terminologies
Starter:
A mixture formed by combining water and sugar in a glass jar which is then allowed to ferment and rise by creating gas bubbles.
Mother Starter:
So the starter that you make on Day 1 is known as the mother starter. It is from this mother starter that a portion is taken out and used in recipes by adding fresh flour and water.
Discard:
A portion of the starter is removed from the mother starter before feeding it with fresh flour and water so that the yeast never goes hungry and has a continuous supply of food.
You need not throw away the discard you can use it to make pancakes, crackers, waffles etc.
Check out this post on what is sourdough discard for more details.
Fermentation:
The time duration in which the yeast is allowed to absorb the sugar and form carbon dioxide. This process also creates an acidic environment which makes sure that the bad bacteria are all killed.
Feeding:
The act of adding fresh water and flour to the mother starter every single time is known as Feeding.
Levain (Young Starter):
You will never use the entire Mother Starter to make a recipe as that is what you will preserve for a lifetime!!
Always a portion is taken out from the Mother Starter to be used in recipes.
Example: If you need 120 gms of Starter to make a loaf of Sourdough Bread then you will take out 20 gms from the Mother Starter and add 50 gms Water and 50 gms Flour to it.
And allow it to rise for 6-12 hours.
This newly made starter is known as Young Starter or Levain and this process of rising is known as Leavening.
Hooch:
A brown line appearing in your starter indicating that the starter is hungry and needs more feeding.
Hydration:
A Sourdough Bread is always made in reference to calculating the Hydration - also known as Baker's Percentage.
Hydration represents the percentage of water to flour ratio in terms of weight.
In general the water to flour ratio to make a starter is always 100 percent so equal amounts of water and flour.
(More about how to calculate Baker's percentage while making a Sourdough bread later). For now understand that hydration means the percentage of water to flour.
Example: 70 percent hydration means if the weight of the flour is 1000 gms then the water in the dough is 70% of 1000 which is 700 gms.
If you would like to take examples of the bread that we have done so far (non sourdough) then white bread recipe stands at 60% hydration whereas ciabatta bread is at 80 % hydration.
The more the hydration the difficult it is to handle the dough.
Autolyse/Autolysis:
Autolyse is a technique where in the flour and water is combined until you see no bits of dry flour left (that is the flour is well hydrated) and is then allowed to rest for a while.
This resting period increases the elasticity in the dough making it easier to work, knead or shape, thereby creating a loaf with better texture, rise and flavour.
Crumb:
It is simply another word for the texture of Sourdough Bread.
Open Crumbs indicates large airy pockets indicating that the dough was well hydrated.
Tight crumb as the name suggests is heavy and dense without any air pockets.
Proofing:
The time given for a dough to rise.
There are two proofing involved in general:
- Bulk Fermentation: This is the process after mixing the starter and before shaping when the dough is allowed to proof in bulk.
- Second Proofing: After the bulk fermentation the dough is divided into two or three depending upon the recipe, shaped and allowed to rise again.
Bench-Rest:
The sourdough bread is allowed to rest on the counter-top in the pre-shaping process. That stage is known as Bench-Rest.
Retarding:
Slow Proofing of the dough is known as Retarding.
Usually occurs in the fridge over-night as cold temperature tends to slow down yeast activity.
Boule and Batard
Batard is the bread loaf that is oval in shape whereas boule has round shape.
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Susie says
Hi Sushma
I have tried a number of recipes and I am loving yours. Thank you so much. My question is when you feed your refrigerated starter once a week do you always use the whole wheat flour?Thanks Susie
Reply
sushma iyer says
Hi Susie.. No you can use any type of flour - whole wheat or APF. I feed mine with APF
Shriram Parameswaran says
Very nicely structured and narrated post for a beginner like me in the sourdough journey.
Has anyone tried making the Sourdough starter with Aashirvaad Select (100% MP Sharbati wheat) flour?
Reply
sushma iyer says
Hi Shriram..
Thank you so much.. that was the whole point for this post.. For anyone to start their sourdough journey.. And yes I myself have made with Aashirvaad Atta.. The starter will be thick and paste like but as day passes it would become normal..
Regards
SushmaReply
Shriram Parameswaran says
Namaskarams
We are just going to commence our sourdough baking journey verybsoon, I hope.
Sourdough starter is getting ready and is eight days in the making. Eagerly waiting.
Chlorine in water and Iodine in Salt could kill the living organisms in the levain / starter, is what I hear and that makes sense.
So while we can use filtered and stored water (after chlorine has escaped) to get chlorine free water, which salt is recommended for sourdough baking.
Is the himalayan pink salt powder ok ?
And any idea which cast iron Dutch Oven is popular in India? Or is there any alternative to a D.O.?
We intend to start off with baking tins first for loaves and then graduate to a D.O. for Boules and Batards etc.,.
Reply
sushma iyer says
Hello Shriram..
Namaskaram..
So happy to learn your progress.. And your research on Sourdough is amazing. You are on the right track. Himalayan Pink Salt is absolutely fine. Works great.
Coming to D.O. You can check the LeCreuset India they have amazing collection. If you use Instagram you can check their page on Insta or do a quick Google Search too.
But if the shops are open I would say nothing like namma ooru iron pans so you can use iron skillet for both base and top. So not only for Boules you can use it in everyday cooking for making stir fry or dosas. I am talking about something like this in this picture that I found on google for you https://bit.ly/3aW0hy6 so you can buy these separately and use it for boules as well as everyday cooking
Hope this helps
Regards
SushmaReply
Shriram says
Namaskarams
And thank you for such a detailed response.
I just discovered a few days ago that Rock Tawa based in Coimbatore itself makes Dutch ovens . They have a 3 liter and 5 liter...https://rocktawa.com/rock-tawa-dutch-oven-pre-seasoned-best-cast-iron
Will pick one up soon after they are open up. Presently unresponsive due to Covid19 lockdowns I guess. Many thanks again.
By the way today is Day 11 and my Bubbles is still not active. Twice a day discard + feeding is going on at 0600 & 1800. Fingers and toes crossed.
sushma iyer says
Hehe.. I like toes crossed.. What flour are you using Wheat based aa??
Prescy Dias says
I am very happy you have taken so much trouble to explain this in detail and easy steps we can follow. I had some bad experiences years back and there was no one to explain or help out. One question..does the water have to be warm every time it is added. God bless you my dear and all your future endeavours.Reply
sushma iyer says
Hi Prescy..
Thank you for your kind words.. so pleased to know that the information that I have shared is worth a read.. appreciate your feedback. and to answer your query Yes always use warm water.. Yeast loves warm conditions 🙂
Regards
SushmaReply
Archana Wani says
Hi Sushma,I am not able to understand the concept of changing starter percentage. Can you please help.
Reply
sushma iyer says
Hi Archana..
Baker's percentage is the term used to define the percentage of water in the dough aka bread. Flour is always 100 percent and all the other ingredients are calculated based on that. So if for eg: flour is 1000 gms then 70 percent dough means it has 700 gms of water in it.
For a beginner it becomes difficult to handle higher hydration dough like say 75% (750 gms of water as per the above example) or 80% (800 gms of water as per the example) as the dough tends to be sticky and runny.
This recipe is 70% which means the dough has 70 percentage of water in it. If you are not comfortable with the given amount you can use 68% and if you are a seasoned sourdough baker then you can also go for 75% that is what I have mentioned in the notes section.
I have tried this recipe with all the three hydration level and got good results. The more the hydration the better your bread will be.
Hope this helps
Regards
SushmaReply
Archana Wani says
Hi nice write up. Very comprehensive. I have a query is bulk ferment and bench rest same?
Reply
sushma iyer says
Hi Archana.. Thank you.. And to answer your query no they are not the same. You can read sourdough terminologies from here: https://spicesnflavors.com/beginners-sourdough-starter-recipe/3/
Regards
SushmaReply
Divya Nair says
Thank you Sushma for the detailed explanation. Even the minute details have been covered.
Reply
Reshma says
Thanks for amazing write up, very well written. I have a query can we use normal tap water to start with.
Reply
sushma iyer says
Hi Reshma..
Glad to know that you found the information useful. Thank you.
Coming to your query no normal tap water is not recommended. What you can do is boil the water well, allow it to cool till warm to touch and then use it..Regards
SushmaReply
anisha mehul says
Good job!!
Reply
sushma iyer says
Hi Anisha.. Thank you 🙂
Reply
anisha mehul says
I am impressed with the level of research you have done and what is even more impressive is you took so much time to blog and share it with everyone.
Reply
sushma iyer says
Hi Anisha.. Thank you so much.. You are truly kind-hearted as not everyone can appreciate other's work. Thank you for those kind words.. I am glad that I could be of some help..
Regards
SushmaReply
Vijay says
Hey Sushma.....I am so happy to learn about your blog on sourdough. I have tried to get a starter going and buried some and eat resurrected some.
Am I glad to have made your acquaintance though.
I think the most important ingredient is flour.
For me APF has not been a 💯 . Where do you get your bread flour? I assume you live here in India.
My sour dough is like a pregnancy. Sometimes it's good sometimes I have miscarriages. HELP NEEDEDReply
sushma iyer says
Hi Vijay..
I do not live in India, I live in New Zealand..
To answer your question I would say the flour really doesn't matter as I have had success with all the three types - Bread, Maida and Whole Wheat. I would say go for whole wheat in that case.. About sourdough failures I can understand I got my first success only in the third attempt.. It is all in the technique I would say.
Regards
SushmaReply
Rajalakshmy Varadarajan says
Hi I dodnt get my Sour dough tracker.
Reply
sushma iyer says
Hi Rajalakshmy..
You have to enter your email address in there and it would be sent to your inbox. Please shoot me a reply from your email address to [emailprotected] so that I can have look from my end.
Regards
SushmaReply
