Before we started the Sourdough Classes, Lenko has been helping and guiding Sourdough enthusiasts via various Facebook communities. After we started our classes though, about a year ago, we keep seeing\u00a0 the same questions and problems people are having\u00a0 while preparing their starters, doughs and bakes.<\/p>\n
So here, in this post we will share with you our knowledge and try to answer some of them.<\/p>\n
We will split this interesting subject in a few posts as we will try to gather most of the questions through our Facebook groups, emails, and Skype chats (which we organise before each class).<\/p>\n
If you have anything you would like to add to the list, please feel free and we would love to answer\u00a0 them too (you are welcome to join our Facebook groups too - \u041a\u043b\u0430\u0441 \u0441 \u041a\u0432\u0430\u0441 - the Bulgarian group, and Sourdough Kvas Group - in English).<\/p>\n
So, here are some of the questions and our answers too.<\/p>\n","faq_group":[{"faq_question":"How often shall I feed my starter?","faq_answer":"If your starter is active and in good shape, it just depends how often you will bake.\r\n\r\nWe bake on a regular basis and our starter lives on the kitchen counter.\r\n\r\nWe feed it once or twice a day.\r\n\r\nIf you keep yours in the fridge and bake ones a week, you have to refresh it 2-3 times before you use it in your bakes."},{"faq_question":"What ratio do you use to feed your starter?","faq_answer":"We refresh it 1:1:1.\r\n\r\n1 part starter, 1 part flour and 1 part water.\r\n\r\nTo build the levain, depends on the recipe and the amount of starter you will need.\r\n\r\nWe build ours over night and use a very small amount of starter to water and flour."},{"faq_question":"Can you just add flour and water to your starter to refresh it?","faq_answer":"No, This way you won\u2019t refresh it, just keep building up."},{"faq_question":"What flour do you use for the starter refreshments?","faq_answer":"We use organic, white bread flour.\r\n\r\nBut it really depends on the bake. If you will bake 100% rye loaf, a lot of the recipes suggest to use 100% rye starter.\r\n\r\nYou can turn your white stater into rye starter by feeding it 5-7 times just with rye flour."},{"faq_question":"Jars or plastic tubs?","faq_answer":"We definitely prefer jars to keep our starter in. But if you will use a lot of starter and bake big quantities, plastic containers are better in a way as they are lighter and come in very big sizes.\r\n\r\nThey don\u2019t break that easily also."},{"faq_question":"Does water matter for the quality of the starter?","faq_answer":"We recommend filtered, bottled or water that has been at room temperature 24 hours. In some parts of the world the water has more chlorine than others and it could affect the taste and the strength of the starter. Bear in mind that the starter gives the flavour to your loaf."},{"faq_question":"What is the ideal temperature for the Starter?","faq_answer":"The Starter is happier between 22-28 degrees. Temperature is probably the most important \u201cingredient \u201c to achieve an active and well looked after starter.\r\n\r\nIf the temperature is under 22 degrees the Starter will starve and go into hibernation state, so it will take longer to grow and get active.\r\n\r\nIf the temperature is above 28 degrees it will peak very quickly and almost cook. This will give much sour taste to your bakes and might affect how it proofs too.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nWe would suggest that you make a Feeding schedule.<\/b>\r\n\r\nThis will make the process much more organised and you won\u2019t forget to refresh and look after your starter, (depending on how often you will bake and where you will be keeping your starter).\r\n\r\nWe refresh ours twice a day. In the morning and in the evening.\r\n\r\nIt lives on the kitchen counter as we bake 3-5 times a week, sometimes even every day.\r\n\r\nIf you decide to bake ones a week, you can keep your starter in the fridge and a day or two before you use it, we would say, start refreshing it. At least 3 times before making the levain. This way it won\u2019t have any acidity, and will be fresh and lively."},{"faq_question":"Can you think of any more questions?","faq_answer":"Feel free to contact us and we will be very happy to answer them and add them to our list."}],"legal_content":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kvas.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1065"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kvas.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kvas.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kvas.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kvas.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kvas.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1065\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kvas.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}