The flattening of the top usually indicates upward growth has significantly slowed, and upward movement won't be as prominent—more holes on top and more fermentation visible at the sides. We'll continue to let it ferment.
As seen below, we still see some rise since p. If I were to pull back a little bit of the top, I would smell a slightly sour, vinegary smell with hints of sweetness still present. At this point, I'd use some of the sourdough starter to make a fresh levain or use this starter directly in making bread. After making the levain, I would also refresh the starter by discarding and adding fresh flour and water. In the photo below, you can see the culture is beginning to show signs of ripeness.
There are streaks at the top that indicate where the top of the starter once was, and in the top-down view, you can see the center is starting to collapse.
The fact that it's starting to collapse is not the single most crucial factor in judging readiness. Instead, it's the cumulative signs that are most important. The fact that it's starting to collapse is not the single most important factor in judging starter and levain readiness. Instead, the cumulative signs matter: a general breakdown of the mixture, a stronger sour aroma, and significant gas production.
Again, if this were a levain I built in the morning to mix into bread, I would still feel comfortable using this to mix my dough. This time is also when you would want to refresh feed your starter. If you are using the correct mixture of inputs—water at a specific temperature, percentage of mature starter, and flour mixture—this time will coincide with when you want to feed it.
For me, 10 p. If your starter has arrived at this point before you want it to, you can use a smaller percentage of ripe starter carryover or use colder water. Being observant helps us help our starter to maximize fermentation activity. So, as you continue to care for your starter, take a moment before you rush through refreshments to observe the look and aroma of your starter—plan to adjust things either at the current refreshment or the next based on this observation. My starter continued to fall at this point, with longer streaks on the side, and the center has noticeably caved.
I will normally have refreshed it by this point, but I continued to let this ferment until the morning so we can observe how it looks when it's gone farther than I'd usually allow. What a drop overnight!
The sides are entirely streaked with how far the starter has fallen, and the top was covered in small little bubbles. My starter has gone way too far at this point and needs a refreshment. Even more collapse and more small bubbles. At this point, the aroma was very acidic, vinegary, and quite strong. My final timeline entry shows just how far my starter has fallen after almost 24 hours. When reviving a starter in this condition , I will pour off the clear liquid, mix the remaining, and refresh as usual.
There have been times when my kitchen heated up unexpectedly, or I couldn't get home before this had happened, and I mixed up my starter per usual, and it was just fine, but I try to avoid this scenario as much as possible.
But to be clear: don't panic if you forget to refresh your starter for a day or two! It will be just fine with a few timely refreshments and some attention. See my sourdough starter frequently asked questions post for a long list of common issues, but here are a few tips that will prove helpful:. Above all, take a few seconds each time you refresh your starter to sit back and assess how things look, smell, and even taste I don't typically taste my starter, but many bakers do. Through constant observation and attention to small details, we can maximize fermentation in our sourdough starter maintenance routine.
I recently changed my stirring apparatus from an old Pyrex spatula to this newer Oxo spatula , and wow… So much wasted time cleaning that old multi-piece thing. Highly recommended. Aside from the new spatula, I still use the same Weck jars , dark rye flour , and all-purpose flour. Everything just happens slower, making the process more enjoyable and peaceful if also harder for the impatient among us — myself included.
As we saw in our kneading technique roundup , there are many ways to do this: with or without kneading the dough. If you cannot devote the next few hours to closely following the dough and working on it every half an hour, you can knead the dough for about 10 minutes and then let the dough rise until roughly doubled in size.
However, if you are near your dough and can spare a few minutes every half an hour, the better and more gentle way of doing this is to add strength little by little, stretching the dough every half an hour. Finally, you can go with a combination of the two approaches, kneading only briefly, maybe five minutes or less, and then following the process with a series of stretch and fold sequences.
Also, even if you go with a longer kneading, at the beginning, adding a couple stretch and folds at about every hour or so can help distribute the carbon dioxide inside the dough more evenly.
After about four hours the exact duration of the fermentation depends on many things, including how active your starter is and the temperature in your kitchen the dough should be ready for shaping. As you make more bread with your starter, marking down the time it took to get to the ready state, you will learn the approximate time it takes for your starter to process your dough.
That said, the estimate above is a good starting point…. Once you decide your dough is ready to be shaped, proceed with the shaping just as you would with a regular yeasted dough. I usually divide the dough into two and then shape both pieces into round loaves. Just remember that the dough will go through one more long rest period, so it needs to have good strength or some support, such as the Banneton baskets commonly used by artisan bakers around the world.
Let the shaped breads proof, either in a cool environment to bake in the morning or in a warmer location to bake the same night. For best results, use a dutch oven or otherwise cover the bread for the first 25 minutes of the bake to capture the steam escaping from the bread dough. This prevents the crust from forming too early and gives the bread a chance for a big final rise — the oven spring.
After removing the cover, bake for another 20 to 25 minutes to give the bread a deep, golden brown, even a bit dark crust. For more ideas, you can check my earlier blog post, 15 Ideas for Better Bread. Let the bread cool down, then enjoy! You have baked a great loaf of sourdough bread and are well on the way to becoming a great baker. Is my sourdough starter ready for bread making? That said, there are a few signs and tools that can help you in assessing the readiness of your sourdough starter: When refreshed at a consistent 24 hour cycle — for example every morning at 8 — the starter should rise and then collapse reliably, reaching its peak some time during the first 12 hours after the refresh.
However, if you are preparing to bake with your starter , once it is active and bubbly for 3 consecutive feedings, you no longer need to discard any starter. Feeding instructions for building up starter are exactly the same as feeding the starter to activate it , except that no starter needs to be discarded.
What do you do with this extra starter? The cycle continues indefinitely. As long as you continue feeding a portion of sourdough starter, you will always have some to use for baking.
If you are new to sourdough, you may have trouble at first with timing. Knowing just how long it will take to build up enough starter and then being ready to bake right away may not always work out. The good news is that as long as you continue feeding the starter to keep it active, there is no hurry to bake.
How to Make Fresh Sourdough Starter. From Refrigerated Starter If your starter has been stored in the refrigerator and fed once per week, it is in a hibernation state. From Room Temperature Starter If your starter has been maintained at room temperature, and you have been through the steps for Activating a Dehydrated Sourdough Starter , then you have fresh sourdough starter already! Check out all of our Sourdough products today! Add to Cart.
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