msminnamouse
Assistant Cook
My sourdough starter is a couple of months old. But I'm having trouble when I bake bread.
I'm trying different recipes, sometimes repeating the same one, other times new ones. So the problem lies with me.
The first time I made sourdough with it, I added instant yeast. But I don't want to continue to do that. That's why I have a sourdough starter!
So I tried making the same recipe again sans instant yeast and it rose the first time and then I punched it back and it didn't really rise again.
Then I tried making sourdough with other recipes, again without instant yeast, and I keep getting the same problem! It takes forever for the dough to rise the first time, and then it doesn't really rise the second time.
This last time I made dough, it improved a tiny bit. It again took forever to rise the first time, and then it rose a little bit the second time but then it cooked up solid, not airy at all. So it obviously didn't rise enough even though I gave it many hours and kept waiting.
A few weeks ago, I've been keeping my starter drier rather than liquidy so it'll foster the kind of yeast that makes more acidic taste. Could this be the problem? Could it be that the yeast population isn't high enough yet to give good rises?
The bread is nice and sour but flat and heavy. Not at all what I want, obviously. I need help please!
I'm trying different recipes, sometimes repeating the same one, other times new ones. So the problem lies with me.
The first time I made sourdough with it, I added instant yeast. But I don't want to continue to do that. That's why I have a sourdough starter!
So I tried making the same recipe again sans instant yeast and it rose the first time and then I punched it back and it didn't really rise again.
Then I tried making sourdough with other recipes, again without instant yeast, and I keep getting the same problem! It takes forever for the dough to rise the first time, and then it doesn't really rise the second time.
This last time I made dough, it improved a tiny bit. It again took forever to rise the first time, and then it rose a little bit the second time but then it cooked up solid, not airy at all. So it obviously didn't rise enough even though I gave it many hours and kept waiting.
A few weeks ago, I've been keeping my starter drier rather than liquidy so it'll foster the kind of yeast that makes more acidic taste. Could this be the problem? Could it be that the yeast population isn't high enough yet to give good rises?
The bread is nice and sour but flat and heavy. Not at all what I want, obviously. I need help please!