first sourdough balls - flat as pancakes

[jsaras]

I recently received a sourdough culture from King Arthur.  I screwed up their initial directions a bit, but I proceeded to finish it and make some dough using a Reinhart recipe.  The dough never really rose and the balls are FLAT in the fridge.  Time to toss it?

[parallei]

Time to toss it?

I doubt it.  If you post the details of the recipe you used, and the times/temps and method for making your dough, you'll get a lot of feed back here.

[Bill/SFNM]

New starters, even when correctly activated, can take much longer to ferment. They also tend have very little activity in the refrigerator. Leave the dough out at room temp and see if the balls will eventually expand. Regardless, keep feeding your starter until it is clearly active - doubles in volume after a few hours.

   

[jsaras]

Specifically, my error was not discarding half the starter before I added the 1/2 cup water and 1 cup flour.  So the hydration ratio isn't correct.  I tried adding additional water and flour to somewhat compensate for that.  Perhaps over time as I follow the feeding procedure this all just averages out?

I guess the disorienting thing about using a starter is that it's less precise than weighing all the ingredients down to the gnats eyebrow as I've done with all the other yeast-based recipes I've tried so far.

[bfguilford]

Expanding on what Bill says... I have baked bread with sourdough starters for a while now, and I found that establishing an active starter takes time and patience. My suggestion is that you start off feeding the starter with very small amounts, and build up from there. What I do when I'm trying to establish a starter (revive one that has been in the fridge unused for too long) is to start by replacing 1 tablespoon of the starter with 1 tbs of flour and around 3/4 tbs of water (I aim for 100% hydration). Leave it at room temperature, and repeat that every 8 hours for 1-2 days. Then I double that amount of flour and water for another day or so, always replacing the same amount of the established starter. Then I go up to 1/4 cup of flour and so on until I have a really active starter. Jumping right up to 1 cup of flour with a brand new starter doesn't really give the starter a chance to establish. For a new starter, I usually aim for around 3 weeks before I use it. For a starter that I'm trying to wake up, a couple of days is all it takes.

I've noticed that the amount isn't as precise as yeast. A general rule of thumb is to replace 1/4 tsp of IDY with 1/4 cup of starter.

Hope that helps.

Barry

[anton-luigi]

Specifically, my error was not discarding half the starter before I added the 1/2 cup water and 1 cup flour.  So the hydration ratio isn't correct.  I tried adding additional water and flour to somewhat compensate for that.  Perhaps over time as I follow the feeding procedure this all just averages out?

I guess the disorienting thing about using a starter is that it's less precise than weighing all the ingredients down to the gnats eyebrow as I've done with all the other yeast-based recipes I've tried so far.

The discarding of a portion of your starter is for reduction of acidity.  As for hydration percentage of the starter,  it is something that Im not particularly worried about.  I generally keep about 1/2 cup of starter in the fridge at all times.  My discard is probably about 1/8 to 1/4 cup at a time,  as is the addition of flour and water.  I generally keep my starter quite thick in the fridge,  but it isnt an exact measurement,  more of a feel or look to me.  The hydration is altered during my preferment "grow". 

As for your lack of rise,  there can be numerous reasons.  My first question would be to determine if you completed the activation process completely?  the second would be to determine whether you began the dough making process with a "fully active" culture? 

[jsaras]

I think it's alive!  It doubled after about 10 hours, or possibly less. I can't baby sit it all day long.  I discarded a 1/2 cup and added 1/4 cup flour and a 1/2 cup of water.  I'll repeat this until it's growing quicker.

So, should it stay at room temp the whole time I'm doing this? And once I'm "there" I can refrigerate it?

Thanks,
Jonas

[anton-luigi]

yes