How I make my NP dough

[TXCraig1]

Hi Craig or others. I am following Craig's directions and did first 24hr in bulk at 65 degrees and balled them last night and kept at 65 degrees. Have not seen any rise so I moved them into oven with light on (about75 degrees). This is my first SD try and not sure it the balls should rise to the same extent as standard dough with yeast. How much rise should I expect?

Yes, they should double or so and will look about the same an dough leavened with commercial yeast.

What culture are you using? How do you activate it before use? How did you measure it? What is the size of your batch?

[sdarrow]

Hi Craig,

Thank you for the response. I am using sourdo Italian culture. Activated it per their instructions but it is fairly new, only about 3 weeks old. I did make sure it was active before I used it. Per the calculator, only used 1.3% preferment. Used KA bread flour in the culture but Caputo in the dough. I am trying another experiment, took the majority of the dough and added about 8 oz of starter (trying to do 4 hr ferment based on the one chart I saw) and incorporated it into the dough. Will not make a real pie with it but going to cook the dough just to see how it turns out. Will compare against the original and see what happens. That said, not expecting anything due to the lack of activity in the dough. I can only assume the culture was not mature enough/predictable enough.

[Serpentelli]

Be patient. As long as you're sure the starter was active you're fine!

Post an upshot pic of the bottom of the dough container so that he/we can comment further!

John K

[sdarrow]

Thanks John,

I will do so on my next attempt as it is already gone. It did develop some air pockets on the bottom. I did cook some dough and it did taste like sour dough, just did not rise. I Will not give up!

[Serpentelli]

Arrow,

Give your next batch more time and you will be rewarded with a beautiful surprise. My personal "discovery/aha moment" occured about 18-24 hours after making my first batch of camaldoli-based dough. The results of the 8 pies I cooked were "meh". But unbeknownst to me, my wife had unintentionally hidden two stray balls inside (where the temp was about 78 degrees). I Found them the next day.

Needless to say, at some point during those 18-24 hours the yeast (and dough) had "come alive", and formed the types of balls that I had been hoping for.  So now I always plan a little extra time if I'm using starter in my dough. You can always arrest the process by throwing the balls in a cold fridge, if they become "ready" before the guests arrive. 

John K