New ro sourdough...
I was gifted a 90 year old sourdough starter and I’ve been baking with it daily! Since I bake so often, I’ve been feeding it at a 1:5:5 or sometimes 1:10:10 ratio depending on how much starter I need.
I’m still struggling a bit with the bulk fermentation process though. My house and kitchen run pretty cold because it’s an older home with a few drafty spots. The last few days I’ve been leaving my dough on the counter overnight.
I had to throw away yesterday’s batch because it turned out extremely sticky, and I realized afterward that I had added way too much water to the recipe. Last night I made a new batch using 100g starter, 350g water, 490g bread flour, and 12g salt. After 3 stretch and folds, I left it on the counter overnight. This morning it had risen, and while the top was still slightly sticky, I was able to shape and round it. I’ve now placed it in the fridge to cold ferment.
A couple questions.
How long should I leave it in the fridge? It had already sat on my counter for almost 8 hours overnight.
How long should bulk fermentation actually take?
Also regarding my starter…
I use it at what I think is peak rise, but I still struggle to tell when it’s truly ready. Everyone says to look for a domed top, smell it, taste it, etc., but I still feel unsure. Every sourdough video starts with “sourdough doesn’t have to be hard,” but by the end of the video I somehow feel even more confused.
Here is a picture of my my starter.. fed lastnight around 830pm.. its now 805am