Dee Randall wrote:
>

> Are there any guidelines or "rules of thumb" or ratios that one might keep
> in mind when considering how much starter to use or not overuse in a recipe?
>

Yes and no or it all depends are all good answers to that
question. However, if you mean plain white sourdough bread, the
preponderence recipes are going to be close to 1 cup starter for
a two loaf recipe where the starter is in the pourable hydration
range.

Of course that any ratio is the most popular does not mean that
it is the best one. You need to know what method is being used.
Are we talking One stage, two stage, more? Also it is in the
mind of the observer. When I take out a spoon of storage starter
and grow it until I have bread dough, when exactly is it that I
stop growing start and begin making dough? Does it matter?

The way to evaluate a new recipe or procedure in the absense of
considerable experience is to try it out and see the result
rather than depending on something as unreliable as a rule of
thumb. If you want to learn how to bake bread, bake bread. Here
is a recipe:

I cup starter
2 cups water
about a tablespoon of salt, maybe less
about six cups of flour more or less

Bake this recipe twice a week for a year. Try different
procedures, different ways to get to the one cup of starter. Try
different kneading routines, different temperatures, different
grades of flour Etc. Change one thing at a time and keep notes.
At the end of a year , you will have learned a little about
baking bread.

On the other hand, there is nothing difficult at all about
bread. The Stone Age cultures baked bread, not a college degree
or high school diploma among them. It only gets difficult when
we feel that we must exactly control the outcomes and understand
the science in the process. Then we turn to authors that don't
really understand what is going on, but spin good tales. We
belive, we get confused - for no good reason.

Forget the bogus science. The two most important rules a

1. Keep good Karma in the kitchen

2. Don't **** off the Bread Faeries

Regards

Charles
--
Charles Perry
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