Hey guys,

I've been baking with sourdough for a little while now, and have
pretty much gotten the hang of working with my whole wheat starter,
though I do usually use the same recipe every time.

Anyway, the King Arthur Whole Grain Baking book that I have been using
has a recipe using a spelt starter, so I made one from scratch, and
that went well; within a few of days it was bubbling up quite nicely.
So I tried
making the bread. The recipe calls for one tablespoon levian to be
mixed up with 1 cup spelt flour and 1/2 cup unchlorinated water, and
left overnight at room temperature. The next day, the levian is
supposed to be bubbly and expanded.

However, the next day there was barely any activity. I decided to
leave it be, and see what happened, and after about another 12 hours,
it did look bubbly. Of course, then I didn't have time to bake.

What went wrong?

Could it be:
a) that too small an amount of starter was used? To me, a tablespoon
seemed a pretty small amount...The other breads I've made have used
more, even the ones left overnight.

b) the (possibly) too cool temperature of the room? It's winter here
in montreal, and I have baseboard heating...

c) something else???

What should I do next time?

Should I:
a) use more starter? If so, how should I adjust the liquid/flour
content of the recipe?
b) expect the pre-ferment to take twice as long? Will this make the
bread really sour?
c) use a different recipe altogether? (suggestions...)

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Sarah

Sarah wrote:
> Hey guys,
>
> I've been baking with sourdough for a little while now, and have
> pretty much gotten the hang of working with my whole wheat starter,
> though I do usually use the same recipe every time.
>
> Anyway, the King Arthur Whole Grain Baking book that I have been using
> has a recipe using a spelt starter, so I made one from scratch, and
> that went well; within a few of days it was bubbling up quite nicely.
> So I tried
> making the bread. The recipe calls for one tablespoon levian to be
> mixed up with 1 cup spelt flour and 1/2 cup unchlorinated water, and
> left overnight at room temperature. The next day, the levian is
> supposed to be bubbly and expanded.
>
> However, the next day there was barely any activity. I decided to
> leave it be, and see what happened, and after about another 12 hours,
> it did look bubbly. Of course, then I didn't have time to bake.
>
> What went wrong?
>
> Could it be:
> a) that too small an amount of starter was used? To me, a tablespoon
> seemed a pretty small amount...The other breads I've made have used
> more, even the ones left overnight.
>
> b) the (possibly) too cool temperature of the room? It's winter here
> in montreal, and I have baseboard heating...
>
> c) something else???
>
> What should I do next time?
>
>
Just go with your regular whole wheat recipes which worked for you and
if things need to be changed because something does not work out, go
from there.

And - why grow a "specialized" spelt starter if you have a whole wheat
going? I'd grow it - if it's a full grain wheat - on spelt, case closed.

The points you made - too little, too cold could be a cause. Maybe just
being a new starter and untested if it works is another point to look at.

Sam