Sour dough for an intermittent baker

[LuciaLoosha]

Hi all!

I have a few questions about sough dough starter.

First, I use a no knead recipe because I have bum wrists and cannot knead. They recipes call for you to mix together a batch of dough for 4 loaves of bread, and then putting it in your bridge and pulling it out and baking as needed (or as no kneaded?). The one time I used sour dough, the dough liquified by the last loaf. The first load was a little soft, the second loaf (which was a double batch) was close to batter so I had to bake it in a loaf pan to keep its shape, and the final loaf was the consistency of pancake batter and baked basically into a flatbread. I added both store bought yeast and some sourdough starter. My starter was very young a very active. Does the liquification have to do with the sour dough starter?

Second, if, depending on the answer to the first question, I decide to keep making bread this way and using sour dough starter, is there a good way to keep starter if I am only using it every two week or even up to a month? I tried keeping it in the fridge but it didn't seem very happy in there. It did really well when I used it and replaced it but it separated from the water as it was sitting, even though I was feeding it daily. I am beginning to thinking that keeping a sour dough starter might not be for me, and that I should try to barter with a neighbor for a cup or so when I need it.

[CoconutLover]

As your starter eats your flour it will change its consistency. It (for me, at least) becomes more runny and more gooey. Lots of long strands of gluten the longer it eats. I have never had it turn into a liquid though. I just pulled some sourdough muffin batter out of refrigeration after about 5-6 days (not entirely sure when I put it in but it has been a bit) and it is still a stiff dough. As it warms to room temperature I expect it to be soft and gooey but not runny.

My thoughts are that maybe your initial dough was much more liquid than anything that I have ever used. Since it became more and more liquid. Then again maybe it was because it was so young. How young was it? The earliest I used my starter was at about 10 days and I haven't had any issue with it save for recipes not being to my liking.

For storage, I have read recommendations that you do not store any starter that is less than 30 days old because it has not fully matured yet. Then after that, you put it in the refrigerator and feed at least every week to keep it healthy. I have yet to refrigerate mine as it still has one week to its 30 day mark, so I do not have any advice to give based on my own experience, just advice on what I have read in preparation for its storage. If I even need to store it, at this point, I have a couple of good recipes under my belt that I use the starter in then I store the baked good instead of my starter. Sourdough pizza crusts and sourdough waffles freeze really well after you cook them. That way I don't have to tell my kids they can't have pizza today because the dough won't be ready until tomorrow, at the earliest (lots of "aaaaawwwwwww" and sighs when I have to tell them that).

Also, it separating from the liquid is a normal occurrence for some starters. The liquid on top is called hooch and you can just pour it off if it bothers you. In the future you can use a water to flour ratio that uses less water to prevent it from forming liquid on top.