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sourdough failure

"Greg Carpenter" <bredhead@breadworks.com>
Thu, 9 May 2002 13:44:27 -0400
v102.n020.8
Melissa,
How Frustrating!  Here are a few things to consider.

First of all, your sourdough sponge was active and bubbly.  That's good! 
That means you have a healthy culture that is producing gas, which is the 
hard part. How long did the sponge sit before you made the final 
dough?  Was it still active and bubbly at that time?  Had it risen and then 
fallen?  Was it at room temperature?  You want the sponge (sourdough 
sponges are technically called levain) to have risen vigorously and 
slightly fallen. Wait too long after they fall and the levain can become 
too acidic, which inhibits gas production.

Secondly, how much of your final dough is made up of the levain?  1/3? 1/2? 
In other words, is there a sufficient concentration of levain in the final 
dough to leaven the bread?  Anything less than 1/3 will require more time, 
higher temperatures or some combination of the two.

Third, what was the temperature of the final dough?  In home sized batches, 
anything below 75 F will be pretty sluggish.  Use an instant read 
thermometer next time you bake (they are cheap and available at 
supermarkets.)  Try to have your final dough at around 80 degrees when you 
are done kneading (and of course you are kneading it well, right?) You can 
do this by using warmer water.  Be sure the dough is covered when it is set 
to rise; I prefer to use plastic film for this rather than the good ol' 
damp towel.  Let it rise in a warmish environment (inside cold oven, turned 
off, with only the lamp on is a good place.  The lamp will produce enough 
heat to keep the oven nicely warm) so the temp will not drop below 75 F.

Fourth, is this a stiff dough?  A stiff dough will require more time, 
higher temperatures or some combination of the two (sound familiar?)

And last, I know you double checked your measurements, but triple check 
them against the recipe.  You would not believe how easy it is to 
mis-measure salt (my  bakers do it periodically).  Too much salt will 
severely inhibit rising.  If your recipe contains sugar, large quantities 
may also inhibit rising.

Don't Give Up!  You can master this without adding yeast and the results 
are worth it.  The first batches are for learning and this list is here to 
help.

Greg Carpenter
Head Baker/ Proprietor
Crooked Tree Breadworks
Petoskey, Michigan
www.breadworks.com


<<<Original text>>>>
From: "Melissa milos"
I worked so hard to do as was instructed on this advice list and I know
that no one wants to re visit the sourdough arguement, the sourdough was
bubbly and beautiful the sponge (expantion) was bubbly and beautiful but
the dough did not rise at all . whty, why, why, ok enough of the drama but
the cost in time and dough hurts me truly.  should I feed the dough some
real yeast? any help would be wonderful.

Melissa Milos
milos.family@sympatico.ca