what is marshmallow soup?

as i've recently leveled up in my baking practices with the wild yeast starter, i figured i owe it to myself to better understand what i've been doing. so i invested in a cheap scale to break my bad habit of guessing measurements. it may sound impressive when i say i've been  mixing everything to feel - but it's a real headache sometimes and my poor math skills delay me too much (hence the silly ratio graphs).  so, with my new instrument, i've run some experiments to unite the two sides of my brain. however this scale doesn't help too much - in fact it's rather annoying. my local supermarket carries only one scale - not digital and unbearably hard to read. i aspire to obtain a digital in the future which would make this scale i have now useful for weighing my dough before shaping, whereas a digital scale can better accommodate my ingredient measurements. for the meanwhile, i've been using the scale to finesse my starter feeding.

i took a whole wheat starter and weighed my usual measurements at feeding - which is about a cup of starter to a cup of water to a cup of flour. here's what those measurements weigh out to as my crappy scale reads...

1 cup starter = 7 oz

1 cup water = 7.5 oz

1 cup flour = 4 oz

didn't surprise me much - guess this means i've had my starter over 100% hydration. beg the question: is this ratio incorrect? i have baked 9 successful batches from the starter being fed at this ratio. the consistency in this mixture is kind of soupy and i normally don't see a considerable rise after feeding. i've likened my starter to a marshmallow soup. talk to many bakers and they'll tell you my starter is too hydrated and probably shouldn't work - but hey it does. 

i referred to this article from the Fresh Loaf to retool my methods. i can't say my understanding is improved by it's information - i've become really quite confused. so, i went ape shit and carpet-bombed my starter stash with all kinds of new feeding ratios. 

i had several different mixtures using the following ratios (starter:water:flour) and the photos are 6 hours after feeding...

1:1:0.5

1:1:1

1:2:2

1:2:4

1:0.5:1

after observing the reactions of my feedings i came to the obvious conclusion - whatever works, works.

using correct ratios by weight, i found that the 1:2:2 ratio does what a starter should do - it's not the soup i've been using and i see the rise that i should within 6 hours after feeding. somehow, the old ratio i've been using seemed to kill my starter, the 1:0.5:1 ratio makes a sponge-like mass. the other mixtures proved successful and i baked a batch with the starter fed at 1:1:1. my dough was quite different than what i've recently come accustomed to, as my previous starters were over-hydrated. no matter, i'll adapt. i remember the immortal words of Hunter S. Thompson - "anything worth doing, is worth doing right"

factors of the environment will affect the starter and not one recipe can claim to have the perfect solution. in my opinion, this is a good thing, creating a diversity from baker to baker. this is why san franciso is so famous for their sourdough, as the yeast that flies about that city is evidently unique to the city. there are two variables i believe should be understood when reviewing my work.

1. the elements of my location: i live in the central texas hill country - and for those of you with a foreign knowledge of texas, let me explain that the hill country ain't like what's 40 miles in any direction. many rivers join in confluence around me and things are quite green even when there's very little rain - so i'm not in the western sand or the eastern mud or the northern grass or the southern nothingness. the weather is just as schizophrenic as the state's geography. for instance, earlier this week, in the middle of december, the temperature reached highs above 80ºF and the forecast is calling for below freezing nighttime temps in the next couple days. barometric pressure in my area can normally remain rather high for extended periods of time until a front comes in and everything drops. my apartment has no central air or heat, so the outside elements influence my kitchen considerably.

2. something is in the water: some bakers recommend using bottled water - shun - bottled water is the biggest con perpetrated on our society since the democratic party - not to mention a horrible waste. i use water from the tap. i heat the tap water in a kettle and let it cool - this should remove any chlorine. then i filter it through a brita - now all other impurities should be removed. i have no water softener - so i assume there's some minerals in the water even after the heat and filter. during any step of my method, i always use the water at room temperature. 

i realize my lab work is poor and my explanations leave much to the imagination. but it's creativity that i wish to promote. there is no single answer to solve any riddle in bread baking and what i've spelled out here are just a few of the possible solutions to the mysteries of wild yeast. as an apprentice under no master, i will continue to relay my findings to this blog no matter how obtuse. i think there's a purpose and i think someone can benefit. peace out - kevo

by kevin walsh, 2010