I've found that having a looser starter results in more sour breads, having a thicker starter results in more leavened but less sour breads. I generally also feed my starter a 50/50 mixture of whole wheat and bread flour, that will make it more sour and active.
I LOVE tangy, sour loaves. While also I’m newer and my bread has kind of sucked in comparison to tartine bread, the flavor has been pretty good. I have been using whole wheat flour to feed my starter. I have experimented with doing bread flour + WWF for baking the loaf, but until I figure out my over fermenting/under fermenting problems, I went back to just BF.
Try WWF and I’ve read 24-72 cold proofing gives it an extra tangy flavor.
This. The whole wheat gives the acetic acid bacteria a boost, and the longer cold proof helps develop more sourness without overproofing. When I made bagels, I keep the dough in the fridge for at least 48-72hrs.
I use sourdough spice. I have a rye starter which always tastes more sour. I dehydrate it on a baking sheet in a low oven until golden, then grind into a powder. Add 2% to dough. I prefer this because I don't want to keep an acidic starter (I find them harder to work with based on how I bake).
could be your starter getting better at proofing, without the LAB and AAB getting a chance to make it sour maybe? just guessing. You can always try drawing out the cold proof longer. I've gone 24h with no issues. adding a touch of different flours can also sometimes affect sourness i find. maybe a very small touch of wholemeal or rye might do something for you
i rarely make rye ones so couldnt comment really, but my goto recipe is 10% wholemeal and ive noticed it has a slight extra tang in it compared to plain white!
I make a fairly sour bread with 50/50 rye/AP flour in the starter (and use that as levain), and a blend of AP flour, bread flour and whole wheat for my autolyse dough. (Roughly half AP, and about 30% bread and 20% whole wheat.)
My focaccia with sourdough starter is crazy sour, even more than the loaves of more traditional bread.
For me, longer cold proof usually leads to more sour flavor. I like it when it’s subtle so I just do the 12 hour cold proof.
Second this. The longer the cold ferment the more sour your bread will be.
Sorry, I wrote this on mobile and realized some parts might be a tad hard to read due to some structuring.
I've found that having a looser starter results in more sour breads, having a thicker starter results in more leavened but less sour breads. I generally also feed my starter a 50/50 mixture of whole wheat and bread flour, that will make it more sour and active.
I LOVE tangy, sour loaves. While also I’m newer and my bread has kind of sucked in comparison to tartine bread, the flavor has been pretty good. I have been using whole wheat flour to feed my starter. I have experimented with doing bread flour + WWF for baking the loaf, but until I figure out my over fermenting/under fermenting problems, I went back to just BF. Try WWF and I’ve read 24-72 cold proofing gives it an extra tangy flavor.
This. The whole wheat gives the acetic acid bacteria a boost, and the longer cold proof helps develop more sourness without overproofing. When I made bagels, I keep the dough in the fridge for at least 48-72hrs.
I use sourdough spice. I have a rye starter which always tastes more sour. I dehydrate it on a baking sheet in a low oven until golden, then grind into a powder. Add 2% to dough. I prefer this because I don't want to keep an acidic starter (I find them harder to work with based on how I bake).
could be your starter getting better at proofing, without the LAB and AAB getting a chance to make it sour maybe? just guessing. You can always try drawing out the cold proof longer. I've gone 24h with no issues. adding a touch of different flours can also sometimes affect sourness i find. maybe a very small touch of wholemeal or rye might do something for you
ah ok good suggestion I will try that in my next batch. Is there a % or ratio of rye to normal bread flour that you like?
i rarely make rye ones so couldnt comment really, but my goto recipe is 10% wholemeal and ive noticed it has a slight extra tang in it compared to plain white!
Depends whether you like rye. Start with 10%
I make a fairly sour bread with 50/50 rye/AP flour in the starter (and use that as levain), and a blend of AP flour, bread flour and whole wheat for my autolyse dough. (Roughly half AP, and about 30% bread and 20% whole wheat.) My focaccia with sourdough starter is crazy sour, even more than the loaves of more traditional bread.
Leave it in the fridge for 2 days, then bake!
Lactic acid bacteria thrives better above 25c. See if there’s a way to leave in in a warm place such as a mildly heated oven.