A customer told me my sourdough was 'too sour' and it made me rethink my starter

This regular at my stall said the flavor was so strong it made her mouth pucker, which honestly stung a bit. I realized I was feeding my starter with rye flour every single time, which really amps up the tang. I switched to feeding it with plain white bread flour for the two feeds before a bake, and the difference is huge. The bread still has that nice sourdough taste but it's much smoother now. Has anyone else tweaked their feeding schedule to change the final flavor?

3 comments

3 Comments

willow73217d ago

Wait, isn't that the whole point of a rye starter though, to get that super tangy kick? I read a whole thing about how the bacteria in rye flour produces way more acetic acid. What @sean_murray said about switching flours makes total sense. Using a milder flour for the last feeds is basically telling your starter to chill out before bake day. It's cool you found a fix that keeps the flavor but just tones it down a notch. Some people just don't want that mouth-puckering sour, even if I kinda love it.

amyc2210d ago

But what if the tang is the whole point? I mean, switching flours feels like fixing something that isn't broken. A rye starter is supposed to be bold, that's its character. Toning it down with plain flour just makes it taste like everything else. Maybe I'm weird but I want my bread to have a real kick, not just be mild and safe.

sean_murray17d ago

Oh yeah, I had that exact problem. Switched to feeding with all-purpose flour for the last few days before baking and it totally mellowed it out.