How much sourdough starter should I use at my kitchen temperature?
The book works in ranges, not single figures. At 20 °C use 10 to 20% starter, at 22 °C around 20% for a bulk of about 10 hours, at 25 °C 5 to 10%, and at 30 °C only 1 to 5%. Which end you pick depends on how ripe your starter is. The target is a bulk fermentation of 8 to 12 hours, which is where the enzymes have time to work without the dough going slack.
Answered by Hendrik, The Bread Code
From the book
As explained earlier the key to making great bread is a slow but not too slow fermentation. Enzymes require time to break down your dough. Taking all this into consideration, I try to aim for a fermentation time of around 8 to 12 hours. This seems to be the sweet spot for most of the flours that I have worked with. To achieve this, I use around 5 % of sourdough starter in summer times (temperatures around 25 °C (77 °F) in the kitchen). In winter times I opt for around 10 % up to 20 % sourdough starter (kitchen temperature around 20 °C (68 °F)). This allows me to use a sourdough starter that's not in perfect condition. The low inoculation rate allows the starter to regrow inside your main dough into a desirable balance.
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The Perfect Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread | Full MasterclassRelated questions
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