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Sallysmith123 badge: Community Member

Tasted gummy

Hi, I made my first sourdough starter, did all I was suppose to. Once it was done and cooled, I cut a piece and it was gummy tasting. Not at all what I thought. I have had sourdough many times at places and this was very disappointing. I used a recipe that called for potato flakes instead of flour. It never really bubbled much or got frothy. Altho it did rise the first time real nice, the second rise took very long. Any advise, why did it look and taste and feel line an old kitchen sponge? I might just start over again. Thanks

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bryancar
  • Reply by bryancar on February 08, 2012 at 12:57 pm
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Sourdough starter is a funny 'animal.' They all seem to function differently. We created our initial starter in 1974; it has been abused, neglected for years at a time, (always refrigerated) yet survived moves from CT, to CO, back to CT, to KS, TX, KS again, then finally to MO, yet is ready to go at a moments notice (with a quick overnight refresher) for bread, pancakes, waffles and/or rolls. Guess we've been pretty fortunate.

KAF_Keri
  • Reply by KAF_Keri on February 08, 2012 at 1:25 pm
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Can you share the recipe that you used? When you say it called for using potato flakes instead of flour, what that just for feeding the starter before you used it in the recipe? Did you make any other substitutions in the recipe?

~Keri @ KAF

bryancar
  • Reply by bryancar on February 08, 2012 at 1:36 pm
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I don't recall stating that I used potato flakes?

KAF_Keri
  • Reply by KAF_Keri on February 08, 2012 at 1:55 pm
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My comment was directed at the original post, not your comment. :)

Sallysmith123

My starter recipe was 1 cup warm water, 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast, 3 Tbl sugar, 3 Tbl instant potato flakes. I let it set for 5 days on the counter, stirring daily. On day five, I fed it 3 TBL sugar, 3 Tbl potato flakes and 1 cup warm water. That evening I took out 1/2 cup of starter and added to it: 3 cups flour, 3/4 cup water, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 oil and salt and made my dough. Let it rise overnight, it rose very well. I punched it down, kneaded the dough about 10 times, form a loaf and let it rise again, over 12 hours. The dough reached the top of the pan. Baked it until down and brown. Let it cool and sliced it to have a taste and well, I was very disappointed. I havent used the starter at all and plan on using the one posted on this site. One question, can I make the starter recipe using only half the amounts called for. I only need one loaf at a time. Thanks for your time.

GinaG
  • Reply by GinaG on February 14, 2012 at 2:09 am
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Sallysmith 123,

I have seen the kind of starter you are making demonstrated on YouTube. I don't think the starter is the issue in this case, it may be worth another try.

The good thing about your woe as described, is that if that's all the problem is with the result, it's easy to isolate. When you have a dense, gummy crumb, this is a result of one of 3 things:

1. Oven is too hot. causing mostly surface or uneven baking.

2. The dough is under-proofed.

3. The loaf wasn't baked long enough.

How disappointing: We can all offer gobs of heart-felt sympathy. But don't give up! Get yourself an oven thermometer, a food thermometer as well and watch the proofing. If your dimple fills back in slowly, it's ready for the oven. if it bounces back rapidly, it's too soon.

Your thermometers will come in handy for you. It sounds like your bread is more like a soft sandwich bread with a tight crumb, am I correct? In that case, I'd think a thermometer would be essential in determining doneness.

I look forward to hearing how you do.
GinaG.

P.S. One last thing to rule out: Was the bread still very warm when you sliced it? This could also be the matter...

BakerIrene
  • Reply by BakerIrene on February 14, 2012 at 10:19 am
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Adding potato to the starter has the effect of inviting some funny wild yeasts to take up residence. This is why your second rise was kaput. Those wild yeasts are really good at making alcohol (you would brew great vodka) but not so good at raising bread.

So make a starter without potato flakes. It's OK to add some potato just before baking the bread, that will keep it moist. But also add some regular yeast along with your starter, because you need that bread-raising strain to be there.

Sallysmith123

Thanks Gina, I think it could be under proofed. Im not sure what a tight crumb is, so I cant answer that, but I would like to learn. When I rose the bread, I did put it in my cold oven with the light on and used a temp gauge to make sure it was warm. I will give is a new try with a new starter. I will try KAF started, as soon as I make it to the store to get more flour. I couldnt wait, so I made regular bread - which was a big hit. Will let you know how it works with the sourdough.

GinaG
  • Reply by GinaG on February 14, 2012 at 4:38 pm
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That's great! So glad to hear you had success!

To answer the question about crumb, an open-crumb has lots of holes and a tight crumb has none. Like sandwich bread.

When you get your starter, pop back in with questions!

GinaG.