My sourdough starter almost killed my weekend baking marathon

I had 4 loaves scheduled for Saturday morning orders and my starter went totally flat by Friday night. Had to scramble at 11 PM to feed it with some organic rye from the local mill and miraculously it doubled by 3 AM. Has anyone else had a starter sour on them right before a big bake?

3 comments

3 Comments

vera_robinson361mo ago

Oh man, that's brutal timing! Rye is totally the secret weapon for reviving a sluggish starter though, that stuff is like rocket fuel. Same thing happened to me last month when I had to cancel a whole farmer's market order because my starter just gave up overnight. Nothing worse than staring at a flat jar at midnight with dough to make in a few hours.

mark4361mo ago

Right? @vera_robinson36 that flat jar at midnight is like a horror movie plot. I've literally done the "grab a flashlight to check for any bubbles" dance at 2am. Rye is a game changer though, I keep a bag of it in the freezer just for emergencies now. Have you ever tried adding a tiny pinch of diastatic malt powder too? That stuff kicks things into gear almost too fast.

linda_dixon491mo ago

Hey @mark436 just fyi diastatic malt powder doesn't work unless you also add a bit of sugar, it needs something to convert.