Sweet Stiff Levain

Bread baking is a life-long learning journey. I have just discovered the benefit of adding yudane about five months ago, and now the sweet stiff levain or starter. 

Sweet stiff levain is also a sourdough starter but with added sugar and has about 50% hydration. Unlike the normal sourdough which was usually sour, the stiff levain is sweet and a little sour. And the levain helps to establish the glutens faster and the bread can achieve stretchy and threading texture easier. I have tried it on two loaves of bread, and the results were wonderful 😍😍

Ingredients (~150g)

35g cool boiled water

15g raw sugar

25g natural yeast, 100% hydration*

75g unbleached bread flour

* 25g natural yeast can be replaced by 12g bread flour + 13g water + 1/8 tsp instant dry yeast

Directions

1. Combine water, raw sugar and natural yeast into a liquid paste.

2. Add in the bread flour,

and stir in one direction till the mixture pulled into a ball.

3. Transfer the stiff levain to a tall container. Spray 1 to 2 pumps of fine mist to the stiff levain. This is to prevent a hard skin from developing over the top after storing in the dry fridge air overnight.

4. Cover the container with a sheet of cling wrap before loosely screw on the lid. Mark the height of the stiff levain using a rubber band. Let the set up stand in room temperature, about 29 to 30℃ for about 3 hours, or till double in height.

3 hours later, the stiff levain has doubled in height. Keep it in the fridge overnight for about 12 to 18 hours.

5. Thaw the stiff levain for about 2 hours in room temperature before using in bread dough 🍞

Wait for the stiff levain's height to tripled before use 😄

Revealing the nice interior of the stiff levain.

The stiff levain has a stretchy elasticity like mochi 😄

Pasta Madre Stiff Starter 45%

Pasta Madre or stiff starter is similar to 老面 or aged dough used in bread baking. Using the method shared by my FB friend, Barry Apek, I did a little modification to make a 45% hydration instead of a 50% stiff starter. To me, 45% hydration stiff starter has a less sticky dough thus easier to be shaped. I also shortened the duration from about 4~5 days to 2 days. If the natural yeast is active and strong, and with the warmer temperature of our region, I believe the duration can be shortened 😉

The process mainly comprises of a 2-day event. The first day was to convert the 100% hydration natural yeast to a 45% hydration stiff starter. And feed the starter twice at an interval of 12 hours. The second day involved transferring part of the first-day stiff starter to mix with water and bread flour. The new stiff starter was fed thrice at a shorter interval of 4 hours (but I was too busy, I dragged the second feeding for another 4 hours 😉)

The stiff starter was then used in panettone or other normal bread baking 😊

Day 1
1st feeding: 11 Dec 2019, 9:30 am
10g active natural yeast, 100% hydration
6g bread flour (for making up to 45% hydration)
5g water
11g bread flour
Total: 31g

Combine all ingredients together and knead into a smooth dough.

Roll the dough into a long rope

Fold into half and roll out into a rope again, repeat a few times.

Shape the smooth dough into a ball

Snip a cross over the top.

 Place the stiff starter in a small bowl and cover with a cling wrap. Let it stand in room temperature for 12 hours.

Beginning of 1st 12 hours

End of 12 hours

Day 1
2nd feeding: 11 Dec 2019, 9:40 pm
stiff starter from above
5g water
11g bread flour
Total: 49g

Add all ingredients together and knead into a smooth dough.

Beginning of the 12 hour

End of 12 hour

Day 2
1st feeding: 12 Dec 2019, 10:00 am
10g stiff starter from above
5g water
11g bread flour
Total: 26g

Add all ingredients together and knead into a smooth dough.

Beginning of the 4 hour fermentation

End of the 4 hour fermentation

Day 2
2nd feeding: 12 Dec 2019, 2:10 pm
stiff starter from above
10g stiff starter from Day 1
5g water
11g bread flour
Total: 50g

Add all ingredients together and knead into a smooth dough.

Beginning of the 6 hour fermentation

End of the 6 hour fermentation

Day 2
3rd feeding: 12 Dec 2019, 8:40 pm
stiff starter from above
10g water
22g bread flour
Total: 80g

Add all ingredients together and knead into a smooth dough.

Beginning of 12 hour fermentation

End of 12 hour fermentation

Unused Pasta Madre
Wrap the remaining stiff starter in cling wrap and store in refrigerator if you intend to use within 3 to 4 days.
For longer storage, keep the stiff starter in the freezer and thaw before use.

I have to thank my FB friend Barry Apek for sharing the preparation of the stiff starter 😄

Little Herman - Sweet Starter

Herman starter seems to be a very easy to cultivate and versatile type of natural yeast. It does not need daily feeding, and can be harvested on the 10th day after cultivation. I think the main difference between sourdough natural yeast and Herman starter is the high amount of sugar and milk used in feeding the natural yeast. During the cultivation period, only needs to keep the Herman Starter in room temperature (around 30°C).  I learned from other Herman cultivators that it can be used not only in bread, but also cakes, pancakes and even meat dishes.  The Herman starter helps to tenderize meat before cooking, and thickened soup or gravy. Sound interesting right?  That's why I'm jumping on the Herman Starter bandwagon too :)

Sharing with you the growing process of my Little Herman ...

(quantity of the flour adjusted on 24 Nov 2017)

Day 1 (15.10.17)

I used about 1 tbsp of natural yeast/ sourdough* 100% hydration, 1 tbsp each of plain flour, whole milk and fine fine sugar to start my Little Herman ;

* other cultivators used commercial yeasts to kick start the cultivation process.

Natural yeast 100% hydration: 21g
Unbleached plain flour: 10g
Cold Whole milk: 18g
Fine sugar: 17g
Total: 66g

Most importantly, do not use metal spoon to stir the Herman Starter!

Little Herman starting to grow ...
I think the Little Herman took about 6 hours to double itself on the first day.

18 hours after ...

Day 2 (16.10.17)

Only stirring was required. Lots of tiny air bubbles was observed throughout the day.

Day 3 (17.10.17)

Only stirring was needed.
Tiny bubbles appeared throughout the starter and day.

Just after stirring :)

Day 4 (18.10.17)

Add 2 tbsp each of all purpose flour and milk, and 1 tbsp of fine sugar to the Little Herman. To accommodate the growing Little Herman, I transfer them to a 600ml bigger container.

Herman starter transferred: 55g

Unbleached plain flour: 20g

Cold whole milk: 33g

Fine sugar: 17g

Total: 125g

Mixed all the feeds before adding to the Little Herman.

Little Herman doubled in volume after about 6 hours.

Little Herman at 17th hour after feeding.

Day 5 (19.10.17)

Only stirring was required. The Little Herman tasted sweet and a little tangy, plus a nice fruity alcoholic smell.  It is constantly very vibrant. I saw it rose and fell throughout the day. It is always filled with little air bubbles :)

Before stirring

Stirring

After stirring :)

Day 6 (20.10.17)

Feeding day again for my growing Little Herman :)
Feeding these 3 ingredients to Little Herman:

Unbleached plain flour: 20g

Cold whole milk: 33g

Fine sugar: 17g

Stronger Little Herman took about 4 hours to double itself. In previous feeding, it took about 6 hours to double itself.

Before feeding

Getting all the feeding ingredients ready

After feeding

"Little Herman please grow faster, I want you to help me raise the dough" :)


7 hours after that morning feeding, I stirred the Little Herman to check whether it would double itself in two hours.

Stirring

 After stirring

Little Herman doubled itself in two hours. I can use it to bake now :)

Little Herman in Bread Baking

I used 130g of Little Herman in my Sweet Bread and

Keep 30g to start another round of Herman cultivation.

After kneading with 250g unbleached bread flour, 105g water, 45g sugar, 1g salt, and 30g salted butter. Recipe in courtesy of Lily Lua.

Let the dough stood in room temperature (about 30C) for 90 minutes before keep in the fridge for 14 hours of overnight proofing.

Day 7 (21.10.17)

14 hours after refrigeration - unlike sourdough or commercial yeast, the Herman dough seemed like totally stop working. It looked the same as 14 hours ago :(

After 90 minutes of thawing, I divided the Herman dough into 9 portions, shaped and arranged in a 20cm square pan to proof in room temperature for about 3 hours 30 minutes.

3 hours 30 minutes later

Proof in a warm oven for 30 minutes.

Baked in a pre-heated oven at 170°C for 17 minutes and lower to 150°C for 3 to 5 minutes, at lower rack of the oven.

That's wrap up my Little Herman chapter :)

I dropped my  bottle of Little Herman on the eve of 2018 New Year. The container shattered and it ended my 12th cultivation of my Little Herman 😭 I'll start a new Herman brother on Friday, 5th Jan 2018 😉

I started a new batch of Herman Starter (named it Herman B) cultivation on 5 Jan 2018 using the remaining refrigerated Herman Starter from previous batch.

The new Herman B became bubbly and double in quantity within 12 hours. Yeah *\0/*