My first foray into sourdough was when my wife bought me a gift of the breadtopia live starter. That had a very nice sour taste. But unfortunately I killed the starter. Eric was nice enough to send me a packet of the dried starter, and using that I made a few breads, but it didn’t have the same sour flavor. So I tried making my own starter using the pineapple juice method and was successful. But breads made with that starter, too, didn’t really have a strong sour flavor. Is there anything you can do to increase the sour flavor in an existing starter? Or a way to create a new starter that is more sour? Will appreciate any tips.
Generally speaking, the longer sourdough ferments, the more sour it gets. The theory behind that is that the mix of yeast and bacteria in a sourdough culture will change in terms of which microbial population is dominating depending on things like temperature and food supply. As the food supply (fresh flour) runs out, the sour-producing lactobacilli dominate more and more. And that’s what produces the sour taste.
Of course you have to balance the desire for sour with the potential to over-proof and ruin your oven rise, and you also have to take temperature into account because the warmer it is, the faster everything happens, but I have generally found that all things equal, the longer I proof the dough, the more sour flavor there is in the bread.
Here’s an article on the biology of sourdough.
I read on another site that proofing in the fridge for several days will increase the sourness…haven’t tried this yet, tho.
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