Stiff Sourdough Starter

A stiff starter is generally kept at 50% hydration, or less. This means that you use half as much water as you do flour – so it's fed at a 1:2:1 ratio. If you had 50g of flour you'd only use 25g of water. The benefits of a stiffer starter are that it is generally more mild in flavor, so you avoid the sour flavors in your bread. It can also give it a better crumb structure. A stiff starter also peaks for a lot longer, meaning you have a bigger window to bake with. It can tolerate a little more neglect than it's liquid friends.

How to create a stiff starter from a liquid sourdough starter You can easily create a stiff starter from your liquid sourdough starter – just transfer 50g of your original sourdough starter into a jar and feed with 100g of flour and 50g of water. Continue to feed it in this way until it's active. If you are having trouble finding time to feed your starter regularly then a stiff starter can be the answer due to its later peaking timeframe. It avoids you having to place it in the fridge where it will go to sleep.

Recipes for stiff sourdough starter A stiff starter can be used in virtually any sourdough recipe, but is best in bread recipes where it gives a mellow flavor and strong crumb structure. You could use a stiff sourdough starter in this simple sourdough bread recipe or in this sourdough brioche loaf.

How to use stiff starter instead of liquid starter You can use stiff starter in a regular sourdough recipe by using 75% of the amount of liquid starter listed and then adding 25% of the starter's weight in water. For example – if your recipe calls for 100g of liquid starter, you could use 75g of stiff starter plus 25g of water.