Sourdough Starter Experiment

Sourdough Starter Experiment : Effect of salt and sugar on the starter.

I am testing what effect different additions have to the starter. I am using my NW starter and I made a big batch of starter using 1:1:1 = flour:water:starter (at 166%). I put 8 oz of this mixture into each quart jar. The first jar on the left has .5 teaspoon of non-iodized salt mixed in, the next one .5 teaspoon of iodized salt mixed in, the next has .5 teaspoon of sea salt mixed in, the next has .5 teaspoon of sugar mixed in, the last one on the right side is left plain with no additions.

Here is a pic at zero hour:

I have the next picture marked at one hour and three hours:

Five hours later they looked like this:

During the seventh hour the starters peaked and began to fall. At eight hours:

At ten hours:

Thirteen hours after I started the test here is what the starters looked like:

At thirteen hours the starters on the right are doing surprisingly well, still at the 8 hour mark, having risen from the 7 hour peak and fall.

Here is the last picture taken the next morning:

You can see that the plain starter peaked at the highest point, then the sugar, then the salt added starters.

Note:

The effect of salt and sugar on the starters is shown above. The salt does inhibit the yeast. However salt is important not only to flavor but to help control the rise of the dough. Too fast or high a proofing and the dough is overproofed. I find that the salt also alters the texture of the dough. I get a chewier, coarser crumb with the salt added earlier during the first mix, and a softer, lighter crumb if the salt is added just before shaping the dough. Long fermentation of the dough with a motherdough or a sponge can develop the sugars in the dough to balance out the salt effect as can adding malt syrup or sugar to the dough. It all depends on what you want in your bread.