Hi - I am interested in converting some of my stiff sour dough starter to a liquid starter. I’m a little confused about the conversions explained by Rose on page 435 in the Bread Bible book.  The part that is throwing me off is the “add water equal to one-third the weight of the stiff starter”.  I cannot determine how the 1.7oz/50grams was derived.  This is suppose to be the water that is equal to one third of the weight of the stiff starter.

My recipe calles for 3.5 oz of liquid sour dough starter.  So need to know how to take my stiff starter and convert it to get the 3.5 oz of liquid sour dough starter.

If I have overlooked this discussion in the forums, I apologize.  If I did, could you please link me to the discussion topic.

Thanks for the help!

P.S.  I’ve had my starter for 11 months now.  I bake sour dough about every 6-8 weeks.  It is excellent.  It took me a few tries to get the starter going but it was well worth it.

Letra,

Example in the book:

Need 200 grams of liquid starter, but have stiff starter.

1. Decrease 200 by 3/4 (200 x .75 = 150)

2. Add water to equal 1/3 above number (150 x .33 = 50)

3. So for 200 grams of liquid starter, you need 150 grams stiff starter, and 50 grams water.

Your example:

Need 3.5 ounces of liquid starter

1. 3.5 x .75 = 2.6

2. 2.6 x .33 = .9

3.  So you need 2.6 ounces of stiff starter and .9 ounces of water.

To get the two numbers you need, multiply by .75 and then .33.

(P.S. There is a mistake in the book—it should say 5.25 ounces/150 grams, not 1.75 ounces/150 g)

Thank you for your response….

Matthew - 30 October 2008 10:15 AM

Letra,

Example in the book:

Need 200 grams of liquid starter, but have stiff starter.

1. Decrease 200 by 3/4 (200 x .75 = 150)

2. Add water to equal 1/3 above number (150 x .33 = 50)

3. So for 200 grams of liquid starter, you need 150 grams stiff starter, and 50 grams water.

Your example:

Need 3.5 ounces of liquid starter

1. 3.5 x .75 = 2.6

2. 2.6 x .33 = .9

3.  So you need 2.6 ounces of stiff starter and .9 ounces of water.

To get the two numbers you need, multiply by .75 and then .33.

(P.S. There is a mistake in the book—it should say 5.25 ounces/150 grams, not 1.75 ounces/150 g)

Hi Matthew (or anybody else who’s tried it),

I’m thinking of maintaining a liquid sourdough starter from King Arthur since Rose swears by adding stiff starter to all her breads now.
1) This conversion you mention from the book (I’ve read it also), have you found that it really works out, or do you think it’s better to maintain a stiff starter to begin with?
2) Or is it better to add flour by the teaspoon to some of the liquid starter to get the amount of stiff starter the recipe calls for?
3) And if I do it that way, should I make it the night before so it has a chance to develop?

Thanks,
Rod