I live in the UAE where the climate is hot and humid.
I started making a sourdough starter on the 28th of October and today, 30th October it seems to be doubling quickly. It has a strong acidic sweet smell. Even though I made a stiff dough when I fed it in the morning, the starter seems soupy now.
Does this mean that my yeast is growing rapidly?
Do I need to increase the feedings?
Best Answer
One of the main differences from sourdough to standard bread yeast is that it is composed by a complex fauna of bacteria and yeasts that do lactic fermentation as well as alcoholic fermentation. Therefore acidicity is indeed a positive sign of activity in your sourdough.
The tricky part is that as the pH of the dough lowers, it triggers the digestion of the gluten network, 'destroying' the protein structure that holds the air and making the dough look like pancake dough. So when baking with sourdough one needs to be careful with how long you ferment.
This will depend on the initial quantity of sourdough you use, the temperature of the place you leave it resting, the strength of your flour (protein/gluten content) and the humidity of the flour (typically 15%).
If you are in a very hot place I would recommend either letting the dough in a colder spot (e.g. top part of your fridge, or a wine fridge) or using a smaller quantity of sourdough. By trial and error you can gauge the initial quantity for the time you want to leave it unattended.