Talked to a pastry chef and now I think my sourdough starter is too wet

I was at a farmers market last Saturday and this guy who runs a bakery looked at my starter and said 'this is soup, not dough.' He explained how a stiffer starter builds more acid and flavor. Has anyone else tried dropping their hydration way down?

2 comments

2 Comments

wren_jackson14d ago

Oh man, that's rough but kind of a wake up call, right? So when you dropped it to 65%, did you have to change how often you fed it to keep it from getting too acidic?

the_vera14d ago

Hear you loud and clear, that sounds like such a deflating comment to get from a pro. I tried dropping my hydration to around 65% a few months back and it was a nightmare at first but the flavor really did wake up after a week or two. Stick with it, your starter probably just needs time to adjust to the change.