Customer told me my sourdough was 'too sour' and I had to rethink everything

I had a regular at the farmer's market in Portland tell me straight up my sourdough tasted like vinegar. I was using a 24 hour cold ferment and feeding my starter once a day with rye flour. Turns out my starter was way too acidic because I was keeping it at 80 degrees and feeding it too often. I switched to feeding it every 12 hours with a 50/50 mix of white and whole wheat and dropped my bulk ferment to just 8 hours at room temp. The difference was night and day - now people actually ask for a second loaf instead of just buying one to be polite. Anyone else adjust their starter routine after getting blunt feedback?

2 comments

2 Comments

andrew91625d ago

Man, that's rough but honestly I'm glad you shared it because I bet a lot of us have been there. It's wild how much the temp and feeding schedule can totally change the final taste without you even realizing it. Did you notice any other subtle changes in the crumb or crust after you made those tweaks?

ryanprice25d ago

My buddy @andrew916 actually went through the same thing with his starter last year. He kept chasing that perfect sourdough tang and finally realized his fridge temp was way too cold for the bulk ferment. Once he moved it to a warmer spot in the kitchen, the whole flavor profile shifted, got way more complex without being super sour. The crust got this deep mahogany color he never had before too, almost like a burnt caramel thing going on. Crumb opened up a lot more as well, those big irregular holes started showing up after a couple bakes. It's crazy how one little change can domino into all that other stuff with bread, for real.