As you know, the sourdough starter is composed only of water and flour (plus the microorganisms that populate it). The liquid one usually has 100% hydration (i.e. as much water as flour), while the solid one is typically used with 50% hydration (i.e. half water compared to flour). This means that a recipe that uses liquid sourdough starter can be converted into a recipe that uses solid sourdough starter, or vice versa, simply by redistributing the amount of flour to or from the yeast. To do this, a few calculations are sufficient, or the automatic converter!
Convert from liquid sourdough to solid sourdough (from licoli to pasta madre)
To convert the sourdough from liquid to solid, we must divide the quantity of licols by 2, multiply the result of the division by 3, and we will obtain the quantity of pasta madre. The difference between the amount of pasta madre and licoli, is the weight of flour which must be subtracted from the total quantity of flour required by the recipe.
An example
Original recipe:
100 g licols
500 g flour
300 g water
100/2 = 50 * 3 = 150 g (amount of pasta madre to be used instead of the licoli)
150 - 100 = 50 g (amount of flour to remove from the recipe)
500 - 50 = 450 g (amount of flour to use in the recipe)
The amount of water (and salt and other ingredients) will remain the same.
Convert from solid sourdough to liquid sourdough (from pasta madre in licoli)
instead, to convert solid sourdough into liquid, you have to divide the amount of pasta madre by 3, multiply the result by 2, and we will get the quantity of licols. The difference between the amount of pasta madre e licoli is the weight of flour that must be added to the total quantity of flour required by the recipe.
An example
Original recipe:
150 g pasta madre
500 g flour
300 g water
150/3 = 50 * 2 = 100 g (quantity of licols to be used instead of pasta madre)
150 - 100 = 50 g (amount of flour to add to the recipe quantity)
500 + 50 = 550 g (amount of flour to use in the recipe.
The amount of water (and salt and other ingredients) will remain the same.
Automatic sourdough starter converter
To simplify your life, and simplify it for me too, I have created below two automatic calculation systems, with which you can convert all the recipes you want, from pasta madre liquid a pasta madre solid, and vice versa. Simply enter the amount of yeast and flour required by your recipe, and the calculation will be automatic. Make sure you enter both doses, otherwise the empty fields will calculate them as if you had entered a 0! So here is the automatic sourdough converter!
I hope it will be useful to you!
Please note:
Converting a recipe from one type of yeast to another works almost always. Vanno But some things taken into account, such as the sequence and method of insertion of the different ingredients and the strength and leavening times of the yeast which may differ.
Redistributing the flour means that we may have more or less water to autolysis, or to knead. Let's keep this in mind. As with certain sweet recipes, we may be asked to add the yeast at the end, and if it is solid it will take more work to fully incorporate it into the dough, with the risk of ruining it if we are already "ahead". So let's always try to think about the indications we have in front of us and visualize with our mind what we are going to do before proceeding. It will prevent us from having annoying unexpected events while baking.
Furthermore, it is possible that a liquid and a solid sourdough starter, while selling from the same yeast and bacteria culture, have different growth times and strengths. This means that you may be faced with a recipe that will rise faster or slower than expected. In this case, rely on your eyes and your senses and do not be influenced by what the recipe says.
As you take advantage of the converter, you will gain experience and certain tricks will be automatic to you. My word!
Conclusions
That said, enjoy the freedom this small automatic sourdough converter offers you. From now on, every recipe you will find on the net will be suitable for your sourdough, solid or liquid!
Have fun 🙂
