Any Home Bakers Here?

[Aria]

Good Morning. It is 50 degrees and Sunny.

 

[SnapdragonQ]

I made a lentil and vegetable soup last night and that's going to be my main meal tonight. It's all lovely and thick. Just how I like it.

Yum. I love a nice hearty veggie lentil soup.

 

[BullChick]

A kind stranger sent fifty pounds of flour. Yesterday I filled the hopper with the first bag that didn’t have so much as a puff of flour escape. Today… oh, the irony!

 

[Blooie]

You are all very welcome!! This is my go-to bread, and will be even more now that I’ve learned to do it as a loaf!

 

[SnapdragonQ]

Well, I already killed Bonny Sour. One day and there were two mold spots on her surface.

Temps stayed between 74 and 78 all day and all night (thank you Govee.)

Of course gf flours do not behave like traditional flours and despite following directions to the exact gram and water temp range, it was a really dry and pasty mixture.

Cleaned everything and started over with an oat and brown rice mix. I added ten extra grams of water for a better consistency (more like regular flours) scraped the sides of the jar again, and made sure my fingers didn't accidentally touch any of the slurry scrapings this time, just in case.

Any suggestions?
Were the temps too much?
Should I her remove from the warmer location to my ambient temperatures?
(64 to 68)

ETA: could altitude be an issue too? I've noticed most of my gf baking needs a tiny bit more liquid overall than most recipes call for since moving to a higher altitude. Especially true with recipes written for rice flour mixtures

 

[BullChick]

Well, I already killed Bonny Sour. One day and there were two mold spots on her surface.

Temps stayed between 74 and 78 all day and all night (thank you Govee.)

Of course gf flours do not behave like traditional flours and despite following directions to the exact gram and water temp range, it was a really dry and pasty mixture.

Cleaned everything and started over with an oat and brown rice mix. I added ten extra grams of water for a better consistency (more like regular flours) scraped the sides of the jar again, and made sure my fingers didn't accidentally touch any of the slurry scrapings this time, just in case.

Any suggestions?
Were the temps too much?
Should I her remove from the warmer location to my ambient temperatures?
(64 to 68)

Sourdough likes cooler temperatures, so try that first. My first sd starter, I used the potato water recipe. It got moldy, but I never had an issue with my flour and plain water mix.

 

[Aria]

Never heard of anyone using RICE FLOUR? Could you not use it? You really do not need different flours. That is just my thought.

 

[SnapdragonQ]

Never heard of anyone using RICE FLOUR? Could you not use it? You really do not need different flours. That is just my thought.

We have to be gluten free(gf) so unfortunately I cannot use typical flours like AP, wheat, rye, etc...
The mainstays of gf baking are rice flours. White or brown, and the addition of sorghum, millet, oat or other gf flours, plus texturizing starches like cornstarch or tapioca flour.

And there is no one single flour that can do what AP or wheat flour can, so we have to use mixtures and added ingredients like guar gum, or xanthan to try and replicate the gluten in typical flours.

But, for starting a gf sourdough one needs to use mostly the whole grain flours like rice, oat, sorghum, etc..

 

[SnapdragonQ]

And for those who have started gf SD starters successfully, brown rice or mixtures containing it, are the preferred flour because they already have some wild yeasts/beneficial fermentable goodies still in them.
(According to research anyway)

 

[Aria]

OAT FLOUR and how about RYE? Rye has no gluten. They would be my choice. Ron I am sure could help. Rice flour NOT mychoice.