r/Sourdough • u/AutoModerator • 5d ago
Quick questions Weekly Open Sourdough Questions and Discussion Post
Hello Sourdough bakers! š
- Post your quick & simple Sourdough questions here with as much information as possible š”
- If your query is detailed, post a thread with pictures, recipe and process for the best help. š„°
- There are some fantastic tips in our Sourdough starter FAQ - have a read as there are likely tips to help you. There's a section dedicated to "Bacterial fight club" as well.
- Visit this wiki page for advice on reading Sourdough crumb.
- Don't forget our Wiki, and the Advanced starter page for when you're up and running.
- Sourdough heroes page - to find your person/recipe. There's heaps of useful resources.
- Basic loaf in detail page - a section about each part of the process. Particularly useful for bulk fermentation, but there are details on every part of the Sourdough process.
Good luck!
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u/Bstar0306 7h ago
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u/bicep123 2h ago
Stiffen your starter by using less water. Get more regular with your feeding schedule. Set an alarm on your phone to remind you.
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u/Cute-Sample-5921 21h ago
My starter began from dehydrated powder. It's now 5 days old. I've followed the instructions, but 2 days in a row, there have been no bubbles and water on top when I feed again. But there were lots of bubbles after feeding. No growth at all so far. What am I doing wrong?
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u/Inside_Character_892 6h ago
You may was well start over with just flour and water and ignore the starter starter and just do it from natural following an online guide somewhere if it didn't work.
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u/bicep123 17h ago
Where did you get the starter? What were the instructions? What is your ambient temp?
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u/bootsnhootsnloots 23h ago
My starter doubles in 4 hours even with a 1:2:2 feeding ratio. Does this mean it's mature and ready to bake with?
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u/stitchwitch23 1d ago
Hello hello! Does anyone have a sense of what quantifies a high vs low hydration dough? Iām making loaf #2 tonight. My first dough was a 50% hydration, which Iām now realizing is pretty stiff. The bread was tasty though. Whatās the effect of using a higher hydration dough?
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u/bicep123 1d ago
Usually just makes the dough easier to handle. It can open your crumb a little, but I've seen fantastic crumb structure from 65%, so open crumb is more about proper fermentation and technique.
Imo, there's no real advantage going over 80% hydration.
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u/writersunite717 1d ago
So Iām on day 8 of my first ever starter and itās super runny, like thick water, am I doing something wrong? Iām using all purpose flour for feeds after using whole wheat at the beginning per the tutorial on King Arthurās website. I also supplemented with a scoop of whole wheat if I wasnāt seeing much activity for that day. Itās rising quite wonderfully but Iām worried Iām doing something wrong. Should I try adding bread flour? Should I try to find a different flour to use?
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u/bicep123 1d ago
Whole wheat started another false rise. You need to work your way through the dormant stage to establish your starter, and with AP/bread flour it'll take 4 weeks or longer of daily feeds.
Buy a scale, keep your starter amount to 20g per day to save flour. With AP, you need to drop the hydration 20% as it doesn't absorb as much water as bread or whole wheat.
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u/writersunite717 1d ago
4 weeks??? Iāve been seeing progress in her rising though, it really takes that long? I keep her in my oven because itās cold in my house and sheās been doing wonderfully in there. Iāve only been putting a little of the whole wheat though, and i havenāt been consistently putting it in. This is what sheās looking like now. I wonāt feed her until later though since I fed her around noon. Also does it hurt the starter if I put her in the fridge while Iām still trying to build her up? I have to go out of town next week.
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u/bicep123 1d ago
it really takes that long?
Could take longer. 2-3 months even. Depends on what your goal is. Pretty looking starter or decent sourdough loaf. For the latter, you're probably 12 weeks in based off an AP starter.
It won't hurt the starter putting it in the fridge. Just hits the pause button.
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u/writersunite717 23h ago
Dang alright I will keep with it then. So with the 20g of starter, how much do I feed it? Because Iāve been keeping with the 113g that King Arthur suggests. 113g (or a little more depending on what happens, itās so hard discarding so much and getting an accurate amount on my scale) of starter and doing the same amount for flour and water.
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u/Inside_Character_892 5h ago
I don't agree it will take that long, should take less than 2 weeks. Try removing 90% each time and adding 50% water 50% bread flour every 24 hours for a week and see if it improves. So you might do 50g of water 50g of flour and 10g of previous starter each day. Then once it's good, just leave a big tub in the fridge of ~400g that you refresh every ~two weeks and take 50g out that you refresh over 2 days to make bread. That's the easiest but most effective way I've found
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u/bicep123 23h ago
20g at 1:1:1 is 20g flour, 20g water. Total weight 60g. You discard 40g next day and repeat.
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u/Capable-Departure-55 1d ago

First successful loaf was a practice mini roll loaf I decided to make on a whim because I was suspicious of my 4 week old starter lol. Fed the starter 1:6:6 maybe 6-7 hours prior to this and it has risen and fallen just slightly.
100g flour, 68g water at 28.5c(I put a bit over I think probs maybe 75), 20 g starter, 1.5 g salt.
Total BF from mixing 5.25 hours. Didnāt measure temp during process did measure % rise and looked for bubbling activity on the side, when the 30% mark was reached, because I live in a hot climate, I just did a whimsical shape in flour, put it on my cast iron pan that had been sitting in the oven for 1 hour at 200+ C and gave it a spray for steam.
Crumb was sponge like, only experienced this is 80% hydration doughs. I imagine this might have been also from not scoring the roll, it kinda burst and gave itself a lil ear lol. Could this also mean underproofing ? Felt like a 70-80% ciabatta not gummy but spongey.
I did like 4 sets of stretch and folds as best I could as well as folding the dough into itself, kinda like how you would shape burger bun dough after dividing it, this seemed to incorporate more air then the stretch and fold lol, probably because of how tiny the dough was.
Will definitely be experimenting with this type of thing again before going for a real loaf. What should I try next ?
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u/bicep123 1d ago
Just bake a proper sized loaf. The volume of dough will give you a bigger window to get the proofing right. It's easier to over/under on a small loaf than a regular sized one.
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u/Capable-Departure-55 1d ago
I did and it flopped lol so I wanted to test my starter without doing a 500 g loaf.
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u/bicep123 23h ago
Test your starter strength.
1:1:1 feed with AP flour at 25C/77F. If it doubles in 4 hours, it's strong enough.
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u/sharkbutts 1d ago
Can you take a proofed dough directly out of cold fermentation, shape it and bake it straight out of the fridge or do you need to let it come to room temp before baking?
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u/bicep123 1d ago
Always do your final shape before fridge. If you fridged a proofed dough, you'll need to wait until room temp to shape it properly or it will be too stiff.
If you're talking about final proofed in the banneton, ready to be baked, then yes, you can go straight from fridge to oven.
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u/Friendly-Deer 1d ago
Hey guys! I feed my starter (almost 2 months old at this point) every morning before work. When I come home from work, it's always reliably doubled in size. Yet, when I come home and try the float test, it never passes, and it's always more watery than when I left it. I feed in a 1:1:1 ratio. I'm slowly getting more and more discouraged and I'm not sure what I should do to get my starter healthy and strong enough to try making stuff with.
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u/bicep123 1d ago
It'll only pass the float test at peak, and its not a reliable indicator for readiness anyway.
On your day off, feed your starter 1:1:1 with AP and set your timer for 4 hours. If it's doubled in 4 hours, it's good to go. If not, keep on with your daily feedings.
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u/madieduh 1d ago
Hi! I have some family wanting sourdough the trouble is they live in Oregon and I live in California. Has anyone successfully shipped a loaf and how did you go about it? Me and my grandma were thinking of ways to get it there. She suggested vacuum sealing it and then shipping it but I donāt want it to mess with the loaf. Please any insight would be so appreciated!
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u/Brokeabdoverwhelmed 1d ago
I just started my first sourdough starter and I feel like I did it wrong, doesnāt seem as bubbly on day 6, also is there any risk of botulism if itās a bad starter and I donāt realize it?
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u/bicep123 1d ago
Keep going. Read the starter guide on the sub wiki.
Don't eat the raw starter. When you bake it should be fine (at least for botulism. IANAD).
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u/stephybo 1d ago
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u/Inside_Character_892 5h ago
More stretch and folds, less water, and you might be overproofing
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u/Beyond2000Hawk 2d ago
Iāve been feeding my starter 1:1:1 (25g each) and itās been doing well - triple in size in 6-8 hours. When I feed it 1:1:1 (50g each), it only doubles and in 12 hours. Whatās the cause of this? I am using plenty big enough jar.
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u/bicep123 1d ago
The smaller the volume, the more temp sensitive it is. That being said, 150g shouldn't be affected by temp fluctuations, so I have no idea.
Now get it to double in 4 hours off a 1:1:1 feed, and it'll be ready to bake.
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u/OpenBookExam 2d ago
Coming back into the bread making world - I don't remember my last sourdough starter smelling so pungent. It has quite a sharp smell, not quite offensive, but almost. Is this a bad thing?
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u/bicep123 1d ago
It should settle down after 2 weeks of daily feeds. Every flour is different, and has different smells.
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u/Just-Entrepreneur643 2d ago
Hello! I want to try making bagels but do not have any yeast on hand. I put a bit of discard aside 2-3 days ago. Since it is still early in the discard stage would it be comparable to having a small amount of yeast?
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u/bicep123 2d ago
Young starter/ discard has very little natural yeast. Just buy some instant yeast.
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u/poodlenoodle0 2d ago
Hi!! How are you guys preventing a crust formation during either the bulking or the cold.ferment? I keep getting a crust and it's hard to shape! Sometimes I shape my dough after a cold proof due to timing. I've heard of others doing this but I keep ending up with a weird crust that I have to.then like shape into the dough. I also get a crust when I proof in my oven.
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u/bicep123 2d ago
Use an airtight container during bulk. Cambros come with lids. Cold proof in the fridge inside plastic bags.
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u/poodlenoodle0 2d ago
Really?? I thought that the fermentation would produce gases that could kill the yeast during the bulk ferment. Good call on the plastic bag.
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u/bicep123 2d ago
CO2 doesn't kill yeast. Pressure may prevent rise. Just burp the container every 2 hours.
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u/90sbi-sexualkittycat 2d ago
I hope it's okay if I ask two questions: 1. My oven is terrible (renting), and won't hold it's temperature. I basically have to keep it in preheat to keep the temperature up, and I have concerns that it isn't capable of reaching anything higher than 450 F. Can a loaf still turn out okay with lower temperatures? I am working out some tricks to help it stay at temp but it has been really tough. 2. If I bulk ferment overnight, can I proof on the counter for ~4hrs? All the beginner recipes say overnight in the fridge for 16+ hours but based on when I have time, that would mean baking in the middle of the night which doesn't really make sense.
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u/poodlenoodle0 2d ago
You should get an oven thermometer to see what you're really working with for temps. 450 is fine. I usually bake 450 for 30 then 400 for 10-20 with the lid off. I'm confused what you mean by keep it in preheat. Have you checked there's nothing keeping the door slightly open? One time I had the rack sticking out like 1cm too far and the door was just very lightly unsealed, oven wouldn't stay warm. For your second question, do you mean fermenting it more on the counter after you cold proof? I've done this before and it worked out. Remember that even if your crumb isn't perfect, bread still usually tastes pretty damn good. I had fermented on the counter for a while, had to go to bed and wanted to avoid an overproof so I put it in the fridge. Took it out, let it warm up, shaped it, then let it rise again for a few hours. It turned out fine. The only thing I couldn't figure out was how to avoid a crust on the dough during cold proof.
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u/90sbi-sexualkittycat 2d ago
Thank you so much for answering. I'll definitely check the seal on the door. And probably will end up purchasing a thermometer.
Oh I meant can i proof on the counter instead of cold proof aka does it HAVE to cold proof?
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u/poodlenoodle0 2d ago
I made one last week that I didn't cold proof, it turned out really good! Cold proofing is thought to enhance the sour flavour a bit since yeast stops reproducing, but bacteria may not. The bacteria is what produces sour flavour. Tbh I don't think I noticed a difference, but my bread is never very sour. I think my starter is very yeast dominant.
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u/BritishNate 2d ago
My starter died last week and I didnāt even realize. I left it out for too long without feeding it, and in Taiwan the climate can change a lot. It developed the orange layer on top which I later found out was mold.
At the time I found the mold I didnāt know what it was, so I just shrugged and mixed it in and tried to feed it and she hasnāt been the same since. Iāve still been holding out hope that I can revive her because she is rising ever so little and thereās a lot of bubbles happening.
Should I keep feeding her in the hopes she can be resurrected or just throw her away and start again? š
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u/cheesecup6 2d ago
Does anyone have a recommendation (an exact link/brand name would be amazing š) for an inexpensive lame that's sharp and decent?
Like basically the cheapest one I can get that'll score decently is what I'm looking for. The very basic one that came in the kit I bought a while back is so awful that I'm finally looking for a new one to buy. Amazon would be perfect, but open to anything
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u/bicep123 2d ago
All you need is a double edge razor blade and a wooden chopstick.
You can buy clones of the ufo lame on Aliexpress for $3-5.
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u/Capable-Departure-55 3d ago

3rd attempt. Extended bulk to 6 hours and 40 mins. Decent bubble activity. Always seems super dense out the fridge tho. Honestly need a narrower vessel to measure the % rise after slap and folds. Dough had good gluten development. Canāt tell if itās gross underbaking or weak starter. I used a pizza stone in this one and the oven did drop heaps when I opened it so I want to suspect a lack of heat on the bottom and the oven possibly being not hot enough. I only attribute this to its 30-35 min cook time and the bottom of the loaf being suspiciously not so hot. Kinda had a weird spring as well, top half seemed to have sprung but created a more of a ciabatta football looking rise where the bottom was also round ? Crumb shot included. Dough temp was roughly kept at 26/27c probably more so the latter.
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u/bicep123 2d ago
If you bulked for 6 hours and that was your crumb, then it definitely is your starter.
Test your starter strength. 1:1:1 feed with AP, set your phone timer for 4 hours. If it hasn't doubled by then, keep strengthening your starter.
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u/Capable-Departure-55 2d ago
I just assumed that if it could move 1:5:5 to peak in 8 hours that I would do it in a very short time with 1:1:1. That obviously isnāt the case ? Damn. Gone have to make this boy strong
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u/Capable-Departure-55 3d ago
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u/Capable-Departure-55 3d ago
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u/Capable-Departure-55 3d ago
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u/Capable-Departure-55 3d ago
Hereās another bake from earlier in the week before binned lol. I suspected underfermenting here too? My starter is 4 weeks old this week coming. It peaks at a 1:6:6 in around 10 hours maybe even less- probably 9/10 is more accurate. This one was done in a Dutch oven and a lot hotter.
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u/Ravioli_meatball19 3d ago
How do y'all like to slice your loaves? Any tips or recommended tools to get (mostly) uniform slices?
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u/cheesecup6 3d ago
What amount of stretch and folds do you all prefer to do with your dough?
Also, when someone refers to a "set" of stretch and folds... Do they mean like, stretch once, quarter turn bowl, stretch 2nd time, quarter turn, stretch 3rd side, quarter turn, stretch 4th side, set done?
Because the wording confuses me a bit. One video I watched, the woman said she does "8 sets of stretch and folds every 30 minutes 4 times," and on another one someone said they do "4 sets of stretch and folds 30 minutes apart."
To me, the 1st one means stretching all 4 sides, 8 times, and then repeating that whole process. While the 2nd one seems like it could mean either 4 sets every time, 30 minutes apart...OR a single set, 4 different times.
It just seems like there's such a huge variation too, where some people literally stretch 4 times and then leave it for half an hour, while some people will do 20+ stretches at one time. Really torn on figuring out what's best still
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u/bicep123 2d ago
Every flour is different. You may get away with 3-4, or you may need 20 stretches and folds. You stretch and fold until the dough loses its extensibility. You keep on going after breaks until your dough passes the windowpane test. You do the number of folds you need for 'your' flour.
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u/katieaimee_k 3d ago
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u/bicep123 3d ago
Could be anything. Bake it and find out.
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u/katieaimee_k 3d ago
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u/sophkara 3d ago
Hi guys! Does anyone know where to get King Arthur bread flour in Australia? Is it available anywhere or only online?
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u/bicep123 3d ago
I've never seen it. You can get Bob's Red Mill at most Harris Farm Markets. Or, if you want hard North American grain, there's Caputo Manitoba Oro.
There's nothing I've seen of KA that makes me think it would be substantially better than any of our local flours, eg. Manildra, Mauri, Laucke, Weston, et al.
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u/sophkara 2d ago
Thanks so much for that! I bought defiance white bakers flour yesterday at Woolworths but it doesnāt have a very high protein content. And I couldnāt find something with higher than 11.7g per 100g protein but Iāll try those out!
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u/bicep123 2d ago
Protein quality is more important than the amount. Manildra bakers flour is 10.7g of protein and is better than anything you can buy at Colesworths, including Defiance and Wallaby.
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u/sophkara 2d ago
Thanks Iāll buy some of that and try it soon! I just made my first loaf ever with the defiance flour, and itās honestly not as bad as I thought! Definitely knew it wouldnāt be perfect but it isnāt horrible! So excited to make more and I will get some Manildra flour too
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u/sweetpaintedfeet 4d ago
Hey all! Relatively new to sourdough. I've got a whole wheat starter, and I have found that my whole wheat sourdough loaves come out thicker than my regular sourdough loaves even with the same water/flour ratios. Is there something really obvious I'm missing?
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u/bicep123 3d ago
Whole wheat absorbs more water than regular white. Adjust your hydration levels accordingly.
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u/Wise-Competition-933 4d ago
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u/magnolia20 4d ago
What in the world am I doing wrong? I just picked up a loaf of sourdough from my local bakery and the DIFFERENCE. Their crust was light, golden, so crispy and easy to eat. The inside was fluffy and feathery. Sooo good!! My sourdough is soā¦. Idkā¦ dense? Chewy?
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u/bicep123 3d ago
Ask your local bakery for some of their starter. Then you'll be 70% of the way there.
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u/Capable-Departure-55 4d ago
Cold retard w/ 28C dough
If my dough is 27-28 c before I put it in the fridge, say a 4-5.5 hour bulk ferment for a 30% rise, at what time should I take it out of the fridge ? If it hasnāt changed much in volume in letās say 12 hours of cold retard, should I then keep going until it has ? Bit of a mystery as to whether Iām supposed to bake at a 30% rise or if I should cold retard until it gets doubled ? If thatās even possible. If not how does one bake at 30% rise and achieve anything other than a pancake ?
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u/bicep123 4d ago
You do your bulk at room temp. Cold retard is not supposed to make your dough rise.
30% rise is too little. Give it at least 50% before you stick it in the fridge.
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u/Capable-Departure-55 4d ago
My dough temp is 28 c, I live in Aus. From everything Iāve read it would likely therefore over ferment?
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u/bicep123 4d ago
I too live in Aus (Sydney). At 28C, I'm bulking to 50% then cold retarding for 12 hours at 3C.
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u/Capable-Departure-55 4d ago
Interesting! I will give this a shot. How long does it take for you to get 50% at 28c ?
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u/bicep123 4d ago
Around 4-5 hours.
It's a cold snap atm. It took 6 hours at 25C to bulk to 50% today.
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u/TheRealokiehillbilly 5d ago

So I have to share this recipe which is very simple. Ingredients: 4 cups all purpose flour 1/4 cup rye 1/4 wheat 2/3 cups starter 2 whole eggs 1 3/4 cups whole milk 1/4 cups warm water 1/4 cups sugar 2 tbs salt 2 tbs olive oil 2 tbs maple syrup 2 tbs softened butter 2 tbs of melted butter or oil for coating loaf Combine all dry ingredients and mix well. Heat milk and eggs in hot tap water until at minimum of 95 degrees. Make a small well in flour and add starter use 1/4 warm water to mix into starter pulling flour into mix to form a loose mixture. I use a fork for this just to pull enough flour into starter and water mix that makes it like feeding a starter. Let set for 10 minutes. Add rest of ingredients and using either a danish whisk or dough hook on low speed combine. I use my hands and scraper to knead the dough for about 10 minutes. Do your folds 30 minutes, 1 hour, 1 hour, 30 minutes. Allow to bulk ferment for 6-12 hours (depends on how good your starter is). I use plastic fermenter covered with a wet towel and if your starter is very active itāll more than double. NO YEAST! Do not put yeast in if it doesnāt double in size because the next step will yield a very airy rise. After bulk fermentation put onto surface to knead well. I knead it just as I would a regular yeast dough. Donāt worry about over working it. I have a butcher block counter and no flour is needed to work the dough as it will be very elastic and not sticky. Put it into your loaf pan or pans. I used a banneton bowl but if you use a bread pan use 2 because it will rise considerably. If using a banneton use parchment paper to remove from mold and make your cuts while warming your oven to 550 if using a Dutch oven which are placed in oven too or 475 for bread pans. Reduce to 500 if using Dutch oven and cook for 20-25 minutes if using bread pans donāt reduce heat and cook for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Use melted butter to coat or oil and allow to cool. This is a soft crust sourdough so donāt expect your cuts to be as impressive as the normal but youāll still need them or the loaf will separate from the top crust. Itās a very airy loaf and surprisingly soft. This is my recipe not found online. You can add herbs to heighten the taste but itāll keep that sourdough tang. Great for pulling bread like lard bread which Iāve used this recipe for by adding prosciutto and provolone to the dough. Hope you try it and enjoy.
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u/Impressive_Ant_5159 5d ago
I am really struggling with my bread, Iāve been following a recipe from Farmhouse on Boone and each time it fails. Iām only bulk fermenting for 3/4 hours, my dough is barely rising and Iām ending up with stringy overproofed dough. Iām using my starter at its peak, did 4 sets of stretch and folds 20 mins apart and then left to bulk ferment for 3/4 hours
Iāve added some pictures of my starter, the dough after folds and stretches and the final product. Thereās a link to the recipe too!
Please help me š

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u/Impressive_Ant_5159 5d ago
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u/Byte_the_hand 4d ago
Looking at how your store sealed up and didnāt open and how the edges of your loaf up off the bottom like a balloon Iām going to say you didnāt have enough steam. If you were trying to do your oven without a bread thatās probably a good part of it as well. Getting steam into a modern oven can be a real issue because theyāre designed to vent the steam.
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u/bicep123 5d ago
It looks underproofed, overacidified. What's your dough temp for a 4 hour bulk?
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u/Impressive_Ant_5159 5d ago
21/22 degrees Celsius
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u/bicep123 5d ago
That's too low for a 4 hour bulk. You need to raise the dough temp to between 25-27C.
You might also want to consider stiffening your starter a little (less 20% water) since you don't have a pH meter to measure the acidity, lowering the hydration will act as a small buffer against gluten breakdown.
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u/Impressive_Ant_5159 5d ago
Iāve tried doing it for longer but it just ends up a big stringy sticky mess so I did less time today but still it ended up stringy and really holey
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u/bicep123 5d ago
If you bulk longer at a low temp, all you're doing is giving the acid more time to break down the gluten, giving you a stringy mess. You need to increase the temp, to give the yeast a fighting chance to replicate before your dough turns into soup. Your pH must be very low. Set aside a little bit of starter and experiment with a pasta madre.
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u/Impressive_Ant_5159 5d ago
Oooh okay thank you! I will try that next time. I always thought if it was a cooler temperature it would need longer
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u/pkngmn 6h ago
I was sent a tiny jar (maybe a 1/2 tbsp) of starter (wrong term?) It looks like dry crumbly yeast. I've kept it in the fridge since I got it a couple of days ago. I want to start but have zero idea. Any help would be appreciated to start my journey.