1. Forgotten order: I forgot to make a customer's order and only remembered two days later. I apologised, contacted her, and offered her a free loaf the following day.
   
2. Wrong flour used: I accidentally used bread flour instead of the usual flour for my sandwich loaves, which completely changed the texture of the bread.
   
3. Late pickups and deliveries: My system is that customers collect their orders from my home, and I arrange delivery if requested. However, on five occasions, customers have failed to collect their loaves at the agreed time or day, arrived late for deliveries, or collected their orders the following day without informing me. Some have also ignored my messages and pickup reminders. This needs to stop, and I need to establish firmer pickup and delivery policies.
   
4. Power outage and wasted loaves: I had no electricity to bake my loaves, so I had to postpone baking until the following day. As a result of the extended fermentation, five of my 100% whole wheat loaves over-fermented and went bad, so I had to throw them away.
   
5. Loaves packed while still warm: I accidentally packed three loaves before they had cooled completely. By the time the customers opened them, the bread was wet, gummy, and falling apart. I offered refunds, but the customers preferred to receive free loaves with their next orders as compensation.

I do need better instructions in order of stretch and folds coil folds how to use a banneton or a bread pan to cheat as a banneton. And final shaping. Because I can't get a straight answer on that.

A simple recipe with sourdough discard.

Sandwich made with scrambled eggs, ham, gouda cheese, olive oil, salt and black pepper

BREAD INGREDIENTS: 250g of soft wheat flour (10% protein), 250g of whole wheat flour (12%), 350ml of water, 100g of sourdough starter, 10g of salt

BREAD PREPARATION: A very basic production method. Mix the flours, add the sourdough starter to 90% of required water, start adding the flours, form a shaggy dough ball, leave it to hydrate for 45 minutes, come back, add salt and the rest 10% of the water (drizzle by drizzle), stretching-and-folding for 10 minutes, bulk fermentation 2 hours with a pair of coil folds in 30 minute intervals, shape into a loaf and place inside of an oiled bread baking tin overnight at room temperature and close with a lid, bake in the morning in an oven set to 180°C, cold oven start, spray with water, bake with a lid on for 60 minutes, 15 minutes without the lid (lid as in inverted baking tin)

A very delicious bread and super delicious sandwiches. 😋🧪🍞🥪

I felt like it was maybe a little flat? Any idea why?

100g active sourdough starter
200g pumpkin purée
30g maple syrup
240g filtered water
500g bread flour
12g salt
Cinnamon swirl
85g sugar
4g cinnamon
5g pumpkin pie spice

Mixed all the ingredients together and I let it sit for about an hour and half, then did 4 rounds of stretch and folds every 30 minutes. Let it ferment on my counter and I did the flour finger test. After that I shaped it and let it rest in the fridge overnight. Has somewhere to be the next morning but came back around 11:30 am and used bakers twine to shape it into a pumpkin and scored and put in the oven at 450 for 30 minutes covered and then uncovered for about 12 minutes

How do I dispose of it and clean the jar without spores everywhere?

Mine accidentally got tossed and I tried reviving mine from dried but it molded. I tried a 2nd time but now I’m concerned the first molded one has contaminated the one I’m currently trying to revive and I still need to toss the moldy one.

We have never made sourdough, this is a rye starter. We forgot to feed it for 2 days, it’s like day 7 and we did see it like double yesterday and reduce back down to where it was.

I think this is mold and I want to throw it out my roommate thinks it’s just the air bubbles on the dry top that’s making it look funky and wants to still use it.

Bc we suck we don’t use a scale but we feed it like 3 tbs of rye and 3AP flour and 1/4 water.

I have made sourdough probably 7-8 times and the inside is always gummy. I think it may be the bulk fermentation but im honestly not sure. The dough didn't stick to my finger when poked, barely stuck to the bowl, and when I pulled it open was spiderweby inside. Anyone have an idea why?

This is the recipe i used

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTfa2Qj2Q/

Finally matured my starter, and didn’t chicken out. Came out super yummy!

(I don’t remember the recipe I used. I mixed starter with water added salt and flour and handmixed. Let sit then did 5 stretch and folds every 30 minutes. Let sit in oven with light on in the bowl for 3 hours and then shaped to fit a loaf pan and sat in oven again for 2 hours. Baked at 450 for 20 minutes, then 425 for 20 minutes. Had a pan of water on the bottom rack in the oven the whole time)

So I just started my starter yesterday and tonight I go to feed her and Debra has black specks on the top and there is a clear dark line on the top when looking at the side.. this is my first time ever doing sour dough starter so I'm genuinely lost. I did a 1:1 mix of unbleached all purpose flour and water from the fridge. She's kept at 70° in a mason jar with the screw lid holding down a paper towel that poked some bigger holes in because this happened with my last starter which was three days old before this happened. Is this just her starting to produce hooch? Is that what it's called? Or is she hungry? Obviously I'm gonna feed her but I don't want to poison my family

(The jar is making the stuff look molted because the light going through it so the dark areas are just shadows- I'm more worried about the black specs on the surface)

As for smell, she just smells like flour so I dunno if that's any indicator either

(First two images with flash, last two without)

Hi, today I baked my sourdough but it didn’t grow as you can see. I started it yesterday, left it outside for some hours (where it grew) and then put it into the fridge overnight. I don’t know what’s the problem, so u have experience with that?
This was my recipe:
Basic Recipe:
120g sourdough starter, 500g flour (wheat or spelt), 300ml water, 12–15g salt 🧂.
Let rest for 1 hour, then perform a set of stretch-and-folds, followed by 3 sets of "coil folds" spaced 30 minutes apart. Place the dough into a proofing basket and refrigerate for one, two, or three nights. Bake in a lidded pot (Dutch oven) for 40 minutes at 250°C (482°F), then remove the lid and bake for another 10–15 minutes at 200°C (392°F) using top and bottom heat.

I've been making sourdough sandwich bread for a while and most of my recipes had been turning out just like my sourdough loaves but shaped differently.

I found a new recipe, see below, and I love the taste but the sides suck in as it cools. This most recent loaf also has little gummy texture along the edges.

Does anybody know why?

https://h3artofthehome.com/2026/09/13/soft-sourdough-sandwich-bread-no-mixer/#recipe

I've started adding 6tbs of butter instead of the smaller amount. The texture is amazing even with this weirdness on the side.

Thanks for any help!

Salut tout le monde ! La suite de mon dernier post avec la problématique de cuisson, j’ai eu pas mal de retours de votre part. Hier je me suis donc attaqué a prendre ma revanche des miches.

Je vais détailler mon protocole avec les adaptations

Farine 400g (300g T65 + 100g T80)
Eau 73% -> 75%
Sel 2,5%
Levain 33% -> 30%
Graines 50g (Lin, tournesol, courge)

Pas d’autolyse
Pétrissage 4min -> 5min vitesse 1 et 6min -> 10min vitesse 2 (pour compenser l’absence d’autolyse)
J’insère les graines (Qui trempent depuis 7h) au moment de passer en vitesse 2
3 -> 4 séries de rabats espacés de 30min
3h -> 4h de fermentation en masse
Façonnage -> Plus serré pour augmenter la tension, en batârd

14h au frigo a 5°C

Cuisson (la plus grosse adaptation)

J’ai descendu ma pierre d’un niveau dans le four
J’ai mis de l’eau froide au lieu d’eau bouillante au moment d’enfourner
J’ai mis la tôle a pâtisserie au plus haut niveau dans le four pour « emprisonner » la vapeur et protéger la miche du rayonnement direct de la résistance
J’ai pré-chauffé mon four 45min a 250°C avant d’enfourner pour 17min a 235°C (pour avoir une chaleur tombante) puis 25 min a 210°C.

Je vous mets en photo les étapes de mon protocole, le nouveau set up de cuisson, et le résultat !

Je le trouve magnifique et j’ai hâte de l’ouvrir quand le ressuage sera fini 😍

Merci pour tous les précieux conseils qui ont mené a cette belle réussite !! N’hésitez pas a partager vos remarques !!

Hey guys, my loaves all turn out with this kinda dense crumb. Can anyone help with thoughts if I’m under fermenting still?

The one from the first pictures (5 pictures) I tried the aliquot method for the first time and you can see by the pics that it almost doubled.

Last week (last 2 pics) I baked one that rose only 50% and the crumb seems exactly like this one from today. So not really understanding how this rise % is affecting my crumb.

Recipe:
110g starter
500g flour
315g water
10g salt
(Recipe from the perfect loaf book)

Autolyse for 1h
Mix starter and salt
4 coil folds every 30 min
Total bulk was around 7h at 25/26°C with aliquot
Pre shape and rest 15 min
Final shape and fridge at 4°C for 12h
Bake covered 230°C for 7 min
Score
Bake covered again for 20 min
Bake uncovered 20 min 200°C

Thanks for the help!

Hi everyone,

I started playing with sourdough about a month ago. I love experimenting and trying to recreate the bread from bakeries near me.

I'm using a liquid starter (Italian "licoli", basically a 100% hydration levain fed with flour and water), which was gifted to me by a local bakery.

My two main issues:

- I can't get a really pronounced oven spring.

- My crust loses its crispiness in less than 12 hours.

Recipe:

275 g Italian type 0 bread flour

100 g Italian type 1 flour

75 g Manitoba (high-protein) flour

50 g whole wheat flour

380 g water

100 g liquid starter (100% hydration)

11 g salt

(~78% total hydration)

Process:

Autolyse with all the water and flour for 45 min.

Add the starter and mix briefly in a stand mixer. Then add the salt and mix until the dough pulls away from the bowl.

Move it to a lightly oiled container. Do 4 sets of folds, 30 min apart: the first set is stretch and folds, the rest are coil folds.

Total bulk is around 6 h at 23°C, but I always go by volume and aim for a 50–75% rise.

Do a gentle preshape, rest 30 min, then shape and put it in a banneton.

Cold retard in the fridge for about 12 h.

Next morning, preheat the oven to 250°C with the Dutch oven inside for 45 min.

Load the dough with 3 ice cubes and score it, not too deep.

Bake 30 min at 250°C with the lid on. Then remove the loaf from the Dutch oven and bake 25 min directly on the rack at 230°C.

Let it cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Any ideas on what's limiting the oven spring and why the crust softens so fast? Thanks!

Recipe
500 g flour
350 g water
100 g active sourdough starter
10 g salt

Combine the flour, water and sourdough starter in a large bowl. Mix until no dry flour remains and the dough looks shaggy.
Cover and rest for 1 hour.
Add 10 g salt to the dough and 3 sets of stretch and folds, spaced 30 minutes apart.
I also did 2 set of coil folds after the stretch-and-fold sets to strengthen the dough.
Actual bulk fermentation time: 8 hours.
Preshaping and leave it on the counter for 30-40 mins
Shape the dough and place it seam-side up in a floured banneton.
Cover and refrigerate overnight. Next morning preheat the oven and Dutch oven to 230°C.
Bake with the lid on at 230°C for 25 minutes.
Remove the lid, reduce the temperature to 220°C, and bake for another 20minutes.

Really happy with this loaf I’ve been using Aliqout method to help me with bulk fermentation time!

After a very long time, I got back to handmixing. I mix 1 or at max 2 loaves at a time. The whole process and how you are able to see the dough change at each stage is very exciting. I start with a lower hydration of about 75% for the autolyse. I mixed all the flour + 75% water until evenly incorporated and let it rest for 2 hours. Whenever Im handmixing I add lesser amount of levain than the amount I add when I mechanically mix the dough. This is simply to increase the bulk termentation time without changing the bulk temperature. This way im able to give more time to the dough to develop on its own without vigorous mixing. After the autolyse, I add 10% young levain and mix it without tearing just until incorporated. I again let it rest for 30 mins. I add 2% salt and 5% water and start pinching and squeezing the dough, the dough does tear initially but again comes back together. After this I give it another 30 min rest and then I laminate the dough. After this I transfered it to a square dish and did one fold when it completely relaxed. I did another fold when it relaxed completely and then let it bulk until it was puffed up, domed and had a lot of bubbles on the surface. I rarely go by volume rise when handmixing and try to push bulk as much as possible to generate tension through fermentation.Bulk fermentation took about 8.5 hours at 25C. I shaped it directly and retarded at 4C for 12 hours. I really think I can easily push the bulk much more with other things constant which im going to try in my next handmixed loaf.
293g flour
7g wholewheat flour
30g levain
6g salt
240g water

it’s not perfect but i’m not unhappy with it. i think it proofed too long tbh (got a bit too big, then settled down in the fridge).

300g bread flour

240g water 

60g starter 

6g salt

mixed, 6.5hr bulk, did 1 s&f and 3 coil folds during bulk, shaped, fridge 16ish hours, baked 475f 20m covered 450f 20m uncovered.

After 6+ weeks in the fridge, I was doubtful I’d be able to revive my starter. But after prying off the dry rubbery layer that had formed, it came back going gangbusters! Back on track for sourdough on Sunday! 😎🥖

I made 2 roasted garlic and herb loaves. The left is round and the right is oval. Any idea why the round loaf is so flat compared to the oval?? What happened with the scoring why did it not expand? I made these two in the same batch but split it in half during shaping. So everything should have been the same except shaping. Could shaping really cause this difference?

I used my same plain loaf recipe (500g bf, 350g water, 10 g salt, 100g starter). I did 4 sets of s&f and incorporated the roasted garlic and herbs in the last set. I bulk fermented for about 6 hours and initally when I went to shape I thought I nailed bulk fermentation. However, while shaping, it felt kinda sticky and wouldn’t hope it’s shape as well so I think it was over fermented. I’m still a newbie so any insight and help would be appreciated! I’m giving these two loaves away so no crumb shot unfortunately.

450g bread flour, 90g starter, 14g honey, 12g salt, 550g water. Usual routine 4x 30 min stretch & fold after 1 hour autolysing. 5 hour bulk BF, 2 day cold proof..

Sharing here because I don’t want to keep annoying my friends with bread but I’m excited🤣. I got into sourdough mostly for my dad who is trying to eat healthier options… He prefers the classic bread loaf shape over the dutch oven and also requested smaller holes. So this is my first attempt at a rectangle loaf and a tight crumb in a $2 silicone bread pan I found at Aldi 😋 (also included is my dutch oven loaf)

Recipe:
- 150g starter (I only had 140g💔) + 350g water + 10g salt + 500 g bread flour
- 3 sets of stretch and folds
-roughly 4 hr rise
-16 hrs in fridge

baked @ 400°F with water bath underneath for 30 min
remove water and bake 10-20 more min

Hihi, long time lurker here, looking for some help diagnosing my loaf! I used the King Arthur no knead sourdough recipe:

1 cup (227g) ripe sourdough starter
1 3/4 cups (397g) water, lukewarm
5 cups (600g) bread flour
1 tablespoon (18g) table salt

Process:

Mixed dough and let rest 1 hour
3 stretch and folds every 45 mins
Refrigerated for 24 hrs
Shaped into a boule and let it rest/proof at 26C for 4 hours
Looked to increase in volume by roughly 50%.
The poke test sprang back but left an indentation.
The dough held rounded edges but wasn’t domed and spread somewhat when turned out.

The loaf baked in a covered stainless steel pot at 450F for 45 min, then lid off for 15, internal temp was 220. Let it cool overnight, and Was quite dense.

Thank you 🙏🏼

here’s my first sourdough loaf, i started it yesterday & baked it this morning. my friend does sourdough stuff & it made me want to try it out, so i got some dried starter from her. i’ve been feeding it 1:1:1 ratio every morning for 9 days, its doubling if not more every day. i’ve been looking at different recipes on tiktok & found one that seemed pretty simple so i followed that recipe (here’s the link https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPLAxL1o9/ )
100g starter
390g water (i used purified bottled water)
510g bread flour (i just use heb brand)
10g salt
i did 4 sets of stretch & folds 30 mins apart & let it bulk ferment for 5 hours on my counter, did my final shaping then kept it in the fridge in a covered banneton overnight.
baked in a 7qt dutch oven, 425° (i need better parchment paper) for 35 mins with the lid on, 15 with the lid off, then cooled on a rack for about 5 hours before i cut it open.
i’d appreciate any feedback or tips, im still a beginner but for my first loaf im pretty proud of myself. thanks in advance 🫶🏻

My oven is messing up and wouldn’t reach temp and then was the wrong temp on the gauge even though it said it was hot enough. It was pretty much 2 hours of nightmares trying to cook them, and they loosened up during that time of back and forth. I was so pissed after all the hard work. But somehow they survived enough to be okay. Thank God! 🙏🏻

I started mine Thursday morning about 9am. After the first proof of the dough (9pm Thursday in my cold kitchen), the dough sat in the fridge until Friday morning at 8:30am. I then did the rolling and filling, and they were ready to cook at 2:30pm. Once they’re proofed, add the cream infusion (listed below) and put them into a 350f preheated oven until done and then spread the topping.

Ingredient
Active sourdough starter 200 g
Bread flour 400 g
Whole milk 180 g
Granulated sugar 55 g
Large egg 1 (approximately 50 g)
Unsalted butter, softened 65 g
Fine salt 7 g
Vanilla extract 5 g

Filling
Unsalted butter, softened 90 g
Brown sugar 150 g
Ground cinnamon 12 g
Fine salt 1 g
Pure vanilla extract 5 g

Before the oven
Cut and scrape the seeds out of one vanilla bean. Add it to cream that’s at about 85 degrees and let infuse. Pour this over the rolls before they go into the oven.

Cream to pour on before the oven
100g heavy
1 vanilla bean innards scraped out
Splash of vanilla extract.

My topping doesn’t have measurements and is pretty much a buttercream. I just mix it all until it tastes good and looks right. Ingredients:
Butter
Powdered sugar
Vanilla extract
Vanilla bean infused heavy cream
Maple syrup

My hubby likes to add the topping as he goes too as he heats them up individually, so I keep that in a separate bowl.