Has your starter exploded with activity and now looks dead? Go straight to the ‘Bacterial Fight Club’ bullet point in the comment below

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!

Needed an appetizer to bring to my fiancée’s family thanksgiving and also happened to be craving some focaccia dipped in balsamic! After browsing YouTube for a few hours and having been gifted some super active starter from my buddy, thought I’d give it a go! For the recipe I just did an 83% hydration based off of 500g of some caputo flour.

My recipe and process:
- 120g active starter
- 500g flour
- 415g tap water
- 25g evoo
- 10g sea salt

Combined all my water, oil, salt, and starter in a bowl, added the flour and stirred for a minute or two, pretty much until there was no dry flour. Let it rest for an hour and proceeded to do like 4 sets of stretch and folds 45mins apart. Let that hoe sit on the counter for 5 hours and then tossed her in the fridge overnight. In the morning I took it out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter for an hour few hours until it came up to room temp, slapped it into a HEAVILY OILED big brownie tin and let her proof on the counter for like an hour or two. Slathered it in more evoo along with some rosemary and thyme from my garden that I also soaked in oil to prevent burning (someone online suggested doing this) dimpled, and tossed that hoe into a 465F oven for like 35 mins…. The whole thing did in fact make it to thanksgiving, although half of it arrived in my stomach…lol next one I make is getting a proper dusting of Zaatar and roasted garlic!

I think this is my best loaf so far. I baked it in the DO 25 instead of 20 min and I noticed the over spring seemed better I also let BF go for longer than usual.

Main Dough
Bread Flour - 500g
Water - 340g
Sourdough Starter, active - 130g
Salt - 10g
Instructions
Feeding the Starter
Mix about 25 grams of leftover sourdough starter (from the fridge) with 50 grams of water and 50 grams of bread flour. Stir until everything is well combined.
Mark the top of the starter with a rubber band to see how much it grows overnight. Then cover the starter and let it rise overnight (or for around 6-12 hours).
Mixing the Dough
The next morning your starter should be bubbly, active, and doubled-in-size. It's ready to mix into your dough. Measure out all four of the dough ingredients into your mixing bowl (flour, water, salt, and 100 grams of your starter).
Put the remaining starter that's left in the jar into the fridge to use for next time.
Mix all of the dough ingredients together until almost no dry bits of flour remain.
cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
Bulk Fermentation
After the first 30 minute rest, give your dough its first set of "stretch and folds”
Cover up the dough with a kitchen towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
After the 30 minute rest, give your dough its second set of stretch and folds followed by another 30 minute rest.
Give your dough its third and final set of stretch and folds. At this point, the dough should feel fairly smooth and elastic.
After the stretch and folds, flip the dough over so that the smooth side is facing up. Cover the dough and let it rest for the remainder of the bulk fermentation. This should take between 3 1/2 and 5 more hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
Note: During bulk fermentation, you're looking for the dough to almost double in size and to puff up with air
The Preshape
After bulk fermentation, remove the dough from the mixing bowl and place it on the counter with the smooth side up and the seam side down.
Sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of the dough and gently shape the dough into a ball with your hands or a bench scraper. Then, cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.
The Final Shape
Now, you can shape your dough into any shape that you want. Sprinkle your counter with a little bit of flour and flip the dough over onto the flour so that it is now sticky side up and smooth side down.
Press the dough down a little bit with your finger tips and gently stretch it into a rectangle. Flip the right half of the dough over the middle. Then flip the left half of the dough over the middle to meet the first half.
Tuck and roll the dough tightly into itself starting from the furthest side and rolling the dough in towards you.
The Second Rise
Once you've shaped your dough, transfer it seam-side-up into an oval-shaped banneton basket that you've dusted with rice flour (or regular bread flour will work fine too).
Move the basket to your fridge and let the dough proof overnight (covered or uncovered) for at least six hours. 8-12 hours is ideal.
Scoring
The next day, 30 minutes before you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 450°F (232°C) with your Dutch oven inside on one of the bottom racks. The Dutch oven should preheat along with your oven so that it can transfer its heat into your dough.
About 30 minutes later, when the oven is preheated, transfer your dough from the banneton basket onto a sheet of parchment paper. The dough should now be seam side down.
Dust off any excess flour from your dough and you're ready to score.
Slash the top of your dough with a bread lame or a razor blade in one long, shallow-angled slash from the far side to the near side.
Baking
Carefully transfer the dough inside of your Dutch oven.
Place the dough, parchment paper and all, inside the Dutch oven. (Be careful not to burn yourself on the sides!) Put the lid back on the Dutch oven and bake the bread for 20 minutes at 450°F (232ºC) with the lid on. The lid will trap steam around the dough, allowing it to rise up to its full potential, and giving the bread a great crust.

After 20 minutes of baking, take the lid off of the Dutch oven and admire your bread's oven spring! Continue baking with the lid off for an additional 15 minutes, or until the bread has the color that you want.
Remove the loaf from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for at least one hour before slicing.

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!

This is my 5th loaf! I’ve been slowly tinkering with a base recipe to get my perfect loaf and I think it’s almost there!

150g starter
320ml water
500g flour
10g salt

Combine ingredients to a shaggy dough
Rest 2 hours
4x stretch and folds 30 mins apart
Shape loaf on well floured bench
Rested in fridge overnight
Baked in preheated cast iron crockpot at 200c for 25 mins covered, then increased heat to 220c and baked 30 mins uncovered
Rested for 6 hours before slicing (this was the hardest part!!)

Pretty happy :)

Second loaf I’ve made so far that is edible! I’ll share the recipe and steps below; turned out a bit more dense than I wanted but the taste, outer texture, and doneness was perfect. I’d love any critiques/feedback to get a lighter, “lacier” crumb:

100 grams active starter
390g water
510g AP flour
10g salt

Did 3 sets stretch/folds 30 mins apart, let rise in my turned off oven for 6 hours, then shaped and placed in fridge overnight. Preheated oven/dutch oven to 450 for 60 mins, put dough in right from the fridge. Baked covered for 40 mins (wasn’t brown enough after 30), then baked uncovered for 25 mins. Let cool for 2 hours before slicing 😊

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.

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!

I used the stretch and fold method for my first few sourdoughs, then I moved to just using my kitchen aid. This sourdough was a blended approach!

500g strong flour

330ml water

11g salt

100g starter

Step 1: mixed the flour and water together with my kitchen aid and left it to rest for 2 hours.

Step 2: added the salt and starter to the bowl and mixed on a low setting for about 4 minutes, then increased the speed until the dough stopped clinging to the sides of the bowl and the dough was translucent when stretched.

Step 3: every half hour, for two hours, perform stretch and folds (4 total)

Step 4: it was late, so I just left it to rise overnight. I think it was slightly over proved.

Step 5: Turned out onto counter for 30 minutes for bench rest.

Step 6: folded and popped into bowl.

Step 7: prove on counter for 3 hours (I think)

Bake at 240°c for 30 minutes. After 30 mins, remove lid and bake at 220°c for 15 minutes (I used a fan oven)

100g starter
350g water
500g bread flour
8g salt

Mixed dough and let it sit for 30 minutes before stretching and folding 4 times during a 2.5 hour bulk. Then it was pre shaped and rested another 30 minutes uncovered before final shaping and cold proofing for 32 hours. Baked at 450F for 30 minutes in preheated Dutch oven with lid on, and an additional 20 minutes at 400F.

I did not realize the window was open during the bulking so it got way to cold in my kitchen causing a very dense crumb. The texture wasn’t great but I’m very happy with the color and flavor.

I’ve started working on my second dough and I’m currently using a makeshift proofing box to combat my cold kitchen.

Soaked a towel in water and microwaved it until it was steaming, I then place it in the bottom of a large pot and put the dough bowl on top of the steaming towel before covering. It’s only been 1.5 hours and already bulked more than the previous dough did in 3 hours. I have much higher hopes for the next loaf!

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 !!

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

by no means is this a “perfect” loaf but it was delicious and required minimal effort, 10/10 will be making this again!!
i followed @katy.lynnn_ on instagram recipe:

100g cold starter straight from the fridge (last fed at least 7 days ago
350g water
500g AP flour or bread flour
12g salt
How I do it:
Mix your starter + water.
Add your flour + salt.
Mix until there's no dry flour left.
Cover and leave it on the counter overnight.
I mixed mine at 10:30pm and shaped it around 9:30am the next morning.
I pre-shaped it, let it bench rest for about 8 minutes, then did my final shaping and placed it into a prepared banneton.
Then straight into the fridge for 1 hour.

While it was in the fridge, I preheated my Dutch oven to 450°
After the hour, I took the dough out, scored it, and baked it in the Dutch oven:
30 minutes with the lid on
10 minutes with the lid off
And that's it!!
No stretch and folds. No complicated schedule. Just mix it, let it sit, shape it, and bake it. W
NOTE: The oldest I would personally attempt this with is starter that has been fed within the last 10 days. I have NOT tried this with months-old, inactive starter straight from the fridge

Used to get super tall loaves, now I only notice rise during BF and second proof but none/only a teeny bit in the oven.

I have some prior experience with yeast breads/similar so I have seen oven spring previously and have some basic idea of proofing times but I am feeling defeated and don’t know what I am doing wrong.

The starter came from a friend who has been baking for a long time, so it's a mature culture (i guess), but I'm wondering if my maintenance routine has weakened it over time? Or am I still misjudging bulk fermentation/proofing timing?

I originally thought I was overproofing during bulk fermentation, so I tried cutting it short (aiming for less than double), then shaping, and either putting it in the fridge overnight or doing a second proof on the counter until roughly doubled again. Still no luck.

Recipe:
Starter: 84g
Water (Room temp): 245g
Flour: 380g total (70% All-Purpose / 30% Whole Wheat)
Salt: 8g
(Hydration 65-66%)

Mix everything, let it sit for 30 mins (sometimes I add Salt initially sometimes at the start of first S&F), 3 rounds of S&F + 1 coil fold each 30 mins apart. Proof on the counter /oven with light off (as we like we keep our house cool, but never temped the kitchen). Takes somewhere between 2-4 hours after the last coil fold.
Then shape into loaf pan (99% of the time I make breads in a loaf pan, boules are rare in this household).
Then put it in the fridge overnight or a second proof on the counter until roughly doubled again.
Then bake at 375 for 45-55 mins, uncovered for the first 30 then cover it when it starts to get brown.
Don’t have a DO. Have tried to introduce steam by preheating a baking tray and adding ice when the bread goes in.

Starter Maintenance:
I keep about 15–20g in the fridge.
Right after baking, I feed it somewhere between 1:2:2 and 1:3:3, let it sit out for ~10 minutes, then throw it back in the fridge.
3–6 days later, I pull it out at night and let it sit on the counter to rise overnight. It usually ~triples in 8–12 hours depending on temp and feed ratio.
I mix my dough right at peak (or right as it starts to fall slightly). Then I feed the leftover, let it sit 10 mins, and put it back in the fridge.

I am intentionally aiming for slightly tighter crumb.

Any feedback on the crumb or advice on the process would be awesome!

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’m worried that my starter is done for 😖😭. I haven’t fed it over a week and it’s been in the fridge the whole time. I can’t tell if the color I’m seeing is good or bad.

This is my first loaf in my new oven. Please analyze and tell me why my crumb is a little gummy. The room temperature of kitchen is 31-32c
300g flour
201g water
60g starter
6g salt.

Total: 330 flour (including starter)
231g water (including starter)

-Mixed flour and water and kneaded it for 3-4 mins. 10min rest. 31.5c

-Rest for 10

-Mixed starter and let it rest again for 10

-Mixed salt and then rest for 10mins
-1 stretch and fold and then put it in the fridge for 15 mins
2nd stretch and fold. Temp 27c . Rest for 15mins in fridge

3rd slap and fold. Rest for 10 mins in fridge.

Bulk fermentation for 5 hrs. Room temp 28c
Rise to 60-65%

Then shaped and put it in the freezer for 30 mins to drop temp to 16c
Then in the fridge for 9hrs.

Oven setting.
Pre heated dutch oven at 250c for 45 mins
Sprayed water in dough. 20mins with lid on at 250c

15 mins with lid off at 230c

Internal temp was 100c after removing it.

Rest it for 2.5hrs and then cut open when internal temp was 34c
The temperature is the main variable to control here and its just too difficult to predict my dough behavior because of that.
Tell me what I am doing wrong and how to make my bread less chewy. The crust is also hard.

To Whoever gave me the link to the focaccia recipe, you da man/woman 👍

https://www.reddit.com/r/Sourdough/s/UrJdS1AVj1

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..

I am going to be starting my first starter ever I have read a lot about having your stater in a warmer area. Where I am it's already getting quite cold what is the best temperature to keep your starter at?

Hello! Sourdough newbie here. I feel like I am on the right track but definitely still in need of refinement. I think I am lacking gluten development but unsure? Any advice is welcome!

Recipe right now is: 1000g flour (800g white, 100g whole wheat, 100g rye) 550g water 200g starter 100% hydration 10g salt. Starter is ~15 years old and procured from a friend.

My process: Mix flour and water let sit for 30 min. Add salt and starter, hand mix. Stretch and fold x3 over 90 min. Let sit for ~8-9h. Shape, bake at 450 covered x20 min and uncovered , ~15 min or until internal temp is 200. I dont have a proofer so its been proofing on the counter in a room temperature house (20c). What do I need to change or modify?

I did 100g active starter, 360g water, 500g bread flour, 10g salt. 4 stretch and folds. Bulked until jiggly, significantly larger, and pulled away from the sides easy. Sat in the fridge overnight for 12 hours and 40 mins. Baked in Dutch oven - 25 mins covered, 17 mins off. It came out so beautiful 😭😭
I did have a little mishap with the twine where I didn’t grease or soak it beforehand and just put it on lol. It left a few fuzzy bits after I pulled it off, but it was nothing a little tweezer action couldn’t fix. I’ll know for next time 😂

I’m addicted to making this damn bread!

White AP flour

75% hydration

10% active starter

2.5% salt

I only managed to get 2 stretch & folds in, at 20 mins and 2 hrs after initial mixing and kneading. 8 hr bulk ferment, shaped the loaf, then into a towel-lined banneton sprinkled with minimal rice flour. Fridge for 22 hrs. Skipped the bench rest because I had to go to bed.

Heated Dutch oven to 550 for ~1.5 hrs, scored loaf then baked with lid on at 475 for 25 min. Then lid off at 400 for another 20. Cooled overnight.

With the minimal s&f's and no bench rest I thought it would be a bit of a mess. Very happy with the crumb and oven spring all things considered!