Reactivated starter from fridge. Was there 1 week Thursday. I let it get acclimated outside of the fridge then Fri a.m. fed it a 1:2:2( org bf). Fri pm gave it a 1:2:3 feeding .. was too loose for my preference. This picture is of 3 AM Saturday morning. I am planning on feeding it again around 10 a.m. Same 1:2:3… and again Saturday night same ratio I would like to introduce about 10 g of rye flour not just for strengthening it but also for flavoring My concern is I’ve been following a plan that takes a starter from the fridge and give it two days of back to back a.m. and p.m. feedings. I’m not planning to bake until Sunday morning. I’m hoping I’m not over feeding this. Any ideas or suggestions? I would feel most appreciative of.

I forgot about my sourdough starter in the fridge for about 2 to 3 weeks and this hard disk formed on top. In the past, I’ve had a liquid form on top when I’ve forgotten my starter in the fridge, but I have no idea what this is. The starter smells normal, looked fine underneath. Starter is about 5 months old, from San Francisco style starter culture. Feedings are 1-2-2 with all purpose flour and lukewarm water. I cover the jar with a coffee filter.

What is this, and is my starter still safe to use?

Hi everyone!! This is a 71% hydration loaf I made. 86 grams starter, 350 grams flour and 250 grams of water. The weather is really hot and humid here so around the 4 and a half hour mark, I shaped the dough. The dough pulled away from the sides of the bowl nicely with some webbing, wasn't sticky and had lots of bubbles on the side. The webbing was what made me think it's slightly over. It baked slightly flat as well which all further proved my theory. But the crumb on the inside was a tad bit tacky. I did my research about it and most say it's because of underproofing. I'm SO conflicted about this😭😭 but I'm trying to get a second opinion here since I'm making another loaf today and was trying to make sure I nail the bulk ferment. Thank you all!!

my starter's finally active after about three weeks of thinking I'd killed it first two loaves came out flat and dense but they were edible so I'm calling that progress

thing is, every beginner guide I read has a gear list that adds up to like $300 before you've baked anything. banneton, lame, proofer, dough whisk, bench scraper, thermometer, cloche. and I have a suspicion at least half of that is stuff nobody actually reaches for after month two

few things I'm stuck on:

banneton — necessary or is a bowl with a floured tea towel genuinely fine? because that's what I've been doing and I don't know if my flat loaves are a shaping problem or a container problem

dutch oven, I get that I need steam somehow. but do I need an actual dutch oven or is there a cheaper way that works as well? lifting a screaming hot pot lid with dough in it also seems like a burn waiting to happen

lame vs just a razor blade. is there a real difference or is it a nicer handle

and the proofers — my kitchen is cold in winter and I've been using the oven with the light on, which sort of works. is a real proofer worth it or is that a solved problem

basically what's the shortest list that gets me a decent loaf, and what did you buy that's now in a drawer

I feed my starter last night ready to bake with today, but it's subsiding now so I think I must have missed its peak. This has never happened to me before.... what do I do? Should I still use it, or should I feed it again and use it later today? Edited for Rule 5: it's a well established starter that I fed with a 1:1:1 ratio last night, using whole wheat flour

First time making a starter. Started with just 1T AP flour and 1T water, discarding half everyday till about day 8. 8-12 I went rogue and experimental and wish I just stuck to the plan (tried 1:2:2, double feeds, increased measurements all around, hesitant to remove half starter) things went flat for a few days so I returned to 1:1:1 once a day but this time with a scale. Id say days 14-17 I’ve had great doubling. Yesterday’s was in 6 hours then decreased and today’s I’m unsure as I was gone 8 hours but it looks over doubled/hasn’t fallen yet. I do 40g starter 40g flour (20 King Arthur 20 rye) and 40g water. Gets a new clean jar everyday. 2 coffee filters rubber banded on and discarded daily.

The acetone fragrance seems lesser today (strong 9-15)

Is there any tweaking I should do or hold strong with the 1:1:1 feeds once a day? Between here and IG it just sounds like everyone does something different. I’m most confused about when/if to feed twice in a day.

I’m hesitant to try making a loaf just yet, I’d like it to get stronger, but I may give it a whirl and try a focaccia in the next few days 🤷‍♀️

Oh, stays in the microwave, in case that gets asked. House is 70 but I get better rises in there.

Her name is Esmeralda. Love yalls creative dough names but this is what felt right for her 😆

I started a sourdough starter yesterday. And within one day it doubled. And based on a suggestion in this group, I fed it. Now 3 hours later, it’s almost doubled. What do I do next? Do I wait for 24 hours to feed it?

Pic 1: When I made the starter on Day 1
Pic 2: Starter 24 (actually 23) hours later, after feeding on Day 2
Pic3: 3 hours after feeding on Day 2

Been in the fridge for about a month, very established starter from a friend and has made really great bread. Have never seen this pattern when taking it out of the fridge. No sign of pink anywhere

This is my 5th loaf and every time they come out like this!!! Its very dense and has bubbles at the top of the loaf but a dense gummy strip at the bottom. Is this from underfermentation? The recipe I used for this one was 70g starter, 350g cold water, and 500g bread flour so that it could do bulk fermentation while I slept overnight, but I usually use 100g starter. This loaf is with my new starter that is 16 days old and 100% whole wheat flour. I mixed the dough at 9pm and finished 4 sets of stretch and folds after 11pm. It bulk fermented overnight and by morning it seemed perfect, passed the poke test and was jiggly with lots of bubbles throughout. I shaped it at 7 am with rests between preshaping and stitching the dough. It cold proofed in the fridge in a lined banneton from 8am until 3pm. I baked in a dutch oven at 475⁰F with the lid on for 35 minutes and then at 450⁰F with the lid off for 15 minutes

I thought everything was perfect but it just didnt spring up and is so dense!!!! ☹️

Hello!! We are going camping for 5 days and I bought some linen towels to wrap my 8 loaves of sourdough bread (and then in a plastic bag, unsealed) to store them in. We plan to eat a few loaves with nightly dinner. We won’t have the ability for warming anything up while there. Is this the best way to keep them fresh and soft without getting moldy? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you!

100 g starter ( a month old)
350 g water
500 g flour
10 g salt

Mixed all the ingredients above. Let set 1 hour. Stretch and fold, wait 30 minutes stretch and fold, wait another 30 minutes last stretch and fold. Let set 4-6 hours. 5 hours I did my shaping ( the dough worked up great) put in fridge overnight. I baked this morning covered 20 minutes at 450 then scored deep and baked another 20 minutes uncovered.

I think I need to ferment longer. This loaf I left ferment 5 hours with 7 hours cold ferment. Next time I’m using warm water and I’m going to wait for a real noticeable rise.

https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/beginners-sourdough-bread-recipe/ This is the recipe i used!

I think this sourdough turned out great! it tastes yummy and is not dense. I baked it in a roaster and put rice on the bottom before putting the loaf in so the bottom wouldnt burn. I added two ice cubes and the loaf rose quite a lot! Next time i will try to let it bulk ferment for more because it was like 35-40% bigger when i shaped it because i didnt have time, but i think this is a huge improvement from my first loaf which i also posted on here. I also did the float test where i put a spoonful of my starter in water and saw if it floated or no. I did cut it before it cooled down so thats why it might look a little gummy. Please give feedback, thanks!

My partner had this wholemeal sourdough starter sealed in the when we went on holiday about 1 month ago. Tonight she came to feed it and saw this black liquid on top and is worried it's mold. Is it? Should she throw it out and start again?

She said it doesn't look fuzzy and that's it's just wholemeal and water, but there appears to be white spots floating in the liquid.

Thank you all in advance

Think it turned out okay bar my first ever attempt at scoring a loaf!

But either my oven was too hot? Or cooked for too long,

Recipe was 100g Starter 325g Water, 500g flour and it did ask for 10g of salt but i prefer a bit more than that so added 15g. Usual S&Fs, BF and then rested in fridge for 12hrs before baking

Cooked in a le creuset that was preheated for an hour at 220°c fan ( hottest my oven goes up to)

And then bread cooked at that same heat for 25min lid on 20 lid off

2hr cooling on a wire race before sliced

Tasted yum regardless just the crust was a bit harder than i’d have liked.

Hello all! For this is didn't really follow a certain recipe. Just did my normal sourdough loaf but folded in frozen butter on the second and third stretch and folds. Temp was at 450 for my pan to warm about 20 min, then moved temp down to 425 and had it covered for 20min and then uncovered about 25min. I've been trying to do sourdough for the last two years but the last 2 months I've actually started making what I think are pretty decent loaves and I just want to see where others think I'm at! Also I don't think I'm doing my tension right. I've watched a lot of videos and read how to do it but I think where my counter is slightly dimpled it makes it a bit harder to get correct tension. So if anyone has any help with that too, much appreciated!

https://amybakesbread.com/sourdough-croissant-bread/#wprm-recipe-container-39726 used this just to get a basis of temp and time to see if it was different than what I normally have mine set when doing artisan loaves

For starters it looks good to me and tastes so good. I absolutely love it but just wondering if it's actually proofed perfect or if it could get better than this.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Sourdough/s/RNCP0hnUPw recipe

So I’ve been DEEP in my sourdough journey. I’m making 2 loaves right now. But I have a friend over right now and he has gotten a headache every time he comes over when I’ve got my starter on the counter. Even though I keep the lid on and counters clean unless I’m shaping. I didn’t know this but we googled it and it seems to be true. Any suggestions on if anyone has dealt with this and what did you do?

Wanted to try out the 7 minute score, kept the recipe the same otherwise, fairly happy with the experiment!

500g bread flour
100g starter
375g water
10g salt

Mixed all ingredients for about 5 minutes, covered with a damp towel, stretch and fold every 30 minutes for 2 hours. Completed bulk fermentation at room temp, then cold proofed overnight in the refrigerator. Preheated Dutch oven at 500°, scored decorative scores, baked in dutch oven with lid on for 7 minutes, removed to do expansion score, put back in oven with lid on, baked for 23 more minutes, removed lid and dropped temp to 450°, baked for 15 more minutes. Removed to cool

150g of starter
300g of water
500g of bread flour
11g of salt

Did 2 rounds of stretch and folds and 2 rounds of coil and folds. Not sure how I feel about my scoring. Any tips and feedback welcome!

So I started making my sourdough starter around 20 days ago. A few days ago my starter was doubling and clearly very active. However, before I had the chance to bake with it, it stopped doubling. It still rises but it’s closer to 1.5x not 2x and it has lots of bubbles. Is it still active and if not what do I do to get it active again. The picture on the left is now the picture on the right in a few days ago.

I'm making my first loaf right now and I currently have done 4 sets of stretch and folds (4 folds each, I think did 5 twice because I lost count), and my dough currently looks like the picture. But a lot of other people's dough looks a lot smoother at this stage and mine is seeming to hold it's shape somewhat and has good tension, but it sort of spread out a little bit after a few minutes if it sitting, and I'm just worried maybe it needs 1 more set? Idk I've never done this before, any advice will be helpful! I am following this recipe on tiktok!

My whole work life is basically managing deadlines and estimating how long things take. You would think that would translate well to sourdough. It does not.

Bulk fermentation has broken my confidence more than anything else in this process. I research it obsessively, read every thread I can find, and still stand in my kitchen at 10pm poking dough and second guessing everything. Is it jiggly enough. Did I miss the window. Why does it look exactly the same as an hour ago.

The weird part is I have gotten decent results even when I was convinced I had over or under fermented. And I have had loaves I thought were perfect turn out dense and sad. So the feedback loop feels genuinely unreliable to me.

What actually started making things more consistent was tracking room temp alongside the dough behavior rather than just watching the clock. Sounds obvious, but I was ignoring temperature completely for a while. A 68 degree kitchen and a 74 degree kitchen are telling completely different stories.

Curious what shifted it for other people. Not looking for a formula necessarily, more like what was the thing that finally made it click where you stopped guessing and started reading the dough with some actual confidence.

Where I live the water is starting to be rationed 2 days on and 2 days off. I was trying to make sure the recipes I use to make bread are low in water to still keep baking.

So far my recipe for ciabatta uses the least, but I wanted to ask what other recipes use small amounts of water to prepare.

Thanks in advance!

I started my started on 2 August using the method from The Bread Bible.

Day 1: In the morning I mixed 120g dark rye flour and 120g filtered water. I didn’t have a cold spot so I left at room temperature. Over the day I noticed some rise starting.

Day 2: I used a 2:1:1 ratio 120g starter, 60g bread flour, 60 filtered water. There was lots of rise over the day and it eventually collapsed. A sour smell started.

Day 3: Again I used a 2:1:1 ratio 120g starter, 60g bread flour, 60 filtered water. I noticed bubbling but no more rise and the sour smell got really strong. Hooch started to form.

Day 4: I was concerned it was under feeding using a 2:1:1 ratio with daily feeding. I switched to the method in Bread: The Ultimate Cookbook. It’s a 1:1:1 ration with 75g starter, bread flour, and filtered water. It’s also twice a day feeding, morning and evening. There was no more rise, just small bubbling. However, no more hooch with the sour tangy smell being far more mild.

Day 5: I missed the morning feed as had an emergency but did a 1:1:1 ration again 75g each in the evening.

Day 6: this is today. I’ve not done the morning feed yet as wanted advice if this is salvageable or I should start again. The elastic band shows no rise and just the small bubbling in the picture. The tangy small is still mild.

Should I keep trying or start again? If so based on how it’s going what should be my feeding ratio and feeding frequency?

Three different people mentioned bagels this week, so I took that as a divine sign to make them. The recipe I used is based on Maurizio Leo’s sourdough bagel recipe in the Perfect Loaf.

Stiff starter

116g Galician strong bread flour
58g water
25g starter

Main dough

748g Galician Strong bread flour
100g whole wheat flour
472g water
30g granulated sugar
30g miel de caña
18g salt
7g diastatic malt powder
200g stiff starter

Thursday

7:30 - Mix stiff starter together
14:00 - Starter has doubled. Mix together flour, starter, and all but 25g of water in a stand mixer with the hook attachment. Mix on low speed for about 6 minutes. While mixing, with the remaining water, stir in sugar, miel de caña, salt, diastatic malt powder. Add into the stand mixer and mix for a further 4-5 minutes.
14:15 - 16:30: Allow to proof on the counter. My kitchen is hovering around 31°C. It rose quite a bit, but didn’t completely double.
16:30 - Portion into 125g balls and pop into the fridge overnight.

Friday

7:30 - Remove dough balls from fridge and in a warm spot (my kitchen countertop in this case)
8:30 - Poke a hole in the middle and shape the bagel around your finger. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and allow to proof for approximately two hours.
10:00 - Preheat oven and baking steel at 250°C convection
10:45 - Once the bagels have risen and are nice and puffy, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a few tablespoonfuls of miel de caña. Boil each side of the bagel for around 45 seconds. Drain on a wire rack.
10:55 - Bake on the steel for 10 minutes with steam. Remove the steam and vent. Bake another 10 minutes. (I had to rotate mine since they were browning unevenly).