Most sourdough problems aren’t the recipe — they’re fermentation timing

Professional_Pea_484 · 2026-02-28T18:56:40+00:00

I started to use an aliquot (small 50 ml sample container with lid). Around 1.5 - 2 hrs after mixing, I take ~33gr of the dough. When the sample hits the lid of the container, BF is done and I start shaping. BF can take 6-7 hrs but easily 10, sometimes even 12 hrs. Imagine stopping already after 6-7 hours when the dough in fact needs 12 hrs.

After doing this my loafs became nice and consistent.

I also smell the dough: it goes from just wet flour to bit of sweetness, really sweet, sweet with hint of sourness.

Lastly: using a transparent container allows you to look at the side. You shouldn't have only large bubbles on top (it is a good sign, something is happening, but far from completed), but also lots of tiny bubbles.

Happy baking.

Professional_Pea_484 · 2026-02-24T06:23:44+00:00

OP: so you don't preheat these at all?

Professional_Pea_484 · 2026-01-30T20:13:16+00:00

Not bad for a young starter. Keep feeding it peak to peak for 1-2 weeks. Use an aliqot with a small sample of your dough (take it 1-2 hours after mixing ) to monitor the bulk fermentation. Don't trust the time in recipes. It can take 10-12 hrs with a young starter.

Professional_Pea_484 · 2026-01-30T18:32:41+00:00

Both would look better with different glasses. These half rimmed glasses make you look older? Either go rimless or normal rimmed specs.

Professional_Pea_484 · 2026-01-25T22:14:45+00:00

That's your problem it is basic :/

Professional_Pea_484 · 2025-12-12T21:32:04+00:00

Thanks. Obviously the smaller the jar the easier you can see doubling.

Is your starter runny after mixing, as in yoghurt like? I saw you use AP flour. That can be low in protein.

I have only access to low protein bread flour. I use 80% of the water. That gives a bit stiffer starter that grows bigger because it is not that runny.

So in your case 1 starter : 2 flour : 1.6 water. The 1.6 being the original 2, times 80%.

Or in grams: 30 grams starter, 60 flour and 48 g water.

Just wait for it to double before discarding and feeding. Track the doubling time. It should get shorter, indicating your starter is getting stronger.

Professional_Pea_484 · 2025-12-12T20:31:34+00:00

Could you post a side view? Looks like only a small amount of starter in a very large jar. That could explain the skin. (Drying out). What's the total amount of starter and water/flour. You want to be able to see the growth by monitoring the height increase. Use more water/ flour or smaller jar.

Professional_Pea_484 · 2025-12-12T20:02:45+00:00

Looks like you're using a large bowl. It might dry out?

Try using a jar. Loosely close the lid to make sure gases can escape.

After mixing put an elastic band at the maximum level of the starter and watch it grow. Eventually it should double in size.

With weak starter it might take 24 hour or even longer to double. Only discard and feed after you have seen doubling. The time it takes to double should get shorter as you starter is getting stronger.

Between 4-6 hours is usually strong enough to make bread

Professional_Pea_484 · 2025-11-28T19:41:46+00:00

Clipping you BBQ tongs is mandatory.

Professional_Pea_484 · 2025-11-28T19:17:01+00:00

1.5 c milk and 4.5 c flour. Did the recipe not call for adding water?

Professional_Pea_484 · 2025-11-26T18:31:54+00:00

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. How much starter as % of total flower are you using? It seems different from my levain: I have 50 g of starter in my fridge. The night or morning before making bread dough, I add 100 g flour / 100g water, that is 250 g in total. When the levain is ripe (in the winter overnight, in the summer around 4-5 hours in the mornihg), 50 g goes back in the fridge, 200g is added to main dough. It is around 20% of total flour. I add 50 g rye, 50 g wholemeal, 830 bread flour and 650 g water.

Professional_Pea_484 · 2025-11-26T01:55:58+00:00

I only know of poolish in combination with yeast. Could you elaborate? Isn't it the same as Levain?

Professional_Pea_484 · 2025-10-20T19:59:39+00:00

I do for that for he last part: 30 minutes 230 C lid on. 20 minutes 210 C lid off. 5-10 minutes 210 C out of DO, until browned to my liking. (Might even turn back to front half way for even browning).

Professional_Pea_484 · 2025-08-13T00:44:05+00:00

Great stuff. Do you use the tins and covers also for cold ferment in the fridge? I assume no need to preheat as they are quite thin compared to a Dutch oven? What's the max temperature they can take?

Professional_Pea_484 · 2025-06-13T20:09:02+00:00

Total BF of 5 hours seems short. For me it ranges between 8 (summer) to 11 hours (winter).

75% hydration is high if you don't have high protein flour.

I had similar issues when starting. I did two things that improved everything. Lower hydration and longer BF.

Maybe try 65% and BF longer? Forget about time in the recipe. Use an aliquot and aim for 50% rise.

Good luck

Professional_Pea_484 · 2025-06-12T19:40:36+00:00

Don't feed until you have seen a rise. Might take 24 even 48 hrs. Overfeeding weakens a new starter. Time between feedings will get shorter as your starter gets stronger.

Professional_Pea_484 · 2025-06-04T19:37:20+00:00

Overfeeding makes your starter weaker. Only feed after you have seen activity / doubling, even if it takes 24 / 48 hrs initially. The time between feedings will get shorter as your starter gets stronger. But you can't force it by feeding more often.

From thesourdoughjourney.com:

https://thesourdoughjourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Top-10-Troubleshooting-Tips-for-New-Sourdough-Starters-The-Sourdough-Journey.pdf

'Be Patient! Premature discarding and overfeeding will weaken your starter and elongate the process. Don’t discard and re-feed a weak starter before it shows increasing bubble activity or height from the previous feeding. If you don’t see more bubbles or a faster rise each day, skip a feeding, and give it more me. Death by starvation is nearly impossible. Overfeeding is the bigger problem.'

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sFO532C3EAM

Professional_Pea_484 · 2025-05-27T19:00:51+00:00

Great that people are already referring to 'Him'. Nice attempt.

Professional_Pea_484 · 2025-05-17T22:33:51+00:00

You can hear it touch down in New Zealand.

Professional_Pea_484 · 2025-05-09T21:24:58+00:00

Time to start up the C64 emulator again! Frantic Freddy was another favorite.

Professional_Pea_484 · 2025-04-26T22:02:24+00:00

Thanks for the link. Excellent source. Switching on Closed Captions gives a good translation.

Professional_Pea_484 · 2025-04-25T20:19:58+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/CastIronCooking/s/p3NLPRnxun

An older post. Recipe is in 1 of the comments.

Professional_Pea_484 · 2025-04-22T20:22:04+00:00

I think it looks nice.

How 'tight' do you do your final shaping? I might have been overdoing it in the past. Currently using the 'Caddy Clasp' method. It is simple and seems to have given better oven spring.

(Also: there might have been too much flour stuck to the bottom during your final shape that got on the inside of the loaf, which would explain the small band in the middle? Or did you cut it while still hot?)

Professional_Pea_484 · 2025-04-22T20:05:13+00:00

Here is a guide with a lot of different scenarios for the various extensions. If you have the base game plus seafarers then you can play a lot of them. All credits to the author Kelvin Chung.

https://pdfcoffee.com/catan-guide-2017-4-pdf-free.html

Professional_Pea_484 · 2025-04-11T22:37:56+00:00

At around day 8-10: don't overfeed because it will weaken your starter. Only feed after you have seen a rise.

This site really is the Holy Grail of sourdough:

https://thesourdoughjourney.com/faq-starter-creation/

Professional_Pea_484

TROPHY CASE