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310g water 450g Sam's club AP 200g starter 12g salt3-hour autolyse (just flour and water) while starter "wakes up" (100g...
07/27/2025

310g water 450g Sam's club AP 200g starter 12g salt

3-hour autolyse (just flour and water) while starter "wakes up" (100g starter, 45g water, 55g AP)

2 S+F during autolyse (first at 2:00, second at 2:30)

Mixed in starter (bubbly and happy) and salt with a pinching and stretching motion

took starting temp and volume: 600mL @ 81F (starter was warming under the oven light, autolyse was on the counter)

45 min rest, then S+F until the dough resisted stretching, 75F temp (this was probably a misread)

45 min rest, then S+F until resistance, 78F

45 min rest, S+F until resistance, 78F

1 hr rest, S+F until resistance, 77F

2 hr rest, then volume check (800mL, was going for 1000mL)

1 hr rest, hit 1000mL, popped in fridge for 1 hr because I was too busy to shape in that moment

Floured countertop, stretched dough out into a rectangle, folded into thirds, rolled up, pinched the seam, then kinda scooped around the dough with my hands while turning it to try to create some tension

floured banneton, chucked the dough in there, no countertop rest (I was ready to go to bed)

9 hours later, preheated oven to 485F for 30 min. Transferred dough from the fridge to a cold DO, scored, baked with the lid on at 485F for 30 min, lid off at 465F for 40 min.

cooled for 5 hours before slicing right down the midde

Taste is great, texture is a little gummy (which I don't mind, but my husband doesn't like it)

Some notes:

Autolyse: Claire Saffitz told me to

S+F during autolyse: seemed like a good idea at the time

Choice to bulk to 1000mL instead of what the sourdough journey calc recommended for my average temp (78F, so 40%, which would be around 850mL): I thought my recent loaves had been underbulked lately despite following that calc, so I wanted to "push myself" to overbulk and 1000 seemed like a nice even number.

No bench rest: pure laziness and fear of overproofing

Cold DO and not ultra-hot oven: every loaf I've ever made has had a burnt bottom and I've tried EVERYTHING else (different DO, aluminum pan under the DO, steel pan under the DO, pizza stone under the DO, more flour on the parchment paper, two layers of parchment paper, even lower temps and longer bakes...all produced burnt bottoms)

Score right down the middle at 90 deg: I don't care about ear right now

I'm at my wit's end here. I've struggled with starter acidity (fixed that problem months ago, starter is happy and doubling in 5-ish hours on the counter with 10g water+15g AP feeds now). I thought I wasn't building enough gluten (hence the autolyse and a million S+Fs). I thought it was underbulking, but this loaf isn't all that different from my last one...

I will take any and all advice at this point. Thank you in advance!!

Credit: nicholas_underpants

My current recipe: 375g water // 500g flour // 100g starter With 11g saltI start by mixing all ingredients. Let rest for...
07/27/2025

My current recipe: 375g water // 500g flour // 100g starter With 11g salt

I start by mixing all ingredients. Let rest for 30 min. Then 4 rounds of stretch/fold spaced roughly 30-45 min apart. Then I bulk ferment at room temp for ~10 hours (my kitchen is around 70F). After that I shape the dough, let it rest for 30 min, shape again and put it into a banneton and put in fridge overnight (typically I wait a cold ferment for 24 hours total).

I use a lodge Dutch oven, cooking 500F covered for 20, uncovered 450F for 20. I’ve been throwing an ice cube in the Dutch oven for a little extra moisture.

My sourdough tastes amazing, but I feel I can never get it to have a golden crust all around. It gets a bit gummy/softer at the base. Please help me get better at the art of sourdough !! 🙏🏼

Credit: birdofparadise

I am hoping this team can confirm this loaf was well fermented.  Mixed dough at 5:05am this morning.  30 min fermentolys...
07/27/2025

I am hoping this team can confirm this loaf was well fermented. Mixed dough at 5:05am this morning. 30 min fermentolyse. 6 minute mix with Kitchen Aid (4 min on #2; 2 min on #4). 10 minute rest. Bench knead 6 minutes. Rest 30 min followed by 1 stretch & fold and 2 coil folds, 30 minute rest in between. Ended bulk ferment at 40% rise (consistent dough temp 79*-80*) at 9:20. Preshape, 20 minute rest. Final shape and bench proof 20 minutes. Total Bulk Ferment 4 hours, 45 minutes. Cold re**rd 3 hours. Bake 450* covered 25 minutes; lid off 20 minutes. Final bake internal temp 210*. 450g King Arthur Bread Flour, 50g King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour, 103g ripe starter, 340g warm water.

Credit: Marla Vartabedian

This just came out of the oven so no crumbshot currently but does this cracking seem like an under proof issue?Starter m...
07/27/2025

This just came out of the oven so no crumbshot currently but does this cracking seem like an under proof issue?
Starter maintaining is 1:5:5 twice (one each day for 2 days) before using. Stored in the fridge otherwise.
Recipe:
150g starter
350g water
8g salt
500g flour
4 sets stretch and folds 45 minutes apart
BF for around 5 hours at 71°ish(it’s been hot and our house fluctuates) but it wasn’t quite doubled before fridge ferment for a couple hours. 450° lid on 30 minutes, 400° lid off 30 minutes. Internal temp 209°

Credit: Cheyenne Bamford

You guys!!! I was about to throw the whole dough in the bin at 3 am when I checked my dough and it was also sleeping! No...
07/27/2025

You guys!!! I was about to throw the whole dough in the bin at 3 am when I checked my dough and it was also sleeping! No rise. Consulted none other than chatgpt and it said mix 10g of active starter (I had one that was out of the fridge and freshly fed at the same time I made my dough), 10g water and 10 g flour and gently create space in your dough to spread the mixture in after 15 minutes and then fold the dough and check again in 2 hours. I did exactly that and my dough rose to about 30%. BF at this point was 6 hours plus the extra 2, total of 8. It was cold proofed for 24 hours and at this point I lost hope. But it worked!!! This is my 6th loaf and probably the best one to date. I did not know you can do this, but I'm so glad I gave it a shot. Thank goodness for chatgpt, we have bread for the week! 😅

Credit: Audrey Joven

First loaf ever. 🍞 how did I do? The inside did feel a bit doughy but still tasted amazing. Cook longer? I left it in th...
07/27/2025

First loaf ever. 🍞 how did I do? The inside did feel a bit doughy but still tasted amazing. Cook longer?
I left it in the fridge over night then on the counter for 2 hours. Cooked at 450 covered for 30 uncovered for 20. I followed some TikTok videos during the process to help.

Credit: Karina Eileen

I just love this easy SD loaf. I add pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds with the second stretch and foldCredit: Ilona Sto...
07/27/2025

I just love this easy SD loaf. I add pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds with the second stretch and fold

Credit: Ilona Stobaugh

This is my first loaf using only normal white flour. It came out a little bit flatter than I would’ve hoped. I think it ...
07/26/2025

This is my first loaf using only normal white flour. It came out a little bit flatter than I would’ve hoped. I think it could be because of the flour , or maybe it’s slightly overproofed. What do you guys think?

Recipe:

100g (pretty) stiff starter

330g water

500g normal norwegian white flour

10g salt

——

Mix water, starter and salt together

Add flour and mix

Wait like 15-30 mins

Mix until almost windowpane (8 min on low speed for me)

Rest for 15-30 mins

1 round of s&f and 2 rounds of coil folds spaced 30 mins apart

Shaped and let proof at room temp until it passes poke test

Cold proofed for 8-16 hrs

——

Preheat DO for 30 min to 1 hour at 250c

Pull out dough and score

Put one ice cube in DO

Bake covered for 20 mins at 230c, remove lid and bake for 20-30 mins at 200c

Credit: TheSilverPoop

Ingredients300g high protein all purpose flour*73% hydration, ~222g filtered water66g starter, used at peak**6g salt*I’v...
07/26/2025

Ingredients

300g high protein all purpose flour*

73% hydration, ~222g filtered water

66g starter, used at peak**

6g salt

*I’ve read that this helps to thin out the crust in place of bread flour

**Unsure of hydration level as I feed it based on how it looks & smells, can assume at 100%. I did also bring it out of hibernation the night before & fed it twice

Process:

Autolysed for an hour, then mixed in starter and salt. Bulk fermentation was roughly 5.5 hours (I live in a tropical country):

1x set of stretch & folds 3x sets coil folds, spaced 30 minutes apart

2. Cold fermentation was roughly 20 hours (had a full day out). Baking process was as follows:

30 minutes - 230°C/450°F, covered in a Dutch oven 15 minutes - 210°C/410°F, uncovered

Notes:

My dough was a little sticky (humidity is high where I’m at) and it took quite a generous amount of dusting of bread flour to shape it.

Upon writing this, I realise it might be due to the bread flour that I used during shaping that contributed to the thicker crust, but I’d still appreciate some advice/tips/suggestions on how to improve this

My mum buys sourdough from other shops (🥲) when I can make loaves of them, just because she doesn’t like the chewy crust. And being the overachieving child, I MUST perfect this so she will eat my bread instead (please see my humour in this, I’m not forcing her to eat my bread; she has free will)

Comments welcomed for anything & everything: crumb, texture, crust, colour, patterns, etc…!

Credit: howaboutnoods

Isn’t she lovely 🎵🎶 Shout out to my starter for giving me such beautiful bread 💕 Credit: Christina Szela
07/26/2025

Isn’t she lovely 🎵🎶
Shout out to my starter for giving me such beautiful bread 💕
Credit: Christina Szela

I used 500g of bread flour, 375g of water, 100g of starter (it was an established starter that was given to me over a mo...
07/26/2025

I used 500g of bread flour, 375g of water, 100g of starter (it was an established starter that was given to me over a month ago) and 10g of salt.
Autolyse for 45 minutes
2hrs stretching and folding every 30 minutes
I bulked fermented for 3 and 1/2 hours (I live in San Diego and it's hot and dry. Fermenting longer has cause overproofing before....guess I should try less started next time)
Shaped and in the fridge overnight (12 hours)
Cooked in Dutch oven for 30 minutes at 450 with lid on and 30 minutes with lid off.
Can I get a crumb read please?

Credit: Amanda Simpson

(((((EDIT— I use the farmhouse on Boone recipe for sandwich bread. It calls for one first initial rise. And then one sec...
07/26/2025

(((((EDIT— I use the farmhouse on Boone recipe for sandwich bread. It calls for one first initial rise. And then one second rise once the dough is separated with no stretch and folds in between. Sounds easy right???
8 loafs later…… I am defeated😂)))))))
———————————————————————
I’m about to throw it all out into the trash and never try baking bread again😤😭
I’m on loaf number 8.
And I cannot, for the life of me, get them to turn out.
Not even simple sandwich bread
I follow the farmhouse on Boone recipe.
All is good until the second rise.
The first rise, everything appears to be going great.
Then I separate the dough into halves for the second rise, and they simply don’t do squat.
I really thought I nailed it this go around!!!
Until, I didn’t.
What kind of VOODOO BLACK MAGIC are y’all doing to make perfect bread?!?!?!

Credit: Aufal Marom Benzema

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