Walked away from an active bulk ferment and came back to dough climbing up my cabinets

I was at home in my tiny apartment kitchen prepping for a Saturday bake and left a batch of high hydration dough alone for 45 minutes. It overflowed the bowl and got all over the counter and onto the floor before I caught it. How do you guys handle a ferment that goes way faster than you planned?

2 comments

2 Comments

finleym431mo ago

Happened to me last spring with a 78% hydration sourdough. I walked away for what I thought was ten minutes to take out the trash, came back and the dough had already climbed halfway up the cabinet door. Looked like some kind of alien life form trying to escape. I honestly just scooped what I could back into the bowl, shaped it anyway, and it still baked up fine. Now I keep a sticky note on the fridge that says "check the dough dummy" in big red letters.

sean_torres711mo ago

The "check the dough dummy" note hits close to home. My buddy Dave had a similar thing happen with his starter, except his was a 90% hydration batch he was trying to impress his girlfriend's parents with. He went to answer the phone, got distracted by a video game, and came back two hours later to find dough crawling out of the bowl and onto the floor like some kind of floury octopus. He lost about a third of it to the kitchen tile, but he scooped up what he could, baked it anyway, and his future in-laws said it was the best bread they ever had. Now he sets a timer on his phone every single time (even for just "a quick second").