My sourdough was always dense until a baker told me I was overproofing it by like 4 hours

I was letting my dough sit for 12 hours on the counter because I thought more time meant more flavor... turns out I was just killing the yeast and getting a brick. She said to cut it to 8 hours max and keep it at 75 degrees exactly. Has anyone else had a random stranger's tip totally fix a recurring problem?

3 comments

3 Comments

rosebarnes24d agoMost Upvoted

That thing about room temperature being 70 to 75 really hit home for me too. I read somewhere that most home kitchens are actually closer to 68 degrees, which is way too cold for sourdough to do its thing properly. Once I moved my starter near the water heater closet everything changed.

mila_harris25d ago

I ruined six loaves before a woman at the farmer's market told me I was keeping my starter too cold. She said room temperature meant 70 to 75 degrees, not the 60 degree corner of my kitchen. That one change made my bread actually rise for the first time.

averymartin25d ago

Wait, nobody told you that before? That's wild. Six loaves is a lot of wasted flour and time over something so simple. I get it though, those little details make all the difference with sourdough. My starter sits right on top of my fridge where it's warm and it still took me way too long to figure out the temperature thing. People always talk about feeding schedules but never mention the actual temp matters just as much. Good on that farmer's market lady for saving you the headache.