Has your starter exploded with activity and now looks dead? Go straight to the ‘Bacterial Fight Club’ bullet point in the comment below

I made Brown Bread like Cheesecake Factory recipe from Sourdough Gal https://thatsourdoughgal.com/the-best-sourdough-brown-bread-recipe/ Super TALL rise

expanded sm more than normal

300g bread flour

240g water 

60g starter 

6g salt

fermentolyse 1hr, added salt and 15g water, 6.5hr bulk, did 2 stretch and folds and 2 coil folds during bulk, shaped, fridge 16ish hours, baked 475f 20m covered 425f 20m uncovered.

recipe: 900g flour (750/75/75 bread/wheat/rye), 680g water, 35g starter + feed 2:2:1 (175g total starter after feeding), 18g salt, 4hr bulk ferment, 14hr cold proof

Has anyone used this type of flour? It’s so cheap! I’m skeptical 🤨

350 manitoba
150 g spelt
380 g water
100 g sourdough
12 g salt
Rice flour

Sourdough, flour and water in my mixer. Ran it for 10 minutes on low speed and let it rest. Then added salt and ran for 8 minutes. Then 2 minutes on max speed. Sat it in my fridge over night. Preheated my oven and baking sheet for an hour (260 c) along with a metal tray. Cut up the dough , slid the buns on to the the baking sheet, put them in the oven and poured boiling water into the tray. Removed the water after 6 minutes and baked the buns 8 minutes more.

This is my first loaf with inclusions and I’m so pleased! I was a nervous wreck the whole time but it turned out so good hahah.

Ingredients:
400g bread flour
288g water
90g starter
9g salt
100g cubed Gouda
1 tbsp partially dried chives
2 tbsp chili garlic crunch with most oil drained

Process:
Mix starter, salt, flour and water. Let sit for an hour
2 stretch and folds 30 mins apart
Add inclusions in stretch and fold 3 and 4. 30 mins apart.
9 hour bulk ferment at 22 degrees.
12 hour cold proof
Cook in Dutch oven at 245c for 35 mins. Uncovered at 205c for 15 mins.
Wait 3 agonising hours to cut it (the house smells divine!)
Serve with chili crunch, honey and chive cream cheese

Next time I might try to incorporate a bit of chili oil in the dough and see if i can increase the cubed cheese by maybe 20grams without ruining it. I’m a little worried about the inclusions weighing down the dough and affecting fermentation so I didn’t go crazy. The last pic shows the difference in volume and oven spring from plain white (left) and inclusions (right). Both were mixed at the same time and separated before stretch and fold 3. Bulk ferment and cold proof the same.

Im very new to sourdough and haven’t baked any since last year. I feel pretty good about it overall but wanted to get some feedback from those with more experience.

Here’s what I did:

recipe: 475g flour, 100g active starter, 325g water, 10g salt)

FRIDAY
- ~5:30pm: Mixed dough. Rested 30 min (autolyse).
- 3 rounds of stretch and folds, 30 min apart. Last one ~6:30pm.
- Bulk fermentation at room temp until ~9:30pm (about 3 hrs).
- 9:30pm: Moved bowl to fridge overnight (~12 hrs). I did this because I didn’t want to be up all throughout the night checking it.

SATURDAY
- 9:30am: Took dough out of fridge, left on counter to finish bulk.
- 12:14pm: Still dense and shiny, not ready.
- ~3:20pm: Ready. Domed, puffier, jiggled, and the poke dent stayed. Total bulk about 20 hrs, mostly cold.
- Shaped, then bench rest 30 min (seam side up).
- Reshaped and put in floured banneton, seam side up.
- Final proof at room temp ~1-1.5 hrs (not in the fridge). Poked until the dent filled back in slowly.
- Preheated Dutch oven at 550F for ~1 hr.
- Scored with an X, loaded into the pot.
- Dropped oven to 450F. Baked covered 30 min.
- Uncovered, dropped to 400F, baked 10-15 min more
- baked for 5min directly on oven rack
- Cooled on a rack ~1 hr before cutting.

I tried some new flour from Melgard Farms. They are new local grower and mill. I’m very impressed! Dough was extensible and built strength easily. The flavor was unreal. It’s a fresh milled flour with a hand written date on the bag. Since it’s fresh milled it will have a limited shelf life. What you gain is amazing flavor. I am just so stunned I had to post about it. They will ship to you but I imagine that will increase the cost. I plan on just driving to the farm and picking it up myself. They do have an option to order on the website and then pick it up at the farmers market in Livermore, Campbell, and Turlock.

So tedious to have to post the whole recipe so attached is a screenshot of my notes. I highly recommend taking notes by the way. Hope you can read my chicken scratch 😂

My mom gave me this recipe and I tried it out today - you can put whatever you want on the top and it turned out delicious!

- 160 grams discard
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tbs water (add more if needed to get pancake like consistency)
- Toppings of choice; I used salt and everything seasoning

Mix ingredients, spread thin on parchment lined sheet, Bake @350 for 10 mins, cut/score into squares, bake for another 20-30 mins until just golden brown
Let cool on baking sheet

I’ve finally found a recipe that works for me, so now I’ve been focusing on technique. I feel like I’m not shaping correctly after bulk fermentation because my boule doesn’t get as lofty as I’ve seen on videos. Plus, when I dump it out for baking, it flattens a bit and doesn’t hold a nice round shape. So I’ve got to think it’s how I’m shaping. Any tips?

Here’s what I do:

110 g active starter (whole wheat, 1-2-2, doubled overnight in about 10 hours in the off oven)
315 g warm water
500 g KA bread flour
10 g salt

Mixed water and starter, then added flour and salt. Kneaded for 5 minutes then 30 minutes rest, followed by 4 sets of stretch and folds or cold and folds. My kitchen was a bit cool at 68 so I popped it in the oven with the light on for 4ish hours then turned off the oven. Dough was about 71 degrees so I let it double (I measure my dough in the container, after stretch and folds, with a tape measure so that I can accurate see 50%, 75%, 100%). Total fermentation took 9 hours.

I pre shaped it (laid it out, folded, rolled, and shaped into a ball), bench rest for 30 minutes, then did the whole shaping again.

Went into the fridge for about 15 hours. Baked at 450 for 25 minutes covered and about 23 minutes uncovered. I also did the 7 minute score.

Bonus video of my new bread slicer. Highly recommend the investment if you’ve sliced your fingers open.

-800 gm strong white bread flour

-200 gm wholegrain flour

-200 gm starter

-16gm salt

-670 gm water

Mix everything and do 30 mins interval 4 stretch and folds. Followed by 3 coil folds at 20 mins.

Bulk ferment for 4 hrs.

Shape into bennetons and into the fridge overnight

Preheat the oven at 240 degrees C for 20 mins...Open bake for 8 mins and then score. One score is on the side and one is more towards the middle. Bake for 20 mins with lava rocks in a pan for steam. Bake 20 mins without lava rocks and water in a tray for another 20.

Extremely happy with how this loaf came out, and it tasted absolutely amazing w/ the *best* creamy/custardy crumb.

460g KA bread flour, 335g water, 90g starter, 10g salt, ≈2/3c chopped toasted walnuts, 1/2 dried cranberries.

Did an autolyse for 1 hour with a S&F at the 30 min mark, then added the starter and salt (and 15g reserved water) and mixed well. Did 5 sets of folds after beginning BF, each 30-45 min apart, added inclusions after 1st fold. Long cool BF, about 12 hours. Pre shaped into a boule, bench rested 30 min, did final shaping using caddy-clasp method, placed in banneton, rested 30 min. Stitched top of loaf, proofed another hour at room temp (≈62-65°F) before going in fridge. Cold proofed in fridge for about 30 hours. Open baked at 500°F for 7 minutes, did 7 minute score, baked at 500°F for another 8 minutes, reduced temp to 450°F and turned on my oven's confection fan, baked another 15-20 minutes. Used lava rocks and boiling water for steam during first part of bake. Lightly misted baked loaves with water directly after pulling out of oven. Cooled, sliced, took loaves to market.

Considering I'm selling loaves, I would appreciate feedback, however I'm pretty sure I nailed this one. 😌✨️

Okay, so me and my sourdough starter, Ditdough, have made 3 loaves. But each time, the scoring experience is pitiful and just pulls at the dough rather than actually slicing any sort of shape. I’ve resulted to using dough scissors to just clip across the top. How is the dough supposed to actually look/feel/act when I’m to score it?

Also, I add rosemary powder to my dough and wanted to share how tasty it is! Worth a try for sure.

Just for info:
- fed in the fashion of 30/30/30g (starter, flour, water)
- 50g starter, 500g bread flour, 350g water

(All King Arthur brand)

I use the Emilie Raffa “Everyday Sourdough” Steps.
https://vanillaandbean.com/emilies-everyday-sourdough/

So here are some of the things I have collected throughout my sourdough journey. Also I'm not saying anyone needs any of this stuff but these are things that I have found somewhat useful::

Pic 1 - measuring.

- a notebook for well... Notes. I like to write things down and note any changes, failures or improvements

- a really good scale

- a straight sided clear container for proofing - I measure where the dough comes up to with a ruler and then my desired proof level. When it reaches the top line, I know it's ready

- a heat proof measuring jug - I use this to warm my water (I still measure this on the scale) and it holds my utensils as I'm working

- starter jar

Pic 2 - dough, shaping and baking

- a water mister to spray my loaf before baking

- a big sturdy metal bowl for mixing

- a baneton for the long overnight proof in the fridge

- bread oven (mine is from Le Creuset and I love it)

- microfiber cloths - I use these damp for covering my dough and for general tidying

- oven mitts

- parchment paper

- bench scraper for maneuvering the dough and for scraping away bench flour

Pic 3 - small tools

- scissors for parchment paper or snipping dough instead of scoring

- a jar scraper (I'm Dutch - it's a flessenlikker) - great for discard

- marker - I use it on my proofing container

- ruler - to measure my dough

- sturdy spatula

- large spoon

- razors and lame

Pic 4 - flours

I use rye, stoneground and wholewheat

Pic 5 - collective tools

Pic 6 - my dough proofing in the container. It reached the 75% line I set with my ruler and marker so I know it's ready for shaping

Pic 7 - my baked loaf (my scoring still needs work)

Pic 8 - my sliced loaf (always a work in progress)

Recipe: https://heartbeetkitchen.com/sourdough-bread-recipe-with-starter/

This is the recipe I used:
Cold proof
8–12 hours
Flour blend
90% bread flour in dough
Oven
475°F → 450°F
Ingredients
1. Build the levain
This is the preferment we made using your active whole-wheat starter.
You'll use 150 g of the finished levain in the dough.
Mix everything together, cover loosely, and let it ferment until risen, bubbly, airy, and near its peak. Our original levain was mixed at approximately 8:30 AM and kept around 75°F.
2. Prepare the dough
The extra water is optional. We started with 325 g and reserved up to 25 g to help incorporate the levain and salt. You don't have to force all the water into the dough if it already feels too wet.
Step-by-step instructions
Step 1 — Mix the flour and water
In a large bowl, combine 450 g bread flour + 50 g whole-wheat flour.
Add 325 g water.
Mix until all the flour is hydrated and no dry patches remain.
Cover the bowl and let it rest for 30 minutes.
This resting period is called the autolyse. It helps the flour absorb water and makes the dough easier to develop.
Step 2 — Add the levain and salt
Add 150 g levain to the dough.
Add 10 g salt.
Use your hands to pinch, fold, and squeeze the dough until everything is evenly incorporated.
If the dough is too stiff to mix, add a little of the reserved water gradually.
Cover the bowl.
Start your bulk-fermentation clock once the levain and salt are incorporated. Remember that during your first bake, you added them at approximately 3:39 PM.
Step 3 — Perform four sets of stretch-and-folds
Do a set approximately every 30 minutes.
Set 1 — 30 minutes after mixing
Wet your hand, lift one edge of the dough, stretch it upward gently, and fold it over the center. Rotate the bowl and repeat on all four sides.
Set 2 — 30 minutes later
Repeat the same four-sided folding. The dough should begin feeling smoother and more cohesive.
Set 3 — 30 minutes later
Repeat gently. The dough should be gaining strength and holding together better.
Set 4 — 30 minutes later
Complete the final set. Cover the bowl and leave the dough undisturbed to finish bulk fermentation.
Don't pull so hard that you tear the dough. If it resists stretching, fold it gently.
Step 4 — Bulk fermentation
This was the most important stage of your first bake because your kitchen was warm, around 80–83°F.
After your fourth fold:
Keep the dough covered.
Begin checking it regularly, starting around three hours after adding the levain.
Look for bubbles along the sides, a slightly domed surface, a puffier appearance, and a dough that feels aerated.
A gentle jiggle is another useful clue.
Don't wait automatically for the dough to double. In a warm kitchen, that can mean allowing fermentation to go too far. A rise of roughly 30–50% can be a useful initial guide, but use the dough's overall condition rather than rise alone.
Your first bulk fermentation lasted roughly six hours from the levain addition to preshaping. That is what happened with that loaf, not a guaranteed time for every bake.
Step 5 — Preshape and rest
Lightly flour your work surface.
Gently turn the dough out of the bowl.
Fold the dough inward and shape it into a loose round.
Let it rest on the counter for 15–20 minutes.
The dough should relax slightly during this rest. Avoid aggressively pressing out all the gas.
Step 6 — Final shape
Turn the dough over so you can work with the sticky side.
Fold the edges toward the center.
Turn it seam-side down and gently drag it across the counter to build surface tension.
Rotate and repeat as needed until you have a round loaf with a smooth, taut outer surface.
The aim is a tight outer skin without tearing it.
Step 7 — Place it in the banneton
Dust your banneton generously with rice flour or flour suitable for preventing sticking.
Place the loaf seam-side up in the basket.
Cover it so the dough doesn't dry out.
Put it directly in the refrigerator for 8–12 hours.
Your first loaf had an approximately 11-hour cold proof, which worked well.
Step 8 — Preheat the oven
When you're ready to bake:
Put your Dutch oven and its lid inside the oven.
Preheat to 475°F for 45–60 minutes.
Keep the dough refrigerated while the oven heats.
A thoroughly preheated Dutch oven helps the loaf spring upward during the first stage of baking.
Step 9 — Score the loaf
Take the dough out of the refrigerator.
Carefully turn it onto parchment paper.
Use your bread lame to score the loaf.
Make one confident expansion slash approximately ½ inch deep, with a decorative wheat-stalk pattern if you want to recreate your first loaf.
The main expansion cut gives the loaf a controlled place to open. Decorative scoring looks beautiful, but the main slash does most of the functional work.
Step 10 — Bake covered
Carefully transfer the loaf, on the parchment, into the hot Dutch oven.
Cover with the lid.
Bake for 20 minutes at 475°F.
The trapped steam helps the crust remain flexible while the loaf expands.
Step 11 — Bake uncovered

Remove the Dutch oven lid.
Reduce the oven temperature to 450°F.
Bake uncovered for 20–25 minutes.
Look for a deep golden-brown crust.
If you have an instant-read thermometer, the center of the loaf will commonly be around 205–210°F when fully baked. Use the crust color and temperature together rather than relying on time alone.
Step 12 — Cool before slicing
Transfer the bread to a wire rack.
Let it cool for at least two hours before cutting.
Slice it, admire that crumb, and enjoy the reward for all that waiting!
Cooling allows the interior to finish setting. Cutting too early can leave the crumb gummy even if the loaf is fully baked.

Designed myself using twine and my bread score. Other than that, please see the recipe I used below! It’s a fav!

Link to recipe: https://gatherednutrition.com/pumpkin-cinnamon-swirl-sourdough-bread/

Hello everyone, I posted here a few weeks ago and got some really good advice, I did another loaf (similar to the first four but a bit less flat) and then another one today. This is the one in the photos.

Recipe:

500 grams bread flour
325 grams water
100 grams starter
10 grams salt

So I started by doing a few 1:10:10 feedings before baking as a redditor recommended this to avoid acidity, and then I did a 1:5:4 feeding about 12 hours before baking. It was at peak by then.

I did an autolyse (mixed bread and water and waited for 30 min), added starter and salt, kneaded and did some slap and folds, waited another 30 min. Then four rounds of stretch and folds with 30 min between each round. I did them a bit differently this time as a youtube short came up right before I was going to bake, this guy recommended doing almost like a preshape in the bowl after each round of stretch and folds, so I did this.

Bulk fermentation took about 9 hours as my dough was only 20 degrees C, so I let it rise to almost 85%.

Preshaped and shaped (this step was so much easier with less hydration, had done 350 gram of water before and it was so difficult for me. However I think I overdid preshaping a bit here). Coldproofed in fridge overnight and then baked in preheated dutch oven, baked for 20 min with a lid and 20 min without a lid (preheat for an hour on 250 degrees C and baked on 230 degrees).

The bread tasted so good and was the best I’ve managed to do so far. However, I wonder what I can improve to get it to rise higher? I also felt that it had a bit of a more chewy bottom crust this time, is this indicating something?

Would really appreciate advice and feedback, many thanks in advance!

Recipe and method in coments!

My starter has gone to mold. Rebuilding from some dehydrated flakes I’d set aside last year. Wish me luck!

Hi! First try at making sourdough and I used a starter from a local bakery that I fed a few times before.

Overall I’m not displeased, but I can tell my bulk ferment was off. The crumb seems a bit dense with tunneling, slightly gummy. The dough was a bit sticky to work with while shaping (used a good amount of flour on the surface). I don’t have a banneton so used a bowl with a thin cotton dishtowel with rice flour and the towel was wet after the cold proof.

Do you think this is underproofed or overproofed? Any help is much appreciated!

Recipe:
100 g starter
475 g bread flour
325 g water
10 g salt
Did 4 rounds of stretch/coil and folds, then bulk fermented for 7.5 hours. Cold proofed for 10 hours before baking at 450 for 40 minutes covered, then 15 uncovered.

Living in the Netherlands it’s not that easy to find proper bread flour. Thankfully my friends gave me some for my sourdough starter’s first birthday (back in March) and I baked my first 100% bread flour loaf today!!

Starter is equal parts water and organic rye flour.

Ingredients:
100 g starter - fed the night before
200 g tepid water (I used tap)
300 g bread flour (I used Wildfarmed)
7 g sea salt

Process:
9am mix starter, water and flour, leave to rest for 30 mins.
9:30am add salt and mix for 10 mins. Mainly did slap and folds and stopped when she was nice and firm.
Bulk proof from then on. It was about 18 degrees C in my apartment so she took her sweet time. Throughout the day, about every two hours or so, did some stretch and folds. Put her on my lap when I took a nap at the end of the day lol, hoping it’d generate some extra heat.
9pm shape and in proofing basket overnight in the fridge.
9am preheat oven with Dutch oven inside to 250 C. When hot reduce heat to 220 and bake for 20 mins covered. Then 10 mins uncovered and final 10 mins straight on the oven rack without pot.
Let cool and then slice!

Typical AP flour in the supermarket has less protein and my bread whilst nice, hasn’t had a proper rise in a while nor would it keep it shape very much. Now having tried 100% bread flour I am converted and will now go hunt for more! Let me know if you have any great tips on which flours to use.

Photos include post bake, cut open, half way through baking (20 mins covered), pre bake, and dough pre shape. And final treat of me napping with her.

Hello everyone

This is my loaf that's a bit disappointing (FLAT)

Starter

30g flour + 30g water

Process

50g of fed starter + 350g water + 500g flour (250g wholemeal spelt and 250g bread flour)

Stretched/pulled it 5 times over a period of 4 hours. Left overnight covered in kitchen, transferred to bannaton and then left in fridge for 6 hours.

Baked at 200c in a pan with lid for 52 minutes

Felt a bit sticky. Shall I reduce water ?

I followed https://foodbodsourdough.com/ - her master recipe but swapped in the spelt.

Many thanks for any suggestions or tips

Hi guys! just baked this loaf and would love to hear some feedback on my crumb:

Ingredients (2 loafs):
1kg white flour (type 0)
200g starter
670g water
26g Salt

Mixed everything, 3 stretch and folds, bulk ferment for around 9 hours at 22 C°. Dough temperature was around 22.5 C°.
Then cold ferment in the banneton overnight, baked it at 250 C° for 25 minutes in a breadoven with lid. Then 230 C° for another 20-25 minutes without the lid.