Troubleshooting
John Scalo
Updated July 6, 2024
Some people just seem to have the Midas touch. They bake their very first sourdough loaf and it comes out great! 😖 I wasn't one of the lucky ones. Over the 6+ years that I've been baking sourdough I've seemingly run into every stumbling block there is, and even discovered some new ones!
I am, however, happy to say that I've reached a place where I can consistently bake great sourdough loaves. In this article I want to share some of those stumbling blocks and how to overcome them. We'll start with the more common issues and work up (well, down) to the more obscure ones.
Contents
- Hydration
- Shaping Technique
- Overproofing
- Steam
- Scoring Technique
- Starter Care
- Chlorinated Water
- Water pH
- Water Hardness
- Hand Bacteria
Hydration
If you're unclear on the concept of hydration, hop over to our FAQ for an explanation.
Higher hydration breads tend to have large waxy holes throughout the crumb but can be much harder to shape and score. Lower hydration breads have a tighter crumb and are generally a lot easier to manage. I would say anything above 75% could be considered "high hydration".
For whatever reason, the current trends seem to favor high-hydration doughs. But this is important: Your bread does not need to be high hydration to be awesome! In fact, higher hydration doughs aren't ideal for sandwiches (mayonnaise just falls right through those holes…) and has little effect on the taste or outward appearance of the bread.
When you bake at higher hydration, you're amplifying all the other potential issues in your process: starter care, shaping technique, scoring technique, cooking vessel, etc. These all need to be very on point to get a good loaf when working with high hydration.
Solution: Lower the hydration! The Beginner Sourdough and the Fluff Monster recipes are both 65%, and they can result in amazing loaves! In fact, Fluff Monster is my go-to recipe when it absolutely has to come out great (say, for a contribution to a dinner party).
If you have a recipe that you want to make in Rise but the hydration seems too high, Rise makes it easy to adjust. Just edit the recipe, then tap the Hydration button in the lower left-hand corner of the ingredients card. Rise will magically adjust the ingredient amounts to maintain the total weight of the dough while targeting the new hydration.
Shaping Technique
For non-expert bakers, I think this is where things can go south most often. You might not be adding tautness to the dough, you might be over-flouring it, or you might be over-working it.
Solution:
- Don't rush! If needed, give yourself extra time by starting the shape well before bulk fermentation is scheduled to end.
- Watch tons of YouTube videos on shaping.
- Use a dough scraper or bench knife when moving the dough around. There's a certain quickness that helps "release" the dough from the surface without stretching or tearing it.
- Practice practice practice. In the end, no amount of videos or explanation is going to get you to the finish line. Shaping is just one of those things that you have to keep doing. Eventually you get a feel for it and your hands will just to know what to do.
Overproofing
Perhaps the hardest part about making sourdough is timing the fermentation phases just right. Ferment the dough too long, and you've overproofed it. Too short, and you've underproofed it. While neither is desirable, overproofing will be particularly catastrophic because there will be little to no rising power left in the dough by the time it hits the oven. The result is a flat, dense, loaf.
Solution: The good news is that Rise takes the guesswork out of timing your bulk and proof fermentation phases. All of our recipes include rise timers that automatically adjust the schedule based on the temperature, hydration, salt content, and inoculation (the percentage of starter).
If you continue to have issues with overproofing:
- Try to keep the dough temperature in the 70°F-78°F (21°C-26°C) range.
- Avoid recipes where the starter is more than 20% of the flour.
- If your dough is more than 50% whole grain flours, dial down the fermentation times by up to 30%.
- When in doubt, err on the side of underproofing.
Steam
While any decent sourdough recipe will direct the baker to incorporate steam into their baking phase, I've had friends skip over this thinking it's some kind of optional enhancement. It's not!
In the early stages of baking, steam adds pliability to the dough and enables oven spring while bringing sugars to the surface and making the crust a crunchy golden brown color. Without it, the spring is greatly reduced and you'll most likely get a flat, dense loaf.
Solution: There's a variety of ways to add steam to your baking process. Some like to pour water into a pan at the bottom of the oven, or to spray the sides of the oven with a sprayer. However these techniques can be risky and ineffectual so instead we recommend getting a covered vessel such as a dutch oven or a combo cooker.
Scoring Technique
Scoring the dough before baking is another step that some consider optional but isn't. Scoring gives the steam an escape route during the early stages of baking. Without it, the steam has to find its way randomly. Not only are the results usually ugly, but you're likely to get less oven spring as well.
There is one exception, and that's if you bake the dough with the seam side up. In that case, the steam escapes through the seam, giving the final loaf a wild rustic look.
Solution: Slash the bread with a bread lame or, in a pinch, a serrated knife. Depth is important. Too deep and the gasses will escape before the dough has fully sprung. Too shallow, and the gasses don't escape at all. In my experience, 1/2" to 3/4" is fine.
Cold proofing the dough in the fridge, as most of our recipes call for, makes scoring much easier since the dough will be more firm and easier to slice. If you're proofing out of the fridge, try to get the loaf into the oven as soon as possible after scoring, otherwise it will begin to lose some height.
Starter Care
If your dough isn't rising during the bulk fermentation phase, then there may be an issue with your starter. We have an entire article about starter care so if you haven't already please take a read as it discusses solutions specific to starter.
Another pitfall that I see is using too much starter in the recipe. If there's too much starter, then the fermentation times become much shorter. That's not a problem on its own, but short fermentation times can make the acceptable window between underproofing and overproofing much smaller and harder to predict. Try to keep your starter percentage between 5% and 20%.
Solution:
- Your starter should be healthy and near its peak before mixing into the dough. If your starter isn't rising on its own after feeding, then it's not going to make your dough rise either.
- The starter in a recipe should be no more than 20% (in baker's percentages).
Chlorinated Water
You should know whether your city uses chlorine, chloramines, or some other method to disinfect its water. If you're not sure, try checking this list (or just google it).
This topic is a little controversial, but the general consensus from my research is that chlorine is detrimental to yeast development, but chloramines are not.
Solution: If your city does utilize chlorine then you can either filter your water or use store-bought bottled water.
Supposedly you can let chlorinated water sit out for 24 hours and the chlorine will dissipate. However I wouldn't rely on this as there are several factors that could reduce the effect, like humidity and exposed surface area.
(If you're filtering your water with an RO filter, or using distilled water, then water pH will likely be way too high. See the Water pH section below.)
Water pH
Studies show that the wild yeasts and lactic acid bacteria in sourdough starter tend to thrive in acidic environments, where the pH is in the 4-5 range. Unfortunately for me, the water coming out of my tap (in Austin, TX) is around 9.7 (!) and I've definitely found that to negatively impact my sourdough. Reducing it to 4.5 makes a huge difference.
Additionally if you use an RO filter or distilled water, the pH will likely be way too high.
Solution: Apple cider vinegar is a great solution to this problem. It only takes a little, about 1/4 tsp for every L of water. I usually add 1 tsp of Bragg's Apple cider vinegar (available at almost any grocery store) to a gallon jug of water and reserve it separately for feeding my starter and mixing the dough.
If you want to measure your pH, I like this digital pH meter which currently sells for $13 on Amazon.
Water Hardness
According to King Arthur Baking Co—
If you suspect excessively hard or soft water, it can easily be measured with a water hardness kit.
Solution: Most water filters will not affect water hardness, so solutions here are either to install a water softener or use bottled water.
Hand Bacteria
Maybe you've heard of Baker's Hands, where the existing bacteria on a baker's hands have a beneficial effect on the bread that she's working with. Well that effect can go both ways. Bacteria on your hands can just as easily have a detrimental effect on yeast development!
And before you go "ewwww," this isn't a health topic. After all, you're eventually baking the dough and its microbiome in an oven at temperatures high enough to kill any living thing!
But we have to keep in mind that we're deliberately creating an environment that fosters bacterial growth, namely a warm moist environment. And we're letting it sit like that for 7+ hours! If there's bad stuff on your hands at the beginning of the process, there's going to be A LOT of it by the end, and it can break down the strength of the dough.
Solution: For starters, always wash your hands thoroughly before working directly with the dough. If you think that washing isn't doing the trick, wear gloves or use a stand mixer.
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