From a sluggish starter to a dense crumb, every common sourdough problem explained — clearly, with the actual fix.
Most sourdough failures trace back to the starter. If it's not active and healthy, nothing downstream can save the loaf.
Usually a temperature problem. Wild yeast is sluggish below 21°C. Move it somewhere warmer (24–27°C is ideal) and feed with a 1:1:1 ratio — starter, flour, water by weight. Give it 12–24 hours before judging.
This is hooch — a byproduct of hungry yeast running out of food. It's not ruined. Discard all but 20g, feed generously (1:5:5), and repeat for 2–3 days. The smell will normalize.
Your starter is over-active relative to feeding ratio. Increase the flour and water in each feed (try 1:3:3 or 1:5:5). You want peak rise at 6–8 hours at room temperature, not 2–3 hours.
This indicates contamination, not a phase. Discard entirely and start fresh. Pink or orange pigment is a sign of harmful bacteria — no feeding schedule will recover it.
Dough that won't come together, tears during shaping, or refuses to hold structure — each symptom points to a specific fix.
Resist adding flour. High hydration dough (75%+) is sticky by design. Wet your hands instead of flouring them, use a bench scraper, and perform stretch-and-fold sets during bulk fermentation to build tension.
The gluten network is either under-developed or over-fermented. If it tears and feels slack, bulk was too long — refrigerate immediately and bake sooner. If it feels tight, rest 20 minutes before shaping again.
Usually over-proofing. The dough exhausted its gas before hitting the oven. Use the poke test: a properly proofed dough springs back slowly but not fully. If it doesn't spring back at all, it's over-proofed.
Under-proofing or a weak starter. Bulk should roughly double the dough and show visible bubbles on the surface and sides of the container. If neither happened, your starter wasn't ready — check its float test before mixing.
The oven stage is where months of practice either pays off or exposes what slipped earlier. Most bake failures are diagnosable after the fact.
Steam escaped too early or your oven wasn't hot enough. Preheat your Dutch oven for at least 45 minutes at 250°C (480°F). Keep the lid on for the full first 20 minutes — no peeking — to trap steam and allow the crust to expand before it sets.
Bottom heat is too aggressive. Place a second baking sheet or a layer of coarse salt beneath your Dutch oven to diffuse the direct heat. Alternatively, lower the rack position or reduce temperature by 10–15°C after removing the lid.
Either the dough was over-proofed (no gas left to push the score open) or the blade angle was wrong. Score at 30–45 degrees to the surface, not straight down. A curved lame or a sharp razor gives cleaner results than a standard knife.
The loaf needed more time or the internal temperature wasn't reached. Sourdough is done at 96–99°C internal. Don't cut it hot — the crumb continues to set as it cools. Wait at least one hour, ideally two, before slicing.
Uneven fermentation or poor shaping. This often comes from incorporating the starter unevenly during mixing, or from shaping too loosely so gas collects in pockets. Lamination (stretching the dough flat and folding it like a letter) during bulk helps redistribute fermentation evenly.
Use this table to match what you're seeing to the most likely cause and the fastest path to a fix.
| What you see | Most likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Flat loaf, no rise | Over-proofed or dead starter | Rebuild starter, shorten bulk fermentation |
| Dense, brick-like crumb | Under-proofed or under-fermented | Extend bulk, ensure starter passed float test |
| Sour but gummy | Under-baked | Bake to 97°C internal, cool fully before slicing |
| Not sour enough | Too warm, too fast | Retard in fridge overnight for cold proof |
| Too sour | Over-fermented or warm proof | Shorten bulk, use cooler water, proof at room temp only |
| Score splits unevenly | Blade too straight or dough over-proofed | Angle blade at 30–45 degrees, score confidently |
| Crust too hard | Too long without steam, over-baked | Keep lid on full 20 min, reduce uncovered bake time |
| Dough spreads sideways | Weak gluten or over-hydration for flour used | Reduce hydration 5%, use higher-protein bread flour |
The questions that come up most when something goes wrong mid-bake or mid-ferment.