“Everyone has what it takes
to make great sourdough.”
Imagine a tool to help you work out exactly why your sourdough bread is flat and, how to FIX it.
No more guessing or trawling the internet. Use my questionnaire to diagnose the issue/s in 3 minutes. Read the relevant pages, implement the ‘aha’ and go on to rise a heart-warming loaf every time!
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Making your own sourdough bread is a great privilege. I find it’s cathartic and artistic. It’s a mystery and a science. It can also be a great disappointment. Your much-anticipated loaf can look incredible, but when you cut it, ready to eat, you discover that your sourdough bread is flat.
It can make you feel flat too. I know. I’ve been there.
Can I let you in on something? Behind every perfect Instagram loaf and facebook-famous sourdough, post are 5, 15, even 50 sourdough bread fails. Yes. Even for me, and I have been baking and hacking sourdough bread for more than a decade.
Relying on wild yeast to rise to each loaf, sourdough bread is a natural yet reasonably predictable process. You just need to understand how this living, breathing, fermenting wonder works. That’s why you’re here.
Sourdough takes longer than yeasted bread and can have a few tender pitfalls. But when you know how to navigate them, making sourdough bread is much tastier, better for you and can be much more flexible than making yeasted bread. Sourdough loaves even look better. But that’s my very biased obsession!!
While it will rise, sourdough bread by nature doesn’t rise as much as bread made with bakers yeast. And knowing what happened, when your beloved sourdough bread comes out flat can be tricky to work out.
Fresh from the oven, sometimes it just doesn’t rise at all. It’s flat and dense, and not the good kind of flat either, not like tortilla flat, no…. 🙁
It’s more like a brick.
Or sometimes, a half-brick.
The top half is semi bread-like but the bottom half… well, it’s like a surfboard.
Something went wrong.
Every issue with flat sourdough bread will fall into one of these four categories:
1. Flour issues
2. Exhausted or weak sourdough starter
3. Under or over-proofed dough
4. Your baking process
Let’s go through them one at a time. It’s important to understand each one because your bread might be flat this time due to just one, or a combination of them. Next time though, your sourdough bread might be flat might be for a completely different reason.
You may like to bookmark this page to refer to as often as you like, as you walk out the magical sourdough journey.
Let’s hope though, there won’t be a ‘next time’. 😉
Flour issues
The Number #1 Reason your sourdough bread might be flat is using the wrong flour.
Bread flour
Bread mix, all-purpose flour, self-raising flour or cake flour can produce undesirable results when making sourdough. They are purposed for cakes, slices, muffins, and other cooking. And when it comes to bread, they are only useful for making yeasted bread. Make sure you use flour from our list of recommended bread flours. You should be able to get some at your local supermarket. Otherwise, simply choose a flour that has 13% protein.
KEY TIP: Protein gives the sourdough starter and dough enough strength to rise a loaf of artisan bread without adding yeast. Without this level of protein, you may get a bubbly starter but your loaf will be too relaxed, like a weak muscle, unable to rise your bread.
Bodybuilders rely on protein to build their muscles, so do the gluten bonds in sourdough!!
Bread mixes don’t require as much protein to be inherent within the flour. They’re designed to be used with bakers yeast and the protein content of the flour is often around 8%. The protein level written on the box is for the entire bread mix, not just the flour. So, sometimes the box may say 13% protein, but that’s not in the flour on its own, it’s including all the add-ins. Seeds can boost the protein count to 13% but seeds don’t feed the sourdough to make it strong enough to rise your bread. The flour does. So it’s the protein content of the flour that matters.
Flour types
Spelt and rye flours have enough protein in the flour to make great sourdough bread, but they naturally produce less rise. This is not a fault but a characteristic of these two flours. You will still get a semi-open crumb and a very likeable sourdough, but if your heart desires a taller loaf, try using 50% wheat flour with 50% rye flour or 50% spelt flour to give a little ‘boost’ to your sourdough.
Old flour
Sometimes flour is not stored correctly or has passed the use-by date. This affects the nutrient activity of the flour causing your sourdough to struggle because there is not enough ‘fresh food’ for it to activate. Try to eliminate all the other possibilities before you throw your flour out. But I suggest buying some fresh flour and seeing if that solves the issue for you.
Exhausted or weak sourdough starter
If you have used fresh, suitable bread flour and your precious loaf of sourdough bread is still flat and dense, the issue may have been with your sourdough starter.
Sourdough starter needs to be turned into dough the moment it is has doubled. This is when your starter is at its strongest point, and therefore able to rise a good loaf of bread.
This should occur after your most recent feed, assuming that your sourdough starter is healthy and active. If you are storing your starter in the fridge, rather than on your kitchen bench, I recommend a 2-Step feeding process. One to revive your starter as it comes to room temperature and another to bring it to double in volume.
If you are following our Pantry Sourdough Starter process, where you don’t have to care for your sourdough (ever!) unless baking, dough doubling will occur after FEED 3.
My key tip is this:
Whatever your starter looks like when you add it to your bread dough, is what your bread will look like when you bake it.
If your sourdough starter has no rise or structure (is runny) ~ your sourdough bread will also have no rise or structure. No matter how perfectly you bake it,
If your sourdough starter has expanded and is able to hold that structure ~ your sourdough bread will expand and hold that structure too!
It’s as simple as that. Truly.
So long as the proofing processes of your dough goes OK, what you put into your sourdough dough, you will get in your loaf of bread.
Let’s talk through the various issues with sourdough starter.
We’ve covered flour, so let’s cover time and temperature ~ the other two vital ingredients in making sure your sourdough bread isn’t flat.
Exhausted sourdough starter
When the environment in your kitchen is warm, your sourdough starter may double faster than expected. You may not be home to see this happen and/or not paying attention, expecting to leave it for a longer time.
If the sourdough starter is left too long in a doubled state, it will run out of food to grow any more and get hungry. What happens then is the structure begins to collapse, causing the starter to deflate or go back down. You may notice this especially if you gently tap your jar on the kitchen bench.
You can also tell because the mix seems wetter and more sloppy than when you fed it last and instead of being a strong web of puffy air pockets beneath the surface, it is starting to become liquid.
Another sign is that the volume of your sourdough starter is the same as it was when you first mixed it. It was thick then, now it’s runny. This means it did puff up but when too far and has now deflated liked like a leaky balloon.
This is your starter telling you that it’s healthy! However, it’s been working so hard, growing all day in the warm air, it’s now exhausted and has no energy left for bread. Your starter will need feeding and left to double again before it can be used. Use it when its doubled, not before and not after.
If this happens to you and you don’t recognise before making dough, your bread will tell you once it’s baked. The loaf will be tasty but flat. If you think this is what has happened to your starter and you haven’t made bread with it yet, see our rescue for deflated sourdough.
Sometimes, in warm weather, if you aren’t at home or you are busy, you won’t see the starter double and deflate again. It can look like it hasn’t risen and so, even though it’s been left too long, you may instead think to leave it longer. This is a risk in warmer environments. Keep your sourdough somewhere you can see it and see our rescue for deflated sourdough for other helpful hints.
If you think this process might be contributing to your flat sourdough, you can learn more using my Sourdough Journal (on Etsy). Track sourdough starter feeds and discover how long your sourdough takes to double at different temperatures. Filled with advice that works in all seasons plus 15 worksheets to choose from to record and track your own sourdough cycle, and learn how to make your sourdough bread rise in the oven every time. Includes done-for-you baking schedules.
The journal is under our new brand specially for foodies: Enfoodiest
Weak sourdough starter
Sourdough starter that doesn’t rise, is too weak to rise a loaf of bread.
Weak sourdough starter can look just like a deflated and exhausted sourdough starter. It looks like the volume hasn’t changed since you last fed it. The difference is, this one didn’t double and deflate. It just didn’t double at all. You will be able to tell because the surface will be dense with few, if any bubbles.
The reason ~ you’ve perhaps made your sourdough from scratch and it needs more feeds and more time to become active. It may also need some warmer temperatures to help it along.
If this process exceeds 10-14 days without your sourdough starter doubling, it may not ever become viable. Consider buying a sourdough starter that is already active and save yourself the hassle and heartache of baking sourdough bread that comes out flat. I had plenty of heartache in the beginning!
If you bake sourdough once a week (or less regularly) and don’t want to feed a sourdough starter between bakes, try our Pantry Sourdough Starter. It’s 100% authentic sourdough starter that you can store in your pantry without maintaining it to keep it alive. If you want a way to feed your sourdough starter less often, browse low-maintenance sourdough starter.
If you are using our Pantry Sourdough Starter process, and your sourdough starter isn’t growing, it probably needs more warmth. See How to keep sourdough warm even in winter for some simple hacks that will encourage your flakes to grow!
Under or over-proofed dough
You can get the right flour, grow a kickin’ sourdough starter, form a brilliant dough and loose it all in the rising and proofing.
Sourdough bread has two rises. The second shorter than the first.
Under-proofed sourdough loaves
Dough that’s not left long enough for either of the two required rises, will result in sourdough bread that’s flat.
The length of time for the first rise will usually vary from 4-12 hours.
This time range is not a ‘however long it suits you’ suggestion. It’s a ‘however long it suits your dough‘ guide and it depends on whether or not you kneaded your dough and how warm (or cool) your kitchen is at the time.
Not allowing the dough to double during the first rise can be one reason your sourdough bread is flat and dense. Not giving it long enough to ripen during the second rise (proof) is another. In both cases ~ your sourdough bread was not mature enough to bake.
First rise: You can tell when it’s ready because the dough has doubled or is noticeably a lot bigger compared to when you made it. When you shape an immature dough, you will find it’s not all that puffy, may snap or resist when first being shaped.
If you are home during the first rise, you are free to keep an eye on the process, ready to shape your dough once it has doubled. If you are not home or available, you are going to have to know how long it will take to double so that you can make sure you are available when the dough is ready. Your dough won’t work to your time schedule unless you know how to hack time and temperature to make it work for you.
Second rise: It is unlikely your loaf will double, but it will puff a little and slightly bounce back when lightly poked. Fast return on your finger’s indent means it’s not yet ready. If it doesn’t bounce back, the opposite has happened ~ the dough has gone past its peak and is becoming tired. It may bake well but won’t rise in the oven. For more information and rescue for over-proofed sourdough read How to tell when your sourdough is ready to bake – The Poke Test.
When dough is under-proofed, what happened?
You may have impatiently cut the time short or worked with a cool kitchen. In both cases, the dough needed to be left longer OR, the temperature of the room needed to be increased. Don’t do both. Warm temperatures shorten rise times, cooler temperatures lengthen them.
Your dough was simply not ready to be cooked.
My process uses long rises, being a no-knead dough with no experience required process. It’s designed to be easy and has inbuilt recommendations for time-frames at various temperatures. It can be worked easily around working or busy family life. I love sourdough and want you to love it too and avoid the many pitfalls of making it.
Over-proofed dough
To state the obvious, this is the opposite of under-proofing your sourdough.
When sourdough reaches its optimum growth, it needs to be shaped after the first rise and baked after the second rise. When this doesn’t happen, in both instances, your precious sourdough is exhausted from all it’s growing, and like a tired, hungry 2-year-old, it has a meltdown. Literally. The internal structure holding all the air pockets and beautiful would-be crumb, begins to collapse.
What happened?
Your dough was left too long and/or your kitchen environment was warmer than you thought. It grew faster and stronger than you were available to meet its need by moving on to the next step. It ran out of fuel waiting and deflated like a balloon. It can sometimes be as simple as not turning on the oven in time so that its ready when your bread is.
If you are proofing at room temperature, turn your oven on after you shape your dough, not when the dough is ready to bake.
What it looks like:
First rise: When you do move on to the next step, shaping your sourdough loaf, the dough doesn’t hold its shape. It’s slack and wetter than expected. It may even be glossy and wet looking.
It is wet, is very slack and won’t hold it’s shape.
If you bake it, your sourdough bread will taste great but the texture will be dense and chewy. Your sourdough bread will be flat. If you think your sourdough dough is exhausted from the first rise, see the ‘dough’ section in our rescue for deflated sourdough for a suggested way of rescuing your efforts.
Second Rise:
It is almost impossible to over-proof your dough when using the Refrigerator Method and that’s why I use it – it makes the sourdough journey so easy. But if you skip the Refrigerator Method and proof at room temperature and your dough goes past maturity without being baked, it will exhaust itself.
It does all its rising on your bench-top and there is no energy left in the loaf to rise inside the oven.
You can tell when your loaf is ready, under or over-proofed by using the Poke Test. If your sourdough is over-proofed, the loaf will not bounce back when gently poked.
The dough is not slack here because the first rise was done perfectly. It was left on the bench-top to proof (mature) for baking but now that the oven is hot and ready, there is no ‘spring back’, showing there is no energy left for the loaf to spring inside the oven.
Make sure, if you’re not using the Refrigerator Method, that you’re familiar with proofing your sourdough at room temperature and the Poke Test so that you know the precise moment your dough needs to be placed inside that piping hot oven of yours!
If you want to learn more about the affect of time and temperature on proofing and sourdough, I’ve put together the Sourdough Journal for you! You can track sourdough starter feeds to see how long your starter takes to double at different temperatures.
Filled with advice that works in all seasons plus 15 worksheets to choose from you will get to know your own sourdough cycle, and make sourdough bread that rises in the oven every time. Includes done-for-you baking schedules for winter, summer and mid-season. Proof like a Pro!.
Your baking process
Loose shaping
Converse to natural logic, your dough likes to be tightly shaped so it can burst when it’s in the oven. Think of it like a strong, tense leg muscle launching you into the air with a jump vs weak, lazy, floppy muscles. You won’t get the same height. Your sourdough bread is the same. It gets height when it’s tight and strong. When you do your Pull & Stretch it’s like wrapping a present tightly. Lift the edge of the dough towards the ceiling and fold down into the middle. Repeat, overlapping the last fold. Do this 12-14 times or until your dough is tight and it’s difficult to do this anymore. Then do 1-2 more!
Baking method or inexperience
While baking inexperience won’t produce dense, flat sourdough, it can affect how much your loaf rises. Simple hacks like covering your loaf with a large cake tin or adding a tray of boiling water in your oven can improve both the colour and the size of your loaf.
For specific tips, based on your method of baking see:
Baking your sourdough bread using a Dutch oven or casserole dish
Baking your sourdough bread using a pizza stone
Faking it – Baking your sourdough without a dutch oven or pizza stone
If this post helped solved your flat sourdough bread issue, let us know by commenting below! What tip made the difference for you?
Chaz Thompson
January 11, 2021I just pulled two loaves out of the oven to cool. They seem flat. I hav a feeling the dough was over hydrated. I did use about 1/3 rye flour. Which of these two would be the cause?
Mary-Jane
January 12, 2021Hi Chaz, Overhydration of the dough shouldn’t have been an issue, especially since the rye flour would have liked the additional water. Was it your regular recipe and the dough seemed better than usual? Often, using rye flour means you need to add more water. It tends to be able to soak it up. In regards to using rye four – rye doesn’t contain as much gluten as wheat, so it doesn’t form as many (or as large) air bubbles inside. So when it hits the oven, your loaf doesn’t rise as much. Would you have photos of the loaves or slices? Pictures of the inside would be best. I may be able to tell from the images if it was the rye content and the rise is normal or something else wasn’t quite right like being over or under proofed. If you can post pics here – great! Otherwise, you can email them to hello@beautifullivingmadeeasy.com if you’d still like some help. I’d be happy to troubleshoot with you. All the best with your baking!
Kurt Huesmann
February 28, 2023Mary Jane – I had a similar issue recently doing the Country rye loaf out of the Tartine book. things seemed to go well until I had to shape after the bulk fermentation. The dough semi- shaped OK at first but would turn into a moist looking pancake shape. I reshaped, but the same thing happened. The dough seemed very moist, not like any I have seen on the internet, with the drier looking complexion after a bulk fermentation and shaping. I shaped the dough twice and got it in the bannetons. The dough rose again in the bannetons fairly well. However, the dough flattened out when I put in on my Dutch oven for baking. It was edible, but not an optimally baked loaf.
Mary-Jane
March 2, 2023Hi! Thanks for commenting. Sorry to hear about the flat lof. The dough sounds very over-proofed. I haven’t use that recipe but would assume the water amount in it would account for rye flour since its very different to wheat and the ddough may have risen twice as fast as a normal white loaf. If you try the recipe again, watch your dough more than the timings in the recipe. Look for it to double or almost double, and don’t let it go past before shaping it. Hope this helps!
Kay Campbell
February 14, 2022HI Mary-Jane, I have been trying to make sourdough and having density issues. Not sure of the cause but think this last time is because my starter was too young. It appeared to be active but was only a couple of days old. Your thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks Kay
Mary-Jane
March 25, 2022Hi Kay, I am sorry for such a delayed reply. The site lets me know of some comments but not others and yours was missed until today. It could very well be that your starter is immature. When starting out with a new starter, bubbles will be the first sign of activity. The next stage will be when the bubbles start to rise the mix. When it doubles inside of 6 hours at room temperature (after being fed) then it’s strong enough to rise a loaf of bread. You have to make the dough at the point the starter has doubled. Not before and not after. This is the peak time. A key tip: Whatever the starter looks like when you use it to make your dough, is what your sourdough bread will look like when you bake it. Flat = flat. Puffy = puffy. I hope this helps. Reach out if you continue to have issues. MJ
Zulkifli from malaysia
June 7, 2022Hi, I just baked my bread today. Its quite flat and after 3 hrs I cut it and the crumbs are sticky although it’s fully cooked. Is this a sign of underproof or overporoof? Very new to sourdough. And it seems very tricky. I used 80% bread flour and 20% wholemeal flour. Starter is around 4 days old. I fed the starter 7hrs earlier and it has doubled in size and very bubbly. Start process 7am baked ar 3pm.
Mary-Jane
June 8, 2022Hi Zulkifli, Thanks for being in touch! It could be the youth of your starter, though if it’s doubling that’s a good sign. If your flours have 13% protein content, then your loaf sounds like it might be over-proofed. The wholemeal flour will make it rise a bit faster, also the warm weather you may have in Malaysia? Try doing the second rise (proofing) in the refrigerator for 10+ hours or overnight. Then do the baking straight from the fridge without coming back to room temperature. Hope this helps!
Cherie Lenzi
June 12, 2022T hanks for your article. I can’t figure out why I’m not getting good oven spring. Starter is a couple of years old and healthy. Loaf is 25% whole wheat with the remainder strong-new bread flour. After bulk rise, pre-shaping and shaping, the loaf goes in the 38*F refrigerator over night and is baked in a cloche in the morning. Bread spreads more horizontally as opposed to vertically. It’s not particularly dense but will have some very large air pockets.
Mary-Jane
June 20, 2022Hi Cherie, If the loaf is spreading sideways and your flours both have 13% protein, then there are 2 causes. 1) over proofing, either the first rise or the second is being left too long. The whole meal will cause your dough to grow faster than most recipes suggest. 2) handling – the dough is not tight enough when you shape it. Try pulling the edges towards the ceiling and folding across the dough until you can’t do it anymore and the dough has become tight. OR your dough might be very wet and hard to handle? Try pulling back a little of the water in the recipe or adding a touch more flour. I don’t so well with high-hydration doughs and I’ve been baking sourdough for more than a decade. The consistency of my dough is thick and sticky. You can see it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r28-wyhd0ww. Hope this helps!
Jens
July 22, 2022Thank you for this article.
Recently I had a number of breads come out too flat, and at first I couldn’t figure out what changed. I used the same water ratio, the same old starter culture, the same flour composition 50% bread, 30% whole, 20% rye, 10% einkorn. etc. But I had changed one thing, I reduced all ingredients by 30% to produce smaller loafs for my recently emptied nest. Turns out, a proofing basking needs to be right size, using a basket that’s too big will not properly support the bulk fermentation/proofing.
What do you think?
Mary-Jane
July 22, 2022Hi! Thanks for leaving a comment. I don’t use bannetons, so can’t be entirely sure but yes, I think it could make a difference! I would think that the dough would spread out inside the banneton, rather than hold together. Have yuu changed your shaping technique at all? Sometimes a loosely shaped loaf will do this as well. MJ
Xan Roberti
August 31, 2022Hi there I have been making sourdough successfully with a store-bought bread flour with a little bit perhaps 20% whole wheat. I just switched to a high-protein bread flour from a local greenery and using the same exact recipe the dough is super wet and doesn’t rise the same way. I’m using a Dutch oven and allowing my bulk raise to be between 12 and 18 hours. Temperature is usually around 80. Any tips? Dough is tasty but flat.
Xan Roberti
August 31, 2022Whoops. Grainery. Mill. Not greenery. Haha
Emily
December 3, 2022Hi, thank you for your article. my bread is always flat! it looks likely like the same as your last photo! my room tempeture is around 26-27 c° after i mix every thing, i leav it for 20 min and do my stretch and fold and leave it for 1.5 hour and do stretch and fold one more time and 1.5 more hour. My first pre shape it’s a little bit wet but sill still able to shape and I leave it for 1/2 hour and the final shape it was corlap un able to shape so i put more flour to try to make it able to take it to banneton and put in refrigerator for 7 hour and I took out from my refrigeratur 30 min befor i bake it with 230 c° (My sourdough starter is 1:1:1 I use it atter 12 hour in my roomtempeture. It have many bubbles but it not dubble in size. I woud say 80-90%)
Mary-Jane
December 4, 2022Hi Emily, Thanks for commenting! your proofing times sound right for the room temperature. So I think the issue will be your flour, recipe or sourdough starter. If your sourdough starter is good, at that room temperature, it should double in 4-5 hours. 12 hours would make it bubbly but flat again. Also, make sure your flour has 13% protein content and try my recipe: https://beautifullivingmadeeasy.com/best-no-knead-sourdough-bread-recipe-easy/ Hope this helps! #mj
Dave Little
October 1, 2022Baking dough in a clay bread cloche….It always comes out flat, but that
same dough baked in a clay vessel with sides it comes out perfect and
high…..Don’t understand this.
Mary-Jane
October 10, 2022Hi Dave, Thanks for this interesting conundrum! I don’t have any experience with clay. However, I am wondering if perhaps the dough is lacking strength – which would make it spread out sideways in the cloche, but it can’t spread sideways in the vessel with sides, so the only way is up? Therefore it rises. If you think this might be it, try shaping the dough a little tighter. 🙂 MJ
Heather
October 9, 2022My sourdough was cooked in the Aga,but has turned out dense and not brown on top.
Very doughy be and not good to eat.
Was the oven not hot enough?
Mary-Jane
October 10, 2022Hi Heather, Thanks for being in touch! Do you know what temperature the oven was? Another reason could be that the dough was over or under-proofed. Was the loaf flat? How was it to handle when you shaped it? Sticky and difficult to hold its shape or easy? If you can tell me a bit more or send some photos and I will help. Talk soon! MJ
Daniela
January 30, 2023I proofed for 24 hours in the fridge at 35 °F and my dough became flat when I scored it. I don’t know what went wrong.
Mary-Jane
January 30, 2023Hi Daniela. Thanks for commenting!
If your loaf went flat when your scored it, it was left in the fridge for too long (over-proofed). What happened was, the dough fermented past its peak and the gluten structure became very weak. When you scored it, it was like popping a very full balloon.
Generally, the dough will be fine for 24 hours in the fridge. The times this becomes too long are:
– When the sourdough starter or dough was growing very fast beforehand. It will maintain momentum inside the fridge and over-proof if left more than several hours.
– When there is not enough strength (protein) in the bread flour or the flour can not sustain the hydration (water content) for that long a period without deteriorating. This would just be weak flour.
I hope this helps!
Frances
April 18, 2023Hi,
I’ve been trying various ways to get my bread to have a better oven spring. I am using 80% Strong bread flour (13%) and 20% Wholemeal Rye (8%).
I usually double feed the starter to really get it going and it floats in the water.
The texture is quite good but it tends to spread out horizontally when I put it in the dutch oven or on the bake stone.
I’m usually autolysing for about an hour, then adding salt and do the first of four stretch and folds. These are 30 minutes apart. Then rest for an hour or two, then preshape then 20 minutes later final shape.
The dough goes into a banneton and into the fridge overnight where it usually rises to the top the top of the banneton.
I really can’t understand where I’m going wrong, as sometimes the loaves come out amazingly and other times they just spread. I do find the dough spreads while resting between the pre-shape and final shape.
Could it be the resting period between final stretch and fold and pre-shaping? Do I need to be a bit more scientific here as I think I leave it for a random length of time depending on how late it’s getting!
Mary-Jane
April 19, 2023Hi Frances,
Rye flour doesn’t have as much gluten as wheat, and wholemeal interrupts the gluten strands, so you will loose a little rise in the loaf. However, I think the issues sounds like it could be proofing – if it’s working sometimes but not others and you’re leaving it for a random amount of time, it’s likely the cause.
When dough is left too long – either during the first (bulk) rise or the the proof, it becomes overproofed, the gluten structure disintegrates and can no longer hold it’s self up – hence it’s spreading out horizontally.
It’s very difficult to over-proof in the fridge, so I think it’s going to be the first rise, so before you shape it.
Your dough will double at different, but predictable rate in different temperatures. So it should be left for the same amount of time, each time, at any given temperature. Hence, shorter in summer and longer in winter, since warmth speeds up fermentation and cool temps slow it down.
Different flours also affect how fast or slow dough doubles, but if you’re using the same flour mix each time, then it will be the same each time too. Wholemeal and rye will cause the dough to ferment faster, than a white loaf, so bear that in mind if you are following instructions for white sourdough.
I suggest fermenting your dough in a straight-sided container a few times and marking the size of the dough at the beginning, on the side, with a white board marker. Then check the temperature of your room and note the time. You can then see how long it takes to double. This will be your rough guide for each time, at this temperature. The length of time will differ between seasons, heating, cooling, if the oven is on etc. But becoming familiar with a rough guide for summer, one for winter and one for in-between will mean you can actually know how long to leave it each time. It doesn’t have to be scientific, but it does make a huge difference.
it sounds like you’re using your sourdough starter at the right time (peak) each time So it’s just a matter of doing the same with the shaping – do this when the dough has doubled. It’s the same kind of thing.
I have some forms and a lot of detailed information about rising sourdough in different temperatures in this workbook:
https://beautifullivingmadeeasy.com/product-category/printable-sourdough-books-planners/
But you’ll also be able to make simple notes on your own and your best bet always is to watch your dough more than the clock!! When it’s double it’s ready to shape… even when we’re not…. OH sourdough has to be a love story sometimes!! #latenights and #earlymornings!! But only when I get lazy with thinking it out for a minute. 😁
I hope this helps.
Let me know how you go.
Have a beautiful week.
Mary-Jane
Karen
August 13, 2023After the first shaping is it necessary to leave on the counter for 20 minutes then shape again?
Mary-Jane
November 6, 2023Hi Karen,
From what I see online, it seems that many people do this. I have never done it, and love the bread I make, so it just depends on your personal process.
Jean Erickson
November 20, 2023Can you use almond flour or coconut flour to make your starter and or feed your starter?
Mary-Jane
December 18, 2023Hi Jean, No sadly. My starters, for now, all have some level of gluten (rye, wheat or spelt). I’ve not yet mastered gluten-free sourdough but have tried and it’s on my to-do list!
Fai
December 15, 2023Hi Mary Jane
Hello from Bangkok Thailand. I just entered the sourdough world and today mine came out flat. And I feel sad and flat too. Looking up the reason and way to fix. I found your website. I felt better now and hope I can improve next time.
Just want to let you know , you made someone feel better today
Mary-Jane
December 18, 2023Hi Fai, Thanks for taking the time to comment and let me know you found the information encouraging! Sourdough is a journey of discover for most people. The necessary ‘aha’ moments do some, just like riding a bike and then you’ll be baking the best bread forever! 🙂
Meg Daley-Reynolds
December 28, 2023Thank you Mary Jane. I came across this site yesterday after baking two dismal loaves.
Everything written here is so helpful and positive.
I made my shaping a bit tighter after reading your suggestions and this morning’s loaf was sooo good.
Thank you.
Mary-Jane
January 1, 2024Hi Meg, What great news! Thank you for taking the time to write feedback and let me know that my suggestions helped you make the kind of loaf you were hoping for.