My first sourdough loaf looked like a deflated football 3 weeks ago

Been trying to nail sourdough for a month now. Last week my starter was bubbling like crazy after 7 days of feeding, so I thought great, let's bake. Mixed it up, let it proof for 4 hours, and when I put it in the Dutch oven it spread out flat like a pancake. Tasted like sour play dough somehow. Somebody on here told me I was using my starter too early before it peaked, so I waited 2 more weeks and finally got a loaf with actual oven spring yesterday in my kitchen in Denver. Has anyone else dealt with starter that looks ready but is still too weak?

2 comments

2 Comments

sandra_anderson222d ago

Wait, I have a totally different take on this. Your issue in Denver is almost certainly altitude related, not weak starter. I bake in the mountains too and had the same pancake results for weeks before I figured out you need way less proofing time here, like maybe 2 hours max instead of 4. You also might be overhydrating your dough since the dry air pulls moisture out faster than you realize.

pat_schmidt6022d ago

Oh man, this is so spot on. My friend Sarah moved to Salt Lake City last year and she had the exact same problem with her sourdough-flat, sad loaves every time. She was about to toss her starter thinking it was dead, but someone told her it was the altitude too. She cut her bulk proof down to like 90 minutes and started spritzing the dough with water during shaping, and bam, it worked like magic. It's weird how much the dry air messes with things, especially the hydration levels.