Sourdough Bread Not Rising? 8 Ways To Fix Your Sourdough
Is your sourdough bread not rising? I take no shame in saying I’ve encountered sourdough bread that doesn’t rise.
So I know that terrible feeling when you realise that your prized creation is a dud!!
So why can’t you make a good loaf of sourdough bread like others? Could it be the Water? The Temperature? Kneading? The Recipe?
Maybe. It may be one of those factors, but the most common reason why sourdough bread is not rising is the starter.
When the starter is fully active, your bread will rise correctly in most circumstances.
And if the dough does rise, but not entirely, it’s likely because it was underfermented.
To remedy these typical sourdough rising issues, ensure your starter is fully mature before using it by feeding it regularly.
You’ll also want to allow sourdough bread dough to bulk ferment for at least 4 hours and rise a second time (after shaping) for 3-4 hours.
Let’s expand on why sourdough bread doesn’t rise (or doesn’t rise much!) and discuss many more!
We’ll begin with the starter itself.
#1 The Sourdough Starter Is Not Fully Active
Often, sourdough bread doesn’t rise because your starter is not in peak condition.
When you make a starter for the first time (I call it parenting), it’s tempting to begin baking as soon as you see bubbles!
Whilst you can cultivate a sourdough starter in 3 or 4 days, it requires perfect conditions, careful monitoring and some experience.
For most home bakers, their first starter takes much longer!
It’s common for starters to take 3-4 weeks to mature fully, with deeper layers of flavour and activity developed after a couple of months.
To remedy a weak starter, you have two choices:
- Add a small amount of baker’s yeast to your dough recipe to gain some of the organic acid benefits of sourdough whilst having a loaf that rises.
- Continue feeding the starter at least once daily until it matures.
How to boost a sourdough starter
Contrary to popular opinion, you don’t need to do anything to improve the activity of a starter other than feed it (at least) once a day as it reaches its peak rise.
Yeah, you can use a higher protein flour, include some rye flour, change the viscosity of your recipe and warm up your starter.
These tricks will benefit the starter, but the most important is feeding it regularly when it peaks.
The moment you feed your starter is significant.
If a starter is left to rise and collapse between feeds, the wrong bacteria and enzymes are encouraged to multiply.
Feeding your starter too early (long before peaking) dilutes the necessary wild yeasts and bacteria, which weakens and slows activity.
A mature starter will triple in size within 6 hours and smell deeply aromatic.
Aside from being too young, there are other suggestions to consider in a starter. These won’t prevent bread from rising completely, but will lower activity:
The starter was fed a new flour, and it didn’t rise
Flour introduces bacteria to the starter’s ecosystem.
Enzymes in the starter break down bacteria and starches in the culture to become simpler substances.
Simplified sugars supply food for the yeasts and lactic acid bacteria to consume and produce gas.
Changing the flour you feed your starter forces the enzymes to adapt to the new bacteria.
During this adjustment period, the activity of the starter temporarily deteriorates as it creates the enzymes necessary to break down the flour.
I’ve had many complaints over the years where a baker has listened to (sound) advice and added rye flour to their starter when feeding.
Including rye improves the starter’s organic activity in the long run but will slow activity during the first few days.
If you change the flour in your starter, expect around three days to adjust.
The starter discard was used cold from the fridge
Bread can be made from a starter that is stored in the refrigerator.
Keeping a starter in the fridge slows its activity to an almost dormant state.
It’s a great starter feeding routine for casual bakers as it doesn’t require feeding as often. But when using it directly in a bread recipe, the sleepy bacteria are slow to act.
Aside from this, the gradual weakening of activity (caused by a lack of food) means a starter used straight from the fridge can take longer to raise your bread dough if it’s been stored for several days or weeks.
When keeping your starter in the fridge, refresh it twice before adding it to your bread recipes or remove a portion of the dormant starter (otherwise called a child) from the Mother and refresh that piece twice.
The starter wasn’t fed recently
If the starter rose past its peak and then collapsed, it did so because it ran out of food (flour).
Underfeeding leads to hooch, a clear liquid sitting at the top of the starter.
If it spends a couple of hours in this state, there won’t be a noticeable difference.
But if a starter is left for several days or even weeks (ambient or in the fridge) unfed, it’ll lose a lot of its activity.
To fix your starter so it’s ready for breadmaking, return to regular feeds at room temperature (or warmer).
After regularly feeding at the correct rise point, it should be ready to use again after 2-3 days.
We’ve covered the basics of a healthy starter. I recommend clicking the links in the text to learn more.
But what are the other reasons for sourdough bread not rising beside the starter?
#2 It’s Too Cold For Sourdough Bread To Rise!
Fungi and bacteria operate best when warm.
The ideal temperature band of bacteria and enzymes in bread dough ranges between 25 and 38C (77-100F).
However, a more comprehensive range of 18-40C (64-104F) produces bread of excellent quality.
If your kitchen is cooler than this, you’ll want to warm your dough in a warm spot or, better still, in a proofer.
Having your own controllable “warm spot” could sound like a far-distant dream, but owning a home-proofing box is possible these days. Thanks to Brod & Taylor for making their affordable home proofer. It’s a fantastic tool to make baking bread at home so much easier:
Brod and Taylor Home Proofing Box
The problem with proofing bread at home is that kitchen temperatures are often too cold and fluctuate a lot!
Fortunately, the Brod and Taylor home proofer fixes these issues!! With one of these, you can select the perfect proofing temperature and create humidity. Never have a slow-rising loaf again!
With a home proofer, you can select the exact proofing temperature and enjoy the option to speed or slow down the rise.
You’ll be able to learn how different proofing temperatures alter the acid bacteria strains to change the flavour of sourdough bread.
Whilst a designated proofing box isn’t essential, it’ll make your baking experience easier and more rewarding!
NOTE: I make arguments for proofing in higher and lower regions in my bread proofing temperature post.
#3 Warm Water Killed The Starter
Mix a starter with water over 68C (155F), and it’ll irreversibly damage its yeast cells and organic bacteria.
It’s normal to use tap-temperature water to feed your starter or make bread.
But when it’s warm in your kitchen, measuring chilled water for your dough is a common technique.
The cold water temperature slows the rise and makes your dough easier to manage.
Using cold water on a cold day leads to a slower-rising sourdough bread. In this case, you might want to warm it up.
My desired dough temperature formula shares the perfect method if you want to be confident of your water temperature.
The Sourdough Home – Starter Proofer
For the ultimate starter, you need to keep it at a constant temperature. And with Brod and Taylor’s Starter Home, you can do just this!!
Create a more robust starter, experiment with different flavours and never worry about feeding times again! The Starter Home is the perfect product for any serious sourdough baker!
#4 Not enough stretch and fold’s
The perfect bread is about developing the gluten matrix, so the leavening agent (the starter) creates gas and makes the dough rise.
Stretch and folds work alongside kneading to develop the gluten network.
The more kneading you do, the less stretch and folds you need to apply during bulk fermentation, and vice versa.
At the point of shaping your sourdough, the dough should have risen around 50%, and the gluten should stretch thinly, thus passing the windowpane test.
For a standard, 5 minute gentle knead, you will need to stretch and fold the dough every 45 minutes during a 4 – 5 hour bulk fermentation.
Using the fridge for bulk fermentation
You may have used or heard of using the fridge to store your dough when making sourdough.
It’s a common technique as the cool temperatures extend the length of the first or second rise.
Proofing sourdough (a starter or sourdough bread dough) at cool temperatures slows fermentation, causing the dough to rise slower.
The long rise with little rising activity allows bonds between gluten strands to develop naturally.
The enhanced gluten structure improves the texture of the bread, forming those long strands visible in the best quality sourdough loaves.
During the fridge rise, starches continue to be broken down into sugars. The benefits of these excess sugars include:
- Faster rise once the dough is warmed
- More voluminous rise in the oven
- Softer texture
- Sweeter flavour
The fridge rise also means you don’t need to knead or fit in as many stretch and folds into your baking schedule to develop the gluten matrix.
#5 You saw the dough rise, but then it collapsed!
If your dough rises but then collapses, the dough has likely risen for so long that the gluten becomes weak.
Dough collapsing during proofing or in the oven can be due to a long rise or bulk fermentation. But, commonly, a low-protein all-purpose flour not designed for sourdough baking was used.
Now, you don’t need to use high-protein bread flour for sourdough. Many all-purpose flours make excellent bread.
However, some all-purpose varieties are particularly weak and will collapse under the stress of supporting an inflated structure.
To resolve this issue, try another brand of flour or increase the amount of starter used in your recipe whilst decreasing the proofing time.
#6 The dough was too runny
Both professionals and home bakers commonly discuss the hydration levels of sourdough bread.
A dough that contains more water tends to have a softer crumb feel in the eating experience.
Whereas a loaf of bread made from a stiffer dough will be more chewy.
It’s common to increase the fermentation time of sourdough to generate more flavour.
One route many bakers follow is to increase the hydration of a sourdough recipe and use a higher protein bread flour, so it has a soft texture but doesn’t collapse.
Adding too much water can cause problems!
If the dough is so wet that it lacks elasticity and spreads out when moulding, it won’t rise! Whilst bubbles will appear on the surface, that will be the height of gas production.
#5 Too Much Salt Was Added
Salt slows the activity of the yeast by trapping water through osmosis.
Too much salt in your recipe slows fermentation, contributing to a slower rise.
Using so much salt that it prevents a sourdough loaf from rising at all is unlikely. It would be unpalatable if it reached that stage, but excess salt will slow things down.
Always use sourdough bread recipes from a trusted source and use a set of accurate scales to avoid measuring mistakes:
MyWeigh KD8000 Digital Food Scale
If you want to take your bread baking to the next level, a decent set of scales is a must!
The My Weigh KD-8000 Digital Food Scale is the perfect scale for bakers. It’s durable, fast to turn on, VERY responsive, and most importantly, has chunky buttons that are easily pressable when you’ve got dough on the go.
The My Weigh KD-8000 is a new version of My Weigh’s top-selling kitchen scale, updated with baker’s math and percentage weighing.
#6 Too Much Sugar!
Like salt, sugar diverts water from the yeast, slowing the yeast’s activity.
By slowing yeast respiration and fermentation, high sugar levels can prevent dough from rising.
If you want to sweeten a sourdough loaf with sugar or sweetener:
- Increase the amount of starter used.
- Add the sugar later in the development stage (near the end of mixing or midway through bulk fermentation).
- Switch to a liquid form of sugar (like honey) to be added later, which can be incorporated easily.
- Expect a long wait.
#7 There Was Too Much Fat In The Dough
Adding fat to a dough weakens its gluten structure, making it less efficient at trapping air.
Too much fat won’t be the sole cause of sourdough bread not rising, but it can contribute to making dense sourdough bread.
It’s uncommon for sourdough bread to contain sufficient fat to slow the rise.
But if you make enriched sourdough recipes such as doughnuts or brioche, add fat at the midway point of the first rise.
Delaying the fat enables the gluten structure to develop before its inclusion.
#8 Your Water Isn’t Suitable For Making Sourdough
If your sourdough bread doesn’t rise, but your starter does, rest assured (unless you’re using a different source) that your water is not the problem.
Most of the time, the water isn’t causing an issue, but there can be exceptions.
In some areas, tap water can reduce the enzymic activity of a sourdough starter:
If your water is heavily chlorinated, fill a jug from the tap and let it sit on the counter (or fridge) for 30 minutes before measuring.
The resting period allows the chlorine to evaporate.
A water filter can accelerate the process.
If using water from a reverse osmosis water filter, you should take extra steps when making bread.
A reverse osmosis filter removes harmful bacteria from water, as well as healthy bacteria.
Unfortunately, this lowers water activity, causing the sourdough rising action to suffer.
Adding salts back is a standard solution, but it’s not perfect.
Bakers using these filters often run into issues, so you might have to use bottled water if your starter is struggling.
#9 The Dough Became Hard During Proofing
If you leave dough uncovered as it rises, it will dry out.
During the drying process, moisture leaves the outer areas of the dough to form a skinlike texture.
As the skin drys, it becomes thick and heavy, so much so that it prevents the dough from rising.
Expect to see some big rips in the bread as the oven spring explodes the crust as it bakes.
Always cover your dough whilst it is rising with a loose-fitting bag, towel or lid, but if you notice that your dough has become hard, spray or brush some water on the surface to rehydrate it.
#10 My top tip – Strip the ingredients in your recipe
If your sourdough bread is not rising, you have a severe fault in your starter, recipe or methods. Make things easier for yourself by following a straightforward sourdough recipe.
You just need flour, water, salt and a starter to make a basic sourdough bread, which will taste amazing. Using extra ingredients can lead to issues.
So, if you’re attempting to make complicated sourdough recipes with several ingredients, go back to basics and ensure that your basic techniques are solid and your starter is sufficiently mature.
So Why Did Your Bread Not Rise?
And, after reading this, you’ll know more about why sourdough bread doesn’t rise than many professional bread bakers!
Let me know in the comments why you think your bread didn’t rise.
Are there any other reasons that you think are preventing your bread from rising? I’d love to hear how you fixed your sourdough rising problem!
Frequently asked questions about the sourdough bread rise
If you’ve enjoyed this article and wish to treat me to a coffee, you can by following the link below – Thanks x
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Hi, I’m Gareth Busby, a baking coach, head baker and bread-baking fanatic! My aim is to use science, techniques and 15 years of baking experience to help you become a better baker.
Table of Contents
- #1 The Sourdough Starter Is Not Fully Active
- #2 It’s Too Cold For Sourdough Bread To Rise!
- #3 Warm Water Killed The Starter
- #4 Not enough stretch and fold’s
- #5 You saw the dough rise, but then it collapsed!
- #6 The dough was too runny
- #5 Too Much Salt Was Added
- #6 Too Much Sugar!
- #7 There Was Too Much Fat In The Dough
- #8 Your Water Isn’t Suitable For Making Sourdough
- #9 The Dough Became Hard During Proofing
- #10 My top tip – Strip the ingredients in your recipe
- So Why Did Your Bread Not Rise?
- Frequently asked questions about the sourdough bread rise
Hi Gareth! I thank you for helping us all with our sourdough problems. I have a starter that is about 9 months old. Lately, I haven’t been able to get my sourdough to rise. I use Red Mills Organic flour. I ran into problems adding to the starter while its in the fridge and baking it a day or two later. So my starter wasn’t rising. This last one I put my starter on the counter, added to it, waited till I saw several bubbles at the top, and baked it 3 days later. It didn’t rise at all. Before I baked it, I added like a cup of flour and no water because my starter looked more runny. So I’m trying to thick it up because it doesn’t seem like its getting thick at all. I know this is a lot of information, but maybe you can give me some direction?
Thanks! If you concentrate on making sure that the starter is nice and thick when you feed it. You can always have a spoonfull of flour if its too viscous. Leave it to rise somewhere warm, and keep discarding and feeding once it reaches its peak rise. Once you’ve got it nice and active you can then store it in the fridge again.
Hi, I am a beginner in making bread, my question is why every time I make sourdough bread, I put it in the refrigerator to proof for 12 hours and it rises well, after taking it out and putting it to bake, it suddenly goes flat and doesn’t rise?
The flour you are using can’t withstand the long rise. Opt for a higher protein flour, or reduce the time spent rising in the fridge.
I have been trying to make a jalapeno cheddar sourdough loaf. I make it side by side with a regular, plain sourdough loaf. Same recipe, only difference is the cheese and pepper add in on one loaf. My regular loaf rises and proofs beatifully; when baking the spring is great, beautiful open crumb.
BUT its sister loaf, the ched-jalap, does not respond the same. I know it is going to be heavier due to the add-ins and I know the fat from the cheese could play a part, but I don’t add so much that it should be as dense as it ends up.
Mind you, its fully cooked and the flavor is phenomenal but I want a lighter fluffier loaf.
Great question! In my exerience cheese-infused loaves are always slightly denser. YOU COULD, try a higher-protein flour in order to develop a stromger structure to support the extra weight of the cheese, the risk would be that the bread has a chewier texture.
Many bakeries use a extra strong cheese so they can use less and have a better rise. You could also try combining cheddar with some finely grated hard cheese (such as pecorino) for a similar effect.
Sorry, no simple fix!
Thank you very much for your detailed response to my problem!
Glad it helped!
My starter doubles, my dough rises, even in the fridge sitting in the banetton overnight. However, when I take it out of the banetton and quickly slash the top and put into the dutch oven, it slowly starts to slump over into a blob. When I finally bake it, it hasn’t risen at all and does not have a sharply defined batard shape (the one I chose to form). I have been baking sourdough for years and still have this problem.
The latest recipe I tried resulted in a very wet dough that was hard to shape using techniques I’ve found in various places on the internet. That might have something to do with the semi-blob state my baked “batard” resulted in, but I’m just very frustrated…
It’s a common fault, caused by one of the follpwing:
– The gluten in the flour was weak “endurance” properties and the structure collapses. Solution: Switch flour or reduce bulk fermentation duration.
– Too much water in the dough weakens and weighs douwn the structure, making the dough collapse. Solution: Reduce the amount of water in your recipe.
– Fermentation was too quick. The gas is created early, pushed out when shaped, the yeast and organic acid bacteria have consumed all the sugars and cannot produce any more gas. Solution: Reduce starter quantity (20% is sufficient)
– Starter is not ripe and cannot produce enough gas
I’m not sure of the recipe/timings you are currently using, but if I were you, I’d reduce the water in the recipe to make a fairly firm dough and bulk ferment for 3-4 hours MAX and test results. If that doesn’t work, try a change in flour.
Thank you… being in the UK gives me a wide choice of flours, and I’ve been using one from a local mill…I will change to a commercial one and test that. Also I have arthritic fingers, so my stretching and folding may not be strong enough, so I will try extending the numbers I do
My problem is gluten…. I know my dough isn’t strong enough because it always remains too sticky!
So my question is, when a recipe says 4-6 stretch and folds over 2 hours…..if I continue stretching and folding beyond that timing will I get a stronger less sticky dough or an over worked dough
Many thanks
The length of the first rise are dependant on many things so it’s hard to give you a definitive answer. The flour, the amount of water used, the amount of starter, the health of the starter, the temperature, how well the dough was kneaded and how much you stretch the dough when you stretch and fold all impact the duration of the first rise.
Dough will get stronger as you stretch and fold, and then it will become sticky and lose extensibility. Two hours is the minimum sourdough should generally mature so you are likely to be correct to extend this time. The best thing to do is monitor it to check that the dough structure is improving. If it is overly sticky throughout you might need to reduce the amount of water you are using or use a higher protein flour.
Almost 2 weeks old sourdough starter. The first two I had molded before they even started. Probably because we live in a humid environment. So this times I gave it a probiotic capsule to keep the mold away and give it a chance. Result was that it got too sour, but there was a persistent 2,5 rise for almost a week and I have got a couple of decent breads out of it where I figured tho that I needs an adjustment in yeast and bacterias, because the gluten broke down fast from acid. Now I then fed it from rye to bread flour and halfened the water. It worked for a couple of days. Until yesterday where I gave it a 1:50:50 feeding in the hope that it would give it the last boost. It didn’t rise significant, but was thin and got a few drops of hooch lying in the sides this morning. Based on your very good writing, I assume that I have been too inconsistent in my way of treating it (changing strategies all the time) and maybe a little impatience. Thank you very much. If you have any advice, please let me know.
Yeah, that’s it Bianca, just keep your feeding recipe consistent and try to be patient. All you need is flour, water and time. It’ll fix itself. Thanks
Hi, I am very disappointed due to recently my sourdough bread can’t rise when baking. Did all same steps. Dough rise well including when cold retard in fridge. Could see the dough rose up high dome in the banetton when out from fridge for baking. Used heated dutch oven to bake. The only problem is it won’t rise when baking. 1 more issue what will happen to the dough when baking if the dough torn due to big chunk of cheese when lamination. Really need your advise for my 2 issues. Thanks so much.
Sourdough is slow to rise in the oven compared to yeast-leavened bread. Therefore you’ll always struggle to get much of an oven spring when heavy items such as cheese are in the dough. Aside from creating steam in the Dutch oven (and not too much), there is not a lot you can do to avoid this. However, you can tweak the amount of proofing so that the dough is slightly less proofed to encourage a bigger leap in the oven or rely less on oven spring by proofing it to a higher point before baking.
Are you creating steam at the moment?
With the cheese taring the dough, add the cheese later during bulk fermentation so that the dough is nice and mature, then be really gentle with the shaping to ensure a nice smooth structure.
Hi, I am deeply troubled by bread making. 40 years ago when I was a kid I used to make bread without any trouble whatsoever. Coming back to it as an adult has been a disaster. I have a starter that is 3 years old. It generally doubles within 3 hours. I use it regularly to make pizza dough and naan. They come out perfect. They’re pillowy, airy, with perfect bubbles. My pizza crust gets a nice crisp outer edge. Everybody asked for the recipes. So, I will take that same starter and attempt to make a sourdough loaf or sandwich bread and everything goes wrong. Last night I followed instructions to the letter on a sourdough loaf recipe and a Pullman loaf recipe. Both doughs felt tough at the point I should have been setting them overnight to rise. I had enough starter that I thought I would make some pizza dough as well to see if that dough came out nice. It did. It came out beautiful. The other two (sourdough loaf and Pullman loaf) did not. They were tough. In fact the Pullman loaf could not even be stretched. I placed them in a proofing box overnight at 70°F with a small pot of boiling water next to them as stated in the directions. In the morning, they have not risen. I took them out of their proofing bowls and there is gluten development on the bottom but, no rising. The sourdough loaf was finally soft enough, but had not risen (recipe states it should have a 75% rise now). The Pullman loaf had softened, but only a little bit, and it did not rise either. My pizza dough of course is perfect. I took the sourdough loaf in the Pullman loaf doughs out. I worked the sourdough for a few minutes, and then placed it back in the proofing box, this time it’s 78°F. I took the Pullman loaf out and found it very hard to work with. It had no stretch. Each time I tried to stretch it, I misted it with some water to try to give it more flexibility. I finally was able to shape it into a ball, those still very tough, and placed it back in the proofing box. This is where I am in my process. I have no idea what to do or what is going on. I’m obviously doing something wrong, but can’t figure out what it is. Any help, thoughts, or insights would be greatly appreciated.
It sounds like your flour needs more water than the recipe asks for. Every type of flour varies in its ability to soak up water, and you likely need more water for your flour compared to the one used by the recipe author.
A stiff, underhydrated dough will be slow to rise. Sourdough bread is often made with a wetter dough, so your problem could be simply resolved by adding another 50 grams of water.
Salt also has a slowing-down effect on gas production. Check you are using no more than 2% compared to the weight of the flour – For example, 20 grams of salt in a recipe that uses 1000 grams of flour.
If this doesn’t fix your problem completly, it’ll definetly improve things. Look at getting your starter more active if a wetter dough has little impact.
My mom and I are newbies to the sourdough game. Her starter is a few months old. It’s fed once a day and typically doubles in size. She split it and gave me half and that was doing well, too. Temperature is our killer. We live in a cold climate in the winter and the “room temperature” at my folk’s house varies a great deal (heat goes down quite low in the night and back to 65-69 degrees F in the day). Kitchen counter tops where starter sits are stone and hold the cold.
Yesterday we each started a simple dough. She has made a few loaves with varying success. Things seemed to be going well. Nice smelly, bubbly starter. Our water is good, warm but not hot. Textures developing as expected. May have over mixed a bit. We attempted the first “bulk” proof in her oven on a “proof” setting (supposedly about 70-80 degrees F but not noticeably warm at all). There was no rise at all after 3 hours, certainly no dome, and my metal bowl was still cold to the touch. It was getting late, so we decided to put them in the fridge and “pause” the action overnight. Instead, around midnight she put them back in the oven on “proof” overnight. Nothing. They are currently sitting on a warm (covered) radiator, but I’m afraid this might be a total loss.
Hi Bridget! I know most bakers will tell you to wait for it to rise 30% or so before shaping, but as they’ve been hanging around for a while now, I’d get them shaped asap. The gluten can become tired and weak otherwise, plus if you are worried that you over-mixed, the gluten is even more likely to deteriorate.
There is hope that they will rise during the final rise!
Annoying that the proof setting doesn’t seem to be doing much! Here are a few suggestions for home proofing devices
If no joy, the best thing to do is to place your starter in a warmer spot and feed it when it peaks. You should notice the starter becomes more active and requires feeding more regularly. When this happens you can increase the ratio of fresh flour and decrease the starter in your refreshments. After 7-10 days of feeding it should be more active.
Hi, I have a 2 to 3 month old starter that is very active and doubles in size in about 7 hours. It even continues to sometimes triple. However, when I add this starter to bread, the bread simply does not want to rise. I achieve about 30% max rise in 9 hours.
I store my starter at room temp (22c) and feed it once a day at 9pm. Then, 9am the next morning the starter has doubled in size (12 Hours). I then use it in bread and at this point it does not get past bulk fermentation because it does not rise the bread. I have used many different recipes and it always turns out the same, where other people have success. So it is not the recipes.
* I only use bottled spring water (It doubles by starter)
* I feed my starter AP Flour (In Canada AP and Bread Flour both have 13.5% Protein)
Hi Heinrich, looks like you are doing a lot of things right, so I can see why you’re stuck!
The biggest thing that stands out is your starter peaks between 7-12 hours, but you’re feeding it every 24. As the starter collapses, it becomes weaker as acids and alcohol create an unwelcome environment for the good bacteria, enzymes and yeast to flourish.
Can you try and feed your starter when it peaks, so twice a day?
Also, if you can keep your starter slightly warmer (~25C) the enzymes etc will be more active
I used spring water about 65 degrees, I have 2 different starters for two different kinds of flour. Starter and dough were in an 85 degree room for 24 hours, no rise despite adding more starter. Can’t understand why
How often are you feeding your starters, and how long do they take to peak?
Thank you Busby for this in depth trouble shooting guide.
I changed the starter from rye to wheat 2 days ago. That must be it.
I didn’t think about that and although it isnt rising properly it feels good to know why!
Thanks Martijn! Hopefully, it’ll get going again very soon.
Hi, I’ve been making sourdough successfully at home in England for the past couple of years and wanted to introduce my Dad to it. He lives on an island in Croatia and decent bread isn’t that easy to buy so I brought over some of my starter (in the hold luggage on a 2 hour flight), fed it for a couple of days until it passed the float test and then made some bread using the same flour I always use at home (I brought a bag with me). As you’ll guess, the bread didn’t rise and I’m wondering whether I’ve damaged the starter by travelling, or perhaps the sea air here would have an impact, or the warmer climate (30 degrees in the day) or different bacteria in the air? Your thoughts would be welcome, and we will persist, also my Dad is starting his own starter and will be patient in getting it to develop.
Hi Fiona, your dedication to your starter is fantastic!
The float test isn’t all that accurate as a weak starter can still pass it so I wouldn’t worry too much. If you’re familiar with an active starter, go on the smell of it to tell when it’s mature. It will be adjusting to the changes you mentioned (water too), especially the increase in temperature -I’m jealous! The starter has to produce different ratios of enzymes to process the new bacteria effectively, it’s just a matter of keeping it fed and it’ll improve.
Keep feeding it regularly for 3-4 more days and it should adjust before Dads is ready. If it’s not fixed next week, drop another comment.
My dough rises nicely during the first rise. But after I put it in the pan it doesn’t rise much before baking
Possibly due to the sugars running out in the dough. Does it rise much in the oven?
wߋnderful points aⅼtogеther, yߋu simpⅼy gained a new fan!
Hi, I made a batch of sourdough bread with the same flour, same starter, same recipe… except new mixer. Everything goes well (the dough is risen well) till I put it in the oven. The dough did not rise. Do you think that mixing too long would be the reason?
It’s likely to be, did you knead it longer than usual this time? How long do you knead it for?
Hi Gareth,
My starter is quite young, 4 month I would say. It seems very active. Yesterday, after 3 feedings (80g starter, 60g all wheat flour, 40g white flour, 80g water) it was doubling in 3 hours. I then tried to bake. I prepared a dough with a strong type 1 flour, 80% hydration, 20% starter and 2% salt. It completely didn’t proof, in hours and hours. The temperature here is around 30 degree celsius. I used a mixer that heat up a lot the dough, so I used fridge temperature water and flour. Final temp of the dough was 27 degree.
What did I do a wrong?
Nothing that I can tell! Baffling. My only thought is that the dough was over kneaded, or kneaded too quickly in the mixer and lost its ability to retain gas? Did you use your starter when it was at its peak? Were you proofing the dough at room temperature?
Gareth, I have been making sour dough bread for many years. Once in a while I will begin a new starter for one reason or another. Recently, I began having trouble getting my bread to rise, making no changes in my ingredients or the process which I have used. I even bought new yeast to add to the starter to see if that might be the problem. I use the same recipe that I have used for years, but I did notice that the new starter is not bubbling. Why would it not bubble? I am doing exactly the same thing that I have always done, going by the recipe precisely. Thank you for any help that you can give me. I have even considered stop making it, but my family and friends don’t like that idea at all.
Hi Beverly, Let’s get to the bottom of this, I’m sure we can fix it. It sounds like the starter is the problem so let’s focus on getting that bubbling first:
1) What is the starter recipe and flour you are using?
2) Where are you keeping your starter? Have you tried warming it up?
3) How tightly are you sealing the jar/container?
I’m “this” far from officially giving up on trying to make sourdough bread. My starter is fine, and very active. But my bread never turns out right. It’s either too dense, too flat, too sour or too gummy. I’ve tried dutch ovens, baking stones, banneton baskets, and several different types of starters. Granted, my kitchen is pretty cool most of the time since it’s mostly quartz surfaces and tile floors, but I’ve tried to proof the dough inside my oven with the light on, and it gets too hot and hardens the dough. So now I put the dough inside my oven with the light on, but I leave the oven door cracked open a few inches to let some of the warmth escape. That seems to help a little, but it still takes forever for my dough to rise. The loaves that have risen and look amazing, don’t taste very good, or they’re super dense inside. Loaves baked on my baking stones take way longer to cook and come out gummy inside so I’ve given up trying to use those. I’m really stumped at to why I can’t seem to figure it out. Any suggestions?
Hi Marcy, I’m sorry to hear of your struggles. Here are a few tips that will help:
– When you are proofing the dough in the oven and it is hardening up, this is probably because the dough is drying out. Either cover it in a plastic bag or place a cup of hot water (to create steam) in the oven and keep the door closed. As long as the temperature doesn’t pass 105F (which it shouldn’t with just the light on) this will protect the dough from hardening. Note, if using the cup of hot water method, replace the water (or reheat it in the microwave) every hour to keep producing moisture. If it is getting too hot in there, turn off the light when you put the bread in and turn it on for 5 minutes or so ever hour.
– If using a baking stone, they need a while to properly preheat before you bake. I leave mine in for at least 45 minutes before using.
– It could be that your oven is not at the best temperature. Aim to have your oven at around 430-445F
– You could add a pinch of yeast to your recipe. It’s not the proper way to do sourdough but it’ll help speed up your rise and erradicate some of the problems you are suffering. Once you’ve made a few loaves, and are a bit more confident you can ommit it.
How long are you bulk fermenting and proofing your dough?
I’ve been getting good lift after every feeding. How will I know for sure that it’s mature? Should I feed it then put it in the fridge or leave it out the whole time?
Thank you for taking the time to help people (like me) learn something new. I’ve been trying for 2 years (off and on) .
You are welcome, the more people I help, the more I learn. There’s a detailed guide for knowing when a starter is readyhere. Keep it out all the time and feed it whenever it peaks. At that room temperature, it should be peaking twice a day once it’s ready. Once mature, you can store it in the fridge and feed less often.
Hey Mary, 9 days is pretty young for a starter, ignore the float test it’s not accurate. The best way to test is seeing it rise with large and small bubbles and it will smell rounded (not overly alcoholic, cheesy or vinegary). 74 should be warm enough and the flour you are using is not going to prevent it from rising. I’d do another week or two of regular feeding and try again. If you desperately want to use it now, you can add a pinch of yeast to your dough -but don’t tell the sourdough police 😉
Hi Gareth,
My starter is new (9 days). It passed the float test. But I’ve tried to make 2 different batches of dough and neither one has done anything during the bulk rise. I use a store brand AP unbleached flour for the starter and tap water in a glass bottle left out on the counter to off gas. The flour I’m using for the bread is Gold Metal AP, warm water from the tap. Started in the evening. Temp around 74 in the house.. Still I get up in the morning and no activity. Help!
Hi Gareth,
My starter is around two years old, and it’s been getting stronger as time goes on. We moved from the UK to Singapore, and I dried it to bring along. I successfully revived it, and it doubled in size after the final feeding. After that, it would only rise a quarter of the way, in a cupboard that is at a steady 28C (feeding it 1:1:1). I thought it might be the chlorinated tap water, so I started again with fresh dried starter, and only used bottled water. But the starter is still only rising a quarter of the way, after at least 9 hours (and really bubbly, and passes the float test). It doesn’t look like it’s sunken after all that time.
Any ideas what is going on? Back in London, I only used tap water and the starter would double/triple in at least 5 hours.
Thanks.
It’s just getting adjusted to its new environment, new water, humidity, temperature etc. There might be some loss in activity as it has been dried as perhaps it becomes more pH neutral (I’m thinking out loud with this point, I’ll have to do some research).
It should come good if you keep feeding it regularly in the cupboard for a week or two. I’d stick to the bottled water to start with, just to rule that out.
Hi! I have proofed my yeast but my starter doesn’t seem to be as bubbly as I think it should.
I made my bread and let it rise. Only it went completely flat! I have never had this problem before. I have been using the potato flake starter but am thinking I might need to stop that and use flour.
Help!.
Hi Genny, it depends on how experienced you are with making bread. If you’re fairly new, I recommend sticking to flour starters as there is plenty of support available for you if you run into problems (like this page!). I’ve never tried to make a potato starter, so I’m not 100% sure about the science behind it.
How long did you let it rise for? It could have needed more gluten development by kneading or using stretch and folds. If you left it for several hours, it’s a clear sign that the starter was not ready.
Hi there!
When I’ve been making my dough everything seems to go ok up until it goes into the banneton to proof. The bulk ferment seems fine. It rises nicely. Then it goes into the banneton and into the fridge overnight and doesn’t rise at all. So today I tried to prove it in a prover, nice and warm and humid and it’s barely risen after 5 hours. The dough looked really good and well structured and tight. Any suggestions? At my wits end lol.
Hi Aleks, it could be a couple of things or a combination of them. I’d start with the second and third options below and if that doesn’t work, try the first one:
1) How much are you rising in bulk fermentation? Maybe you are exhausting the sugars during the first rise. You could use more starter in your recipe and reduce the length of the first rise.
2) You might need to be a little more patient. Sourdough in the fridge doesn’t rise much at all. A lot of bakers will proof for 2-4 hours before it goes in the fridge until it reaches 3/4 proof height. Others do it the other way round and proof it on the counter or a proofer after the fridge. It’s a bit harder to warm up and activate cold dough than it is to cool an active one.
3) This one might sound unnecessarily complicated, but it’s worth considering. If you use a different temperature for proofing your sourdough to the one the starter is kept at, some Lactic acid bacteria and yeasts won’t be as active while others will -but they take a few days to populate. If you will proof the sourdough in the proofer it might be worth storing and feeding your starter in the proofer for a few days before you make your next loaf.
* Or it could just be that your starter needs to mature a little more. Rye flour will definitely help if you are not already using it?
Hi Gareth, this is my first time making sourdough bread and my dough is not rising at over 3 hours of proofing. I fed the starter for 3 weeks (bread flour, whole wheat flour and bottled water equally). The starter doubled in size for almost 2 weeks and I saw bubbles at the top but never on the sides. I always fed it just when I noticed it was starting to deflate from the peak (not sliding down the jar yet). This always seemed to happen at hour 10 or 11 after the last feeding. I’ve read so many comments about starters tripling in size after 4 to 6 hours. I live in a warm climate so the temperature in the house is always about 25C. When first fed, the starter is sweet smelling and turns to a vinegar smell as it peaks. I’m not sure if my starter wasn’t ready though it did float during the float test. Did I use too much salt in the dough? 400g bread flour, 230g water, 160g starter and 10g salt. Appreciate any advice you can give me. Barb
If it’s taking 10-11 hours for your starter to peak, it’ll take about the same for your bread to double in size also. Just be patient, it’ll rise eventually. The salt amount is perfect.
If the starter is a little vinegary it could benefit from another week of regular refreshments, feeding before it starts to drop and you could also add some rye flour when feeding, but I wouldn’t give up on the one you’re making right now. Not sure about your time zone, but if it’s getting late just cover it and pop it in the fridge overnight.
Hi Gareth, it’s my understanding that the bulk of the gas producing cultures in sourdough are saccharomyces yeast strains (which are heterofermentative, and therefore have CO2 as a byproduct), primarily consisting of sacc exiguous, cerevisiae, K. exiguus and K. humilis; and that the bacteria are mostly homofermentative lactic producing strains, with a small amount of acetic acid producing strains as well.
I only asked because your post indicated that it was bacteria producing the gas, and I believe it’s mostly yeast contributing to that, while the bacteria produce the sourness.
There is generally a ratio of LAB to yeasts of 100:1 which is why there is so much gas produced by it. Yeast of course does produce gas but the acidity of the starter levels off the amount of yeast that can populate. I could probably word this better, but I can’t think today! Hopefully, you understand what I’m trying to get across John! Anyway, click the link to Bakerpedia’s article which explains a bit more on the science and some of the species of yeast produced. They also have a seminar on sourdough which is great!
The majority of the CO2 gas being produced in the sourdough is from the yeast, not the bacteria, correct? I think there are both homofermentative and heterofermentative bacteria in sourdough, but the majority of the gas that causes rise will be from saccharomyces, correct? I’m not a bread expert, but know a lot about mixed fermentation from brewing mixed cultures beer, and that is the case with beer, and these mixed cultures are close to the same and eating the same food, correct?
No, there’s more CO2 produced through heterofermentative reactions. Strains of Saccharomyces are often found in sourdough but there are several other yeasts in sourdough. The combination of yeast and heterofermentative reactions produce CO2 whilst the dough receives many benefits from the organic acids and ethanol produced.
I’ve had my starter for 10 years. I feed it and leave on the counter the morning before I start my bread. At 7 pm I start the bread. The starter is super fluffy and floats. I’ve only had a few times where the dough actually doubles by morning and its so exciting when it does. We keep our house at 70 degrees. Is THAT the culprit? It rises quickly in the oven at 500 but is very dense because it hasn’t fully risen. How can I heat up it’s rising space without heating up the entire house?
Hi Lara, it probably is a bit cold, you could also increase the amount of starter in your recipe. Here’s a guide on DIY proofing solutions to warm up the dough as it rises.
Hi there! I’ve been using a sandwich sourdough recipe and we’ve loved it! Had so much success with it, made it several times and it was heaven. Then all of a sudden, I could not get the dough to rise. No matter how long it sat. My starter is super bubbly and active. It literally triples in size and passes the float test in the water. It’s colder now, so I make sure that my home is nice and toasty when I make it. I just don’t understand why I had so much success at the beginning (I made the recipe at least 10+ times with no problem at all) to now wasting so much flour because it never turns out….. ♀️
It’s a tough one, you have to think about what could have changed between then and now. Temperature, type of flour, humidity etc. As you say it’s colder where you are now, there are a few things to consider:
– How long does it take for your starter to rise now? Maybe it isn’t as powerful as it was before?
To fix: place it somewhere warm and keep feeding it when it rises, which should be at least twice a day.
– The room is still too cold.
To fix: use warmer water and get/create a proofing box to proof your dough.
Further reading: How to Warm a Sourdough Starter, How to Proof Bread Without a Proofer – DIY Proofing Solutions!, Desired Dough Temperature – How To Calculate and Reach it
Hope this helps, let me know how you get on!
Okay. I’ll try that. Still can’t quite get why it’s started to fail when this routine has been working well for nearly a year. Thank you for giving me your ear. I’ll check back soon and let you know how it went.
OK, sounds like it needs some regular attention to wake it back up. The new flour and the spending the majority of time in the fridge have slowed bacteria growth. I would keep it out of the fridge, ideally somewhere warm and complete regular discard and feedings when it peaks which should be twice a day. Once you’ve done this for 3-4 days and it is peaking in 5-6 hours you can store it in the fridge again, basically treat it like a new starter again.
A 100% rye starter is a bit more challenging to maintain. Most people do 50:50 rye and white flour, of 25 rye and 75 white. I’m not saying that 100% rye can’t be done, I had one for years, it just needs a bit more care.
I leave approx 20 grams in a jar. And feed it 50g water and 50grams rye flour. Leave it on the bench to double and get bubbly then into the fridge til I make bread the following week. I bring the starter out of the fridge in the morning to come to room temp and feed it that night 50g each of rye foodie and water and let it do it’s thing overnight. I mark the jar with a rubber band so I can confirm the activity. And then use it to make up the dough.
I’m at wits end. For the past 8 months I’ve been successfully making sourdough every week, using the method that, after shaping, rests the shaped loaves in bannetons, in the fridge overnight and baking the next morning. For the last two bakes, however, the loaves are just so flat. Not doing anything different except we are now moving into Spring here in Australia and my kitchen is now around 20ºC where it was around 14ºC before. Oh, and I have a new batch of organic, unbleached bakers flour that I’m using (same brand as I always use, just a new bag).
That sucks. Let’s try and sort it out. How are you storing your starter and how often are you feeding it?
My recipe implies i can proof the loaves without a couche or bread pan and Im still not satisfied with the consistency. The dough is slightly sticky which is why I had tried adding 1/4 to 1/2 c flour but the finished loaves are more dense. Is it possible to over-kneed? I use a mixer with a dough hook to kneed the dough for 15-20 minutes with the original flour/water ratios. Most of the stickiness is gone and it has a somewhat satiny finish that passes the window pane test. But still have difficulty getting good rise and round shape. I recently added 1 tsp of commercial yeast as a last gasp effort to have loaves to share with guests with an improved shape but I’d really rather not take that step.
Yeah, I’d agree that there is too much kneading going on. Sourdough bread needs time to ferment (minimum of 3 hours at that temperature). During a long first rise not only do the organic acids build up to mature the dough, but the gluten structure also continues to develop. Too much development will lead to the structure collapsing.
It’s never a good idea to reach pass the windowpane test at the end of mixing. It’s best to part-develop the gluten and let it naturally develop as the bacteria and yeasts ferment the dough. You should be looking to pass the windowpane test at the end of the first rise, ready for shaping. This means the dough is at its optimum point to retain CO2.
I’d suggest mixing for 3-4 minutes, either by hand or in a mixer and leaving the dough in the fridge overnight. Leave out for 2-3 hours until there’s some gas developing and the gluten is reaching the windowpane stage, and then shape, rise and bake when ready.
This should stop your dough from being sticky too as the water will have time to be soaked up in the flour. You’ll need to have a fairly dry dough if there is no couche or baguette tray to support them as they will spread outwards otherwise. If the dough is still sticky at the end of the first rise, use less water next time.
Howdy, Gareth. I have enjoyed all the suggestions and comments. My sourdough French bread isn’t rising as much as I’ld like and the baguettes slump while rising vs a round cylindrical shape. I had problems with my initial starter failing until switching to non-chlorinated bottled spring water, no RO. (NOTE: My municipal water is treated with chloramines, that are MUCH more stable than chlorine, does not dissipate at room temperature but may be removed by boiling for up to 60 mins).
I’ve experimented with more flour, but still no luck. I use 1-1/2 c starter, 2 tsp salt per 585 gm bread flour 1 cup water and zero fat zero sugar.
The longer the shaped-dough rises, the more it slumps.
Would more salt or less flour help? It rises at 80-89 F. Would cooler temps be better?
THANKS!
1/4-1/2 teaspoon extra salt may help yes, keep the flour as is. It could be that you need to work on your shaping. How firm is the dough? Are you using a couche to proof them? How long are you proofing them?
Ive been making bread for a year and none of the recipes i tried gave me the fluffy texture i wanted. I used the potato flake starter this time with high hopes to still get dense heavy bread.looks pretty and tastes ok but is dense and chewy.also used ki g arthir organic flour.
Fluffy bread really benefits from fat and some lecithin which can be found in vegetable oil, eggs and soy flour. I’ve not heard of a potato flake starter! Sounds fun, but not sure if it will make it fluffier – let me know! Feel free to email me if you want any more help.
Thank you for this guide! I am still having trouble getting my dough to rise during bulk fermentation (waiting as long as 20 hours) despite the following, as mapped to your 8 points:
1. Having active levain – it’s 7 days old and has consistently risen 2-3x within 6-9 hours, ever since day 4
2. Being in a ~27-30C environment
3. Using room temperature, bottled (RO) water
4. Using only 1 tsp salt to 250g flour
5-7. Not using any sugar/fat; using RO water
8. Protecting the dough with both a slick of olive oil + a silicone bowl cover
Have got absolutely no clue what I should even be fixing in my next attempt!
Sounds like you are doing everything right however, the starter at 7 days might not be as powerful as it needs to be. Keep feeding it for another week and try again, and repeat. You should notice the smell improving and the size of the bubbles increase a little. After this, your starter should be much stronger and you won’t need to wait 20 hours!
This article might also be useful: https://www.busbysbakery.com/best-time-to-use-a-sourdough-starter/
this is the first time my dough did not rise at all. I fed my starter and waited 2 hours and it was bubbling… I used the water that I normally used, from the same source as the day before when I made 3 loafs of bread…. the only difference was in one loaf I used some fresh garlic in my dough and the other loaf I used some cinnamon in the dough. I worked the dough as normal and left for the 4 hour rise and came back to NO rise at all. I just worked with folding again and will leave it covered outside, this time, and see what happens. I am so disappointed. Well… lets see what happens.
Hi! That’s a tough one, I can see why you’re baffled! It could be due to the garlic and cinnamon. Both are known to inhibit the leavening power of sourdough. You are better off roasting garlic and adding it to the dough midway through the first rise. With cinnamon, put a maximum of 1 tsp per 350 grams of flour in the dough. It still might slow things down.
I’d remove a small piece of dough without either inclusion to check on progress next time. This way you’ll be able to eliminate them from being the cause.
Gareth, Great website-Thanks!
My starter smelled and tasted like sourdough. It floated. I added 2 cups starter to my bread recipe. Why did my dough not rise? I see comments about the starter doubling and tripling in volumn, but mine never does. Thanks for your help. Karol
Thank you Karol! It’s a tough one without seeing the dough. What temperature is your starter kept at and how often do you feed it?
Was there no rise at all in the bread?
Hi, trying to make sourdough bread, made our own starter which seemed to have plenty of bubbles and action after feeding it, the water we used came through a very efficient filter which removes virtually everything…we used the same water for the bread mix as it seemed fine…anyway the mix started to rise but never seemed to get any further, could this be because of the water we used….any help would be appreciated….regards Steve
Hi Steve, It could be, but if the starter is rising then it wouldn’t expect that the water is preventing it from rising. How active is your starter, is it doubling, or better still, tripling within 6 hours? How old is it?