Sourdough FAQs: Starter, Tools, Techniques, Troubleshooting, & More

With the stand mixer, you have two main options: 1) Develop the dough fully in the mixer and either minimize or even skip stretch and folds altogether, or 2) Use the stand mixer just to incorporate the ingredients. Then, transfer to a bowl and proceed with spaced-out stretch and folds. Which way you go depends on your style and also the power of your mixer!

To fix an acidic starter, feed it at higher ratios more often. I find it very helpful to discard down to a small amount and give it a large format feeding. For example, mix 5g of your starter with 50g flour and 50g water. We don’t want to carry over a ton of that acidic starter, so this can often kick it back into shape. This video also walks you through how to fix an acidic starter from 06:23-08:53.

I recommend slicing the entire loaf and freezing the slices. Otherwise, I typically keep my bread on the counter in a glass cake stand, reusable bread bags (Doe a Deer makes my favorite ones), or in a paper bread bag (these are my favorite).

The recipe tester group is currently closed and at capacity. When/if we open it back up, I’ll announce it on my social media channels and email list. In the meantime, the best way to stay in the loop is to subscribe to my weekly email list!

I have never made my own starter from scratch, so I’m really not a great resource for help with troubleshooting or getting one going. I posted in a Facebook mom group for my city and was shocked by the outpouring of people willing to give me some of their starter. So, that’s my top suggestion.

Next up would be to purchase a starter. Kelly Liston was kind enough to ship me some of hers, named Suzette, and she is a wonderful, happy one. She comes in liquid form, so you don’t have to mess with rehydrating. You can get 15% off with the affiliate code THATSOURDOUGHGAL.

If you’re hell-bent on making it yourself, I suggest this recipe from Maurizio Leo.

I have not worked with fresh-milled flour yet, but hope to in the future. My understanding is that it can absorb more water and can be more challenging to work with, so it’s best to start small – such as replacing 10-20% of your typical flour with freshly milled.

I don’t have a dedicated post on it, but it’s included in all my recipes that call for a stiff sweet starter, like my cinnamon rolls. Here’s a video on how to tell when it has peaked: https://www.instagram.com/p/DOGRH4JDl1X/

If you want to maintain a stiff sweet starter, you’d do it just like a regular starter, but I don’t really advise it. I maintain my regular liquid starter and pull from it to make a sweet stiff one when a recipe calls for it.

I feed my starter with bread flour. The exact brand of bread flour I’m using changes, but my favorite of all time is the Central Milling High Mountain flour.

When I go on vacation, I feed my starter a 1:5:5 feeding ratio (such as 5g starter, 25g flour, 25g water) and let it rise for a few hours. Then, I put it in the fridge. When I get back home from vacation, I bring my starter out of the fridge and let it rest on the counter for a few hours. Then I discard most of it and feed it as usual (also a 1:5:5 feeding ratio).

I pour it out, but you can do either! It’s really up to you. I wrote a full article about this here: Sourdough Starter Hooch: Stir It In or Pour It Out?

You have a few options:
1) Start a new jar and weigh the empty jar so you can do quick math later (total weight minus jar weight = grams of starter inside)
2) Fish out all the starter, then put back only what you need
3) Eyeball it – over time, you’ll develop an eye for what 5 or 10g of starter looks like
4) Use a permanent jar that you’ve weighed empty, so you always know exactly how much is in there. If your jar (empty) weighs 150g, then you know if it says 160g, there’s 10g of starter in there.

Yes, that’s Step 1 in most of my recipes!

Technically speaking, a levain is different from just feeding your sourdough starter, which can cause confusion. Materially, they’re the same thing – but the intention is different:
A levain is feeding your starter for a specific recipe, using the exact amount you need
Feeding your starter is for maintaining it and keeping it alive

I generally think of them as one and the same because I feed my starter, use most of it in a recipe, and feed the leftovers. That’s how my recipes are written.

However, I do like using the term “levain” when I’m making a unique starter for a specific recipe – like a stiff sweet starter for cinnamon rolls (I don’t want leftovers because I’m not maintaining that type daily). Or some bakers make a chocolate starter for chocolate bread.

They don’t want to maintain a chocolate starter every day, so they pull some from their “mother” starter and build a unique levain with it.

I use the Sourdough Home! Starter activity speeds up at higher temps and slows down at lower temps. The fridge is a little too cold – yeast goes mostly dormant, but the lactic acid bacteria keep going, which causes excess acidity.

At a cool temperature in the Sourdough Home (50-65°F), the yeast still moves along, just much slower. It takes longer to peak, so I don’t have to feed as often.

You can shop my favorite bread knife from Mercer here.

You can shop my favorite sourdough tools on my Amazon Storefront here.

My favorite bread flour is Central Milling High Mountain. I have more information about buying flour in this guide.

I love the Krustic Dutch ovens and have used them for years. You can shop them here and get a discount with code REBEKAH15.

I like the wood pulp bannetons from Flourside. My favorite sizes are medium batards (ovals), the large batard (oval), or the small boule (round). The medium spiral batard is quickly becoming my favorite of all. You can get a discount with code TSG5.

I wrote an in-depth comparison and review of these mixers (and the Ooni and Ankarsrum) that you can check out here.

I created a sourdough inclusions cheatsheet that you can download here for quick ideas. I typically add my inclusions during the second round of stretch and folds. If I’m using a stand mixer, I’ll do my initial dough mix (without the inclusions) and let the dough rest for 30-60 minutes. Then, I’ll toss the inclusions in and mix on a low speed for a few minutes until they are fully incorporated.

For sweet inclusions, such as a cinnamon sugar swirl, I laminate my dough during shaping and add the swirl using my swirl technique, which you can watch here. My apple crisp loaf and cinnamon swirl loaf feature this type of swirl.

I made the inclusion cheatsheet for standard 500g flour loaves. The only exception is the jalapeno cheddar, which calls for 375g of flour, but I kept the inclusion amounts as-is, because they will still be great for a 500g flour loaf. (Keeping it simple!)

You can use the sourdough starter feeding calculators here.

Tangzhong is a mixture of flour and milk, cooked into a paste, and is the secret to getting super-soft results in many of my recipes. You can make this paste in the microwave or on the stovetop. You can read my blog: Tangzhong: The 3-Minute Secret to Softer Sourdough, which has tons of details and a tutorial.

I find I don’t need to do any more stretch and folds (or coil folds) when the dough holds its structure. After about 30 minutes past a stretch and fold or coil fold, take a look at your dough. If it has puddled back out, it needs more strength – do another round. If it has kept its relative shape, leave it alone!

In most cases, 4 rounds is perfect, which is why that’s the number I typically mention in recipes. But sometimes dough needs 5 or even 6 rounds if it’s particularly high hydration.

It depends on the recipe, but in general, look for dough that’s jiggly, super bubbly, and domed in shape. If you tap the surface, it should feel bouncy and aerated – not flat and dense.

All of my recipes include photos of what the dough should look like, how long my dough took to bulk ferment at a specific temperature (for reference), and a clear description of how the dough should behave.

It can vary a bit, especially as you consider the hydration of the dough. Low hydration doughs act and look different than high ones, which makes it tough to give a blanket answer.

Split the dough after bulk fermentation, during the pre-shaping stage!

Either way works!

To bake same-day: Put your shaped loaf (in its banneton) in a warm place for 1-3 hours, or until it puffs up and looks super jiggly. To make scoring easier, pop it in the freezer while the oven preheats – this stiffens the exterior. The bread will be less sour/tangy and not as easy on the gut, but if those aren’t concerns for you, you’ll love it!

To cold retard: Follow the recipe as written and refrigerate overnight for easier scoring and more developed flavor.

You’ll know your sourdough starter is ready to bake with when it has at least doubled, if not tripled, in size. It will have bubbles all throughout. It should smell yeasty and maybe even a little sweet. The top of the starter should be mostly flat – not domed and not deflating. This post goes into more detail: Is My Sourdough Starter Ready to Bake With? How I Can Tell

If your dough isn’t rising at all, it’s either your starter (the population of yeast is not strong enough) or your temperature (if it’s too cold, the yeast can’t do their thing). Make sure your starter is fully peaked before using it to make bread (see the question before this) and try moving your dough to a warmer spot (75-80°F or 24-27°C).

Ensure it has tripled in size, smells sweet and yeasty, and has tons of bubbles all around the jar and on the surface. Unlike liquid starters, stiff starters will still be domed when they are at peak. It’s better to use a past peak starter than one that’s still rising (been there, done that, and you’ll have a huge headache!). Here’s a video of what a peaked stiff sweet starter looks like, for visual reference.

I recommend slicing the entire loaf and freezing the slices. Otherwise, I typically keep my bread on the counter in a glass cake stand or in a paper bread bag (these are my favorites).

The copycat Wonder Bread recipe is a long loaf that’s tricky to store. Of course, you can slice and freeze. But for gifting or leaving at room temperature, I found these plastic bags with twist ties that fit the loaf.

Yes! I wrote a blog all about freezing the actual dough (before baking) that you can read here. As for freezing a baked loaf, I recommend slicing the entire loaf and freezing the slices. Plus, did you know freezing sourdough bread and then thawing it has health benefits? You can read about them here.