Hi,
We’ve had great success with our breadtopia sourdough starter in the past, but for the past few months the dough doesn’t rise much in the initial proofing stage and the bread comes out very dense – not quite gooey, but close. We’ve played around with initial and final proofing times (again, which didn’t seem to be an issue before), sometimes doing the 2nd proof in the fridge and sometimes not.
Is it possible that: our house is too cold? The starter isn’t active enough? (we store it in the fridge and take it out and feed it for a couple of days before using it). Any tips would be much appreciated!
I might not have the answer for you, but my dough has been slow to rise this winter. My house is at 68 during the day, and then I let it go down to 64 at night. It’s winter and I am in Minnesota. So, yes colder than most places.
I keep my starter in the refrigerator and take it out the day before baking. I feed it - usually 35 grams of flour (1/2 red fife and 1/2 turkey red) and 35 grams of purified water. I stir that well and then put it near my internet router - it’s warm. Some suggest on top of your refrigerator.
I wait for it to double. That can take 4-6 hours.
I then make my dough. In the past I would refrigerate it overnight but this last time I refrigerated it only for two hours to slow it down a bit. I use tap water for the dough. And I’m following Eric’s recipe for sourdough.
I then leave it out overnight. In the morning, I still have to wait about 4-5 hours to see some good activity. Lots of small bubbles (I use a glass bowl) and 3 or 4 large bubbles on the surface. The surface bubbles have not burst. They do in the summer.
All this is much less active then what I get in the summer.
My last bake was better than the pervious two. I use a Breadtopia clay baker. I bake at 500 degrees for 15 minutes and then 35 minutes at 425.
Next bake I won’t refrigerate at all and see what happens.
Keep experimenting! Hopefully, you’ll get past this. Nothing better than fresh homemade sourdough.