Sourdough
Sourdough Troubleshooting
Diagnose and fix the most common sourdough problems.
Overview
Every baker hits a wall with sourdough. Dense crumb. Flat loaves. Gummy interior. Starter that won't rise. The problems are common, and they're almost always fixable. The trick is diagnosis. Most issues trace back to one of three things: fermentation timing, dough handling, or oven setup. Underproofed bread is dense and tight. Overproofed bread is flat and lifeless. Weak shaping leads to spreading. Wrong oven temp kills your spring. This page walks through the most common sourdough problems and shows you exactly where things went wrong. Not vague advice — specific fixes. You'll learn to look at a sliced loaf and trace the issue back to the step that caused it. That's real troubleshooting. Not guessing. Not starting over. Just understanding what happened and adjusting next time. That's how you get better.
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Glossary
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