Troubleshooting
Fix my loaf
Something went wrong and you want to know what. Find the symptom, read the cause, change one thing. Every guide here ends with the lever to move next bake, or with when a starter needs to start again.
Start with the symptom that bothers you most. A loaf usually has one main fault and a few smaller notes, and fixing the main one often takes care of the rest.
- Dense, gummy or heavy: why is my sourdough dense and gummy. First check you waited at least 1 to 2 hours before cutting.
- Big holes, tunnels, a gap under the crust, or not sure if it was under or over: underproofed vs overproofed and the sourdough crumb, read it like a baker.
- A starter that will not rise, or barely doubles: sourdough starter not rising. It is almost always too cool, too young or underfed.
Then change one thing. If you change bulk, water and the bake at once, the next loaf cannot tell you which one helped. Most home bakers, especially early on, underproof more often than they overproof, so if you are unsure, a longer bulk is the safer first try.
Try it
Answer seven questions about the cut loaf in the crumb troubleshooter for a proof call and the one lever to change. For a slow or fast starter, the starter feeding calculator shows how ratio and room temperature move the peak.
Heads up
Fuzzy mold of any color, or pink, orange or red streaks in the jar, cannot be fixed. Discard the whole starter, do not scrape it, wash the jar in hot, soapy water and start fresh. A rotten smell or a slimy texture that will not stir back in means the same.
Guides for fixing a loaf or a starter
Coming soon: Hooch on Sourdough Starter: What the Liquid Means; Why Is My Sourdough Flat? Spreading Loaves, Explained; Big Holes in Sourdough: Good Sign or Fault?; Sourdough Starter Mold: What It Looks Like, What to Do; The Sourdough Poke Test, and When Not to Trust It; Sourdough in Winter: Keeping a Cold Kitchen Moving.