Tips hub
Small habits that make big loaves
One idea at a time from our own kitchen. Filter by category or search for what's biting you today.
48 of 48 tips
Autolyse
- Beginner2 min read
Match water temperature to your kitchen
Aim for a final dough temperature of 76–78°F. If your kitchen is cool (65°F), use warmer water (85–90°F). Warm kitchen? Cooler water (70°F). This one variable sets your fermentation clock more than anything else.
Glossary: autolyse - Intermediate2 min read
Hold back 10% of the water
Mix flour and 90% of your water, then rest. Add the remaining water with the salt and levain. It's much easier to incorporate a soft dough than to fight a stiff one, especially at 75%+ hydration.
- Beginner1 min read
30 minutes is enough for most doughs
Long autolyses (2+ hours) build extensibility but can weaken high-protein flours. Start at 30 minutes. Only push longer if your dough tears when you fold.
- Intermediate2 min read
Whole-grain flours need longer
Bran absorbs water slowly. If your recipe is 20%+ whole wheat or rye, extend autolyse to 60–90 minutes so the bran fully hydrates. You'll feel the difference — dough goes from shaggy to silky.
Try: 30% whole wheat country loaf - Beginner1 min read
Skip the salt during autolyse
Salt tightens gluten and slows hydration. Reserve it and mix it in with the levain after the rest. The dough will feel dramatically more extensible.
- Beginner1 min read
Weigh, don't scoop
A scooped cup of flour can weigh anywhere from 120g to 170g. That's a 40% swing in hydration before you've done anything. A $15 scale is the single biggest upgrade you can make.
- Beginner1 min read
Use a straight-walled container for bulk
Watching a percentage rise is much easier in a cylinder than a bowl. Mark the starting height with tape. You want a 50–75% rise before shaping — not doubled.
- Advanced2 min read
Freshly milled flour needs its own rest
Home-milled flour is enzymatically hyperactive for the first few days. Let it rest 48 hours after milling before you build a dough — otherwise the crumb goes gummy and the loaf tastes flat.
- Intermediate1 min read
Skip the windowpane test on high hydration
At 78%+ hydration, a proper windowpane is nearly impossible and not necessary. Judge strength by feel — the dough should billow when you fold it, not tear.
- Beginner1 min read
In summer, use fridge-cold water
A dough mixed with 55°F water will land at a manageable 72°F dough temp in a hot kitchen instead of running away from you at 82°F. It's the single easiest way to keep your fermentation clock honest in July.
- Intermediate2 min read
Fermentolyse: mix the starter in from the start
Skip the strict flour-and-water autolyse — mix flour, water, and levain together and rest 45 minutes before adding salt. King Arthur calls it fermentolyse. It's faster, kinder to the schedule, and gives up almost nothing on extensibility.
- Beginner2 min read
Rest 45 minutes between fold sets
Stretch-and-folds only build structure if the gluten has time to relax and knit between rounds. Four sets, 45 minutes apart, over the first three hours of bulk beats eight rushed sets every time.
Glossary: stretch and fold
Starter care
- Beginner2 min read
1:5:5 is the ratio to default to
10 g starter, 50 g water, 50 g flour buys you 8–12 hours between feeds at 72°F. It's forgiving, doesn't overfeed the yeast, and reliably peaks in a predictable window.
Watch: feeding schedules - Beginner2 min read
Bake when it's domed and just starting to flatten
Peak isn't the tallest moment — it's the moment right before collapse. Look for a slightly rounded top with tiny bubbles on the surface. That's your window.
- Beginner2 min read
The fridge is your friend
A well-fed starter can sit in the fridge for a week without a feed. Pull it out the day before you bake, feed once at room temp, and it'll be ready by the next morning.
- Intermediate2 min read
Feed with a bread flour + whole wheat blend
80% bread flour, 20% whole wheat. The whole wheat brings enzymes and minerals; the bread flour brings structure. Straight all-purpose works, but it's like feeding an athlete white bread.
- Beginner1 min read
Mark the jar with a rubber band
Wrap a rubber band around the jar right after feeding. When you come back and the starter has risen past it, you know exactly how much. Cheaper and more accurate than eyeballing.
- Beginner1 min read
Save discard for later, not the bin
Refrigerate discard in a jar for up to two weeks. It's perfect for pancakes, crackers, or thinned into pizza dough — no leavening power needed, just flavor.
- Beginner1 min read
Feed at the same time daily
Wild yeast is a creature of habit. Two weeks of consistent 8am feeds does more for vigor than switching flours, tweaking ratios, or moving jars around.
- Intermediate2 min read
Traveling? Freeze a little
Spread 30g of active starter on parchment, let it dry completely at room temp, then break it up and freeze it in a bag. It'll wake up from months of cold storage with two feedings.
- Beginner1 min read
Keep two jars
One 'mother' jar in the fridge you never bake from, and a bake jar you feed and use. If your bake jar ever goes sideways, you have an unspoiled backup to rebuild from.
- Advanced2 min read
A stiff starter buys you time
Try a 1:2:3 (starter:water:flour) stiff levain. It ferments more slowly and has a longer peak window — huge if you can't time an evening bake precisely.
Glossary: stiff levain - Beginner1 min read
Not doubling? Try warmth before flour changes
Before you buy specialty flour, put your starter somewhere 78°F for a couple of days. 90% of 'my starter is weak' is really 'my kitchen is cold.'
- Beginner2 min read
Hot kitchen? Keep the starter in the fridge between bakes
Above 78°F your starter will burn through feeds in 3–4 hours and start smelling like acetone by dinner. Refrigerate right after peak, pull it out and feed the night before you bake.
- Intermediate2 min read
Struggling to start from scratch? Use pineapple juice on day 2
A splash of unsweetened pineapple juice on days 2–3 drops the pH quickly and discourages the bacteria that make new starters stall. King Arthur's classic starter troubleshooting note — it works.
- Intermediate2 min read
Dry a backup and forget about it
Spread 30g of peak starter thinly on parchment, let it dry 24 hours, crumble it into a jar and store it in the cupboard. Years later, water and a feed bring it back. Cheap insurance.
- Beginner1 min read
Name your starter — but for a real reason
Not for cuteness. Naming it makes it a thing you keep alive on a schedule, not another jar in the fridge. Every long-term baker on r/Sourdough will tell you: the ones who name it, feed it.
- Beginner1 min read
A 1g-precision scale changes everything
A $20 pocket scale that reads to 0.1g lets you feed 5:25:25 or build a 15g levain accurately. Once feeds get consistent, timing gets predictable.
Troubleshooting
- Beginner2 min read
Dense, gummy crumb? It's usually underbaked
Take the internal temp to 205–210°F. If it's already there and the crumb is still gummy, the loaf was under-proofed — bulk needs more time next round.
Full: dense crumb diagnosis - Beginner2 min read
Flat loaves are over-proofed nine times out of ten
If your dough spread the moment you scored it, cut bulk by 30–60 minutes on the next bake. In warm kitchens, retard in the fridge overnight to buy control.
- Intermediate2 min read
No ear? Check score angle and depth
Hold the blade at ~30° from the surface and cut 1/4-inch deep in one confident motion. A shallow, hesitant score bakes closed. A perpendicular score just splits, no ear.
Watch: scoring 101 - Intermediate2 min read
Tight crumb with no big holes
Under-fermented dough. Extend bulk until you see 50–75% rise, jiggly texture, and visible bubbles on the sides of the container. Time in hours matters less than what you see.
- Beginner1 min read
Liquid on your starter isn't a problem
That gray-brown 'hooch' is alcohol — a sign your starter is hungry, not dying. Pour it off (or stir in for tang), and feed sooner or with a bigger ratio next time.
Glossary: hooch - Beginner2 min read
Burnt bottom, pale top
Move the rack up one notch and slide a second baking sheet under your dutch oven for insulation. If it keeps happening, your oven's calibration is off — get an oven thermometer.
- Intermediate1 min read
Big surface blisters mean you nailed the cold proof
Those glossy blisters on the crust are a badge of a slow, cold fermentation. If you're not getting them, extend cold retard to 18+ hours.
- Beginner1 min read
Dough sticking to the bench? Stop flouring.
Extra flour just makes the outside dry while the inside still sticks. Use a wet bench scraper instead — moisture releases the dough from the surface, not the other way around.
- Beginner2 min read
Pale crust after full bake time?
Your oven is running cool or you're losing heat too fast when the lid comes off. Use an oven thermometer — home ovens are routinely 25°F off. Preheat 15 minutes longer than you think you need to.
- Intermediate2 min read
Loaf spread flat the moment you scored it
That's an over-proofed dough. Next bake, cut bulk fermentation by 45 minutes or move the dough somewhere cooler. If it happened after retard, cold-proof shorter next time.
Full: over-proofed dough - Intermediate2 min read
One huge hole under the crust
Called a 'tunnel' — usually caused by loose shaping. Give the loaf more tension at final shape (tighter surface pull) and make sure the seam is fully closed.
- Beginner2 min read
Not tangy enough?
Tang comes from time, not from a special starter. Extend cold retard to 24–36 hours and use a bit of whole wheat or rye in the dough. Warm bulk kills tang; cold proof builds it.
- Intermediate2 min read
Blowout on the side? Score deeper
If the loaf tears along the side or bottom instead of opening at your score, the score was too shallow. The oven spring found the weakest point. Next bake: 1/4-inch deep, single confident stroke.
Full: blowout on the side - Beginner2 min read
Top sinks after baking? Bake it longer
A crown that collapses on the cooling rack is under-baked, almost every time. Push the internal temp to 208–210°F. Ten extra minutes uncovered won't hurt a well-crusted loaf.
Full: crown collapse - Beginner1 min read
Dough sticking to the banneton? Use rice flour
Bread flour absorbs moisture and glues itself to the dough. Rice flour doesn't. A 50/50 mix of rice and bread flour, dusted heavily, releases cleanly even on 80% hydration doughs.
Full: banneton sticking - Beginner2 min read
Wet band through the middle? Cool it longer
The most common cause of a gummy center isn't underbaking — it's slicing while the loaf is still warm. Batards need 60 minutes on a rack; boules need 90. Steam finishes the bake.
- Beginner1 min read
Pink or orange spots? Throw it out.
Grey/brown hooch is fine. Fuzzy or brightly colored spots (pink, orange, green) are contamination — the whole jar. Discard it, sterilize the jar, and restart from a dried backup or a friend.
Full: starter mold - Intermediate2 min read
Batards spread flat? Match the banneton
A 12-inch banneton on an 800g dough guarantees a pancake. The dough needs sidewalls to shape against. Buy a banneton that comes up above the dough surface at rest.
Full: flat batards - Intermediate2 min read
Crumb closed everywhere except one huge hole?
That single cavern under the crust is almost always loose shaping and a trapped air pocket. Press air out during pre-shape, tighten the final shape, seal the seam.
- Intermediate2 min read
Too sour? Warm bulk, short retard
Tang comes from long, cold fermentation. If your bread reads too acidic, cut cold retard to 8–10 hours and let bulk finish fully at 78°F. Less time in the fridge means less lactic acid built up.
Keep learning
Pair these tips with the full library — the glossary decodes any term, and the troubleshooting page has the deep-dive fixes.