u/brookemccaie

This may be a long post but I want to give as much detail as I can. I started my sourdough journey almost 3 months ago and attempted to make my first loaf yesterday/today.

Initially my starter (who I have named Doughlena) was not doubling, up until about 3 weeks ago when I started leaving her in the oven with the light on. However it does still take a good 9-10 hours to do so and I haven’t been able to shorten the time it takes. I do not precisely measure how much I feed her, but I always discard almost all of it then add 2/3 cup of all purpose non bleached flour and add filtered water until it is a thick pancake batter consistency.

So yesterday I finally tried to make some dough. I had last fed Doughlena the afternoon prior. I want to make it known that I can never tell when she has fully peaked … because I can never see her start to fall. I will include pictures for reference on when I think she is at peak.

I began by autolysing and the recipe I used was 500g flour (same one Ive been feeding her with), 350g warm filtered water. I mixed it and let it sit for 1 hour, covered. Then I added 100g of starter and 10g of salt. Mixed it and let it sit covered for 10 mins. I then came and did stretch and folds for 10 minutes. Covered it and left it in the oven with the light on. I had to leave to do something so it stayed there untouched for about 3 hours. When I got home I did 4 stretch and folds and put it back in oven, covered. I continued this process about 3 more times every hour doing 4 stretch and folds. The whole time it did not rise. It had maybe 3-4 bubbles and thats it. At this point it was time for bed so I said screw it and decided to shape it and stick it in my banneton in the fridge overnight. I was actually surprised at how well it looked despite not rising. It came out of the bowl clean without me touching it and it kept its ball form when shaped.

This morning I preheated my oven with my dutch oven inside at 500 degrees and then left it an additional 20 mins to make sure it was good and hot. I then scored my bread and placed in the Dutch oven with an ice cube underneath for 25 mins. Then turned temp down to 450, took cover off and continued baking for another 20 mins.

It came out looking honestly great (to me anyway lol again this is my very first loaf). But it was heavy and dense. The flavour was honestly great and tbh I’ll still eat the bread but I know it’s not how it should be. I know the issue is most likely because it didn’t bulk ferment properly. So my question is how can I fix this issue? My house sits at about 72F which is why I kept it in the oven between stretch and folds. The dough didn’t seem wet to me so I don’t believe it’s a hydration issue? But I would love some opinions/help!!

The pictures included in order:
1 & 2) starter after feeding 12 hours prior
3 & 4) starter after feeding it to show consistency
5 & 6) starter this morning after I fed it lastnight (10 hours)
7) loaf I baked
8) inside of loaf