My coworker is starting her SD journey. This is her first loaf and as you can see it did not rise at all. FYI I know practically nothing about SD and am just posting to hopefully get her some answers. TIA!
My coworker is starting her SD journey. This is her first loaf and as you can see it did not rise at all. FYI I know practically nothing about SD and am just posting to hopefully get her some answers. TIA!
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zrrbite
There’s a whole lot to unfold here. We can’t help if we don’t have details. Ingredients, process, starter health, etc
If you’re willing to share there are a lot of smart bakers in here that can pretty quickly pinpoint the issues
ptvt
Forbidden cookie
riz3192
Did she wrap this as a gift for you?? lol
viliam_3
That looks like a cookie lol
Fun-Marsupial-2547
Starter is probably too immature
Practical_Hyena4075
Looks like they’ve tried inclusions which can be challenging. Maybe start with a plain tried and trusted recipe.
Diddlesquig
I’d be too embarrassed to give that to anyone that’s crazy. Did they think that’s how it’s supposed to turn out?
PeachasaurusWrex
We cannot give good advice unless we know what she already tried/did.
What recipe did she use? What flour did she use? What water did she use? How old is her starter? How long does the starter take to double? How long was the bulk ferment? What temp was the kitchen? How did she shape the boule before baking?
Is what you received edible?
There isn’t really any useful “general” advice for sourdough except maybe “keep trying” and “be consistent”.
I honestly have given up on sourdough after two years of baking and concluding that making regular-ass bread is 10x easier for a result that is just as delicious.
Potential-Sir-8278
Edit to add – no she is not selling to anyone and yes she knows this is not how it should look. This is her very first loaf ever. Also I am waiting for her to send me more information so I can pass along to you all.
HungryThirdy
Thats my Chest Lol hope she will get it soon!
expandingthoughts
There’s no way. That is totally a cookie. Ops is pulling some bs
cannontd
Starter is not ready or they did not let it bulk ferment long enough. My starter was not ready until 30 days.
F3ST3r3d
It’s actually Passover sourdough.
breadyspaghetti
lol I love that she brought it in for you to see!
izziishigh
oh my golllyy
edamameWHORE
I definitely would not start with inclusions right away. Mashed the loaf and then go from there
RetiredCatMom
I wish I had the confidence she had to bag this bad boy and show it off 😭 lol
hank1224
Most of us have done it once
Scoreycorey515
Just tell people it’s a SD biscuit. 😁
IceDragonPlay
Without details and to avoid a long game of ‘telephone’ I think the best thing is to send her to The Sourdough Journey resources.
For the resources above, they are based on the Tartine Country Loaf Sourdough recipe which is fermented at warm temperature (78-80°F) and has a bulk fermentation rise target of 30%. Her recipe may have a different rise target, but the concepts are applicable to any recipe even if you are wanting 75-100% rise if you are working at lower temperatures.
The Sourdough Journey is very precise and detailed on instructions, but Sourdough does not have to be that precise. Once you have an understanding of the dough you can be more loose in your approach.
As others have mentioned before there are many issues to work through here. Without more info my initial recommendation would be to not start with inclusion loaves. Yes they’re fun and popular but many will add moisture to the dough that she is not equipped to make adjustments for yet. Get a scale, weigh all your ingredients, and start with a small, simple, all white flour (no whole grains), lower hydration recipe. Stick with that ONE recipe until it comes out great. Keep trying, keep learning, and seek out information from respected bakers not influencers online.
jroll25
I get crazy anxiety when giving someone a loaf and I don’t get to see the crumb, there’s a 0% chance I could give this to someone and see their face ever again.
SeleneEM59
I struggled for a full year. We ate some ugly loaves. I wasted a lot of flour. I wasn’t giving up. I started using ChatGPT to work through what I was doing incorrectly. It’s been a total game changer.
Kuchufli
What type of water is she using for her starter? Purified or sink water? Same for making the dough. My last bread was the most beautiful I’ve ever had, plenty of rise. Used purified water in the mix.
mrdeesh
Like others have said, we need much more info to identify problem areas. With that noted I’m gonna go out on a limb and say the starter was not truly active. Or the world’s longest overproof. Could be a lot of other things but for newbies starter is usually the culprit
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There’s a whole lot to unfold here. We can’t help if we don’t have details. Ingredients, process, starter health, etc
If you’re willing to share there are a lot of smart bakers in here that can pretty quickly pinpoint the issues
Forbidden cookie
Did she wrap this as a gift for you?? lol
That looks like a cookie lol
Starter is probably too immature
Looks like they’ve tried inclusions which can be challenging. Maybe start with a plain tried and trusted recipe.
I’d be too embarrassed to give that to anyone that’s crazy. Did they think that’s how it’s supposed to turn out?
We cannot give good advice unless we know what she already tried/did.
What recipe did she use?
What flour did she use?
What water did she use?
How old is her starter?
How long does the starter take to double?
How long was the bulk ferment?
What temp was the kitchen?
How did she shape the boule before baking?
Is what you received edible?
There isn’t really any useful “general” advice for sourdough except maybe “keep trying” and “be consistent”.
I honestly have given up on sourdough after two years of baking and concluding that making regular-ass bread is 10x easier for a result that is just as delicious.
Edit to add – no she is not selling to anyone and yes she knows this is not how it should look. This is her very first loaf ever. Also I am waiting for her to send me more information so I can pass along to you all.
Thats my Chest Lol hope she will get it soon!
There’s no way. That is totally a cookie. Ops is pulling some bs
Starter is not ready or they did not let it bulk ferment long enough. My starter was not ready until 30 days.
It’s actually Passover sourdough.
lol I love that she brought it in for you to see!
oh my golllyy
I definitely would not start with inclusions right away. Mashed the loaf and then go from there
I wish I had the confidence she had to bag this bad boy and show it off 😭 lol
Most of us have done it once
Just tell people it’s a SD biscuit. 😁
Without details and to avoid a long game of ‘telephone’ I think the best thing is to send her to The Sourdough Journey resources.
Starter strengthening: she should scroll down to the second video on this page:
https://thesourdoughjourney.com/faq-starter-strengthening/
And for bulk fermentation scroll down to the first and third videos on this page:
https://thesourdoughjourney.com/faq-bulk-fermentation-timing/
For the resources above, they are based on the Tartine Country Loaf Sourdough recipe which is fermented at warm temperature (78-80°F) and has a bulk fermentation rise target of 30%. Her recipe may have a different rise target, but the concepts are applicable to any recipe even if you are wanting 75-100% rise if you are working at lower temperatures.
The Sourdough Journey is very precise and detailed on instructions, but Sourdough does not have to be that precise. Once you have an understanding of the dough you can be more loose in your approach.
The Sourdough Journey has organized all their resources into a topical encyclopedia here:
https://thesourdoughjourney.com/encyclopedia/
Best of Luck to your friend.
As others have mentioned before there are many issues to work through here. Without more info my initial recommendation would be to not start with inclusion loaves. Yes they’re fun and popular but many will add moisture to the dough that she is not equipped to make adjustments for yet. Get a scale, weigh all your ingredients, and start with a small, simple, all white flour (no whole grains), lower hydration recipe. Stick with that ONE recipe until it comes out great. Keep trying, keep learning, and seek out information from respected bakers not influencers online.
I get crazy anxiety when giving someone a loaf and I don’t get to see the crumb, there’s a 0% chance I could give this to someone and see their face ever again.
I struggled for a full year. We ate some ugly loaves. I wasted a lot of flour. I wasn’t giving up. I started using ChatGPT to work through what I was doing incorrectly. It’s been a total game changer.
What type of water is she using for her starter? Purified or sink water? Same for making the dough. My last bread was the most beautiful I’ve ever had, plenty of rise. Used purified water in the mix.
Like others have said, we need much more info to identify problem areas. With that noted I’m gonna go out on a limb and say the starter was not truly active. Or the world’s longest overproof. Could be a lot of other things but for newbies starter is usually the culprit
I’m going to suggest she look at http://www.thesourdoughjourney.com
The fact that someone this early in the process has already purchased packaging is the problem.
My first sourdough loaf looked like crap too. Tell her to keep going practice is everything.