Hey guys I’ve been battling gummy/sticky dough for going on almost 2 years now. I’ve tried over fermenting I’ve tried under fermenting I’ve tried extremely low hydration I’ve tried high hydration I’ve tried different starters I’ve tried 3 different kitchens / ovens I’ve tried several different shaping techniques and bannetons shapes I’ve tried autolysing I’ve tried not autolysing I’ve tried different starter/levain feeding rations I’ve tried different started feeding schedules…. (Deep breath) I’m really just at a loss and am ready to just call it quits.
Pics in order (autolyse, starter before adding to dough, dough after stretch and folds, dough before removing to shape)
Here is the schedule from the last bake from this weekend
Sourdough 7/19/25
Wed 6:30pm remove starter from fridge + feed
-25g remaining starter
-100g reverse osmosis water
-100g all purpose flour
Thursday 6:30am feed starter
-25g remaining starter
-100g reverse osmosis water
-100g all purpose flour
Thursday 6:30pm feed started
-25g remaining starter
-100g reverse osmosis water
-100g all purpose flour
Friday 6:30am feed starter
-25g remaining starter
-100g reverse osmosis water
-100g all purpose flour
Friday 6:30pm feed starter
-25g remaining starter
-100g reverse osmosis water
-100g all purpose flour
Saturday 5:50am autolyse
-1000g bread flour
-650g R.O water
-mix to a shaggy dough
-dough temp 80F
Saturday 7:20am inoculate
-20g salt
-200g starter
-mix and slap and fold roughly 15 mins (7:35am)
-dough temp 74F
Saturday 8:05am
-stretch and fold 1
-dough temp 74F
Saturday 8:45am
-stretch and fold 2
-dough temp 73F
Saturday 9:15am
-stretch and fold 3
-dough temp 73F
Saturday 9:45am
-stretch and fold 4
-dough temp 73F
Saturday 10:15am
-stretch and fold 5
-dough temp 73F
-pass window pane test
-placed in a 6L straight walled container
-dough volume approximately 1.33L targeting a 75% rise which is approximately 2.3L
Saturday 4:30pm
-dough reached 75% rise (roughly 2.3L)
-pre shaped two dough boules
Saturday 4:50pm
-shape loaves and place in bannetons
Sunday 8:00am
-bake 20 mins covered 450
-bake 30 mins uncovered 15
One loaf 209 internal one 211
by Killtastic354
47 Comments
Try regular filtered water. I’ve seen posts before with people having issues with RO
Where do you live and what recipe are you using? It looks good to me but of course there are always indirect factors that can cause subtle shifts…have you tried baking covered for longer time and uncovered for less time?
I am no expert but maybe you are over mixing the dough. The 15 min slap and fold and then so many stretch and folds seems like maybe too much. Could that be causing the gummy texture?
Have you tried baking it longer? 425 30 min covered 30 min uncovered
How long do you wait before cutting into it? I’ve started baking at night and cutting the next day lets a lot of the moisture out of the loaf.
To be fair looks better than anything I’ve been able to get 😂
Over engineering your process tbh
Keep it simple
Your bread looks fine to me. Are you sure you’re not just confusing “gummy” with the normal chewy consistency of sourdough?
What temperature are you maintaining the starter at for the five refreshments? A starter that’s been refrigerated for any significant amount of time will tend to select for different bacteria and be less predictable than one that is refreshed at least once a day and held at 75-84°F, it may take up to seven or even ten refreshments for it to be in the state of growth that you want for predictable bread. The bread looks good though! Next time try keeping a warmer bulk ferment and skip the fridge altogether for the final rise. Leave it at room temp until it looks ready to bake and I bet that gumminess will go away. Your dough looks well mixed, so skip the fridge and push the final proof. If you’re still unhappy, try using a stiff starter for the dough and pre ferment 18% of your total flour in the formula.
If you want a truly light, well fermented bread you need a starter that’s always in or near exponential cell growth. I would just make some nice bread with commercial yeast if you don’t want to commit to refreshing a starter at least once daily, especially since you’ve got mixing and shaping down pretty well!
That sounds so frustrating! You have tried so many things to sort out the variables 😞 And it seems like you are being very precise to also remove variations or based on advice you have gotten for things to try.
I have to say that the photos (9 and 10) look like really nice bread that is pleasant to eat. In what way does the gummy-sticky nature of the bread show up? When you cut the bread does it leave sticky residue on the knife? Or is it more of a touch or mouth feel thing?
May I ask what type and brand of flour(s) you have used? Most recently specifically, but maybe some of the other options you have tried. And what additives are in your general flours: malted barley flour or enzymes or ascorbic acid for example, or is it just straight milled wheat with no enrichment or additives?
If you are in the US, are there any specific bakery or commercial sourdough breads that you have purchased/tried that you are comparing your bread to? As a general observation my home made sourdough seems moister than anything I have bought from a bakery (except for some loaves I made with a specific flour that some of the smaller local bakeries probably use, and it has ascorbic acid as an additive).
The pictures dont look gummy. Have you had sourdough that isn’t “gummy” to you? I think the gummy you’re worried about is the normal moist and bouncy texture of sourdough. It’s not supposed to be dry. Unless you toast it.
The outside is hard and crunchy and the inside is soft and moist.
True gummy is usually under done in the center either from low oven temps or slicing too early interrupting the internal steam cooking after it’s pulled from the oven. Yours literally looks perfect.
Try hitting an internal temp of 213F. Perhaps your oven isn’t as hot as it says. Have you taken the temperature of your oven?
What flour are you using? I notice more gumminess with King Arthur bread flour vs. KA All Purpose. AP comes out fluffier.
Try preshaping at 50% rise.
Stop slap and fold- use high protein flour or drop hydration maybe 2% -get strength from fermentation and folds – use a ‘young’ starter
Sometimes if I use low quality bread flour this happens, maybe worth a shot to try King Arthur if you have not already
Ok OP, I am a former baker who baked professionally in CO and now I live in NC where it is also very humid and I was struggling with gummy bread for like 3 weeks. I have finally mastered what I consider my perfect loaf, so here is what I do and it has worked consistently for me (I know you said you tried a lot of things, but maybe my combo of factors may work for you too?):
– I use essentially the same ratio as you, so I think your hydration is good.
– After autolyse (which I do with starter as well – people call this fermentolyse now I guess), I mix by hand for like 3 minutes and i literally squish it between my fingers to get the salt incorporated and the flour hydrated and then do a couple stretch folds
– I do 4 stretch and folds every 30 minutes
– bulk ferment in the tub with the plastic lid on to 40% rise, rather than 75%
– preshape and shape as normal, trying to handle the dough as little as possible and gently pressing down on the dough for the final shape to get out any extra big bubbles
– put dough in bannetons, cover with plastic of some sort when you cold ferment overnight (I just use a plastic shopping bag)
– preheat oven to 475, preheat Dutch oven
– throw an ice cube in the Dutch oven so it touches the hot bottom and is off to the side of where the loaf will be placed, underneath my silicon/parchment.
– bake for 25 minutes with the lid on. Take a quick peek and make sure it has expanded to like 90% of where I think its final shape should be. If it’s there, I take lid off and bake for another 15-20. If it’s not there, leave lid on for like 5 more minutes before removing lid.
– And finally! I have a sheet of aluminum foil on the rack below the one where my Dutch oven goes. This keeps the bottom from burning.
These loaves have been FAR from gummy since I dialed in this process. If you try it, please report back!
Looks amazing! Dont give up! 💕
My dude. That bread looks fantastic. Very well fermented, almost overproofed. There is no gumminess I can see. A gummy crumb is basically dense and wet. It would be similar to chewing gum.
Are you sure you just don’t like sourdough? Sourdough is moist and chewy.
How long are you waiting before slicing into the loaf? That is a major factor for me. Also, try making this in a pullman loaf pan just for kicks and see if this happens
Do you wait until it is fully cool to cut it? It can get a slightly gummy texture when you cut it warm.
Shit looks good to me. Maybe more color, but thats personal preference
Your bread looks perfectly fine.
Try baking covered at 425F for 30 min and uncovered for 10
I literally don’t weigh anything since my scale broke and I currently am using dollar store all purpose flour and a mix of a bunch of others I happen to have. I don’t time anything except the bake because I have adhd and will forget it’s in the oven. I usually at least do one stretch and folds. I’m good about the first one. The others sometimes do or don’t happen. I love my bread.
Your bread looks amazing. You said it tastes amazing. Just take the W.
This loaf looks like heaven
Give yourself some time and patience because it looks good to me honestly! I would love to get a crumb like that!
https://preview.redd.it/76r45ymg95ef1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0b2b95e9c7cd1103c244c9a49cbcdb8bd8805507
They usually feel a little dense near the bottom of the loaf and more crumby around the top edges! I think thats just natural. Don’t give it up if it’s something you enjoy because some of us think ur results are great!
Same day slicing usually results in a “gummy” texture when cutting into it but this does not look undercooked by any means
Bread looks great. But, out of curiosity, why are you using so much volume for your feeding? Maybe I’m not reading it correctly, but you are feeding 25g starter 100g water, 100g flour, then discarding from that keeping 25g feeding another 100g flour and 100g water every 12 hours for two days? Seems 1:4 radios seems like a lot for feeding every 12 hours.
I feel this in my soul!
My bread turns out exactly like this every time! I can never explain it to anyone because it looks ok in photos but it’s gummy/dense/chewy and not fluffy whatsoever. Absolutely delicious, just not the right texture. I’ve tried other people’s sourdough bread and it is nothing like mine HA
If you figure out how to fix it, update this post so I can maybe figure out my issue! Best of luck in your bread making journey!!
This isn’t gummy. It’s chewy because you’re using bread flour at 65% hydration. AP flour will give you a much softer crumb. Just switch it and leave everything else the same.
Don’t cut your bread after it comes out of the oven for at least an hour — this will help prevent it getting Gummy!!
you’re kidding right? that loaf is literally what i strive for. it is beautiful
A lot of people here saying it looks fine but I get what you mean!
My loaves end up gummy when one or more of the following happens: I don’t wait til after my starter peaks, I underferment or I under baked.
Some things that might help:
1. Wait til your starter has peaked and dropped by a bit. Better to use it past peak
2. Overferment. Overfermented is better than underfermented bread. The picture you took before preshaping looks way under to me. I personally don’t like going by percentage rise. I prefer to visually inspect the dough. There should be a good amount of bubbles on the surface. Dough should be jiggly and look airy.
3. Bake for longer. I like preheating my Dutch oven to 245C for 30 min. Bake at 230C lid on for 25 min, then 25-40 min lid off at 220C depending on how dark I feel like going that day.
Hopefully this helps!
Is this a shit post?
Try adding another 100g of water and baking 50 degrees hotter.
I found a recipe by Paul Hollywood and it has worked well. Good luck!
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR5ru2knVPy-w9auvRuCRBHmh71GXeTDZ4Cs7kYsd5wOORapNvDiGUSpgM&s
Facebook @sourdoughgeeks will help immensely.
Looks delicious
Buddy has been making excellent bread for years and doesnt know
I hear you OP, I’ve had a similar issue where everything looks amazing but there is a definite stickiness/glueyness at times that really impacts the feel of the taste, if that makes sense. Now I just stuff my loafs with olives, capers and feta and don’t even notice it. Good luck as you try to sort it, don’t call it quits!
https://preview.redd.it/kf7gx6w1s5ef1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a1c147f3cdd6eddb374c16e16097e62d2d428ee4
This is not a method problem it is a flour problem. Most likely too low ash and or protein. Zoom in on the very small cake like bubbles and it becomes obvious to a trained eye
If you aren’t pleased with the texture of a fresh cooled sourdough, try slicing and toasting the bread. I love toasted sourdough!
Try some inclusions or whole wheat for some more chew. Your bread looks more than fine.
Have you tried different kind of flours?
That doesn’t look gummy at all. I’m a newbie and on my fourth loaf. They are still visibly gummy but absolutely delicious. I love the texture of a chewy sourdough
Have you tried adjusting temperature and bake time? I just started my sourdough journey last December and I also kept getting a good looking crumb but it was gummy – that tacky feeling that felt sticky. I started experimenting with different temps and bake times and it has helped with the gumminess.
When I first star by ted, I’d preheat at 500 and then lower it to 450 baked for 30 mins covered and then lower to 425 baked for 20 mins uncovered = gummy.
So I adjusted to lowering to 475 baked for 30 mins covered and then lowered to 450 baked uncovered for 25 mins. I also put a baking sheet under my Dutch oven when I start baking to help avoid a burnt bottom. No more gumminess.
What you describe is the correct taste/ texture of fresh sourdough lol.