How to make your sourdough rise faster (or slow it down if needed) - The Epsom Bakehouse (2024)

FAQs

How to make sourdough bread rise faster? ›

You can also use warm water in your dough (between 80° to 85°F) to speed up the rising process. In my experience, sourdough bread dough tends to thrive at temperatures between 75°F and 80°F.

Chilling a starter is the best way to slow down its need for feedings. So when I travel or can't bake for a while, I put my starter in the fridge. As a result, it's always sluggish to ferment strongly when I pull it out and resume regular feeding.

How many times per day should I feed my starter? For basic maintenance, (using the countertop method), you want to try to find a feeding ratio and temperature that will support a once-a-day feeding. If your starter is rising and falling too quickly, try a higher feeding ratio or try lowering your starter temperature.

You can also put hot water in a heat-safe dish and place it on the floor of a cold oven (or on a lower shelf). The steam and heat from the water will help the temperature rise just enough that the yeast is active. The steam will also assist in keeping the surface of the dough moist so it will stretch as it rises.

Dough temperature is the regulating factor when it comes to bulk fermentation speed. To speed up bulk fermentation, keep your dough warmer (though I would not exceed 85°F/29°C). Conversely, to slow bulk fermentation, keep your bread dough cooler (I would not cool lower than 39°F/4°C).

Most commonly, the issue here has to do with temperature (which is very important). If your sourdough starter is kept at a low temp, even 70°F (21°C), it will slow fermentation activity and appear to be sluggish, taking longer to rise and progress through the typical signs of fermentation. The solution: keep it warm.

When your starter is reliably rising to double or triple its size and falling in the jar anywhere between 4-8 hours after you feed it (dependent on your ambient conditions and the flour you feed with) it is ready to bake with.

"Slowrise" is one way of saying that the doughs we mix and the breads we bake owe much of their glossy, web-like texture to the mellow leavening action of the sourdough starter created from local, wild Concord grapes by Stu Witt, Co-founder and Head Baker of Nashoba Brook Bakery.

You don't want to kill the starter - so just room temp or slightly warmer is perfect. Warm water is also useful if you're feeding your starter right out of the fridge. Similarly, if you are in a particularly warm environment, using cooler or cold water will slow the activity of the starter down.

If you have too much starter compared to the additional flour and water you're adding, your hungry starter consumes all the nutrients and then it's not as bubbly.

Why is my sourdough bubbles but not rising? ›

If your starter gets completely covered on top with bubbles but does not rise, it is healthy but may just be a wet mix. Try reducing the water in your next feeding and see if you have different results. Also, the type of flour you are using can impede the rise of your starter.

Why is my starter is thin and runny? If it's runny it will be because it's being kept somewhere too warm and eating through its flour too fast; feed it extra flour to boost it up and make sure you're not keeping it anywhere too warm from now on.

And yes, it's better to poke early than late. If the dough doesn't spring back at all, you've likely over-proofed the dough. When the dough rises too much before it gets baked, it will collapse, rather than rise, in the oven's heat, and the crumb will be uneven and ragged.

Set the bowl of dough in the microwave and shut the door.

Leave the glass of water in the microwave with the dough. The glass of water and the heat from the microwave will create a warm, moist environment that will help the dough rise faster.

If you'd like to turn your oven into a proof box, you'll need a whole pot of boiling water to moisten and warm the air in the larger space. If your oven has a bread proofing setting, resist the urge to use it; the temperature is likely to be too hot for the long, slow fermentation sourdough requires.

If you add yeast to a sourdough starter, you will be introducing this honed and reliable strain of yeast to the colony of wild yeast. You'll speed up the fermentation process, and here lies the issue. The yeast will feed on the sugars in the dough and produce carbon dioxide, causing the dough to rise faster.

Gases involved in bread making. As mentioned previously, during bread baking there are several gases that contribute to the leavening of bread dough. Carbon dioxide is the main gas associated with yeast leavened bread, however, other gases that play a role are ethanol, nitrogen and steam.

You can cold ferment or cold proof your sourdough overnight because the cold temperature of the fridge stops the dough from over fermenting. If you were to leave your shaped dough on the counter overnight, you'd wake up to a soupy mess (unless it was freezing in your home).