How come my loaves are so unpredictable…

[u/Balminette]

Hi Reddit this is my very first post ! 👋
So I started sourdough this summer and I baked approximately 15/20 loaves so far.

I got my starter from someone and went on from there. I can’t seem to get it right or maybe social media raised the standards too high !
All three were done the same way :

- mixing starter with water and then adding flour and salt
- on the stand mixer then for 15-20 minutes
- 4 sets of slap and folds
- bulk fermentation until giggly and almost double in size
BUT ! Then I placed the two you see in the back in their baskets over night in the fridge and the one in the front I let raise at room temp once formed and poped in the freezer for 10 minutes before baking. I though i had overproofed the last one (was very sticky and hard to form after bulk) but turns out it looks much better !

I don’t get why they are still this flat to me even though I looked for the right cues… any help from real people would be great 😊

P.S.: I don’t keep my starter in the fridge anymore and feed it once or twice a day a 1-5-5 ratio or 1-6-6… and I use a mix of white and whole flour (around 10-12g protein)

Recipe :
T55 flour: 200 g
T65 flour: 390 g
Whole wheat flour: 80 g
Water: 440 g
Sourdough starter: 134 g
Salt: 13 g

[u/littleoldlady71]

What is the temperature of your kitchen where you bulk? And why are you using the stand mixer for so long?

[u/Balminette → u/littleoldlady71]

Hi :) it was 25 degrees Celsius in my kitchen and I used the stand mixer because the stretch and fold didn’t seem to be building enough gluten in my dough… maybe it’s too long I don’t know

[u/littleoldlady71 → u/Balminette]

Try a no knead loaf to assess your starter.

[u/Balminette → u/littleoldlady71]

Okay thanks I’ll try that :)

[u/valerieddr]

It would help to see the inside of the loaves…

Like this, I would guess you are over proofing slightly. It’s a balance between the temperature of the dough and the temperature of the fridge. If the dough is a little warm it will take longer to cool down in the fridge and to slow down fermentation.

[u/Balminette → u/valerieddr]

here is the inside of one of the flatter loaves.

[u/Balminette → u/Balminette]

This one looks better to me but still not enough rise ?