Sourdough Without the Panic: A Letter to New Bakers

The internet will tell you sourdough is a science. It is, but it is also a feeling. Here is the one rule that saved ours.

The starter is alive, which means it reacts to your kitchen. The temperature of the room is the most important variable, and the one most recipes glide over. We keep a thermometer next to the starter jar.

A starter at 24C will double in about 5 hours. At 20C, that same starter needs 8 hours. Most recipes are written for 24C. If your kitchen is cooler, give it more time.

The second rule is to under-proof rather than over-proof. A loaf that is a little under-proofed will still bake into something delicious. An over-proofed loaf collapses and sticks to the banneton. Every time.