Finally got a handle on my sourdough's oven spring after three years of flat loaves

Turns out I was over-proofing by nearly an hour in my cool kitchen. I started using a digital probe to check the dough temp before shaping, aiming for 78 degrees exactly. Anyone else track dough temperature, or is that overkill?

3 comments

3 Comments

hollyscott9d ago

Tracking dough temp seemed like overkill to me for a long time. Seeing your results with the digital probe has me reconsidering my whole process. Might be time to stop guessing and start measuring.

maryr439d ago

Remember my buddy who swore his sourdough failures were just bad flour? He finally got a thermometer and found his kitchen was way colder than he thought. All those dense loaves were from the dough never getting warm enough to rise right. He texts me last week with this perfect open crumb, totally shocked that one little number made that much difference. It's wild how guessing at something you can actually measure keeps you stuck.

emma_lee229d ago

My kitchen swings from freezing in winter to a sauna in summer and I've never once checked dough temp. My loaves turn out fine most days. It feels like baking is becoming a science project instead of something you just feel out with practice. What happens when your thermometer battery dies mid proof, you just give up? Seems like one more thing to stress over.