🍞Fixing a stalled sourdough rise, step by step

Steps in the order I actually try them. Crumb shot or it didn't happen, but that's a different list.

Take your kitchen's actual temperature, not a guess

70f feels warm to a person and glacial to a starter. i keep a thermometer on the counter now

Move the bowl somewhere warmer without turning on the oven

Feed the starter before you blame the dough

feed it first, half my 'stalled dough' panics turned out to be a starter i forgot to feed that morning

Test the starter alone in a jar before trusting it in the dough

Rule out chlorinated tap water

filtered water fixed a stall i'd blamed on everything else for a week

Loosen a stiff dough with a splash more water

Watch the dough instead of the recipe's stated bulk time

the recipe says 4 hours. your kitchen doesn't know that, watch the dough not the clock

Do the poke test, not the clock

If nothing else works, build a small fresh starter alongside the old one

sounds wasteful, building a fresh starter alongside is faster than nursing a weak one for two weeks

Or start a list of your own. Free, it takes a minute.

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