So I finally tried my hand at making a proper sourdough starter from scratch, following all the rules. After two weeks, it’s alive and bubbles a bit, but my loaves keep coming out dense and kind of sad, nothing like the beautiful, airy ones I see online. I’m not sure if my kitchen is just too cold, if I’m messing up the timing, or if I just need way more patience than I thought.
Nice work keeping a sourdough starter alive after two weeks. The loaf being dense can come from not enough bulk fermentation or from weak oven spring. Are you keeping the dough at a steady room temperature during the rise and giving it enough time to develop gluten before shaping?
Two weeks is a long time and cold kitchens do slow things down. Still the main issue might be not enough hydration or not enough feeding for the starter. If your starter is stiff it can hold back the rise.
A simple check for the sourdough starter cycle. The dough should be a bit wet to help expansion. Try a higher hydration such as seventy percent if your flour and starter allow. It also helps to fold during bulk to build strength.
I have seen ovens behave oddly yet a loaf can still improve with patience and stable warmth. Treat the starter and dough as living partners and give them predictable feeding. It might not fix yours overnight but the direction helps.
Think about how you score and steam. The crumb changes a lot with good steam and a clean cut. The bread might be dense if the crust forms too soon and traps steam.
What if the goal here is patience and habit more than airy loaves? The starter is a living system that changes with weather and flour. That could be a feature not a flaw.
Maybe the framing is the issue The idea of chasing a perfect airy loaf can hide that a sourdough starter adapts with the day This dense loaf could be a sign to experiment rather than chase the image