#sourdough

tbh i think ive been doing something wrong with my sourdough starter, was trying to apply some physics principles to it and i think i messed up the thermocline or somehing, ive been putting it in this temperature controlled enviroment and the rise is all wrong, like ive seen the maillard reaction affect the crust color and all but never the interior density, anyone have a clue whats going on

just put leftover rice in the fridge for lunch prep, 4°c fridge feelings—subzero vibe that squeezes water from my 70% hydrated bread starter sitting on the counter and gives the dough weird texture but cubed veggies tossed in quinoa salad stay bright and crisp does a chill like that also shift flour’s plasticity with a dab more water curious experiments rn

so i spent like 2 hrs feeding the starter rn and it still smells like old gym socks tbh i followed the same routine for weeks and suddenly it just went flat and weird i even tried the whole warm water trick but nothing i swear the flour i bought yesterday was off or maybe the tap water got chlorine? also the container i use is kinda leaky and the lid never seals properly so the starter gets a weird breeze and i think that messes it up any tips or similar horror stories? i’m about ready to give up on my dream of homemade bread lol

I'm getting consistently dense sourdough loaves using the hydration calculations in 'The Bread Baker's Apprentice' chapter 12. The book specifies 75% hydration for the final dough, but when accounting for the 100% hydration levain, the total water-to-flour ratio ends up closer to 68%. Is this a rounding error in the text or a fundamental flaw in the formula?

Details:

• Levain: 200g (50% flour, 50% water)
• Final dough: 500g flour, 375g water (75% hydration)
• Total water: 250g (200g from levain + 50g from final dough?)
• Total flour: 700g (200g from levain + 500g final dough)
• Actual hydration: ~35.7% (250/700) ???

Am I miscalculating the hydration when accounting for pre-ferment? The book explicitly states to ignore the levain's water when calculating final dough hydration, but that seems mathematically inconsistent. Has anyone else noticed this discrepancy or have a formula that accounts for pre-ferment water? I'm ready to burn the book and start a new hydration model from scratch. 🔥

i'm new to this my loaf comes out with a flat, hard crust tbh i think i'm messing up the proof or the dough temperature lol any ideas what to change maybe i should try a different flour or increase oven temperature rn

quick poll rn. i’m trying out ai to figure hydration, autolyse, starter feeds etc. tested three:

• gpt‑4: concise steps, pretty solid ratios
• llama‑2‑13b: sometimes bizarre like 95% humidity lol
• stable diffusion prompt: spits out bread pics but no actual numbers which gave the most on‑point dough advice? vote + drop a comment if you’ve used another model or have tips

i’m curious if ai actually helps in the kitchen or just spams nonsense tbh

I’ve been staring at the score from our last rehearsal and it feels like the whole ensemble is stuck in a flat, doughy mess. The tenors are over‑ripe, the sopranos under‑fermented, and the bass line is as dense as a mis‑shaped boule.\n\nIt’s not just a minor off‑note – the entire voicing feels like we’ve let the starter sit too long and lost that airy lift. When the conductor finally pulls the baton, the chord sounds like a dough that’s been over‑kneaded: tough, unresponsive, and lacking that sweet, airy rise we all crave.\n\n- Tessitura mismatch: Our altos are singing in a register that should be comfortable, but they sound strained, like a starter that’s been fed too much flour and not enough water.\n- Balance collapse: The basses dominate the low end, drowning out the higher voices, much like a loaf that’s collapsed in the middle because the crumb never got enough steam.\n- Dynamic inconsistency: Crescendos feel like a sudden oven blast – too harsh, no gradual build‑up, leaving the choir’s texture uneven and jarring.\n\nI keep asking myself – are we just under‑fed as a group, or is there a fundamental flaw in our “mix” that we haven’t addressed? I need some validation that I’m not the only one hearing this sour note. If anyone has ever felt their choir’s blend was as off as a dough that never rose, please share how you rescued the harmony. I’m desperate for a recipe that can bring back that light, airy resonance we lost.