Letting Your Dough Double During Bulk Fermentation If it does not double in volume, you will risk your dough being under fermented which results in dense, gummy bread with no air. Many people say to only let your dough grow 30-50% - but it must double to ensure that you get lots of bubbles.
While some bakers use starters that only double in volume at peak activity, I'll tell you straight up: Don't settle. A starter that doubles in volume will work, but the overall fermentation and rising of dough might be slower, and the resulting bread potentially flatter.
One of the great mysteries of sourdough baking is why some recipes recommend a 30% rise and others recommend up to a 100% rise during bulk fermentation. Both methods produce very similar results.
The sourdough should reach at least 50 percent higher—so not doubled in size, but 50 percent larger in size before you want to shape it. But know that the more whole grain you use, the less you can tell fermentation from volume.
Dough appearance should no longer be rough after sourdough bulk fermentation. It should be smooth looking and even a bit shiny. If you lift up a section, it should move together. You should see the formation of lines of gluten strands and/or webs of gluten that have formed.
When the bulk fermentation goes too long — often when the dough more than doubles or triples in volume — the dough can over ferment. You know the dough has over fermented if, when you turn it out to shape it, it is very slack — if it's like a wet puddle — and very sticky and lacking any strength and elasticity.
Bulk fermentation can typically last anywhere from 3.5 to 7 hours depending on the dough temperature, recipe, and amount of sourdough starter used. At 78ºF, bulk fermentation usually lasts about 4-4.5 hours for my typical sourdough bread.
When sourdough bread dough doesn't rise, it's usually because the starter you used wasn't active enough. To remedy this problem, make sure you're using recently fed, active starter with lots of bubbles. Also, next time try using warm (not hot) water when you mix up the dough and rising it in a warmer location.
If your starter is not doubling or growing substantially in volume between feedings, it is not strong enough to leaven dough. You can certainly try baking, but you most likely will not achieve proper fermentation.
During cold bulk fermentation it should be sealed in an air-tight container or else the surface will dry out. My bowl and lid combo does not seal that well. Even if it works during shorter fermentation at room temperature, it does not work in the fridge.
If you've just completed autolyse and you feel that your dough is too wet, it is possible to add some more flour at that that stage. The flour will absorb water and become incorporated during the stretches and folds.
Overproofed is when the dough has rested too long and the yeast has continued making carbon dioxide while the strength of the dough (gluten bonds) have begun to wear out. The dough will look very puffy, but when you touch it or move it you may notice it deflate or sag.
If your kitchen and/or counter where you knead the dough is cool, the dough will cool down also (even if you used warm water to make it). If your dough is kept at around 80°F, it should take between 1 and 1½ hours to rise double in volume.
Feed the starter every 12 hours until you see it double or triple in volume within 6 to 8 hours; this means it's ready to bake with.
It might be cold dough. One of the most common mistakes is having a dough temperature that's too low for the starter to feed on all the flour in the dough, resulting in a crumb that's dense, with fewer openings. "Starter is happiest and most active at around 75 degrees.
For low hydration doughs (dry, stiffer dough), the gluten will need more time to relax, about 30 minutes to 1 hr. Otherwise it won't stretch properly. As always, these are suggested timeframes. Watch the dough and not the clock!
If you skip stretching and folding, chances are you will end up with soggy dough that doesn't hold its shape before or during baking. Developed strands of gluten help hold the bread together as it bakes, and contributes to a strong upward rise (called oven spring) rather than spread during baking.
Most commonly, the issue here has to do with temperature (which is very important). If your sourdough starter is kept at a low temp, even 70°F (21°C), it will slow fermentation activity and appear to be sluggish, taking longer to rise and progress through the typical signs of fermentation. The solution: keep it warm.
Knock up the temperature to as high as it will go and make sure the oven has preheated for long enough. The hotter the oven, the better. This will give the bread the strongest boost to burst open and give a high rise. Using a baking stone increases the temperature of your oven.
Just like adding more yeast to a yeasted dough makes it rise quicker, increasing the amount of starter used in your dough will speed up the sourdough fermentation process. If you want to rapidly increase the proofing speed of sourdough you can, if you wish, add some baker's yeast to the recipe.
You absolutely can leave your sourdough starter out overnight after feeding it, particularly if you are going to bake with it the next day. I highly recommend feeding it a higher ratio to prolong it's peak and ensure that it's ready for the you in the morning.
After kneading, shape your loaf, cover it, and let it proof for 4-24 hours, depending on your specific sourdough starter and ambient temperature. You can manipulate the sourness of the bread with a longer rise time. A 24-hour rise time will produce much more sour bread than a 4-hour rise time.
If you are early in bulk fermentation, you can move your dough into the refrigerator, and it will slow down the fermentation. You can then take it back out the next day, bring it back up to room temperature and restart the bulk fermentation process.
Overproofed sourdough dough loses all structure, so it's stretchy and slack when turned onto a work surface. The dough is also stickier than usual due to the lack of remaining gluten structure.