top of page

Effects of Temperature and Sourdough

Spring is officially here, meaning warmer temperatures and faster fermentation times...


If you are a new sourdough baker and you haven't experienced warmer weather and your dough yet, I am here to tell you that temperature has a HUGE effect on the time your starter and your dough take to ferment. In my opinion, it's one of the biggest factors to all things sourdough.



What you can expect during the spring and summer months:


  • Your starter will reach it's peak more quickly - this is because the warmer temperatures cause the yeast and bacteria to be more active (they prefer temperatures between 75-82F to be their happiest.


  • Your dough will complete bulk fermentation more quickly - same as your starter, the yeast and bacteria will be more active, causing the dough to ferment faster.


How you can use this to your advantage:


  • You can feed your starter a higher ratio at night right before bed, then use it in the morning to prep your dough - I always suggest doing this over having my dough ferment overnight (unless you keep your A/C set really low).

  • You can also use cold water to slow down the fermentation of your starter and your dough.

  • You can use less starter in your dough recipe to help slow down the bulk fermentation.

  • And the best thing about warmer weather is the entire sourdough process is much faster so you can potentially have your bread made in 12 hours (see schedule below).




Sample Sourdough Baking Schedule for Warmer Months: (remember times will bary based on temperature - colder means more time).


  • 7am: feed starter a 1:2:2 ratio (25g starter: 50g flour: 50g water)

  • 12pm: make dough

  • 12:30-2pm: stretch and folds (every 30 minutes - 3 sets total)

  • 2-5pm: finish bulk fermentation

  • 5pm: pre-shape dough

  • 5:30pm: final shape and bake or place in banneton overnight for cold proof

  • Next morning: if you chose overnight cold proof, bake!



Upcoming Spring Events:



Be sure to sign up for my newsletter to get reminders for events and all things sourdough! Also, I will be taking a break from classes over the summer so be sure to sign up now! And check out my Instagram and TikTok Pages for more sourdough tips.


Xx - Mandy

 
 
 

Recent Posts

See All

Simple Sourdough Focaccia

How is it already March 3rd? I said this last month and I’ll most likely say it again next month, but where does the time go? I’ve always...

Comments


eBook | Sourdough for Beginners

Download Info

This eBook will be delivered via PDF after to the email address you provided. 

**This eBook cannot be shared without the author's consent.  Sharing this PDF is prohibited.

What's Inside:

Untitled design (6).png
  • 9 of my favorite sourdough bread recipes

  • Several Basic Sourdough Bread Principles including:  sourdough terms, sourdough tools, how to make and maintain a sourdough starter and starter ratios.

IMG_5165.jpg
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

Follow along on social:

-Living Well with Mandy - Est. 2023 -

bottom of page