Effects of Temperature and Sourdough
- Mandy Clark
- Mar 21
- 2 min read
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:
April 12th - Market at Stormhouse Brewing
May 17th - Market at Stormhouse Brewing
May 24th - Sourdough Class at Stormhouse Brewing
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
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