09/02/2026
🍞 SOURDOUGH 101: Why can’t I just rush the bread?
After Theo-dough’s little tantrum this week, I thought this was the perfect time for a little sourdough education. 😂
Unlike bread made with commercial yeast, sourdough relies on a living starter and natural fermentation. That means I can’t simply decide, “Okay Theo-dough, I need you ready now!” and make it happen.
There’s a whole process happening before that loaf ever gets into your hands feeding the starter, mixing, stretching and folding, bulk fermentation, shaping, cold proofing, baking AND cooling.
And sometimes… the starter decides to completely ignore my schedule. 🤦♀️
That’s exactly what happened before this week’s market. Theo-dough wasn’t rising like he normally does, and even after another feeding, he didn’t finally decide he was ready to cooperate until around 6 PM the night before market.
At that point I had a choice: try to rush the fermentation process just so I could have bread on my table the next day, or let the dough take the time it needed.
I chose no bread.
As disappointing as that was, I would rather show up to a market without sourdough than rush the process and sell you a loaf that isn’t up to Sweet Traditions standards. 🤎
Sourdough works on its own timeline. Temperature, starter activity and fermentation all play a role and that’s part of what makes every loaf a little special.
So while Theo-dough may occasionally throw a tantrum, I promise I’m going to let him do his thing. 😂
What should we cover in the next Sourdough 101? Starter? Discard? How to store your loaf? Why sourdough gets cold proofed?
