Why your sourdough comes out dense

Almost nobody's first loaf is light, and the advice available online is usually about the wrong variable. In practice four things account for nearly every close-textured loaf.

1. The starter is not as active as it looks

A starter can bubble enthusiastically and still be weak. The question is not whether it rises, but how long it takes to double and how it behaves at peak. A strong starter roughly doubles within four to six hours of a feed at room temperature, and is at its most vigorous right at the top of that rise.

Using it hours after it has fallen back is the single most common cause of a dense loaf. The yeast is still alive; it has simply run out of food and lost the momentum needed to carry the dough.

2. The dough is under-proofed

This is the one that catches people who follow timings exactly. Proof time depends on the temperature of your kitchen, not on the clock in the recipe. A dough that is under-proofed will feel tight when shaped, will spring back quickly when poked, and will tear rather than stretch.

The reliable test is the poke: press a floured finger about a centimetre into the dough. If the indentation fills back immediately, it needs longer. If it stays, it is ready. If the dough deflates around the dent, it has gone too far.

3. There is no steam

Steam keeps the crust soft for the first ten to fifteen minutes of baking, which allows the loaf to keep expanding. In a dry oven the surface sets early, the expansion stops, and the result is a tight crumb regardless of how good the fermentation was.

A lidded pot, a tray of water, or a spray bottle all work. The lidded pot is the least fiddly by a wide margin.

4. The loaf was cut while hot

Bread continues to cook and stabilise after it leaves the oven. Cutting into it while it is still hot releases steam from the interior and collapses the crumb structure. Wait at least an hour, longer for a large loaf. This is the hardest instruction to follow and the easiest to notice in the result.

What is usually not the problem

Hydration. A 65 percent dough handled well makes better bread than an 80 percent dough handled badly. Chasing a high percentage before the basics are reliable is the most common way to make the first year of baking harder than it needs to be.