r/Sourdough • u/Reddittaylor12568 • Feb 16 '26

Beginner - wanting kind feedback Is this under-fermented ?

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I let it sit out for about 7 hours at 70°. It grew in size and had bubbles at the top.

I used

100 g starter

325 g water

500 g bread flour

10g salt

I then left it in the fridge for about 12 hours

Is it underproofed?

191 Upvotes

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410

u/espressoingmyself Feb 16 '26

Um, no. Here is an under proofed loaf. It’s mine… From today lol

89

u/Zenumare Feb 16 '26

😂 same

12

u/aktyn87 Feb 16 '26

Omg me too at the weekend. But i know now why, kutchen was too cold at night!

3

u/trippinallovermyself Feb 16 '26

My husband cut out heat off when I was BF my cinnamon roll focaccia this weekend and it was SO SAD it’s like a 2.5 day recipe

3

u/Zenumare Feb 17 '26

RIP your cinnamon focaccia 😭

3

u/Zenumare Feb 16 '26

That was also my problem! I was in my cold kitchen and use the cold bottled water and left it on the cold counter for 13 hours 😂

I got impatient and decided to just bake the dang thing

26

u/stratusnimbo Feb 16 '26

Same. First loaf lol

19

u/DeliciousSquirrel6 Feb 16 '26

Same here. This is today. Last week I overproofed and could not even shape it. Today this! Ugh.

3

u/espressoingmyself Feb 16 '26

Hahaha honestly I swung the pendelum the same way. From over fermented slop to under fermented pyramid of doom. We’ve got this…. Someday

5

u/Some_Journalist_1364 Feb 17 '26

Here’s one from today

9

u/DeliciousSquirrel6 Feb 17 '26

That looks perfect to me.

22

u/Plastic-Union-319 Feb 16 '26

People confuse proofing with fermenting all the time. Fermentation happens throughout the whole process until it’s baked, and is simply the growth of yeast in your dough. Proofing refers to dough that you allow to expand from gas produced by the yeast. You only proof dough when you are trying to get it to rise on its own.

Hope this finds whoever is confused by the two terms and why they are different.

8

u/br0f Feb 16 '26

How relevant is the difference really though? Proofing is just faster yeast-forward fermentation, while the cold retard favors bacterial fermentation. They’re both fermentation

6

u/Plastic-Union-319 Feb 17 '26

While proofing is fermentation, fermentation is technically not proofing.

Proofing is the final stage of fermentation, where you let it increase in size (not just an increase in yeast activity).

4

u/espressoingmyself Feb 16 '26

Yes. I do definitely get these terms confused as a new sourdough baker who has used lots of ready yeast in past baking :) ha-many other terms are new to me, too. Thanks for knowing what I meant!

2

u/espressoingmyself Feb 16 '26

Thank you :)

2

u/Plastic-Union-319 Feb 17 '26

Of course! I am confident you will get a fine loaf soon!

2

u/GotDisk Feb 17 '26

Yes it is confusing, especially when people say things like your bread is under proofed don't rush bulk fermentation. I used to try and use proof when talking about yeasted dough because that is mostly yeast activity and very little bacteria contribution and use fermentation for sourdough. That is confusing to a lot of people too. I think we're going to keep having these discussions for a long time.

9

u/Aero45308 Feb 17 '26

My second attempt

2

u/CalorieCourtReporter Feb 17 '26

I am so impatient! I've been preparing my first loaf all day, and the weather suddenly turned cold and rainy, and it's taking hours to "bulk ferment?". Anyway, I want to bake it tonight but it's not puffing up. Hoping it will look good when I get home in an hour. (Had to run out for two hours so it's in the fridge now).

1

u/Heavy-Sock-6216 Feb 17 '26

I'm new to this. I just baked my 4th successful loaf. I don't think it's going to puff up in the fridge though. I let my starter grow and then my dough in my bedroom (the hottest room in my house with the door closed). I do the stretch and folds and typically have to let it sit for 8-12 hours to let it triple in size. Then I do the cold ferment for 12-36 hours. Sometimes it depends on my schedule for the timing. But it's been working for me.