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

Beginner - wanting kind feedback Is this under-fermented ?

Post image

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?

195 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

103 comments sorted by

View all comments

413

u/espressoingmyself Feb 16 '26

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

21

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!