My Sourdough Starter Won’t Rise, Now What?
One of the most common things I hear is, “my sourdough starter won’t rise.” So I want to help you fix that in this post! I’ve helped so many people create an active, strong starter that creates soft and fluffy baked goods. Let’s dive in.
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The Problem
If your sourdough starter won’t rise, that just means it’s weak and needs strengthened. It’s as simple as that! Now let’s get to fixing this problem.
Here’s How To Fix It
You will want to leave your starter out on the counter for 2 days and feed it every 12 hours at a 2:1 ratio of unbleached flour to filtered (or bottled) water. The measurements for the feeding will vary depending on how much starter you have.
My general rule is to fill the jar only to the halfway part when feeding to ensure the starter has room to rise. You can use the measurements below a few times to help fill your jar if it’s larger.
For example, 1 cup unbleached flour + 1/2 cup filtered (or bottled) water. This will strengthen the cultures in your starter to give you fluffy baked bread and goods.
After the 2 days, go back to feeding it like usual (once a week if stored in the fridge or once a day if stored on the counter). But ensure you keep using the 2:1 ratio for all feedings!
Common Hidden Problem
One common problem I see is the use of reverse osmosis water. If your water filtration uses salt, it could be weakening and even killing your sourdough starter cultures.
Make sure you use a filtered pitcher, bottled water, or water out of the fridge door filter if this is the case.
Why a Sourdough Starter Needs to Rise
Your starter needs to rise to show it’s active and ready to be used in a recipe where you’ll bulk ferment and proof the dough.
An active, fed starter is vital to ferment dough and helps it rise. That’s why so many people have dense bread and baked goods, because their starter isn’t strong enough before they begin.
The Cause Behind Sourdough Bread Not Rising
There’s usually two major reasons sourdough bread doughs don’t rise. Reason #1 is the dough is too cold and needs to be in a warmer area. Reason #2 is your starter is too weak to rise the dough during the bulk fermentation and proofing.
We just talked about how to fix reason #2 but to fix the first reason of the dough being too cold, it’s super simple:
If your dough doesn’t look like it’s doing anything halfway through the rises, you need to place it in a slightly warmer area. This can be in a turned-off oven with the light on and oven door open, or you can slightly warm the oven to about 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit, then turn it off and place your dough inside with the door shut.
Never leave the oven on, even on the keep warm setting, with fermenting dough inside. Your dough, for both rises, needs to double.
When Do You Need An Active Starter?
You need an active, fed starter anytime you bake bread or baked goods that need a rise. My recipes show whether you need a fed starter or discard to help you know when to use what.
How to Know if Your Starter Is Active and Strong?
An active and strong sourdough starter will have visible bubbles and will rise in the jar within 4-12 hours after you feed it.
What Does It Mean If My Sourdough Starter is Bubbling but Not Rising?
If it’s bubbling but not rising, this is an indicator that your starter cultures are fermenting but need more time before you use it or it needs to be strengthened.
If it’s bubbling, you can leave the starter out at room temperature up to 12 hours to see if it’ll rise in the jar. If it doesn’t, that means you need to strengthen it. How to do that is what we talked about above.
Does a Runny Sourdough Starter Mean It’s Weak?
Yes, a runny starter that doesn’t have bubbles and doesn’t rise means it’s weak. That’s why I highly recommend feeding your starter a 2:1 ratio of unbleached flour to filtered water to ensure it’s thick.
You can learn more about this feeding ratio HERE.
How to Tell If Sourdough Starter is Bad?
The only time your sourdough starter will have gone bad is if there is black or pink mold present. This rarely happens, but it does.
A weak starter that doesn’t rise is not a bad starter, it just needs a little strengthening. When your starter is weak like this, you’ll see a layer of grey watery stuff called hooch. This is completely normal and just means it’s hungry, not that it’s gone bad.