Hello, my fellow bread bakers,

I have a question. Why is my sourdough bread always so DENSE? From what I can tell, my sourdough starter is highly active, because I feed it 2 to 3 times a day and it bubbles right up each time. I also measure my ingredients by weight in order to make sure the percentages are accurate. No matter what I do, the bread always turns out DENSE and HEAVY. The flavour is always subtle and complex, but the texture is just too thick and chewy.

I know this has something to do with the strength of my sourdough culture, because when I spike my recipe with COMMERCIAL YEAST, the bread turns out light and airy with a nice open crumb. But I don't like using commercial yeast to supplement the fermentation because it makes the bread taste more "commercial."

I need more RISING POWER from my sourdough culture. How can I improve my yeast's rising power?

Best,

Craig

i noticed a pretty significant change when i kneaded a baguette dough prior to the first fermentation. all of a sudden it became pretty hard to knead, almost tough. is that something i should "knead through" in the hopes it will break down and get malleable again or did i knead too much?