There's No "Correct" Way to Ferment Your Dough

It's a dial, not a destination — and it's yours to set

There's no single correct fermentation point — no universal peak, no exact moment. The best you get is a range, driven by time and temperature, and where you stop it is picked by preference or circumstance.

Why Ferment at All

Two things happen simultaneously in your dough. Autolyse: enzymes already in the flour break down its own starches and proteins. Fermentation: the microbes in your culture feed on those sugars, adding organic acids and gas. Together they clear out the phytate that binds up minerals and produce the gas your gluten traps to form the alveoli that give your loaf its rise and lightness.

The Trade-Off

Gluten is the elastic membrane that traps that gas — great for lift, but fermentation breaks it down as it progresses. That's bad for structure, but it's what builds flavor and digestibility: broken-down proteins are part of why some people sensitive to wheat can still enjoy "real"* sourdough. The acid built up along the way is the "sour" in sourdough — good for your health and a natural preservative, though it speeds that same gluten breakdown.

Temperature decides which acid dominates; cold favors the sharper, vinegar-like acetic acid; warm favors milder lactic acid, more like yogurt. Push fermentation far enough, and the dough collapses into a goopy, intensely sour mess.

The Range

Rather than chasing one "best" point, here's the range. The lower range is faster more controllable dough, taller loaves with a bigger ear. The higher range is healthier, more flavorful, larger loaves — but flatter, with less oven spring.

• Barely risen, essentially unleavened: flat and dense, closer to a flatbread than a loaf.

• Around 60% expansion: smaller, denser loaf, the biggest ear, and the most forgiving dough to handle.

• Around 75%: taller, lighter, loftier loaf.

• Around 85%: the lightest, highest-volume loaf you'll get, but shorter.

• Well past its peak: gluten's broken down too far to hold a loaf shape — don't toss it, bake it into crackers instead.

Reading the Dough

Watch your dough's volume — an aliquot jar (a small sample in a narrow, straight-sided jar) is easier to read than a wide bowl. Remember dough grows in three dimensions, so doubling in diameter is actually eight times the volume.

[Link: Breaducation's guide to building your own aliquot jar]

With practice you'll also start reading feel, smell, and jiggle.

The Takeaway

There's no perfect or best way to ferment. It depends on what you want:

• Dough's a sticky mess? Ferment less.

• Want a lighter, fluffier loaf? Ferment longer.

• Want a bigger, more dramatic ear? Ferment less.

• Want more sour? Ferment cooler — or reach for a culture known for being sour.

Think of it like toast: some like it barely warmed, others dark and caramelized edge to edge. There's no "properly toasted" — same as there's no "properly fermented." It's whatever you're after.

Until next time, let's give thanks for our daily bread…

John Durrant

Breaducation | The Sourdough Academy

*Real sourdough is bread fermented with a natural wild yeast culture, versus commercial bread labeled "sourdough" but made with commercial yeast and souring agents.