04/06/2026
This is such a good explanation about sourdough and the weather. It is why some weeks I'm running behind with timing 😩🤣
Sourdough is a live culture. You can't rush or slow the fermentation process. It's done when it's done on its own terms 🤣
The sourdough is moving extra slowly today.
I’m always fascinated by how differently the dough behaves depending on what’s happening outside. The temperature changes, the humidity changes, the weather changes and suddenly what worked last week doesn’t quite work the same way today.
Winter baking in North Queensland is a completely different bakehouse to summer baking. In summer, I’m often in a blind panic trying to slow everything down. In winter, I’m standing around waiting for the dough to catch up.
One of the things I love most about making authentic sourdough is that it forces me to pay attention. I’m not working with packet mixes or relying on commercial yeast to do all the heavy lifting. I’m working with a living sourdough culture and a natural fermentation process that responds to its environment.
That means there are days like today where the dough decides it’s going to take its time.
It’s a good reminder that sourdough isn’t something you can completely control (I’m always praying to the Sourdough gods to be kind! 😅) You guide it, you watch it, you make adjustments but ultimately you’re working with nature rather than against it.
The upside is that the slower days often give me a chance to slow down too. Catch up on jobs around the bakery, drink a coffee while it’s still hot (a rarity) and pay a little more attention to what’s happening outside the window.
The dough will be ready when it’s ready.
But rest assured there will be loads of it waiting for you on Saturday morning 🥖🥐
