Why My Spring Bakes Finally Started Working (And What I Changed)

⏱ 5 min read

There is a particular kind of frustration that comes from doing everything right and still getting a flat loaf. You have got your starter bubbling, you have done the folds, you have cold proofed overnight. And then you open the oven and it just... sits there. Dense, pale, slightly sulky.

That was me, about three weeks ago. March tipping into April, the flat warming up with the change in season, and my dough behaving like it had a completely different personality to the one I had spent all winter getting to know. Which, honestly, it had. Spring does that.

What Actually Changes When the Season Turns

Here is the thing most baking guides do not spell out clearly enough: your kitchen is not a controlled environment. It is a living space that moves with the weather. When the temperature in your flat creeps from 17°C in February up to 21°C or 22°C in April, your sourdough starter notices before you do.

A warmer ambient temperature means faster fermentation. Not a little faster. Noticeably faster. A bulk ferment that took 6 hours in January might be done in 4 hours by mid-April. If you are still working off the same timing you used all winter, you are overproofing and you probably do not even realise it, because overproofed dough still looks fine right up until it goes in the oven.

The signs of an overproofed loaf are easy to miss until you know what you are looking for. The dough feels slightly slack during shaping. It might spread a bit more than usual on the peel or in the banneton. And then in the oven, instead of a dramatic spring, you get a modest puff and a crumb that is dense in the middle and gummy at the bottom.

Sound familiar? That was exactly what I was getting.

The Inputs Were Off, Not the Baker

Working in tech has genuinely made me a better baker, I think. When something is not working in code, the instinct is not to panic or assume you are bad at it. You go back and check the inputs. What changed? What variable shifted?

In this case, the variable was temperature, and once I named it, the fix became obvious: shorten the bulk, watch the dough not the clock, and adjust hydration slightly because warmer dough gets extensible faster and can get sticky and unmanageable if you push it.

But honestly, what really helped me nail down the specifics was using the DoughRise Coach. I described what I was seeing, typed out my process, my room temperature, my starter's behaviour, and got back a personalised breakdown of exactly what was likely going wrong and what to tweak. Not generic advice. Actual adjustments specific to my setup. It is the kind of thing you would normally have to either already know, or find a very patient baking friend to explain.

What I Changed and What Happened Next

A few practical things made an immediate difference, and I want to be specific because vague tips are useless:

• I dropped my bulk ferment by about 45 minutes and started checking the dough by feel and volume at the 3.5 hour mark rather than waiting for my usual 5 hours. In my kitchen right now, 4 to 4.5 hours is plenty.
• I reduced hydration by 3 to 4 percent. In winter I was running 76% with no trouble. Now I am finding 72 to 73% gives me much better structure and easier shaping. Small change, real difference.
• I moved my dough to a slightly cooler spot during bulk. I pulled it off the counter and put it near the floor by the back wall of the kitchen, probably a degree or two cooler, and that slowed things down just enough.
• I stopped cold proofing for longer than 10 hours. I used to go 14 to 16 hours through winter. Now I am aiming for 8 to 10 and the loaves are far better for it.

The very next bake was genuinely one of the best I have done. Proper ear, open crumb, shatter-y crust. The kind of loaf you actually want to photograph before you eat half of it standing at the counter.

The Bit Nobody Talks About Enough

Sourdough is seasonal. Not in a romantic, artisan-bakery-Instagram way. In a genuinely practical, this-affects-your-timing way. The bakers who get consistently good results are not necessarily more skilled than everyone else. They are just more attuned to what is changing around them and willing to adjust.

The DoughRise Coach is good for exactly this kind of thing. You can describe where you are in a bake, what your starter is doing, what the loaf looked like last time, and get guidance that actually fits your situation. Personalised bake plans, technique guidance, recipe troubleshooting, it is all there. I found myself using it mid-bake one Saturday afternoon with a playlist going and dough in its second fold, just checking I was on track. It is a bit like having a knowledgeable mate on call, except your mate does not mind being messaged at 11pm when you are wondering if your proof is done.

Spring is a genuinely lovely time to be baking. The light is better, the kitchen smells incredible, and there is something satisfying about dialling your process back in after winter. Give your dough a bit less time, keep an eye on your temperatures, and enjoy the season.

Happy baking! Find everything you need at doughrise.store

Photo by Just living life 🌱 on Unsplash