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Something’s Off?
Sourdough starter not rising? It’s probably not dead.
Acetone smell, hooch, bubbles that never turn into a rise, dense loaves you can’t explain. Nine times out of ten, none of it means starting over. Here’s exactly what’s happening and what to do about it.
None of this means your starter is dead
Acetone smells, hooch, sluggish bubbles, dense loaves: these are the most common sourdough starter complaints, and every one of them has a specific, fixable cause. Genuine spoilage (pink or orange streaks, fuzzy mould, a smell you’d never want near food) is rare. What you’re almost certainly dealing with is a starter that’s hungry, cold, or still finding its feet, not one that’s finished. Six of the most common symptoms, and what’s actually behind each one, below.
Symptom, Cause, Fix
Six things that go wrong
And why none of them mean you have to start again.
My starter isn’t doubling
Temperature does more work here than anything else you’ll try. A mature starter can double in four hours at 26°C and take twelve at 18°C, which is a normal January kitchen in most of the UK. A dilute feeding ratio (equal parts fed at something like 1:5:5) also slows a young starter down, it simply has too much to get through before it can rise. And sometimes it isn’t slow at all, you’re just checking it at the wrong hour and missing the peak.
The fixFeed at 1:1:1 by weight, move it somewhere reliably warm (the top of the fridge, an oven with just the light on), and check every couple of hours instead of once a day. The starter feeding calculator will size the ratio for your kitchen.
It smells like acetone or nail polish
Sharp and solvent-like, a bit like nail varnish remover: that smell is acetone, and it means your starter has run out of food. Once the flour is used up, the culture shifts towards acetic acid production over the milder lactic acid, and that shift is what you’re smelling. It looks alarming, but it isn’t: a hungry starter just needs feeding sooner next time.
The fixFeed it. Discard most of what’s there and feed fresh at 1:1:1. If it keeps happening between feeds, switch to 1:1:0.8 (a little more flour, a little less water), so there’s more to eat before it runs out again.
There’s a layer of liquid on top (hooch)
That grey-brown liquid is hooch, essentially alcohol, a natural by-product once a starter has fermented through everything you fed it. It shows up most after a stretch in the fridge or a missed feed, and it’s one of the most Googled sourdough panics for good reason, it looks like something has died in the jar. Every baker who’s kept a starter longer than a month has seen it, mine included.
The fixPour it off for a milder starter, or stir it back in for extra tang, either is fine. Then feed as normal. If it appears every single time, feed a little more often.
It’s bubbling but not rising
Bubbles prove the yeast is working, gas is being produced. Rise is a different thing: it needs a structure strong enough to trap that gas and hold its shape. A very loose, high-hydration starter, or one that’s still young and bacteria-heavy rather than yeast-strong, can bubble away happily for days without ever visibly doubling. This is especially common in the first fortnight.
The fixFeed a slightly stiffer ratio, a bit more flour relative to water, so there’s more structure to trap the gas. Bubbling-but-not-rising is very often a stage on the way to doubling, not a dead end.
My dough overproofed
Overproofing rarely starts in the bulk ferment itself, it usually starts with the starter. Mix with a starter that’s already peaked and started to sink back down, and you’ve effectively started the clock earlier than the recipe assumes, so everything downstream runs fast. A warm kitchen speeds the starter and the dough up together, which is how a timeline written for 21°C badly overshoots at 25°C.
The fixUse the float test and mix at or just before peak, not after. Track your actual dough temperature rather than the clock: the fermentation calculator adjusts timing for your kitchen.
My bread came out dense
It’s tempting to blame the oven or the shaping, but dense crumb almost always traces back to fermentation. A starter that’s under-fed, still too young (under three to four weeks), or mixed into the dough before it reached peak activity won’t have the strength to lift a full loaf, even if the rest of the bake was perfect.
The fixBefore you touch the recipe again, check the starter can reliably double on its own in a jar. If it can’t do that alone, it won’t do it inside a loaf either.
Frequently Asked
Starter troubleshooting questions
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Why is my sourdough starter not rising?
Usually temperature. A starter that doubles in four hours at 26°C can take three times as long in a cool kitchen, which is completely normal and not a sign anything’s wrong. Check where it’s sitting, tighten the feeding ratio to 1:1:1, and give it longer before judging it, especially in winter.
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Why does my starter smell like acetone or nail polish?
It’s hungry. Once the flour runs out, the balance shifts towards acetic acid production, which smells sharp and solvent-like. It’s one of the least worrying smells a starter can produce, feed it and the smell disappears within a feed or two.
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What is hooch and do I need to throw it away?
Hooch is the alcohol that collects on top once a starter has fermented through its food, usually after a missed feed or time in the fridge. Pour it off or stir it in, either is fine, then feed as normal. It’s not a sign the starter has gone off.
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Why is my starter bubbling but not rising?
Bubbles show the yeast is active, but rising needs enough structure to hold that gas in place. Very young or very loose (high-hydration) starters often bubble for days before they visibly double. Feed a slightly stiffer ratio and give it more time before assuming it’s failed.
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What causes overproofed dough?
Most often a starter that had already peaked and begun to deflate before it went into the dough, or a warm kitchen speeding the whole timeline up. Use the float test to check the starter’s ready, and track dough temperature rather than the clock on the recipe.
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Why is my bread dense even though the starter looked fine?
“Looked active” and “strong enough to leaven a full loaf” aren’t always the same thing, especially in a starter under about a month old. Check it can reliably double on its own in a jar before blaming the shaping or the oven.
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How do I know if my starter is actually dead?
It’s rarer than it looks. Hooch, a sour or acetone smell, sluggish rise, none of these mean dead, they mean hungry, cold, or young. Real spoilage looks like pink or orange streaks, or fuzzy mould, and that’s genuinely uncommon. If in doubt, feed it twice a day for three days before writing it off.
Describe What You’re Seeing
Not sure which one this is? Just ask.
Every starter behaves a little differently depending on your flour, your kitchen, and how you’ve been feeding it. Tell the AI Baking Coach what you’re actually seeing, the smell, the timing, what it looked like this morning, and get a real diagnosis for your starter, not a generic checklist.
No fixed schedule to follow. Describe the problem, get an answer built for your starter.
