Stop Letting Your Sourdough Over-Ferment — Here’s the 60% Secret

Here’s why you generally don’t want your primary (bulk) ferment to reach 100% rise before dividing and shaping — and why stopping around 60% rise gives better flavour, texture, and structure.

🧬 1. Gluten strength and gas retention

During bulk fermentation, the dough’s gluten network develops elasticity and extensibility while yeast and bacteria generate CO₂.

• At 60% rise, the gluten is still strong and flexible — able to trap gas bubbles during final proofing.
• At 100% rise, the network starts to weaken. Over-extended gluten strands lose tension, and when you later shape the dough, it can deflate and struggle to recover volume in the oven.

🧫 2. Fermentation balance (yeast vs. lactic acid bacteria)

Sourdough microbes work at different speeds:

• Yeasts mainly produce CO₂ and alcohol.
• Lactic acid bacteria create acidity and flavour.

If you let bulk go to 100%, you often move into acid dominance, where the dough becomes too sour and the gluten begins to degrade (acid hydrolysis).
🚫 Stopping at 60% maintains a balanced acidity, giving mild tang and good keeping quality.

🍞 3. Oven spring and open crumb

A dough that’s only 60% fermented still has fermentable sugars and yeast energy left for the final proof and bake.
That means:

• Strong oven spring
• Thinner, crisper crust
• More open, irregular crumb

At 100%, those sugars are mostly consumed — so your bake can be flat, dull in colour, and dense.

🔄 4. Handling and shaping quality

At 60%, the dough still has life — it feels buoyant and slightly resistant under the hands. When you shape, you’re redistributing gas and aligning gluten without tearing it.
If you wait until full expansion, the dough turns fragile, sticky, and overly gassy, making shaping and scoring far trickier.

🕒 Summary guideline