Tried & tested baker’s tips on how to save overproofed sourdough dough during the second rising and prevent it from happening next time.
Sourdough bread will usually go through two stages of proofing and rising. The first stage is usually done in a bowl or a large container and it’s often called ‘bulk fermentation’.
Fermentation is what happens when your bread dough is proofing and rising. It’s the natural yeast that’s fermenting, creating gasses, which is what’s rising your dough.
In today’s blog post I wanted to look into problems that you might have with your sourdough bread proofing during the second rising.
This is the stage when you usually shape the dough and leave it to proof in a banneton basket or similar type of container.
DON’T LOSE THIS PAGE – PIN IT FOR LATER
It is at this stage where we need to be careful not to overproof the dough as it needs to have enough energy to rise a little in the oven.
If your sourdough is overproofed, the natural yeast won’t have any life left and the dough will not rise in the oven and it can also deflate easily as you turn it onto the baking tray or try to slash and score the top of your bread before baking.
I’ve been baking sourdough and regular bread for more than 22 years and in that time had my fair share of overprooved sourdough bread. My tips are based on my experience as a home baker baking for my family and customers at our local farmer’s market and as a teacher of my sourdough bread baking courses.
Typical volume rising for sourdough dough (and what to look for)
- First dough rising (bulk fermentation) – aim for your dough to double in size
- Second rising (shape & proof in a banneton basket) – nearly double in size (3/4 of 100% )
- Third rising (in the oven) – increase about 1/4 or so, depending on the strength of your sourdough starter
SOURDOUGH BREAD BAKING RESOURCES
- Sourdough Starter Recipe >>
- How to strengthen weak sourdough starter >>
- Can sourdough starter go bad + how to fix it >>
What to do if you overproof sourdough dough
Option 1 – if you don’t have any time and the dough hasn’t overproofed by too much
If you overproof your bread by just a little and you don’t have any more time to spend doing your sourdough baking, my advice would be just to bake the sourdough!
Turn the bread dough very carefully on the baking tray, so that the bread doesn’t fall down (and deflate…).
If your sourdough bread dough is badly overproofed, don’t score it! This will only deflate it even more and you will definitely end up with a flatbread instead of a lovely proud sourdough bread.
The bread dough will press against the top skin of the bread and will fill it in. If you score it, you will end up with a deflated and split bread.
Bake the sourdough bread on as high temperature as you possibly can. This will also help to raise and keep your bread risen, instead of deflating it.
READ MORE
Option 2 – if you have more time and the dough has overproofed, but hasn’t gone too far
Depending on how far your sourdough has gone, you can simply deflate the dough and re-shape it again.
You can leave your sourdough bread to rise about 4 times before the natural yeast loses its virality and the bread won’t rise.
With every proofing, your bread dough will rise quicker and quicker, so you need to frequently check it and shape it tightly to make sure your dough won’t spread too much whilst rising.
Make sure that you add more flour to your sourdough bread baskets, so that the bread dough doesn’t stick to.
READ MORE
- How to prevent sourdough dough from spreading >>
- How to stop sourdough sticking to proving baskets >>
Option 3 – if the sourdough has overproofed too much (and it’s beyond baking as it is)
- Is sourdough bread vegan? >>
- Sourdough starter troubleshooting guide >>
- Is sourdough bread gluten free? >>
If you leave your sourdough dough for too long, it can go beyond saving. If you see that your sourdough dough has started to run over the bowl or looks very liquid, the chances are that the dough has gone too far (see the picture below).
Even if you try to shape the loaf again, the natural yeast won’t have any strength to rise the bread again.
But, rather than just throwing your dough in the bin, you can still rescue it and turn it into something else.
Bake regular yeasted bread
Use your favourite yeasted bread recipe and replace about 1/3 to 1/2 of the overall weight of the flour and water with the badly overproofed sourdough dough.
This will add an amazing flavour to your new bread and the yeast in the bread will be able to rise the bread again.
The spent natural yeast will feed a bit on the fresh flour and will help to raise the bread quicker than if you just used regular yeast.
The breads below are my favourite types of breads, that will work great with the sourdough bread discard and the sourdough flavour.
- Black Rye Bread with Chocolate >>
- Kentish Huffkings (Large soft round rolls) >>
- No-Knead Yeasted Bread >>
- Soft Potato Bread with Cheese >>
Bake pizza or flat breads
Use your favourite pizza or flatbread recipe and replace about 1/2 the overall flour and water quantity with your badly proofed sourdough dough.
Because we are baking flatbreads or pizzas, the dough doesn’t need to rise as much or hold its shape and you can add more of the overproofed dough.
Use any other recipe that calls for sourdough starter discard
You can easily use the overproofed dough for any recipe that’s designed for a sourdough starter discard.
The only difference is that sourdough starter discard is usually much more liquid, so add more water or milk as needed.
READ MORE
Make pancakes or drop scones
The easiest thing to do with over-proofed sourdough dough is to use it for sourdough discard pancakes. You don’t need to use a particular recipe for discard pancakes, you can easily adjust regular pancakes recipes – that’s what I do!
Just add a ladleful (or about 3 tablespoons) to your favourite pancakes recipe, adjust the taste with more or less sugar or milk and make as usual. You’ll get a lighter texture and slightly tangy flavour, depending on how much overproofed sourdough dough you’ll use.
My other pancake recipes
Dry overproofed sourdough dough and keep for later
Similarly, like a sourdough starter, you can dry your overproofed sourdough bread dough and keep it for later.
Simply spread the dough on the baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and dry naturally or in a very low oven. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container.
You can use it for flavouring yeasted bread, use it in discard sourdough recipes or even add it to your sourdough starter to thicken it up a bit.
Don’t forget that your dry over proofed sourdough bread dough will not be strong or active as a regular sourdough starter.
You can follow the same instructions to dry overprofed sourdough as for sourdough starter.
READ MORE
Freeze overproofed sourdough dough and keep for later
You can also freeze overproofed sourdough dough and keep it for flavouring or discard recipes at a later stage.
To make things easier, I normally weigh the dough, separate it into 100 grams and freeze it separately wrapped in a cling film (or small individual freezer bags or other suitable containers).
Whenever you need it, you will have ready made sourdough flavoured dough in handy 100 grams size packets.
You can follow the same instructions for freezing overproofed sourdough dough as for sourdough starter.
READ MORE
How to prevent overproofing your sourdough dough next time
Choose an optimal environment to prove your sourdough
Ensure the temperature is right (and constant)
Check your dough frequently (set alarm for regular checks if needed)
Use slow proofing in the fridge overnight
Bake when the dough has nearly doubled (but not quite) in size on second proofing – this will ensure that your bread will still rise in the oven (and won’t collapse)
READ MORE:
This blog post was originally written on 17 December 2021 and last updated on 24 October 2022
Leave a Reply