Sourdough Troubleshooting

Stop baking dense, flat, or gummy loaves. This category diagnoses the most common sourdough failures and shows you exactly what went wrong and how to fix it. Learn to read your dough's visual cues, recognize under- and over-fermentation, and turn frustrating results into reliable, airy bread.

Comparison of a dense tight-crumb sourdough loaf next to an open airy-crumb loaf

TroubleshootingSourdough Troubleshooting

Why Is My Sourdough Bread So Dense and Heavy?

Dense, heavy sourdough? Here are the 8 most common causes of a tight crumb, ranked, with a simple fix for each so your next loaf rises light and airy.

Jun 29, 2026 · 17 min read