My grandma's sourdough tip finally clicked after 6 years

I was talking to my neighbor Carol about why my sourdough loaves never got that nice oven spring... she just said "your starter is probably too acidic, feed it twice a day for 3 days." I always fed it once a day, figured more was wasteful. After 3 days of twice-daily feedings, my loaf rose a full 2 inches higher in the oven. It hit different because she explained it like I was 10 years old, no fancy science talk. Has anyone else had a simple tip from someone older totally change their baking game?

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barbara844mo ago

You know, that thing about being talked to like a 10 year old really got me. I read somewhere that the best teachers are the ones who can boil complex things down to the bare basics without making you feel dumb about it. For me it wasn't bread, it was my mom explaining why my tomatoes kept getting blossom end rot. She just said 'put crushed eggshells in the hole when you plant them, the calcium stops the rot.' No soil pH talk, no nutrient ratios. Worked like a charm the next season.

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wright.taylor4mo ago

Same with my mother-in-law's tip to just use cooler water on the dough and let it rest an extra hour, solved my sticky mess right away.

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