Troubleshooting
Why Does My Sourdough Have No Ear?
Missing ears come from shallow scores, weak surface tension, low steam, or proofing miss — not bad luck.
A sourdough ear forms when a sharp angled score meets strong surface tension, proper proof, and early steam — miss any one and the flap won't lift.
Ear requirements
| Factor | Target |
|---|---|
| Score | Angled, decisive, ~¼–½ inch |
| Shape | Tight skin |
| Proof | Not overproofed |
| Steam | Covered pot first 15–20 min |
| Heat | Fully preheated vessel |
Practice drill
Bake the same recipe three times changing only score angle and depth. Ears are a technique signal — great bread can still be earless.
Systematic debugging
When a loaf fails, resist the urge to change flour, hydration, schedule, and shaping all at once. Rank the suspects: starter strength, dough temperature, fermentation length, then shaping and bake setup. The same dense crumb has different fixes depending on whether the dough never rose or rose and collapsed.
What to log next bake
Write down starter peak time, dough temperature after mixing, bulk duration, final proof duration, and oven setup. One annotated failure teaches more than three untracked "meh" loaves. If two consecutive bakes share the same fault after one change, reverse that change and try the next suspect.
One thing to remember
Write the bake plan on a sticky note; future-you at hour three will not remember the intention.
Rescue hierarchy
Slightly overproofed → bake sooner or make focaccia. Slightly underproofed → extend proof if the dough still has strength. Truly dead dough → discard recipes, not despair.
First question to ask
Was the starter actually at peak? Many 'dough problems' are sleepy-preferment problems. If the jar was fed right before mixing, or taken cold from the fridge, fix that before rewriting your formula.
Field notes
The fastest way to improve at this is to pair the technique with the same base dough for several weekends. If results swing wildly, stabilize feeding and room temperature for a week so you can see the signal again. Document one success in enough detail that you could hand the notes to a friend and they could reproduce it. Fix the earliest upstream fault; downstream symptoms often disappear on their own.
Also useful: weigh everything, preheat longer than you think, and cool fully before you judge crumb quality. Those three habits make every other tip more reliable.
Frequently asked questions
Does fridge proof help ears?
Often yes — colder, tighter surfaces score and lift better.
Single score vs pattern?
A single long expansion cut is best for ears.
Blade type?
Fresh razor / lame beats scissors for classic ears.
When proofing is dialed with SourdoughAI, scoring practice actually shows up on the crust.