Simple Ways and Tips to Speed up Sourdough

Sometimes, we need to get bread on the table or get the sourdough starter active fast. When you need to speed up sourdough, here are some easy and simple ways to make sourdough bread and sourdough starter ferment faster!

How to Speed Up Sourdough

Sourdough is a collection of yeast and all yeast like warmth. The best way to speed up your sourdough is by giving it a warm place to rest and rise.

Placing your sourdough starter or bowl of dough into a place that is between 90 -100°F (32-38°C) will bring the temperature of your dough up and that rise in temperature will promote yeast activity.

Tip #1: Speed up Sourdough by Using Warm Liquids

Using warm liquids when you want to speed up sourdough is an easy switch with a large impact.

Adding cold liquids to your recipe, cools down the dough temperature which will lengthen the time needed any of the other methods you attempt to use.

To warm up honey and eggs, you can place the container or eggs in a container of warm water. The water will heat up the eggs and honey quickly.

To warm up water or milk, you can use a pot on the stove or the microwave.

Pro Tip: Only heat half of the water or milk, that way if you heat it over 100°F (38°C) you can add the cold part to cool it back down.

Tip #2: Speed up Sourdough by Using Your Oven

Preheat your oven for ONLY a few minutes.

Depending on your oven it could take between 3-7 minutes.

My Kenmore electric oven took 4 minutes to heat up to 90 -100°F (32-38°C).

Place a note on your oven to let others know your sourdough is in the oven.

If you skip this step you will eventually accidentally bake your dough or starter. It can be a quickly written note, sticky note, or a magnet you create for repeated use.

Place your sourdough into the oven.

The oven is now a warmer environment than your home, so the dough will be warmer and ferment faster too.

I recommend an oven safe dish just to be safe, incase the sourdough accidentally gets baked. If you use an oven safe dish then you won’t have to clean large amounts of melted plastic from your oven.

Check the sourdough every hour to see how it rises.

Checking your sourdough every hour ensures that you won’t over proof it.

Tip #3: Speed up Sourdough by Using Your Microwave

Microwave a container of water for 5 minutes.

Depending on your microwave it could take between 3-7 minutes.

My Kenmore electric oven took 4 minutes to heat up to 90 -100°F (32-38°C).

Place a note on your microwave to let others know your sourdough is inside.

It is unlikely that anyone will microwave your dough, but I have forgotten that dough was in the microwave before. A note is a handy reminder.

Place your sourdough into the microwave.

The oven is now a warmer environment than your home, so the dough will be warmer and ferment faster too.

I recommend a microwave safe dish just to be safe, incase the sourdough accidentally gets microwaved. If you use a microwave safe dish then you won’t have to clean large amounts of melted plastic from your microwave.

Check the sourdough every hour to see how it rises.

Checking your sourdough every hour ensures that you won’t over proof it. It also lets you know if you need to warm more water to create that warm environment again.

Tip #4: Speed up Sourdough by Using Your Stove

If you are using your oven to bake food, then you can place your dough on your stove to use the warmth of the oven to help it rise.

Remember to place a damp towel over your dough to help it rise.

Tip #5: Speed up Sourdough by Using Your Cooler

Coolers are an excellent way to have a portable and warm environment for your sourdough.

Prepare the Cooler.

I add a towel to the bottom of my cooler because my bowl doesn’t fit in the very bottom of my cooler.

Add some room temperature water to your cooler first.

Then, add some boiling water to the cooler until the water is between 90 -100°F (32-38°C).

Add the Container of Sourdough.

Add your sourdough to the water. Make sure it has a water resistance lid, or that there is no chance for the water to get into your dough.

The water will create a warm environment for your dough to ferment in and it will ferment the fastest because water conducts heat faster than air.

Check the sourdough every 45 minutes or hour to see how it rises.

Checking your sourdough every hour ensures that you won’t over proof it.

Tip #6: Speed up Sourdough Bread by Using Active Starter

Using an active starter in your dough ensures that your bread will rise as fast as it can and have a good crumb.

The yeast in your active starter is alive and hungry for more food. It is prepared and eager to eat all the starches and proteins provided in the new batch of dough.

Yeast in inactive starter or ‘discard’ is dormant and needs to be reawakened with a feeding to be active again. If you bake with discard the rise will take much longer and may not rise as well either.

What is your Favorite way to Speed up Sourdough?

Let us know in the comments down below what you do to speed up sourdough!

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