9 Ways to Make Sourdough Rise Faster

While sourdough bread is one of the best breads that you can eat, but, it has one huge disadvantage. It takes a lot of time to make. More precisely it takes a lot of time to rise. And not everybody has that time at their disposal. So what can you do? Is there anything that you can do to make it rise faster? Yes there is.

In order to make your sourdough rise faster you can use a stronger flour, use the starter at its peak, add some extra yeast and sugar, knead it really well, use the correct water temperature, sift the flour, soak the four overnight, and find a good place to let it rise.

So, there are quite a few things that you can do to make your sourdough rise faster. Now, let’s take a closer look at each one of them and see how to put them in practice and how they will make your dough rise faster.

Use a Strong Flour

There are multiple types of flour, and each one of them is very different from the rest.

If you want to get a very fast rise you have to use the strongest flour that you can. This means the one with the highest amount of proteins.

Here is a chart with the different gradings used around the world, and their protein content.

And one final thing to keep in mind about flour is that not all flour brands are the same, even if they are both marked as All Purpose, or High Gluten. Different companies have different sources for their wheat, so the final product will be different. So make sure to check the nutritional table on the flour, and not pick the first one that is marked as High Gluten.

If you are not sure which flour to pick, I would suggest you try King Arthur, which can be found in most stores, and you can also order it on Amazon.

Use Your Starter at Its Peak

To get the fastest rise you need to use the starter at its peak, when it’s most active.

I’ve actually written an entire article about this subject, but to keep things simple I will tell you the simplest method of knowing when the starter has reached its peak. And that is to keep track of its previous rises.

When you feed your starter you will give it the same amount of water and flour every time, so it will always rise up to the same point. So the simplest thing that you can do is to use a marker and place a sign on the jar up to where the starter has risen. If you always use the same amount of water and flour there shouldn’t be any significant differences. And when your starter has reached the mark, it means that it reached its peak.

If you want to know more ways in which you can tell that your starter has reached its peak you can check out my article: When Will a Sourdough Starter Reach Its Peak? (With Pictures)

Add a Little Bit of Yeast

The sourdough starter is basically wild yeast. So by adding a little bit of commercial yeast, you won’t be changing the effect of the starter, and you will give the starter a considerable boost. Which will make the bread rise faster.

Add Some Sugar

The yeast in the dough, whether it comes from a starter or from commercial yeast, feeds on the sugar naturally found in the bread.This gives them energy, which means that they move faster, and make the dough rise faster.

Adding a single teaspoon should shorten the rising time considerably.

Technically speaking you could add even more, and the dough will rise faster, but this can also change the taste of the sourdough, so unless you want to make it sweeter I would advise against adding any more. But one single teaspoon shouldn’t affect the taste.

Knead the Dough Really Well

Kneading is an overlooked, but very important step that affects the rising power of the dough.

On average a sourdough should be kneaded for at least 15 minutes, in order to develop a good and strong gluten network that will make the pizza dough rise.

In order for a dough to rise it needs two things, yeast, and gluten. The yeast will produce C02, which makes the dough rise. And gluten gives the dough its elasticity, its ability to rise.

Gluten is naturally found in flour, but just having gluten in your dough is not enough. The gluten needs to develop an elastic network. And one of the most important parts of this is kneading it properly.

If you don’t knead the dough properly, the network won’t have enough strength to hold the rising dough, and it will collapse on top of itself.

And if you knead the dough too much, the gluten network will become very rigid, and won’t allow the dough to rise.

In most cases kneading the dough for 15 minutes should be enough, but everybody kneads their dough in a different way. Some do it more actively while others move at a slower pace, some apply a lot of pressure, while others are gentler. So, timing for how long you knead the dough is not the best solution.

What you should be doing instead is checking the consistency of the dough using the windowpane test.

This is a very simple test that will tell you if you’ve knead your dough enough.

Take a small piece of dough and gently start stretching it out, and see if you can obtain a slightly transparent layer in the middle. If you can then you’ve kneaded the dough perfectly.

If the dough breaks too easily it means that you have to knead it a little more.

If the dough is too hard to stretch, and when you finally manage to stretch it breaks, it means that you’ve over kneaded and you need to start all over.

And here is a video showing how you can do this test:

Water Temperature

The temperature of the water is extremely important when it comes to how fast the sourdough will rise. If the water is too hot it will hurt the bacteria that make the dough rise, so they won’t be able to do it as fast. If the water is too cold, it will also take them longer. So it’s important to get the temperature just right.

The temperature of the water should be around 100°F (38°C). At this temperature, the yeast will be as active as it can be, for the longest time possible.

The best way to measure the temperature of the water is to use a cooking thermometer. But if you don’t have one right now, you can use hot water from the sink, the hottest water that you can get from the sink can reach temperatures up to 120°F(50°C). So it shouldn’t be hard to stay under that temperature. 

Shift Your Flour

This method is extremely efficient if you are using whole grain flour.

Shifting the flour before using it will separate the bran found in the flour. The bran found in wholegrain flour acts like a small sharp bit that cuts through the gluten strands that form in the bread, thus stopping them from creating air pockets as fast. So it will take longer for the dough to rise.

Just by using this method alone, you will notice a considerable change in the time it takes your sourdough to rise.

Soak Your Flour Overnight

As strange as it might sound this is a legit technique that will have good and visible results.

Soaking whole wheat flour overnight will soften up the bran in the wheat, thus making it much more flexible, so it won’t be able to cut the gluten strands.

Soaking flour is just the same as preparing the dough for the sourdough bread, without adding the starter and leaving it on the counter until the next day.

To see how efficient this method is you can take a piece of bran from the flour and set it aside, and soak the rest of the flour. The next day try to find another piece of bran in the flour and compare it with the bran that you set aside, you will clearly see how efficient this method is.

If you don’t want to soak your entire flour you could combine this method with the last one to separate and soak only the bran. This will also work.

And make sure to cover the bowl in which you mixed the flour and water.

Find a Good Place to Let the Dough Rise

Sourdough can rise at a temperature anywhere between 70 and 85 °F (21 and 30 °C). But despite this generous range. If the temperature is not constant, the rise won’t be as fast as it can.

So ideally you will keep your dough in a place with a constant temperature. Form personal experience I’ve noticed that some of the best places are:

• The microwave
• The oven
• The pantry
• A proofing box

A lot of ovens even have a proofing function. So if you have, don’t hesitate to use it. Other than that the second best option is a proofing box, which will allow you to set the temperature, and maintain it, just like this one from Amazon. The microwave and the pantry usually don’t have temperature control, but at least the temperature is constant.

Final Thoughts

Those are my 9 tips and tricks on how to make your sourdough rise faster.

Depending on how you were making your sourdough bread before, some tips will be more efficient than others. But by applying all of them you will definitely notice that your dough will rise a lot faster now.

Happy Baking!