Can any sourdough bakers help me please?

[Jeni124]

Hi all, I'm new to sourdough and need some help! I've made 2 loaves and the dough has been very wet and sticky and won't hold it's shape at all. I'm pretty sure I haven't over-proofed it so what's going wrong? Do I need less water/more flour than the recipe says? For info, my starter had been active for about 5 days prior to first use, I'm using a fresh bag of Doves Farm flour, and following the Foodbod recipes. Thanks!

So after you've done your initial mix you can add a bit more flour if you feel it's too sticky.
Alternatively pop the whole mess into a loaf tin, pop on the side for 8 hours and see if it rises. If it does pop in the oven.
Stay with it - you'll find your groove! Maybe try feeding the starter with a little more flour and less water.

Yes- while sourdough naturally is wetter and stickier with normal dough, you can add a bit of flour if it's oozing out of the kitchen door. Better at the initial mixing stage, but you could always mix a bit in before you bake it in extremis.

try having a watch of this. His dough is always super wet to start with you just need to keep working it

Are you prooving in a basket/bowl? Sourdough loaves won't hold their shape well if shaped and left to their own devices on a flat surface. If you don't want to buy a prooving basket, use a muslin cloth (clean tea towel will do the job for now) to line a bowl, flour it well, then add shaped loaf to proove.

You can add more flour to the dough if it is too wet, but bear in mind that sourdough is supposed to be wetter than yeasted bread dough - that is what helps form that classic open sourdough structure.

Serious Eats did a whole series on the subject during lockdown
https://www.seriouseats.com/search?q=Sourdough

All your questions should be answered.

I had very hit and miss results with a traditional 'wet' sourdough. The occasional great loaf, and then a couple of disastrous pancake loaves.

I use this method now, and it's an absolute delight.

Why you need a Dry Sourdough Starter - The Quick Journey

The dough is much more like a traditional dough, and I get consistently good loaves.

Thanks for all the replies. they're much appreciated. I'm using a proofing basket and will try a bit more flour. Thanks too for the links, I'll have a look at them.