The Fugue

If I gave you a copy of my no-knead bread recipe, throw it away and download it again. I made a mistake in calculating the amount of start needed for the sourdough variation. The 3 tablespoons I told you to use is too much for a 12–18 hour ferment. You'll often end up with "raggy" dough that won't keep its skin or rise properly. Basically, the effect would be the same as using too much yeast, though I think the sourdough culture byproducts might be harsher to the gluten than just yeast.

The effect is more pronounced with whole wheat, which has a higher ash content which means it can absorb more of the sourdough byproduct (lactic acid among other things) before the ph reaches the level that inhibits sourdough growth. This is why whole wheat sourdough is generally more sour, all other things equal.

The correct amount of start for that recipe is about 1 tablespoon of start. This is roughly 2% of the whole weight.

By the same token, if your room temperature is closer to 90° than 70°, as mine is during the summer, you might find that you need to reduce the fermentation time considerably or your dough will go to rags. This is because yeast (and sourdough culture) grow much faster in the mid 80s than in the 70s. I've talked about this before, with a pretty graph.