Process ControlSourdough baking isn’t about a stopwatch. It’s about learning to read: what do you see, what do you feel, and what is the dough telling you right now?This article brings together the four questions that come up most often.When Is Your Dough Ready?“Ready” usually means ready to shape, after bulk fermentation.Look for:- An increase in volume of roughly 50–75%.- Small bubbles visible along the sides of the bowl.- A light, slightly wobbly elasticity when you move the bowl.- The dough beginning to pull away from the sides of the bowl.- Less stickiness on your fingers than at the beginning.None of these signs is decisive on its own. It is the combination that tells you the dough has reached the right stage.See also Bulk Fermentation for the full explanation.Under-Fermentation vs. Over-FermentationThis is probably the most important skill to learn — and one of the hardest.Under-fermentation means the dough hasn’t had enough time or fermentation activity yet. It feels firm and resistant, hasn’t grown very much, and lacks the light, wobbly quality of well-fermented dough.The result after baking: a compact, dense loaf with little oven spring.Over-fermentation means the dough has gone too far. It feels slack, has lost much of its structure, and can be difficult to handle without collapsing.The result: a flat loaf with little or no oven spring, sometimes with a noticeably sharper or overly sour flavour.A useful rule of thumb: well-fermented dough sits somewhere between “still firm” and “completely slack” — elastic, slightly wobbly, with some resilience that slowly springs back when you press it rather than bouncing back immediately or not at all.The Effect of TemperatureTemperature is the biggest variable affecting the timing of your entire baking process.A warmer kitchen noticeably speeds up fermentation. The same bulk fermentation that takes four hours in summer might take six to eight hours in winter.Your starter, autolyse and cold proof are affected by temperature as well.This is why a fixed timetable can never be completely reliable. A recipe that says “4 hours bulk fermentation” usually assumes a kitchen somewhere around 21–23°C (70–73°F).If your kitchen is warmer or cooler, the timing shifts with it — sometimes considerably.Learning to Read Timing: Visually and by FeelThe best way to master all of this is to stop relying entirely on the clock and learn to look and feel:Visually: watch the volume, bubbles, surface tension and sheen, and how the dough moves when you gently tilt the bowl.By feel: notice how the dough responds when you press it gently.If it springs back quickly and completely, it probably isn’t ready yet. If the indentation remains completely without springing back, the dough may already be over-fermented.Somewhere in between — slowly and partially springing back — is usually the zone you’re looking for.You develop this sense simply by baking more often, and by taking a moment to consciously look at and feel your dough before moving on to the next step.After a few loaves, it becomes less of a question and more of an instinct.Part of The Baking Process.Continue reading: Bulk Fermentation · Bread Troubleshooting · Fermentation (Bread Science)