Whether you’re looking for a mild sourdough to pair with butter or a tangy, full-flavored bread that will stand up to a rich soup or strong cheese, these are the tweaks that can help you achieve your ideal sourdough.



We recently had the good fortune to attend a class at King Arthur Flour on the science of sourdough. The class, taught by microbiologist Debra Wink, focused on all the different tools the baker has to control the natural sourdough fermentation process. While Debra waxed poetic about six-carbon chains and weak hydrogen bonds, KAF pro baker Amber put us through our paces with two of King Arthur’s iconic sourdoughs: the mild and delicate Pain au Levain and the tangy Vermont Sourdough.



What we brought away from the class was a deeper understanding of the science behind some of our favorite sourdough tweaks. Below, we survey three key factors for influencing acidity in sourdoughs: temperature, flour choice and maturity. There are other factors as well, but these are the ones we find to be both easy to implement and highly effective.

