Sourdough Starter Manager
Log each feed, watch your starter rise in a 3D jar and record when it peaks. After two feeds it learns your own starter’s timing, so you know when it will be ready.
- See the rise against the clock
- Learns your starter’s peak time
- Free, no account needed
The most reliable way to know your sourdough is fully baked is to measure its internal temperature with a probe thermometer. Visual cues — crust colour, a hollow sound when tapped — are useful but imprecise. Internal temperature removes the guesswork.
Sourdough internal temperature table
Different sourdoughs finish at slightly different internal temperatures — enriched doughs are done cooler, and every target shifts down at altitude. Find your loaf type, then bake to the target crumb temperature.
| Loaf type | Target °C | Target °F | Under-baked below | Drying out above |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lean artisan loaf (boule / bâtard) | 96°C | 205°F | 93°C / 200°F | 99°C / 210°F |
| Sandwich / loaf-tin sourdough | 93–96°C | 200–205°F | 91°C / 196°F | 98°C / 208°F |
| Enriched dough (milk, butter, egg) | 88–91°C | 190–195°F | 85°C / 185°F | 93°C / 200°F |
| High-altitude (above ~1500m) | 92–95°C | 197–203°F | 90°C / 194°F | 96°C / 205°F |
Enriched doughs set at a lower temperature because fat, sugar, and egg soften the crumb — push them to 96°C and they dry out. At altitude, water boils cooler, so the crumb tops out below 96°C; see baking at altitude below.
What temperature should sourdough be when done?
A fully baked sourdough loaf should reach an internal temperature of 94–98°C (202–208°F), and most bakers target 96°C (205°F) as a reliable endpoint. At this point the starch has fully gelatinised, the crumb has set and will hold when sliced, and residual moisture has been driven out of the centre.
Below 93°C (200°F) the crumb may be gummy even if the crust looks perfect. Above 99°C (210°F) the loaf is drying out rather than baking — not harmful, just unnecessary.
What temperature and how long to bake sourdough
To hit the doneness numbers above, most sourdough bakes at 230–250°C (450–480°F) in a preheated Dutch oven, split into a covered steam phase and an uncovered browning phase. Judge the finish by the probe, not the clock — but these are the numbers to plan around:
That’s 40–45 minutes total for a standard 900g–1kg loaf. Preheat the empty Dutch oven hard first, bake covered so the loaf springs, then uncover to brown — and start checking the internal temperature at around 35 minutes. Bigger or higher-hydration loaves need a few minutes more; enriched or sugared doughs brown faster, so drop the temperature 10–20°C to avoid a dark crust over an underbaked centre.
Where to insert the thermometer
Insert from the side or the base, not from the top through the crust. Probing the top means travelling through already-hot outer crumb before reaching the centre, and the entry hole can cause steam loss and partial collapse. The centre is always the last part to reach full temperature — measure near the edge and you’ll read 10–15°C too high over a potentially underbaked core.
- 1Use a thin instant-read probe A Thermapen or similar slim probe works best — thick probes leave visible holes.
- 2Enter through the side Insert at mid-height on the side of the loaf, aiming for the geometric centre.
- 3Push to the centre The centre is the coldest point and the reading that actually matters.
- 4Wait 5–10 seconds Let the reading stabilise before pulling the probe out.
Crust temperature vs crumb temperature
The crust and crumb cook very differently and reach very different temperatures — which is why a loaf can look dark and done outside while still being underbaked in the centre. The crust gives you no reliable information about the crumb.
What causes a gummy crumb?
A gummy, wet, or dense crumb is usually one of three things — and only the first is about temperature.
Free Sourdough Baking Playbook (printable PDF)
A printable PDF companion for the sourdough calculators and guides.
How oven temperature affects internal temperature
A hotter oven browns the crust faster but doesn’t cook the crumb faster — moisture is the limiting factor. Cranking to 260°C instead of 230°C gives a darker crust in less time, but the crumb still takes similar time to reach 96°C. What oven temperature really changes is crust thickness: higher temperatures produce a thicker, cracklier crust; lower temperatures (220°C and below) a softer crust and more evenly cooked crumb.
Most sourdough bakers use 230–250°C (446–482°F) with a Dutch oven: lid on for 20 minutes for the steam phase and oven spring, lid off for 20–25 minutes to brown, and check the internal temperature at 35–40 minutes total.
Thermometer types
Baking at altitude
Water boils at a lower temperature as elevation rises — around 93°C at 2000m and lower still above that. Because the crumb can’t exceed the local boiling point, the internal temperature at full doneness is lower at altitude than at sea level. If you bake above about 1500m, target 92–95°C (197–203°F) rather than 96°C; the crust will still develop and set at that lower crumb temperature.
Baking without a Dutch oven
Without a Dutch oven it’s harder to trap steam in the first phase, which affects oven spring — but the internal temperature target is unchanged at 94–98°C. If anything, the probe matters more here, because crust colour is a less reliable doneness cue when steam management is inconsistent.
Common home-oven alternatives: place a roasting pan of boiling water on the bottom rack for the first 20 minutes, cover the loaf with an inverted roasting pan for the first 20 minutes, or bake on a preheated baking stone.
Oven settings by bread style
Oven temperature controls heat delivery; internal temperature checks what happened at the centre. Neither number alone specifies the full bake. These conventional-oven settings are starting ranges, not replacements for a recipe written for your pan and loaf size.
| Bread style | Starting oven range | What changes during the bake |
|---|---|---|
| Lean wheat loaf in a covered Dutch oven | 230–250°C / 445–480°F | Uncover after expansion to colour and dry the crust |
| Lean rolls or ciabatta | 220–240°C / 430–465°F | Smaller pieces bake through sooner than a large loaf |
| Enriched or sweet dough | 175–200°C / 350–390°F | Sugar and fat change browning; avoid a dark shell over raw dough |
| Rye-rich pan loaf | Hot start, then lower as specified | Dense moist centres require a longer bake and full cooling |
If using fan/convection, follow the oven and recipe guidance; do not apply one unqualified conversion to every appliance. A thicker or larger loaf often needs more time rather than ever-higher heat. For a stone or steel, consult the steam and baking surface guide. For complete examples use the ciabatta and rye pan loaf methods.
