Hit my 100th sourdough loaf and somehow it was the worst one yet

I keep a little tally on my fridge and loaf #100 came out dense and flat as a pancake, after 99 decent ones. Anyone else hit a big milestone and totally botch it, or is my starter messing with me on purpose?

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wesley_hart1mo ago

Wait, did you just call me out for getting lazy at loaf 37 because that's EXACTLY what happened to me before I saw your post, @jamieperez? Never thought I'd say it but you're right, I used to preach "muscle memory" and now I'm pretty sure that's just code for "not paying attention anymore.

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jamieperez1mo ago

...and honestly that might be the problem, you got comfortable. I've noticed with my own baking that the more I sail through without checking things, the more I take shortcuts I don't even realize, so that milestone loaf probably just caught you slipping on hydration or your proofing time. Your starter isn't messing with you, it's just that you stopped paying attention to the little things you used to obsess over back in loaf #20, like the exact feel of the dough or the temperature of your kitchen. Chalk it up to a wake-up call, bake #101 tomorrow with zero expectations and you'll probably nail it because you'll actually be watching what you're doing again.

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