My Starter Doubles. It Even Floats.

So Why Don’t My Loaves Spring?

Why weak or inconsistent starters can double and float but can't power fermentation,

and how starter rehab restores real strength.

Your starter doubled overnight. You ran the float test. It passed. Everything says it’s ready. So why don’t you trust it?

Because last time it looked exactly like this, your loaf didn’t spring.

One loaf is flat. Another is dense and gummy. The next one barely rises. Your starter passes every test. But your bread keeps disappointing.

You start questioning everything.
Is the starter actually weak? Or are you using it at the wrong time?

You feed it more often. Then less often. You change ratios. Nothing changes.

The Real Problem

Here’s what most bakers miss.

You can’t tell if bulk fermentation finished properly, or if your dough was ready to bake, if the starter wasn’t strong enough to power fermentation in the first place.

The starter comes first.

If it’s weak or inconsistent, everything that follows becomes unreliable, and you’ll never know where things went wrong.

That’s why fixing your starter isn’t just important. It’s foundational.

Before you can judge bulk fermentation or proofing with confidence, you need a starter that can actually do its job.

Not one that looks active.
One that performs.

The Tests Aren't Lying. They're Just Not Telling You What Matters.

So why does your starter pass every test but still fail you when you bake?

Because those tests don't measure what matters most.

Doubling tells you fermentation is happening. The float test tells you gas is being produced.

But neither tells you whether your yeast population and acidity are actually balanced.

That balance is what determines whether your starter can power fermentation all the way through bulk and proofing.

In many struggling starters, acidity slowly builds up over time. Too much acid is carried forward from feed to feed.

The starter still bubbles. It still rises. It still passes the float test. But excess acidity suppresses yeast activity. The yeast population stays weak.

So when that starter goes into dough, fermentation starts… then fades. The starter worked at the beginning.
It just couldn't finish the job

The Solution: Build a Starter You Can Trust

The problem isn’t your skill.
It’s that you’ve been managing your starter without a way to tell whether it’s actually balanced.

You can’t see acid levels or yeast populations. So you rely on tests that show activity, not strength.

That’s why Starter Rehab is Step One of the Sourdough Unchained system.

It’s a structured, seven- to fourteen-day process that reduces excess acidity while rebuilding yeast strength through controlled feeding. No guesswork. No “feed it more and hope.” Just a clear, repeatable way to restore balance.

Professional kitchens taught me something simple: you can’t improve what you can’t measure.

Starter Rehab uses volume tracking to judge fermentation at every stage, so you know your starter is recovering, not just bubbling.

Once the starter is strong and balanced, everything downstream becomes reliable.
Bulk fermentation. Proofing. Oven spring.

That’s why it comes first. The foundation has to be solid.

What I Saw Teaching Sourdough at Scale

I'm Phil. After years working as a chef in London restaurants, and later as a private chef and baker around the world, I began teaching sourdough to home bakers through my YouTube channel, website, and email community. Today, that audience includes hundreds of thousands of bakers.

As I listened to their questions, one pattern became impossible to ignore. Bakers kept circling back to the same issue.

"My starter looks active, but my bread doesn't rise."
"I don't know if my starter is actually strong enough."
"Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't."

Professional kitchens taught me something simple and reliable: consistency comes from measurement, not mysticism. That insight led me to build Sourdough Unchained, organised around what I call the Fermentation Chain: treating starter fermentation, bulk fermentation, proofing, and cold retard as connected stages that can be judged by volume instead of guesswork.

Starter Rehab comes first for a reason. If the starter isn't balanced and strong, nothing downstream can be judged reliably.

Over the past four years, this system has been refined through real member bakes, feedback, and iteration. Hundreds of home bakers have already used it to move from guesswork to confident fermentation.

That's what members use Sourdough Unchained for: understanding what they're seeing as they bake, making confident decisions in real time, and getting consistent results without relying on guesswork.

Mavi was the first baker I ever helped with this process.

She reached out in early 2022 after struggling for over a year with a starter that looked active but produced unpredictable results.

We didn’t change her technique.
We didn’t change her process.

We fixed the starter.

Once it was balanced and strong, everything downstream became reliable: bulk fermentation, proofing, and oven spring.

It wasn’t a skill issue.
It was a starter fermentation problem.

That same pattern kept repeating with other bakers. Over time, the process was refined into the Starter Rehab Program, now Step One of the Sourdough Unchained system.

Pictures:
Left, Mavi's crumb before rehab. Centre, Mavi's crumb after rehab. Right, Mavi's loaf after rehab

What Happens When You Join

Once you join, you follow a clear, step-by-step system designed to remove guesswork and build reliable results.

Step 1: The Sourdough Starter System
Rehab or stabilise your starter so fermentation is powered correctly from the start.

Step 2: Dough-to-Basket Calibration
Size your dough properly so final proofing becomes measurable, not a guess.

Step 3: Fermentation Chain Fundamentals
Learn to track each stage of fermentation by volume to remove guesswork completely.

Step 4: The Reboot Process
Run controlled bakes that remove variables and lock in consistency.

Step 5: The Sourdough Clinic
Submit real bakes for analysis and learn how to diagnose and fix issues going forward.

How this works as a membership

You use the five steps to build a solid foundation, then continue refining your baking through intentional recipe design, shaping flavour, texture, nutrition, and appearance with each bake.

Progress happens bake by bake, at a pace that fits your life. There’s no fixed schedule and no concept of falling behind.

The membership gives you continued access to the full system and ongoing support as you apply it in your own baking, including Sourdough Lab livestreams where real bakes are analysed and decisions are explored in practice.

The Sourdough Unchained System gives you the framework. The membership is where you apply it, refine it, and build judgment over time.

Want to see exactly what’s included?
You can explore the full curriculum and lesson breakdown below.

Real Results: When Starter Rehab Works More Than Once

Glenda followed the Starter Rehab process after struggling with a starter that behaved unpredictably.

After seven days, her starter showed clear, observable changes:

• Restored balance between yeast activity and acidity
• Significant increase in strength and total volume
• Slower, more stable peak timing
• Primed to power the fermentation chain from start to finish

Then the jar broke.
The starter was gone.

Glenda had to start again from scratch, rebuilding a culture from dehydrated starter. She followed the same rehab process a second time.

The result was the same.

Peak timing stabilised in the same window. Rise strength and structure matched the original recovery. Every marker of a balanced starter appeared in the same sequence, at the same time.

No adjustments were needed.

This isn’t about a particular starter or a baker’s intuition.
It shows that when acidity and yeast balance are restored deliberately, starter strength becomes repeatable.

That’s what powers the fermentation chain reliably at every link, from starter, through bulk fermentation, proofing, and cold retard.

Left: Starter at peak on day 1
Centre: Starter at peak on day 7
Right: Sourdough Lounge post

This isn't about feeding your starter more. It's about building real strength you can measure and trust.

That's what you're getting access to when you join.

Sourdough Unchained Annual Membership

$147/y

Sourdough Unchained Six Month Membership

$99/6m

$16.50 p/m (billed for 6 months)
The 5-Step Sourdough System
for mastering fermentation
Personalised feedback on your bake
Magnus 5 professional recipe calculator
Monthly live workshops and Q&As
Sourdough Lounge (members’ HQ)
7-day money-back guarantee

Start Your Membership

This isn't about feeding your starter more. It's about building real strength you can measure and trust.

The Complete Sourdough Unchained System – Lesson Breakdown

If you can’t trust your starter, you’ll never trust your bulk fermentation or your proofing. That’s why the system begins with the starter, building a solid foundation before you move on.

Step 1: The Sourdough Starter System

Step 2: Dough-to-Basket Calibration

Step 3: The Fermentation Chain Fundamentals

Step 4: The Reboot Process

Step 5: The Sourdough Clinic

Applying the System

Developing Judgment: Expert Conversations

Supporting Tools & Resources

7-Day Money-Back Guarantee

Not satisfied? Get a full refund within 7 days. No questions asked.

You'll get immediate access to everything — The Fermentation Chain, all systems, personalised feedback, and the entire member library.

Try it risk-free. If it's not right for you, we'll refund every penny.

The only risk is continuing to guess when your dough is ready.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if I've never baked sourdough before?

How much time do I need each week?

Do I need special equipment?

How does the personalized feedback work?

What if I’ve tried other courses and I’m still struggling?

Is this worth the investment?

Is VAT included in the price?

Can I cancel anytime?

Is this just videos, or is there interaction?

Stop Guessing. Start Trusting Your Starter.

You’ve spent too long tinkering with your starter and hoping it’s ready. Too many loaves that didn’t spring. Too many bakes where everything looked right but failed anyway.

Starter Rehab gives you a foundation you can finally trust, a starter that isn’t just active, but balanced and strong enough to do its job.

Once the starter is reliable, bulk fermentation and proofing stop feeling like guesswork.

No more guessing. No more false signals. Just a starter you trust, and the confidence to move forward.