Diagnose
Something went wrong. Find it here.
Every problem this site can diagnose, in one list, described the way you'd describe it. Pick the line that sounds like your loaf. Each one opens with the answer, so you can stop reading as soon as you have it.
Your starter
Almost all of these end in the same instruction. Feed it more often.
It bubbles but never risesIt probably did rise. You looked after it had already fallen.There's liquid on topThat's hooch. It's alcohol, not mould, and it means the starter is hungry.I think there's mould on itIf it's fuzzy, raised, or coloured, bin the whole jar. If it's flat and dark, it's hooch and it's fine.It smells like something alarmingAcetone, vinegar, feet, wet dog. Almost none of them mean anything is wrong.
Your loaf
Nine times out of ten this is fermentation, not technique.
It came out denseIt was underfermented. Not underkneaded, and not your flour.It came out flatIt went too long, or the shaping was too loose to hold it up. Usually both.The crumb is gummyYou cut it too soon. Almost always.It didn't rise in the ovenThe oven wasn't hot enough, or the dough had nothing left to give.The dough was too sticky to handleIt isn't too wet. The gluten just isn't developed yet.The crust is hard, pale, or burnt underneathAll three are steam and heat placement. None of them are the recipe.
Nothing here matches?
Start with the smell. It's the signal a starter gives you first, and there are 168 answers behind it.
Decode what your starter smells like →