What To Do When Your Sourdough Starter Isn't Rising

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What You Can Do If Your Sourdough Starter Isn't Rising By Joe Hoeffner Nov. 19, 2025 1:20 pm EST

Dealing with a sourdough starter can be weirdly daunting. You're making bread out of something that is, essentially, alive: a mix of yeast and lactic acid bacteria that you have to "feed" until you're ready to put it in a hot oven and bake it until it becomes a delicious loaf of bubbly, crusty bread. It sounds pretty high maintenance, but it's really nothing to be afraid of — there's a reason why we turn to sourdough in tough times , like during the pandemic, after all. But what happens if your sourdough starter isn't rising like it should? We talked to Erik Fabian, co-founder of Sourhouse , and he told us the first step is to warm it up.

"Most [of] us like to live