I grew a starter about 3 weeks ago and feed it regularly. But when I bake with it, the dough barely rises and the bread turns out way too dense. I do the final proof in a banneton at room temperature, but something's going wrong. What could be the problem?
With such a young starter, it's possible that the leavening power isn't strong enough yet - how active is it really when you feed it? Does it double within a few hours? If so, bulk fermentation at room temperature might be taking too long and the dough could be overproofing, which would then lead to a dense crumb. Would it also help to know how long you're fermenting the dough and whether it's noticeably getting bigger, or have you also had issues with the water amount and gluten development?
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