Sourdough Tracking Apps: What to Track and Why

Short answer: track your starter feeds, dough recipe, fermentation timing, and bread outcomes. After 10 bakes, patterns emerge that show you what works for your kitchen and your starter.

Why track at all

Tracking helps:

• Identify what's working
• Spot patterns in failures
• Refine your process
• Develop your personal recipes

Without tracking, every bake is independent. With tracking, each bake builds on the last.

What to track

Each bake, log:

Recipe

• Flour types and weights
• Water weight (and source)
• Starter weight (and feed schedule)
• Salt weight
• Inclusions

Starter status

• Time since last feed
• Doubling time
• Float test result

Bulk fermentation

• Start time
• End time
• % rise
• Number of folds
• Dough temp at start and end
• Kitchen temperature

Shape

• Time of pre-shape
• Time of final shape
• Dough feel (firm, slack)

Cold retard

• Start time
• End time
• Fridge temperature

Bake

• Preheat temperature
• Bake temperature (covered, uncovered)
• Bake time
• Internal temperature when pulled

Outcome

• Photo of crumb
• Tasting notes
• What worked
• What to adjust

This sounds like a lot, but it's 5 minutes per bake.

Tracking tools

Options:

Notebook

• Pen and paper
• Lifetime, no batteries
• Simple, foolproof

Spreadsheet

• Excel or Google Sheets
• Searchable
• Easy to compare across bakes

Apps

• Sourdough-specific (SourdoughAI, etc.)
• General cooking (Paprika, Crouton)
• Database design

Photos

• Visual record
• Album in phone gallery
• Easy to compare visually

Use whatever fits your style. The medium matters less than the consistency.

A minimum viable log

If full tracking feels overwhelming:

For each bake, log just:

• Date
• Recipe (one line)
• Bulk start and end
• Bake outcome (rating 1–10)
• One observation

This is 30 seconds. Still valuable.

What patterns to look for

After 10 bakes:

Starter patterns

• How long does my starter take to peak?
• Does temperature affect timing?
• What's my best feed ratio?

Fermentation patterns

• What bulk timing produces best results?
• What % rise is "ideal"?
• How does kitchen temp affect timing?

Bake patterns

• What temperature gives best color?
• What time achieves 205°F internal?
• What position in the oven matters?

These patterns become your personal best practices.

A specific example

After 15 bakes, my data showed:

• My starter peaks at 5 hours after feed
• My kitchen averages 73°F
• Best bulk: 5 hours to 60% rise
• Best cold retard: 18 hours
• Best bake: 475°F covered 20 min, 450°F uncovered 22 min

These specific numbers came from tracking, not generic recipes.

When patterns surprise you

Sometimes data reveals:

• Your "best" loaves had bulk under 4 hours (faster than expected)
• Your "worst" loaves were after big feeds (over-fermented)
• Your loaves with 30% whole wheat are most flavorful

These insights guide future bakes.

A bake log review

Periodically (every 10 bakes):

• Review the log
• Identify common factors in successes
• Identify common factors in failures
• Adjust your default recipe

This is how you become a better baker.

Sharing your log

Some bakers share logs publicly:

• Reddit r/Sourdough
• Instagram with detailed captions
• Personal blogs

Sharing helps others learn from your experience. Reading others' logs accelerates your own learning.

A photo workflow

For visual tracking:

• Photo of starter at peak
• Photo of dough after bulk
• Photo of shaped loaf
• Photo of baked loaf (whole)
• Photo of cut crumb

This 5-photo workflow takes 30 seconds total per bake. Builds an irreplaceable visual library.

Tracking adjustments

After a bad bake, log:

• What happened
• Probable cause
• Adjustment for next time

Without this, you forget. With it, you don't repeat mistakes.

A "lessons learned" file

In addition to per-bake logs, keep a "lessons learned" document:

• "Always preheat 60 min" (after a bake with insufficient preheat)
• "Don't shape too tight" (after dense crumb)
• "Bulk to visual signs, not clock" (after over-bulked)

These are your meta-lessons.

When to stop tracking

Some bakers track for years. Others track for 6 months and stop.

When you can:

• Predict outcomes accurately
• Bake without consulting recipes
• Adjust on the fly to changes

You may not need tracking anymore. But it's never wrong to keep going.

A final note

Tracking is the cheapest, simplest way to improve your sourdough.

A notebook costs $5. The improvement to your bakes is dramatic.

If you've been baking for 6 months without tracking, start now. Within 5 logged bakes, you'll see patterns. Within 10, you'll have actionable insights.

The bread improves. The skill compounds. The data is yours.