The Weird Temperature Tricks I've Learned Baking Sourdough in the Desert

So here's the thing about baking sourdough in Las Vegas that nobody really talks about: the heat is honestly kind of a wild card. Like, I've been baking seriously for almost a year now, and at first I thought the desert heat was going to totally ruin everything. Turns out I was kind of wrong about that, which is a relief because I really love this.

When I first started getting serious about my sourdough game, my starter Yeaston was basically a moody teenager. The Vegas heat meant that my bulk fermentation times were way shorter than what the recipes said. I'd be watching my dough and thinking, wait, it's only been like three hours and it's already looking puffy? That's not right. Except it was right. The heat just speeds everything up. My stretch-and-folds that were supposed to take a whole afternoon would finish in like half that time.

My mom helped me figure out this whole thing because she's basically my sourdough coach. We realized I had to adjust my game plan completely. Instead of letting Yeaston sit at room temperature like normal people, we started keeping him in a cooler spot in the house. We also started doing longer cold fermentation in the fridge overnight, which honestly makes the flavor way better anyway. It's like the desert accidentally taught me that slow fermentation is actually the move.

The other weird thing is that my Dutch oven gets absolutely nuclear in the Vegas heat. Like, it retains temperature like crazy. So I have to be extra careful not to overbake my loaves because the crust can go from perfect golden-brown to basically charcoal in like two seconds. My dad, who helps me with the business side of Rise & Grind, jokes that I'm basically baking in a pizza oven in my kitchen.

I'm homeschooled which is actually perfect for sourdough because I can be flexible with my schedule. I can wake up early to shape my loaves, take breaks to score them right before they go in the oven, and honestly just be way more hands-on with the whole process. My regulars know they're getting bread that's been treated right because I have the time to actually pay attention.

The bottom line is that Vegas heat isn't the enemy. It's just different. You have to respect it, adjust your timeline, and maybe stop panicking when your dough ferments faster than expected. Yeaston and I have basically made peace with the desert at this point.