Question

At the science fair, Team Breadmakers noticed something puzzling - their sourdough starter rises fast in Maya’s kitchen but takes forever in Alex’s kitchen, even though they’re using identical recipes. What’s the smartest first step to figure out what’s causing this difference?
Question 2 options:

Try changing different ingredients systematically to see what happens to rising time

Look up bread rising information online and apply those findings immediately

Make educated guesses about what causes different rising speeds based on experience

Watch carefully and write down what's different about each kitchen environment

Answer 1

"Watch carefully and write down what's different about each kitchen environment."

Reason: before changing anything, collect data so you know which variables differ and can form testable hypotheses. Record things like ambient temperature, humidity, water temp, flour brand, starter age/feeding schedule, container size/shape, drafts, oven light use, and timing. Then you can run controlled experiments changing one factor at a time.