I was intimidated to make my first loaf of sourdough bread. I’d heard others talk about flat and dense loaves—dough that never rose. It wasn’t until I read a sourdough book cover to cover and painted it with post-it notes, highlights, and dog-eared pages that I felt ready to put my newborn sourdough starter to work. I bought flour. I filtered water. I measured. I mixed and kneaded. I folded ever-so-gently while I held my bread until, hours later, I pulled my first sourdough from the oven.
I had my wife taste it. “Pretty good,” she said. “Yeah, pretty good bread.” Only later did she fess up that it was “actually just okay, to be honest.” But all-in-all the bread had a nice rise, a crunchy and well-colored crust, and it did taste great considering it was my first loaf of any kind of bread. And you know what? We ate the entire thing.
This Beginner’s Sourdough Bread post has several videos where I walk you through each step of the sourdough bread-making process. Be sure to see the end for a complete video walkthrough of me making this recipe!
As the new obsession set in, I started making fresh sourdough bread for every meal. There was something about the whole bread-making process that I found captivating. It was–and still is–exciting to mix such elemental ingredients and to see them produce beautiful, life-giving sustenance: it is modern-day alchemy. It’s such a simple thing, and yet it brought me so much joy to see my family and friends tear into a freshly baked loaf that I wanted to bake every day of every week.
This recipe will give you confidence as you take your first steps in baking sourdough bread from your home kitchen.
Starting to make your first loaf of sourdough bread can be daunting. That’s why I’ve put together this beginner’s sourdough bread tutorial and recipe—it will give you confidence as you take your first steps in baking sourdough bread from your home kitchen. This how-to guide starts with explaining baking terms and definitions so that we will have a common vocabulary once we get to the recipe.
And then, each step of the process has lots of information to ensure you understand what is happening and what to do. But, before we go on this beginner’s sourdough bread recipe, let’s first take a look at what sourdough bread is.
What is Sourdough Bread?
Sourdough is a specific type of bread created through a natural fermentation process involving suitable bacteria and wild yeasts in the environment (i.e., the air and even a baker’s hands) and, most importantly, on the grain itself. A sourdough starter culture is used to seed fermentation in new dough when making sourdough bread.
Generally speaking, bacteria are primarily responsible for producing organic acids (lactic acid and acetic acid) that contribute to sourdough bread’s flavor, texture, and storage qualities. The wild yeasts produce carbon dioxide gas and ethanol during fermentation. When this gas becomes trapped in the dough’s airtight gluten matrix, the dough begins to rise, resulting in a final loaf of bread with a light and airy texture.
All recipes on The Perfect Loaf are naturally leavened; in other words, you won’t find any commercial yeast or instant yeast here. There’s nothing inherently wrong with commercial yeast, but I prefer to make bread this way because of the wonderful flavor and texture, the health benefits like increased bioavailability of minerals and nutrients, increased keeping quality thanks to the acids generated during natural fermentation, and the fact that it requires so few ingredients (just three!) to make something so delicious.
For a high-level look at each step of the sourdough process, read through the Beginner’s Guide to Sourdough Bread →
Creating a Sourdough Starter
It all begins with a sourdough starter. Before we look at how to make sourdough bread, you need to create a healthy sourdough starter that shows consistent signs of fermentation each day. Creating a sourdough starter is easy: mix flour and water for a few days in succession, and eventually, thanks to the bacteria and wild yeasts on the grain, natural fermentation will begin.
If you’d like to look at how I feed my starter daily, look at my sourdough starter maintenance routine. In this guide, you will see the visual and aromatic cues to look for when your starter is ready for refreshment (feeding).
While waiting for your sourdough starter, let’s look at some terms bakers often use to discuss the various parts of the bread-making process.
Baker’s Terminology
Sourdough starter
A starter is a mixture of flour and water you allow to ferment naturally. You’ll refresh (feed) the starter indefinitely to keep the fermentation active and healthy, and you will wait for it to become fully ripe before you use any of it to make bread.
When you want to make bread, you take a small amount of your starter to create an off-shoot called a levain (see below). See my post on starter creation to read more about the starter and learn how to make one.
Levain (or leaven)
A levain is made by mixing a small off-shoot of your ripe starter with water and flour and allowing it to ferment before mixing it into a dough. You can always use your starter directly to make sourdough bread, but a levain is a small off-shoot that allows you to adjust the flour, hydration, and ripening schedule (which have implications on the bacteria and wild yeast balance).
Also, unlike your sourdough starter, which lives on as its own entity, the entirety of the levain goes into the dough and has the same fate as the bread itself: to be baked in the oven. See my post on what a levain is and how it’s different from a sourdough starter for more information.
Autolyse
Some recipes utilize a step called autolyse (“auto-lease”). It occurs at the beginning of bread baking and is a step in which only flour and water are mixed together and left to rest. The goal of autolyse is to initiate enzymatic activity in the dough to help draw out sugars from the flour. Additionally, it helps increase dough extensibility (the ability for the dough to stretch out without tearing).
In most cases, increased extensibility is good as it helps the dough expand and fill with gasses, resulting in a light and airy loaf. See my in-depth post on the autolyse technique for more information.
Bulk fermentation
The dough’s first rise is called bulk fermentation. After mixing the flour, salt, and levain into a dough, you put it all into a bowl or container, cover it, and let it rest. The dough will undergo a fermentation process during this critical step. Bacteria and yeast begin to generate organic acids and alcohols and leaven the dough, which will translate to flavor and rise in your final bread.
For more on this critical step in the bread-making process, see my in-depth guide to bulk fermentation.
Proofing
The proof is the dough’s final, or second, rise after the dough has been divided and shaped and lasts until the dough is finally baked in the oven. During this time, the dough continues to ferment, further strengthening and leavening it. I typically proof at a cold temperature in the refrigerator (also called “retarding”).
In my ultimate guide to proofing, I talk about how to spot when the dough is finished rising and ready to bake, plus a whole lot more.
Final Dough Temperature
The final dough temperature (FDT) is the dough’s temperature after mixing all ingredients. The dough’s temperature is important because it’s the main factor that affects fermentation strength: a warmer dough will ferment faster than a cooler dough.
Naturally, each component (levain, the flour, the water, and the ambient environment) has a temperature. While most of these are out of our control, we can easily adjust the water temperature, which enables us to change the FDT of the entire dough to meet whatever the recipe calls for.
I have a handy water temperature calculator you can use to quickly figure out what you need to warm or cool your mixing water to get the dough to the right temperature.
Or, so you don’t have to do any calculations, here’s a quick cheat sheet for this Beginner’s Sourdough bread recipe:
| If your kitchen temperature is | Warm or cool the mixing water to |
|---|---|
| 68°F (20°C) | 98°F (37°C) |
| 70°F (21°C) | 94°F (34°C) |
| 72°F (22°C) | 90°F (32°C) |
| 74°F (23°C) | 86°F (30°C) |
| 76°F (24°C) | 82°F (28°C) |
| 78°F (25°C) | 78°F (25°C) |
| 80°F (26°C) | 74°F (23°C) |
If your kitchen is outside of these temperatures, my guide on the importance of dough temperature in baking will walk you through calculating exactly what to warm (or cool) your mixing water to so your dough meets the FDT for any recipe.
Baker’s Percentages (Baker’s Math)
Baker’s math, or baker’s percentages, helps bakers adjust the actual quantity of the ingredients up or down, depending on how much bread they want to make. I write all the formulas on The Perfect Loaf in baker’s percentages, where all ingredient weights are a percentage of the total flour weight, which always adds up to 100%. Read through my introduction to baker’s percentages for a more in-depth explanation (including how to scale up and down a bread recipe).
TPL Members (the baking community here) have access to all the recipes here at The Perfect Loaf in spreadsheet form, making scaling up and down recipes as simple as changing a few numbers.
Baking Tools
There are a few necessary tools for baking your first loaf of this beginner’s sourdough bread. The following might look like a long list, but you probably already have many of these in your kitchen—There are a few tools necessary for baking this beginner’s sourdough bread. Note that one item is absolutely necessary: a kitchen scale. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, please consider buying one. Measuring flour with cups and scoops is entirely inaccurate!
- combo cooker like a Lodge 3qt. cast iron combo cooker or a Le Creuset Dutch oven that can withstand 500°F (260°C) in the oven and has a well-sealing lid
- large mixing bowl to mix your dough by hand
- two medium kitchen bowls to proof your dough
- two kitchen towels or a tea towel to line the proofing bowls
- bench knife to cut and shape the dough
- plastic or silicone bowl scraper
- kitchen scale that measures in grams
- instant-read thermometer
- white rice flour for dusting proofing bowl
- blade for scoring your dough (a “lame”), or a razor blade, sharp knife, or scissors
- fine-grain sea salt
- parchment paper
- pizza peel (or cutting board)
- heavy duty oven mitt
- the best bread knife for cutting your sourdough bread
You can find a full list of all the tools I use when baking on my baking tools page.
The Importance of Dough Temperature
When I first started baking, I didn’t quite grasp how important temperature is in the bread-making process. I always like to say: Treat temperature as an ingredient, just as flour, water, and salt are ingredients. What I mean by that, practically, is that if one day you mix with water that is 70°F (21°C) and then a week later mix with water that is 80°F (26°C), you will get drastically different outcomes.
Temperature determines the amount of fermentation activity you’ll see. Lower temperatures generally mean less activity; therefore, things will take longer. Higher temperatures generally mean more activity; therefore, things will take less time. Working with consistent temperatures will ensure consistency in your bread baking, and you’ll get the desired results in terms of flavor, rise, texture–well, everything.
Treat temperature as an ingredient, just as flour, water, and salt are ingredients.
If it’s cold where you’re baking, see my tips on how to bake sourdough bread in the winter. And conversely, if it’s warm where you are, see my post on how to bake in the summer. These guides will help ensure your loaves have the best flavor and volume.
Flour For Baking Bread
I used commonly available supermarket flour for this recipe: Bob’s Red Mill Artisan Bread Flour, Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Flour, and Bob’s Red Mill or Arrowhead Dark Rye Flour. These are great flour choices, but any of King Arthur’s offerings are equally suitable. I chose “bread flour” as it has a higher protein percentage than all-purpose flour, which helps bring significant strength to the dough so that less mixing and kneading is required–it also makes things a bit easier for your first loaf of bread.
As you’ll hear me mention throughout this site, I do like to use as little high-protein flour in my recipes as possible as I find it leads to a slightly chewier, gummy interior—or be sure to use it in the correct way.
Baking Schedule
This beginner’s sourdough bread is a two-day-long process where the bread is mixed and prepared on day one, cold-proofed (retarded) in the fridge overnight, then baked on day two.
I love the convenience of this type of schedule: most of the work is done on the first day, then the dough can be left in the fridge until the next day, when it can be baked in the morning, afternoon, or even the evening.
The baking schedule to the right shows you a high-level view of what step takes place and when.
Beginner’s Sourdough Bread Formula
Now we get to the formula for the beginner’s sourdough bread formula. I start every recipe with two tables: Vitals and Total Formula. The Vitals table gives you a high-level view of the contents of the dough, as well as how much the recipe makes (in this case, two loaves). The Total Formula table lists the ingredients needed for the entire recipe and their respective amounts.
Vitals
| Total Dough Weight | 1,800 grams |
| Pre-fermented Flour | 7.5% |
| Levain in final dough | 20.3% |
| Hydration | 72.0% |
| Yield | Two loaves |
Total Formula
| Weight | Ingredient | Baker’s Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 811g | Bob’s Red Mill Artisan Bread Flour | 80.0% |
| 152g | Bob’s Red Mill Stoneground Whole Wheat Flour | 15.0% |
| 51g | Bob’s Red Mill Dark Rye Flour | 5.0% |
| 730g | Water | 72.0% |
| 18g | Fine sea salt | 1.8% |
| 38g | Ripe sourdough starter, 100% hydration | 3.8% |
Beginner’s Sourdough Bread Method
1. Levain – 8:00 a.m.
| Weight | Ingredient | Baker’s Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 38g | Ripe sourdough starter (100% hydration) | 50.0% |
| 38g | Bob’s Red Mill Stoneground Whole Wheat | 50.0% |
| 38g | Bob’s Red Mill Artisan Bread Flour | 50.0% |
| 76g | Water | 100.0% |
Remember: the levain is an off-shoot of your continually maintained sourdough starter and is likewise composed of bacteria and yeasts. You make this levain well before you mix the dough, so it has time to ferment, and eventually, it’s added to the dough to seed fermentation.
Mix the ingredients in the table above in a clean jar (I use the same sourdough starter jars) and leave it at warm room temperature, 74-76°F (23-24°C), for 5 to 6 hours. When it’s ready, it will be expanded, bubbly on top, inside, and at the sides, and have a slightly sour aroma. The photo below shows my levain before it goes into my dough mix.
2. Autolyse – 12:00 p.m.
| Weight | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 773g | Bob’s Red Mill Artisan Bread Flour |
| 114g | Bob’s Red Mill Stoneground Whole Wheat Flour |
| 51g | Bob’s Red Mill Dark Rye Flour |
| 603g | Water (this has 50g less than the overall formula, reserved for Mix step below) |
The desired dough temperature (DDT) for this dough is 78°F (25°C). As described in the temperature section above, we will try to get the dough to this temperature right at the end of mixing (which is also at the beginning of bulk fermentation).
Warm or cool the autolyse water so the mixed dough reaches the FDT for this recipe. Place the flour and the water called for in the table above in a large bowl. Use wet hands to mix until no dry bits remain; the dough will be shaggy and loose. Use a bowl scraper to scrape down the sides of the bowl, keeping all the dough in one area at the bottom. Cover the bowl and place it near your levain for 1 hour.
Note that the autolyse stage does not incorporate salt or the levain in any way since the autolyse is a long one hour. Adding the levain to the autolyse would mean fermentation would begin, which could end up overproofing the dough. Salt is rarely added to an autolyse because the salt would diminish enzymatic activity during this time, which is precisely why we are doing an autolyse. The autolyse and levain are two separate entities that will be mixed together later in the process.
3. Mix – 1:00 p.m.
| Weight | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 50g | Reserved water (this water was held back in the Autolyse step) |
| 18g | Fine sea salt |
| 190g | Ripe, 100% hydration levain (from Levain, above) |
Use your instant-read thermometer to take the dough’s temperature and compare it to the FDT for this recipe. If it is higher, use cold water for the reserved water; if it is lower, use warm water.
At this point, your autolyse is complete and your levain is ready—it’s time to mix and strengthen the dough. If the dough feels very wet and shaggy, do not use all of the reserved 50g of water; use only a splash to help incorporate the salt and levain. If the dough feels good to you, use all the reserved water.
To the autolyse, add the ingredients in the table above (salt, reserved water to help adjust dough hydration and consistency, and levain). I like to spread everything on top of the dough and use wet hands to pinch all the ingredients together. Transfer the dough to a container or thick-walled bowl for bulk fermentation.
Take the temperature of the dough to get your final dough temperature. If your FDT is below 78°F (25°C), next time use warmer water, and conversely, if it’s above 78°F (25°C), use cooler water. Cover the dough.
4. Bulk Fermentation – 1:10 p.m. to 5:10 p.m.
At 74-76°F (23-24°C) ambient temperature, bulk fermentation should go for about 4 hours. Perform 3 sets of stretches and folds during bulk fermentation, spaced out by 30 minutes.
Each set of stretches and folds consists of 4 folds: one each at the North, South, East, and West sides. Wet your hands with a little water to prevent sticking, and then lift one side (North) of the dough with two hands. Stretch the dough high enough so you can fold it completely over to the other side. Rotate the bowl 180° and do the other side (South). Finish the other two sides (East and West) to complete the set. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes, covered, between sets.
In the video below, you can see how I stretch and fold this dough during bulk fermentation.
After the third set of stretch and folds, let the dough rest for the remainder of bulk fermentation. During this time, fermentation aerates the dough (making it rise), continues to strengthen it, and further develops its flavor.
At the end of bulk fermentation, your dough should have risen by 20% to 50%. It should show some bubbles on the top and sides, and the edge of the dough where it meets the bowl should be slightly domed, which indicates strength. In the photo above, you can see all these signs. If you don’t see these signs, leave it for another 15 minutes in bulk fermentation and check again.
5. Divide and preshape – 5:15 p.m.
Lightly flour a work surface. Using a bowl scraper, gently scrape the dough onto the work surface and use your bench knife to divide the dough directly in half. Using your bench knife in your dominant hand, and the other hand wet (or floured, if you prefer) to reduce sticking, turn each half of the dough on the counter while lightly pulling the dough towards you. This gentle turning and pulling motion will develop tension on the dough’s top, forming a circle.
Preshaping bread dough is an often overlooked step, but it sets the stage for successful shaping later. See my guide to preshaping bread dough for more information.
Let the dough rest for 25 minutes, uncovered.
In the video below, you can see how I preshape this beginner’s sourdough bread dough:
6. Shape – 5:35 p.m.
If you’re new to shaping bread dough, check out my guide to shaping a boule (a round) in addition to the steps below.
Lightly flour the top of your dough rounds and the work surface. Working with one round at a time, flip the round so the floured top is now down on the floured work surface.
As seen in the image below, with lightly floured hands, grab the bottom of the round and stretch it lightly downward towards your body, and then up and over about 2/3 of the way to the top.
Then, grab the left and right sides of the dough and stretch them away from each other. Fold one side over toward the other and repeat with the other side.
Then, grab the top of the circle, stretch it away from your body, and then fold it down to the bottom of the dough. You’ll now have a tight package that resembles a letter.
Finally, flip or roll down the dough so the seams are all on the bottom. Using both hands, cup the top part of the round and drag the dough gently towards your body to create surface tension on the dough. The angle of your hands will gently press the dough’s bottom on the counter. This dragging helps create surface tension on the dough, which helps keep it in shape during proofing.
Let the dough rest on the bench for a few minutes to help the bottom seam seal.
In the video below, you can see how I shape bread dough into a boule shape.
Meanwhile, prepare your proofing baskets. Line two proofing baskets, kitchen bowls, or bannetons with clean kitchen towels. Dust lightly and evenly with plain white flour or white rice flour. Gently transfer each piece of shaped dough to a proofing basket, seam-side-up.
You can also top this dough with sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pepitas, and much more—see my guide to topping bread dough for more ideas and instructions.
7. Rest and proof – 5:40 p.m. to 9:30 a.m. (next day)
To prevent your dough from drying out overnight, place your bowls containing your shaped dough into reusable plastic bags and seal. I usually puff up the plastic bag around the bowl by opening it wide and then quickly closing it.
Let the dough rest on the counter for 20 minutes. Then, retard (a baker’s term meaning place into a cold area to proof) in the refrigerator at 38°F (3°C) for 16 hours (overnight).
During this time, overall fermentation will slow (especially yeast activity), but bacterial activity will continue at a reduced rate, resulting in a more complex flavor and, ultimately, deeper crust coloring.
8. Bake – Next morning: preheat oven at 8:30 a.m., bake at 9:30 a.m.
Now, it’s time to bake your sourdough bread. It’s not a difficult step, but there are some things to know. The oven needs steam for the best crust and tallest rise. I like to use a Dutch oven or combo cooker, which is very easy. These pots trap the steam released from the dough and provide the right environment for it to rise optimally.
See my full guide to baking sourdough bread for tips on scoring your dough, pots, and steaming.
Place an oven rack in the bottom third of the oven with no rack above it. Put your combo cooker or Dutch oven on the oven rack, and preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C) for at least 30 minutes. If you’re using a combo cooker, place the shallow side face up on one side and the heavier, deep side face down on the other.
When your oven is preheated, remove one of the proofing baskets from the fridge, uncover it, and place a piece of parchment paper over it. Place a pizza peel, cutting board, or inverted baking sheet on top of the parchment and, using both hands, flip everything over. Gently remove the basket; your dough should rest on the parchment.
Using a razor blade, sharp knife, or baker’s lame, score the dough at a 90° angle between the blade and the dough. I chose to make a “box” pattern. If using scissors, snip the dough a few times at a very shallow angle between the scissors and the dough, forming a set of ridges down the dough’s center.
While wearing your heavy-duty oven mitt, and with caution, pull out your shallow side of the combo cooker and place it on a heat-safe rack or stovetop. Slide the dough into the combo cooker or Dutch oven. Place it back into the oven and cover the shallow side with the deep side, or put the lid on the Dutch oven. This sealed environment helps trap the moisture (escaping steam) from your dough to steam the loaf exterior as it bakes, which encourages maximal rise and a crunchy, shiny crust.
Bake for 20 minutes. Vent the oven of steam: use your oven mitt to very carefully remove the top of the combo cooker or Dutch oven. Leave the large side of the combo cooker in the oven to the side. Close the oven door and bake for 30 minutes more. When done, the loaf should have an internal temperature of around 208°F (97°C), and the crust should be a deep mahogany color and crackle/crunch when squeezed.
Use your oven mitt to transfer the bread to a wire rack carefully. Cool for 1 to 2 hours before slicing into your beginner’s sourdough bread. For the second loaf, preheat the combo cooker or Dutch oven for 15 minutes and repeat.
Follow my guide to storing bread to keep your loaves fresh for as long as possible.
Once you get the hang of this beginner’s sourdough bread process and formula, you can endlessly modify it with add-ins like walnuts, cranberries, seeds, and a host of other ingredients bound only by your imagination. But the most important thing is to bake and have fun. Remember that sometimes bread doesn’t come out as you intended–but stick with it, and you’ll be rewarded time and time again.
And of course, buon appetito!
Watch me make this Beginner’s Sourdough Bread from start to finish
In my YouTube video below, you can see how I make my Beginner’s Sourdough Bread, from creating the levain to slicing the final loaves.
Beginner’s Sourdough Bread Recipe
- Prep Time: 23 hours
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 24 hours
- Yield: 2 loaves
- Category: Main course
- Cuisine: American
Description
The perfect bread to get started baking sourdough bread at home. This crusty, crunchy, and absolutely delicious loaf of bread is perfect for any lunch or dinner table.
Ingredients
Levain
- 38 grams stoneground whole wheat flour
- 38 grams bread flour
- 76 grams water
- 38 grams ripe sourdough starter
Main dough
- 773 grams bread flour
- 114 grams whole wheat flour
- 51 grams whole grain rye flour
- 653 grams water
- 18 grams fine sea salt
Instructions
- Levain (8:00 a.m.)
In a small container, mix the levain ingredients and keep at 74-76°F (23-24°C) for 5 to 6 hours. - Autolyse (12:00 p.m)
In a medium mixing bowl, mix the flour and 603 grams of water (reserve 50 grams until the next step). Cover and let rest for 1 hour. - Mix (1:00 p.m.)
To the mixing bowl holding your dough, add the salt, ripe levain (from step 1), and reserved 50 grams water. Mix by hand or with a dough whisk until incorporated. Transfer your dough to a bulk fermentation container and cover. - Bulk Fermentation (1:10 p.m. to 5:10 p.m.)
Give the dough 3 sets of stretch and folds at 30-minute intervals, where the first set starts 30 minutes after the start of bulk fermentation. - Divide and Preshape (5:10 p.m.)
Lightly flour your work surface and scrape out your dough. Using your bench knife, divide the dough in half. Lightly shape each half into a round shape. Let the dough rest for 25 minutes, uncovered. - Shape (5:35 p.m.)
Shape the dough into a round (boule) or oval (batard)—place in proofing baskets. - Rest and Proof (5:40 p.m. to 9:30 a.m. the next day)
Cover proofing baskets with reusable plastic and seal shut. Let the dough sit out on the counter for 20 minutes. Then, place both baskets into the refrigerator and proof overnight. - Bake (Preheat oven at 8:30 a.m., bake at 9:30 a.m.)
Preheat your oven with a combo cooker or Dutch oven inside to 450°F (230°C). When the oven is preheated, remove your dough from the fridge, score it, and transfer to the preheated combo cooker. Place the cooker in the oven, cover with the lid, and bake for 20 minutes. After this time, remove the lid (you can keep it in the oven or remove it) and continue to bake for 30 minutes longer. When done, the internal temperature should be around 208°F (97°C). Let the loaves cool for 1 to 2 hours on a wire rack before slicing.
Notes
While the recipe calls for 16 hours of total proof time, you could extend this time and bake the loaves in the morning, afternoon, or even the evening on day two. Leave the proofing dough in the fridge until ready to bake.
Beginner’s Sourdough Bread Frequently Asked Questions
Why is sourdough bread good for you?
Sourdough, and its lengthy natural fermentation process, can help break down the gluten in grain, which helps aid in the body’s digestion. Additionally, fermentation helps “unlock” the nutrition inherent in the grain, allowing for better absorption.
Is sourdough bread sour?
Sourdough isn’t super sour in the traditional sense—it’s not sour like taking a bit of a lemon. But it does have tanginess which is the byproduct of lactic acid fermentation. Sourdough bread will have more sourness than one made with 100% commercial yeast due to the acids created by natural fermentation.
How can I make sourdough bread more sour?
To increase the sour flavor of this sourdough bread, add more whole grains (both to your sourdough starter and the dough itself), keep the dough warm (78°F/25°C or warmer), and lengthen the total fermentation time by keeping the dough in the fridge to proof even longer than the 16 hours specified in the recipe—24 hours is a good starting point.
How can I get a more open crumb with my bread?
First, focus on your sourdough starter to get a more open crumb for this sourdough bread: it should be refreshed (fed) often, kept warm, and used when ripe. Next, strengthen the dough sufficiently during mixing and bulk fermentation by using stretches and folds. Finally, your dough must be fully proofed so that when you press a finger into the dough, it slowly springs back about halfway (if it springs back quickly, let it proof longer; if the finger indentation stays, bake immediately).
What’s Next?
After baking this beginner’s sourdough bread, check out my Baking Guides for more in-depth discussions on all parts of the sourdough bread-making process. If you’re looking to add mix-ins to your bread, have a look at my walnut cranberry sourdough bread—it’s one of the most popular recipes here at The Perfect Loaf—and for good reason! Or, have a look at my Simple Weekday Sourdough Bread for a way to squeeze sourdough bread baking into a busy workday.
Finally, now that you have your sourdough starter bubbling away on your counter check out my sourdough starter discard recipes for ideas on how to use leftovers!
3,331 Comments
Hi Maurizio, I am trying to get my head around your bakers math and feel like I’m beating my head against a wall. In your table that lists the whole build, the 184 g levain is listed as 20.27%. Can you elaborate on what it constitutes that percentage of? I’m trying to understand how to scale your recipe but I’m not understanding this particular element. Hope you can help me out!!
Garry — that 20.27% represents the levain in the final mix section of the bake, and as is true with all things in Baker’s Math, it’s related to the total flour in the final mix. So you have 184g levain / 907g total flour in final mix = 20.27%. Note that the “final mix” doesn’t include the flour used to make the levain, it’s only the flour, water, salt, levain used in the final step of baking (it doesn’t include the preferment).
Hope that helps!
hi maurizio!
thank you so much for the guide/s, they are really helpful and super inspiring!
i was hoping you can help me. i seem to be having trouble with my starter.
after the seventh day of feeding, i was continuing to see a lack of considerable rise and fall.
for me, my starter will consistently rise about 1/3 over the course of 12 hours, but it doesn’t fall. however, i have continued to feed it every 12 hours by using a new jar – 75g starter (from jar 1), 50g rye 50g ap flour 125g water @ 28c. the internal temperature of my starter was exactly 28c when i checked it this morning to feed, but it still doesn’t come close to doubling in size. is there something i’m doing wrong? this is day 13 and i’m despairing a little!
hope to hear from you soon!
loz
Loz, sorry for the late reply. Hopefully by now your starter has taken off! Typically I recommend to just stay the course: keep feeding and keep it warm (28°C is perfect). Eventually things will come around. Also be sure to leave your water out overnight before using it (or use distilled or filtered water for a while).
Hello Maurizio!
First of all, thank you! I’ve made your beginner recipe several times, and it has taught me so much. I love sharing the finished product with friends and family, and they all agree that this recipe is their favorite of the ones I make, they can’t get enough! They always ask me though, what would you call this style of bread?
Laurent — so, so glad to hear that! Makes me happy. I’d probably label this bread as a “country sourdough loaf” — typically bakers will call rustic bread like this a “country bread.”
Here’s to many more bakes, have fun!
Hi Maurizio…Hi again, I followed your instructions and I have a really good strong starter to make my bread. So now I’ve made the autolyse and the levain but I see that mixing both gives me a really sticky mix, so my question is regarding how much sticky this mix should be…should it stick on the countertop or not? Mine is really sticky..maybe I should pour less water since not every flour absorb the same quantiity..thanks again
Hey! Sorry for the delayed reply. Well, it should be sticky, but it’s hard to say what level you’re seeing. Chances are the dough will be just fine, continue with it and I bet it’ll mix and bake okay. If you find when you baked it the dough spread too much and wasn’t strong enough, reduce the water next go. I hope it turned out well!
Maurizio…I forgot to say thanks!!!…it turned out really well….I made that recipe twice and they were really perfect….now I’m trying to make baguettes..the first round turned out not as well as the boules….I need to improve my shaping techniques…but I hope that eventually I could eat get better results…thanks for sharing your knowledge
That’s great, Leandro! Thanks for the update and happy baking 🙂
I had lots of disasters with my first few loaves but since using your recipe they get better everytime. So many thanks for sharing this.
I have a question for you. I’m going away for a month. What should i do with the starter? Should i just leave it in the fridge or freeze it?
Your suggestions please.
Ah, so glad to hear that, Lesley! Thanks so much. Check out my guide on storing a sourdough starter for short and long periods, any of those methods will work well for you!
Thanks .
Hi Maurizio, I’ve been making bread for the past year and your recipes really changed the way I thought about bread. I still try to make to perfection the beginners loaf, before even considering the other recipes. Although I follow all the steps with extreme precision and care, my dough does not seem to work out the way it should. It starts very well, but something goes wrong during bulk; for what I have seen the huge problem is that I am unable to build strength and tension through the folds: I stretch it the way you do, and I follow all the times and temperatures (I even bought the Brod & Taylor to see if temperatures where the problem) correctly, but at the end the dough spreads flat and does not open properly in the oven. The only other thing that I can mention is that at the end of the bulk, even if the dough is domed or not, there is still a thin layer of water running around the dough. I really do not know what is causing this and I hope you could give me some answers.
Best Regards,
Tommy
Tommy, your approach in sticking with one recipe is a very good one. This way you can assess how things are going without juggling many different variables.
My suggestion is to drop the hydration of the recipe 5% and see how it goes. That ring of water tells me it’s probably a bit high for the flour you’re using. Additionally, add in another set or two of stretch and folds or perform some kneading right after mixing the ingredients together (you can do slap/fold on the counter, 25-50 folds in the bowl, etc.). These two things would add quite a bit of strength to the dough and likely help things progress through bulk.
Keep me posted!
Hi Maurizio, this recipe is great and I just baked my second bath yesterday! They come out great, with some good open crumb, but after bulk fermentation I find the dough is still quite sticky (manageable but it feels too sticky). There also isn’t as much of a doming effect as on your pictures and during the pre-shape they tend to expand and flatten a little. I was wondering if this could be a call for lower hydration – maybe 10% less? And I’m in the UK so a little colder and more damp than you, if that might have any impact on this.
*Batch not bath!
Glad you’re not baking in the bath 🙂 Yes, I’d say drop the hydration 5% – 10% and see how it goes. In my experience, flour from the UK does tend to want a lower hydration than much of the flour here in the US. Let me know how it goes, Lyndsay!
Hi Maurizio, I’ve been messing around with different flours so hadn’t come back to this until this weekend. 90% hydration was a success! I also used a longer Levian build and autolyse and used the slap and fold method at mix. Best loaf so far and even troubleshooted the slightly gummy texture I was getting too! Thanks!
Right on, sounds like you’re well on your way now, Lyndsay! Thanks so much for the update and happy baking!
After bulk fermentation, it has bubbles on top but is very liquidy. It is salvageable? Maybe more time in bulk fermentation? Too late to add more flour?
Lindsay — definitely too late to add more flour. I’d suggest trying to preshape it really tight, perhaps even with a second preshape, and then final, tight shape. If the dough is just unmanageable try placing the dough in a bread tin and going that route. I’ve used this tin technique many a time when the dough just never came together through bulk!
I’ve been experimenting with sourdough for about a year, and haven’t really had a good open crumb using an unnamed sourdough book’s method. I had this blog post bookmarked and gave it another read. Last weekend/new years eve I did a side by side using your autolyse and minimal kneed method on a 70% hydration dough, folding the dough etc… Boom! Best crumb and caramelized crust to date! The other one was just not as exciting, if you will. Seriously, thank you for this blog. Also, I have found that a warmer start, say 85-90F for the first 60-90 minutes
(during the fold time in this method) leads to a little more sour with all other parameters being equal. I’m going to be working on perfecting this one.
That’s awesome, so, so happy to hear that. Sometimes it takes a new approach to unlock that “next level” in baking — I know it’s been this way for me. Thanks for that update and happy baking in 2019!
Greetings. I’m having very similar experiences to ms. wronskian below. I believe that my starter is strong and seems to be behaving itself on a 12hr feeding cycle, and my resulting leaven is bubbling and rising nicely as well. I’m on my eighth and ninth loaves now and still not getting the rise and open crumb. I’ve also tried progressively more white flour as my augment to the major bread flour content, to where my latest loaf is just bread flour and all purpose flour. My question now is: can you give some data on your average loaves, such as final weight and height and circumference? Mine are about 6-7″ in diameter, 3.5″ high, and weigh 706g, plus or minus a few g. We’re certainly able to eat my results, but it seems like I should be getting a much more open crumb. All this being said, I do love the multi-variable challenge that this type of bread baking presents, and to that end have armed myself with tools and flour enough to survive a Russian winter. I refuse to give up. Thanks for a well organized and written blog!
As an aside, for those in the north like me with drafty, cold houses, I’ve found that a large cooler with a couple of gallon jugs of warm/hot water, and a cheap digital ambient temp gauge makes a good starter storage/proofing box. Thanks again.
Hey, Tim! I provided some tips and suggestions down below to @mswronskian:disqus you might want to give a read through. As for providing final measurements for loaves, that’s a tricky thing. First, depending on how tight you shape your dough you might end up with taller or more squat loaves. Second, depending on your proofing vessel you might also change the outcome as well (if you have a really large basket that allows your dough to spread during proof, it wont spring up quite as much as a basket that keeps the dough more intact).
Thanks so much for the kind words about my site! Let me know if one of the suggestions below helps out on your quest. Happy baking!
Hello! I have a very basic question – I’ve made this twice already and am extremely frustrated because even though I floured my towel in the banneton well (at least 1 tbsp of flour all around), my dough stuck and completely flopped. Must I use rice flour as I have been using white bread flour? Thanks!
I like to use rice flour, but normal wheat flour should work as well. It might be that your dough is over hydrated and/or under strengthened, though. I would try reducing the hydration of your dough by 5% and see if that helps next time. Also, make sure your dough is shaped nice and tight before you place it into your proofing basket! You need a tight, strong skin on the outside of the loaf to ensure it removes cleanly (and holds together). Let me know how it goes!
Thanks very much! I am trying this again tomorrow (and not forgetting the salt, which I did last time, and which turned an already sad flop into cardboard) and will report back. Thank you so much for your site, with all the information. I confess to reading it somewhat obsessively at least 3 times a week (or more…)
Glad to hear that! Hope the bake turned out well, also 🙂 Happy baking!
Hi Maurizio! I took a sourdough class a couple months ago where I got to learn all the steps in the sourdough process and I got to take home a strong, mature starter. What are your thoughts on the float test for a levain? I’ve only been able to get my levain to pass the float test on the very first time I used it at once. Ever since, it sinks to the bottom. It’s doubling in height in 10-12 hrs, getting lots of big airy holes and I use it right as it has peaked and begun to fall slightly. I have never managed to bake a loaf with much rise or an open crumb. I’ve tried higher and lower hydration, extending the bulk fermentation, doing an overnight retard in the fridge vs leaving it on the counter for 3-4 hours after shaping, etc. What I keep coming back to is the levain . . . I suspect it is just not strong enough to rise my dough. Any thoughts or input? Thanks so much!
The float test is not a definitive test, it can sometimes lead to incorrect conclusions but is a good general indicator of starter/levain readiness.
I’d first focus on maintaining my starter to encourage maximum activity: feed it at the same time each day, keep it warm (78-80°F), and nurse it back to full strength. Then, make sure to use your starter when it’s at its peak height (as you indicated) to build your levain, and subsequently, use your levain at its peak height when mixing into a dough. It all begins there! Based on your description above it sounds like your levain should be strong enough.
There are many places from there where things could go awry, starting with the flour you’re using. Try using a different brand of flour and stick with 100% white flour for a while until you get the rise you’re after and eliminate other possible issues. I’d also say stick with a lower hydration and shape the dough rather tight — this should help encourage more bloom in the oven. From there, be sure to proof the dough sufficiently but not go too far, which can compromise loaf height.
If you still have issues take a few pictures of the result and send me a message through the Contact link at the very top, I’ll see if there’s more debugging we can do!
I can’t find my previous questions, but I came back to say thanks again for your help! I made my first bread about 2 weeks ago, then had to go away, so my starter has been in the fridge. (Hope I didn’t kill it!) Anyway, I wanted to let you know, my bread was EXCELLENT ! DELICIOUS ! Thank you for this blog. I wouldn’t have done it without you.
Really glad to hear that, Carol! Thanks so much for the update. I hope your starter is back out and getting back to baking!
I’m so eager to try this. I had a starter a couple years ago that unfortunately died, and then I got so busy and forgot to start it again. Lately, I’ve had the itch to try again, so I’m starting my new sourdough starter tomorrow— my 30th birthday, for good luck! I unfortunately don’t have the equipment to handle two bakes at a time, so I’ll be dividing this recipe in half. I really appreciate how detailed your posts are.
Well, happy birthday! This will be the perfect celebration for another year on this planet 🙂 Yes, just divide everything in half and the recipe will work just fine. Happy baking, Sephora!
This recipe introduced me to sourdough and has changed my life!
I’m wondering if you can help me out, Maurizio. I am so close to getting it, but need a missing piece of the puzzle. I have followed this recipe to the letter twice, and both times the final loaf just was not as high as the yours, and the holes in the crumb were towards the top. The crumb was nice, and taste was great, but I would not describe it as light – little bit too dense. The main things I noticed during the process were the lack of tightness during the pre-shape + divide step, and how loose it felt during the bulk fermentation.
Right on, Pasha! Makes me happy to hear that.
Based on the description of your loaves it could be that they are slightly underproofed. There are a few indicators your dough could be under: explosive rise in the oven, dense interior with potentially scattered large holes, and gummy texture to the interior. Finally, it’s possible the bottom of the loaf might be slightly bowed upward (like the letter “U” — the top will kind of dome).
Make sure to build your levain from a starter that’s strong and mature (meaning it’s risen to it’s peak height before you take some to use). From there, bulk fermentation is very important! Make sure your bulk fermentation goes sufficiently far, you want the dough to look smooth, it should have risen considerably, and have bubbles here and there. If you tug on the dough a bit it should offer resistance to your tugging, it’ll feel stronger.
Thank you so much for your help. I just posted the pics to my IG, and I am back with my update, I’ll try to keep it simple without leaving out any critical details. I want to achieve baking perfection, but also hopefully others can learn from my experience.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs8o7SsDFVS/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=801zlt5ddfdi
*Proofing with oven light on Temp = 79 Degrees*
4:38am Levain Build (Levain = 78 dgrees)
10:30am AutoLyse (Autolse = 79 Degrees)
11:30am-3:30pm Bulk Ferment (Bulk = 81 Degrees)
4:15pm retard in Fridge.
8:30am Baking
So as you can see from my pic(s) the bloom is pretty decent! I am still trying to get a more open crumb like I see in all of your pics, but this was definitely an improvement to my first attempt. I would say that the dough did feel stronger after the bulk ferment, but only a little bit, and even though it had risen a fair amount I only saw one bubble. I would like to have let it bulk ferment longer, but the Levain Build took 6 hours, and even then I was hesitant to move on. There are only so many hours in the day – do i have to wake up at 3am to bake? 🙂
Heres the pic after Bulk Ferment:
https://instagram.com/p/Bs8t3eLDeh9/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1cmsnu1zk97sd
Your bread looked great (as I commented 🙂).What you can do to increase activity in bulk is use your starter perhaps a little bit later than usual so it’s very ripe. Then, also do the same thing for your levain. You definitely want to use those at their peak, or a little after, for maximum activity. You could also try increasing the levain percentage 2-5% in your final mix, that might also help. Those temps look good to me.
Keep practicing, you’ll find each loaf gets better and better!
Hi! I am such a fan of this recipe and so grateful that you put it together! I made a mistake and added about 60g too much water to the dough– am I doomed or can I still salvage it? Thanks so much!
Glad to hear that, Lottie! If you’re still at mix time, you could add 50-60g of flour to offset that extra water. If you’re past this stage, give the dough another 1-2 sets of stretch and folds during bulk and then preshape and shape the dough extra tight to ensure there’s added structure in the dough. Hope that helps!
You’re the best– thanks so much! I’ll do that now.
Definitely keep mixing until the water is absorbed. If you’re still mixing and the dough just won’t come back together, add a bit more flour to help bring it together.
Hi Maurizio! Question for you….
I’ve been making the beginner’s sourdough for the past 6+ months now and have had great success. Love the recipe and the bread we’ve been enjoying 🙂 I’m curious what would happen if the fridge ferment time was significantly lengthened. Would it produce more sour bread? Would the bake be affected at all? I’m planning to bake around 6 loaves for a few different holiday parties coming up, and my hope is to mix, shape, and refrigerate all the dough in one day (Wednesday), and then pull out two loaves on Saturday morning to bake, two more loaves Sunday morning to bake, and then the final loaves on Monday morning to bake. I have no clue if this would work so any advice would be helpful! All the instructions I’ve found have been to bake around 20 hours after the initial mix, but I haven’t seen any info about what happens if the fridge ferment is significantly extended. Thanks!
So glad to hear that, Kathryn! Typically the longer you let the dough sit in the fridge, the more pronounced the sourness in the end result and more squat the loaf will become. As fermentation continues (even drastically reduced in the fridge), acidity will build up in the dough (adding to the sour flavor) and the gluten will be broken down further. I’ve done a 3-day sourdough without much issue, but more than that and it might be pushing things a bit far 🙂
I’d say give it a try, as a test, and see how it turns out for you!
Hey Maurizio,
I love your website and had a question related to this. I’m having trouble with oven spring and trying to figure out which of the 100 variables I need to change to correct it. At one point in time I used 20% starter, just as your recipe suggests, and do a cold bulk fermentation in the fridge for maybe 8-12 hrs. I always had the impression that it was over proofed because I always get poor oven spring. The loaves rise, but they don’t burst/explode upward, if you know what I mean.
Would you recommend lowering the inoculation level to maybe 10% starter so the cold bulk fermentation would slow down? I’m guessing this is one way to fix it, but I’m not sure on the percentage.
Hello Maurizio, thank you for your information at this site! It’s like a gold mine of everything sourdough and more! 😍
I have followed your methods to make the starter and I’ve got it, I think, after the first time failure… 😬anyway, now I am ready to venture into making the actual sourdough bread. I don’t have any combo cooker. I have a steam oven however. So after rest and proof, can I flip the dough onto an oven tray and bake my dough without cover, using the steam oven function? Do I have to preheat the oven tray nonetheless?
Lastly, what’s the purpose of slashing the dough before baking apart from creating a signature? If we don’t slash it, will the bread still bake beautifully?
Awesome, Shu! Yes, you won’t have to cover the dough if you have steam injection in your oven. You’ll have to play with how much steam to put into your oven depending on how your oven operates. I would still preheat my oven, yes.
If you don’t score (slash) your dough it may rise erratically and uncontrollably. Some breads look really great this way (rye, some rustic hearth style loaves, etc.) but generally I like to score so the bread rises and expands where I want it to. So in the end, sure, it’s optional, but for me I always score.
Hope this helps and happy baking!
Good morning Maurizio, thanks for your clear explanation. Ok I will slash the dough. 🙂 About preheating the oven, must we preheat for an hour? There’s a lot of energy wasted no? My oven will preheat to the temperature we want and then it will beep when ready. It takes approximately… 15 minutes preheating for 1 hour of baking time. And it turns itself off if we don’t put in food. So I am curious, is it necessary to preheat 1 hour prior to baking? 🧐
Also, I love how clearly pretended is your weekend baking schedules. I bake twice a week to meet the demand of the little hungry mouths in my household. 🥺 therefore, can you kindly suggest how to manage the starter in this case? “Waking” the starter already takes 2 days…
P/s: my starter which was hibernating in the fridge for a week or so is awake. I am very happy to see it’s still alive. 😎
You don’t have to preheat for 1 hour, just long enough for your oven to reach temp and the Dutch oven to be fully heated. If you’re using a baking stone and no Dutch oven, though, I’d recommend going for the full 1 hour to ensure the stone is fully saturated with heat.
You might be able to get away with “waking” the starter in just 1 day (a feeding in the morning and one at night). In that case, just add in another day where you take it out a day before baking, perhaps midway through the week.
Glad to hear things are going to well for you!
Thanks for sharing!
Ryan, yes that’s right. I pull up some of the overall numbers in the “vitals” section but later in the recipe I have percentages only for that particular part of the process (i.e. levain percentages & numbers only, dough mix percentages & numbers only). In my more recent posts I’ve decided to change this up so there are no percentages except in the Total Formula table I now include at the beginning of my posts. I need to come back and update this post to that new standard I’m following. Happy baking.
: – )
Ok — posted has been updated. Thanks for pointing this out, been meaning to get to it!
Awesome. I will delete my comment if I can now. Thanks
Hey there!
So, I live in Denmark, and almost all our organic flour is stoneground, meaning they maintain quite a bit of the whole grain (the current flour I’m using only sifts out about 20% of the wheat shell). I’m not sure it’s like this is the states, with Bob’s Red Mill for example? I definitely see it in my breads, as they obviously are a bit darker, but also more tasty.
However, do you have any suggestions on how I could compensate in regards to your recipe? Should I just reduce the amount of whole grain flour added as well? The only concern I have with this is that my main bread flour is only 10.5% protein, so I’ve been trying to compensate this with some whole wheat Manitoba flour, which is all the way up at 15%.
I’m mentioning this because my breads are, although tasty, not getting much oven spring and are a bit dense. I’m working on getting a stronger mature sourdough, in the hopes that that is one of the causes, and I’ve also just purchased some malted barley to add to the flour (since they don’t add this in Denmark either). All our flours are so damn pure!
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
*Just to add a bit to my question – what I’m wondering is, apart from taste and consistency, how else does this extra whole grain effect the recipe. From what I know, whole grains absorb more water than white flour, but I’m having enough trouble with over hydration as it is, so I’d really prefer not to add any more!
It’s really great to hear about your flour, actually. The fact that it’s all organic and stoneground — this is a great thing! Here in the USA our “white flour” is very low extraction (meaning they remove quite a bit of the bran/germ from the flour) and is usually quite strong (in terms of protein). My suggestion would be to use your flour at 100% of the recipe, not blending any more whole grain flour in, until you get the hang of things. Because your flour isn’t as sifted as the white flour here, you’ll have a heartier, likely tastier, and more nutritious loaf — but this also means you might not have the same rise and open interior. And that’s ok! We all have to adapt to the flour we have access to.
If you’d like to blend in higher protein flour, start around 10-20% and work up/down from there. I don’t like to use a large percentage of high protein flour — this recipe is kind of an exception because I find it makes it a little “easier” for beginners.
Hydration is very relative. It’ll depend mostly on your flour and also environment. If you find your dough is very wet and slack (loose) don’t add any more water! Remove some the next time to make it more manageable. Again, it really depends on your flour, 70% hydration might be too wet for you, or it might be too dry, it all depends. Just adjust this to suit your situation.
I hope all of this helps! It’s a great thing to have access to flour like you have, embrace it, challenges and all 🙂 Happy baking!
Wow, thank so much for a good thoughtful response! I’ll be sure to take all your advice into my next baking schedule 🙂 And I will definitely start embracing my flour!
I have two more questions if you have the time though:
1. With these lower protein flours, is it necessary to do a few more stretch and folds to work in some strength?
2. I mentioned that I will be adding a bit of malted barley to the mix to try to help get a bit more spring action in the oven. It’s been super hard to find precise info on percentages, but I managed to find a few places where they mentioned 0.3-0.5% of total flour weight. So i’ve settled on about 1.5g for this recipe. Do you have any experience with this?
1. You might need to do more strengthening through more sets but also a reduction in water will help. These two things are closely related. I’d first start with reduced water in the dough and see how it feels through mixing and bulk. If it still feels slack, add in another set or two of stretch and folds until it feels strong and is holding it’s shape in the bowl.
2. Adding diastatic malt might not equate to increased spring in the oven directly, but it does help with doughs undergoing long fermentation time (such as what we’re doing here with sourdough). It’ll also contribute to better crust coloring as the malt will help “unlock” more sugars in the dough. Yes, .3-.5% sounds like a good starting point — you don’t want to use too much!
Another thing you might want to try is to increase the percentage of levain mixed into the dough. Prefermented flour (flour that’s been fermented before mixing, in this case our levain) can bring a lot of strength to a dough thanks to the acidity built up through fermentation. In this recipe I call for about 20% levain in the dough, you could try bumping it up to 25% to see if that helps.
Thanks so much for your input!
I gave it all a try, but unfortunately I still got some pretty flat breads with dense crumb. So, I decided to go on the hunt for another flour (for now!), and managed to find a nice good local organic low extraction white flour. And FINALLY I’m getting a good rise and open crumb in my breads. So I think I’ll be working a bit more with that to get a hang of things, and then maybe turn towards the stoneground again (because the flavor of those is just great).
However, I do have one challenge for you 🙂 I’ve actually been using the recipe from “My Best Sourdough”, and I’ve been mixing in 50g of a scandinavian wheat called Ølandshvede (an old sort that’s been revived lately). I love the taste and color it gives to the breads, so I can’t resist. The problem is, it’s a tricky bastard that needs a ton of work to start forming proper gluten strength. This means my loaves are still having a bit of trouble holding their shape. I’ve already reduced hydration to about 75% (and also increased the levain by about 10g), so I’m almost positive that further reduction isn’t necessary. Therefore I think the culprit might be the Ølandshvede, even though it’s a very low percentage of the total flour.
So how would you suggest working a bit more strength into the dough, without overworking the white flour that I’m also using?
Glad to hear you found some nice flour!
Some of those older varieties of wheat actually need to be handled rather delicately instead of mixing harder/longer. I might try a “no-knead” approach with just sets of stretch and folds during bulk to strengthen the dough. That, coupled with lower hydration, might help strengthen the dough up sufficiently.
Further, that flour might not be able to take extended fermentation times, even in the fridge. Try cutting the final proof time back a few hours to see if that helps as well.
Thanks Maurizio
I wouldn’t have thought of that, as all the local recipes that call for this specific variety of flour all include a very strong and lengthy kneading. However, they omit the lengthy bulk fermantation, so that could be the issue.
I’ll give it all a try! (although I have tried cutting down the retard length, with limited success)
Hi Maurizio. I’m just finished with the bulk fermentation and I think the dough needs more strengthening. I did another stretch and fold and now I’m resting for another 30 minutes. Did I ruin the dough? Next time I’ll do more stretch and folds early on until I think it’s strong enough.
It’ll be just fine. If the dough is still slack and weak even after you preshape it, do a second preshape step with rest, then final shape.
It was fine after the preshape. Ready to bake tomorrow morning.
Hi Maurizio!
Great recipe, thank you.
I still had a bit trouble with the shaping, the dough was quite sticky and hard to handle and when I scored the loaves in the morning they had almost no tension. Still rose pretty nicely, but I’m aiming for perfection. What could Be wrong with a sticky dough?
Hey, Laura! Your dough might just need a reduction in water. Try dropping the water by 5% next time and see if that brings more strength to the dough. Let me know how it goes!
Hi Maurizio. I think everyone following your blog would be very thankful if you could offer a fully comprehensive blog post about baker’s percentage and how to calculate, for example, (and the importance of it) preferment flour, or how you ended up using those specific amounts of flour containing not a gram more or less. I know 2g extra or less could affect the final outcome.
Thanks in advance.
Great suggestion, Corina. I actually have a post mostly completed on just this topic. I’ve been working on it for quite a while off and on. I’ll move it up in my list of things to get done (it’s a long list!). Thanks so much for the suggestion and happy baking!
Followed this recipe exactly and love the end product. I am finding that while my crumb is significantly more open than previous recipes ive tried, it isnt quite as open as yours. What are possibilities that could lead to this? Are you simply using fresher flour and getting more activity as a result or is it something else?
Unfortunately there isn’t a single thing that leads to a more open interior in a baked loaf of bread. First, the flour used is very important, it needs to be strong enough (protein) and have the proper gluten properties to trap the gasses produced during fermentation. For example, no matter how hard you try with rye flour, the gluten properties in the grain just won’t lead to an open interior.
From there, a very strong and well-fed starter is important — it all begins there. Fermentation in general is so critical, it’s worth spending some time really stepping back to look at how your starter is performing and how well-fermented your dough is during bulk fermentation and the final proof. Without strong fermentation your loaf will never rise to its full potential.
Sufficient dough strength through mixing, and also organically through fermentation, is also important. Think of your dough as a balloon: you want it strong enough to trap gasses and expand in the oven, but not so strong that it won’t relax and expand out. Finding this sweet spot takes some practice.
A full and complete bulk is also very important. Cutting bulk fermentation short before the dough is sufficiently fermented will hinder the development in final proof.
I also find that, and this depends on the dough you’re working with, a very gentle preshape and shape are key to maintaining an open interior. If you’re rough with the dough during these times the delicate interior will quickly break down and become more dense. That said, the dough does still need enough strength through shaping to hold its shape during baking.
Sorry for the long winded answer but really all of these things are important! Each part plays into the next and overall what we’re searching for as bakers is balance. Balance between the extremes in each phase of the process.
Hello Maurizio,
Thank for you such a detailed and informative post! I learned a lot. I’ve been reading your posts before bed for a couple nights now and I’m learning so much more about sourdough. You’re very detailed and I love reading your writings (I bet you documented your code beautifully in your developer days).
I’m new to bread baking and I “accidentally” created a super delicious extra sour bread once. The texture wasn’t the best and it was very dense and gummy but it tasted sooo good. It was extra tangy and it got DEVOURED (both my mom and my bf like things extra sour). My mom even bought me more bread flour and asked me to make her more bread lol. The problem is I have no idea how to replicate this taste.
I didn’t document my process but it went somewhat like this. I didn’t know you needed a “mature” starter or what a “leaven” was so I just used some angsty teenage starter that was unreliably bubbly. Proofing times and temperatures were all over the place — bulk fermentation was around 18hours anywhere from 63°F – 75°F. 12-13 hours after I let it sit in a cold kitchen around 63-66°F, I noticed it wasn’t doing very good so I gave it a dash of sugar and mushed it a bit. It even sat in a car for 45minutes. I didn’t yet know about “folding” so I kneaded the dough and pushed it around before the second ferment which was 73-78°F. Here’s the final product — https://imgur.com/a/4Sd9rRl
I’d like to make another sourdough bread that is extra sour and I’ve read that a colder temperature during proofing helps. But I don’t really want to take my dough on a drive. I’d also like it the texture was better! Will leaving it in the fridge during the bulk fermentation phase help? And if so how long should I do this for? Is there any other modifications that I can make to get an extra sour bread?
-Sam
Thanks for the comments, Sam! And yes, my code is always documented and quite orderly 🙂
There are a few things you can do to try and increase the sourness of your bread. First, you want to use your starter, and levain, when it’s very ripe. If it rises up to a certain height, let it sit there for a bit before you use it. If it starts to fall that’s ok too, just try to catch it right before, or after, it falls. That mature, ripe starter/levain has much more acidity than if used when it’s more on the “younger” side. Just be weary that your dough fermentation rate might be a bit faster than previous, keep an eye on it during bulk fermentation and divide the dough when it looks ready.
Additionally, you could try using some rye flour in your final dough mix. Rye helps stimulate more acid production for a more sour flavor. I wouldn’t go overboard on the rye, though, as the more you include the more dense your loaf will be. It’s up to you on the percentage, but even 5% plays a big role.
Finally, if you can try to push the cold proof in the fridge. There’s a limit of course, but if you could go even a few more hours you should notice more sourness.
Give one, or some, of those a try and let me know how it goes!
Thank you for all tips. I’ll definitely try them! I’m waiting for rye flour in the mail since grocery stores didn’t have it here. I subbed the rye flour with Bob’s spelt flour for this recipe. Googling told me that there isn’t really a substitute for rye flour but if you don’t have rye flour, what would be the next best type of flour to use?
Also, what bread would you recommend for someone recovering form tonsillectomy? How can I make a sourdough that’s super soft and easy to swallow?
Thank you!
If you don’t have rye, try to find a good quality whole grain wheat flour.
To make things more tender you could add more water to the dough (which becomes challenging), bake it for slightly less time (it still needs to be baked through, though!), or you could add fat to the dough (olive oil, butter, etc.) to soften the crust.
Hi Maurizio, thank you for your website, there are lot of great stuff. Each time I navigate into it, I feel so hungry (I am french and was raised with breads)!
I tried this recipe few times and I was never satisfied 100% with the outcome – Taste is here but texture not.
Here is my worst try, any clue on what could cause this so it could help me to go back on track? https://drive.google.com/file/d/1myvslI7UVYEwb89AlxGAqUrhosaozk53/view
I guess my levain did not his job propertly, I use the week end schedule and he rose very high on third refreshment friday night.
saturday morning I used my oven proof function (around 80F) to build the levain but he did not raise much after 6 hours but show some activity though (small bubbles and non-flat). Also the dough was very hard to shape because it seems to be too liquid..
Thank you
Hey, Fabien! It looks to me like your dough was very over hydrated. I’d say reduce the hydration of my recipe by 15% and give it another try.
Additionally, try keeping your starter out of the fridge for a week and give it regular feedings. See if you can get it performing well, rising and falling at about the same time each day. Then, use it when it’s at its peak (when you’d normally give it a feeding) to make the levain for this recipe. You want to see strong signs of fermentation!
Keep me posted 🙂
Hi! Thank you for your advice.
After some tries I finally got it! Here is the beauty: https://imgur.com/DiBEo48
These are the changes I made:
I did not use a specific levain but used directly my starter when it is at its top in the morning. (I did not achieve to have a specific levain as ripe in 6 hours, even with high inoculation)
I used 70g less water. Maybe this is due to the flour I use (robin hood bread flour. 13.3% protein).
I let bulk fermentation the whole day, bubbles came around 9 hours after mix.
Room temperature here is 19C (66F), that may explain why it needs much more fermentation time.
The only issue is it was so good it disappeared in minutes!
Seriously one minor thing, even if I love crusty crust, this one was slightly too hard for the teeth.
Is it related to second part of baking? I will try to remove bread 5 minutes earlier to see or maybe spritz more water during cooking. Never mind, I just saw your reply about this in another comment.
Thank you again for sharing.
Thanks so much for this…what a great resource! In step 7 (Rest and Proof) is it possible to use a well floured banneton with the linen covering the banneton and loaf instead of having the linen inside the banneton with a plastic bag over top? I quite like the look that the banneton canes impart on the bread. Thanks again!
Yes, absolutely! That will work quite well. I have to say, those lines imparted by a cane banneton do look quite stunning. Happy baking!
Do I really have to let this dough sit in the refrigerator for 16 hours?!? Can’t I just bake it now??? 😭
You definitely do need some proof time with any dough, but it can be reduced if you’d like. Instead of using the fridge, leave it out on the counter for 1-6 hours, temperature depending, until the dough feels like it’s ready to bake.
I think I might do that next time!!! I actually waited and it was pretty good. Just very dense. It was bubbly inside but I don’t think it proofed up as much as it should have. I made my water 94 degrees because it’s Alaska in the winter here, and my final dough temp was 80-81. So maybe it was just too warm. It was incredible for my first attempt. I feel like my starter is kicking a$$ but I leave it in the oven with the light on all the time and I waited like two + weeks before I used it. I also feed it 50% whole grain to help it move more. Anyway, thank you so much for the amazing blog. I’ve read whole books on this and still didn’t feel ready to try it. This website is pretty awesome!
During the bulk fermentation, should we cover the bowl?
Yes, keep the bowl covered to prevent the dough from drying out.
Thanks for the quick response Maurizio!
Is it possible to refrigerate after the folds during the bulk fermentation and then proof at room temperature? I can do the bulk in a large container but I run out of refrigerator space when I go to proof the dough.
Yes, that will work. I’d say do about 2 hours at warm temperature for bulk (as specified in the post), then overnight in the fridge. The next day, take out the dough, divide it cold and preshape. Then, shape the dough and proof it in covered baskets until ready to bake.
Hi Maurizio! Thanks so much for this wonderful step-by-step breakdown. I have a question on the total amount of flour used for a single loaf of bread. In your recipe and in others (e.g. Tartine), the total flour per loaf is around 450-500 g. However, when I’ve purchased Tartine’s country loaf at their bakery, the loaf looks a lot bigger than the bread I make with these recipes. I’m wondering if more total flour is being used in the breads being sold, or if this has more to do with how my dough is developing/rising? Thanks!
Yes, they are definitely using more flour and water in their retail loaves than the recipe in their book. I’d say their loaves at the bakery, based on my guess, are over 1kg total dough weight per loaf.
hi i am now after 12 hours in the fridge temp around 44 the dough did not rise at all from yesterday should i take out before baking and let it rise before baking i used starter that was about a week in the fridge i wish i could attach picture that you can see the dough
also for baking on stone in the oven 2 loaves at a time what is suggest temorature and time?
I’d still use the same times and temps listed above. Just be sure to keep baking them at the last part until they are to your liking.
Yes, if you don’t notice any rise at all, I would let it warm up a bit at room temp to help the dough move along a bit more.
Hello and many thanks for all posts, they are so very helpful. I thought I am the point of having a strong starter as it smells and grows as many posts describe. Your suggestion for keeping some rye flour in the regular feed did help overcoming the sluggish progress at the beginning of my starter. I am trying to follow the above recipe, but the levain does not bubble like in your pictures. Would be worth to wait for a longer time for it to ferment? Thanks in advance for your help.
You’re very welcome, Elena! It’s ok if you don’t see quite the same activity but try to use it right when your levain starts to fall, or recently fell, in the jar. This way we’re sure the levain is nice and ripe when you go to mix it into the dough.
If it looks a little on the “young” side, give it more time, perhaps another 30 minutes, and check again to see if it’s ready.
hi there, after the 16 hour proof, do i take it out of from the fridge and bake immediately, or do i let the dough rest in room temperature for 1 hour while the oven is preheating?
You can bake it straight from the fridge.