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
Hello! Just want to say thank you for all your hard work that goes into this blog!! SUPERB. SO, i just spent the last 2 weeks building my starter… and pulled the trigger today on the bread. Everything was going fine when i made my first mistake… i poured ALL of the levein into the first mix 🙁 Didn’t think it would be a huge deal… but then i let the first proof sit for 3 hours longer than it should (I was in town). I did all 4 turns at 30 min intervals and then i left. when i came home, the dough had risen almost to the top of the bowl. There were bubbles but when i tried to take it out… it was literally stuck to the sides and bottom… like gum. I “poured” onto the table (floured) and i cant even describe how gummy it was – i barely got it out of the bowl. So wet and sticky, i couldn’t do anything with it. I even tried adding flour (realizing that probably wouldn’t help but i did it anyway and it was still gummy and sticky. So, even though i know my mistakes off hand… i want to make sure the stickiness were due to those mistakes and not something else. Im going to try again tomorrow, and follow everything to a T. ANy suggestions or insight? thank you 🙂
Ah! Yes, sounds like the dough over proofed on you. Adding more levain than called for in the recipe would expidite the fermentation process with this bread and coupled with an extra three hours (which is a lot!) definitely pushed the dough over. Next time it’s ok if you add extra levain, just keep an eye on the dough as it might need to be divided earlier. Also, don’t go over that bulk fermentation time 🙂
Happy baking!
Ciao Maurizio,
first of all thanks for the great website and all the knowledge you are sharing, it’s been extremely informative and helpful!
I’ve started baking with this recipe and learned a lot, apologies in advance but I have a few questions! You’ve been so great answering people here and I thought to take advantage of your kindness too 🙂
Levain: why are you using a ratio of 1:2:2 (starter, water, flour) and not 1:1:1 that should be faster to become fully active? My guess is that less starter might give better taste?
Mixing: if mixing salt and a little bit of water (taken out of the total amount) rather than just adding the salt directly, it seems that my dough becomes and stays much wetter during the whole process… Maybe my mixing should be a bit more intense? Almost like kneading maybe?
Stretch and folds: this might be a silly question, but should the first set be right after mixing or should I allow for some rest? I’ve seen in your other questions that you sometimes recommend doing a 4th set, how much does this affect the final strength of the dough?
Shaping: other maybe silly question, before and after shaping you let the dough rest some 20-30 min, how much does this really affect the final result?
Proofing: should I expect to dough to have risen at all after the overnight retard? Also, from your post it goes straight in the oven from the fridge, correct?
Baking: I’ve been baking with a [pyrex casserole](ttps://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NEKRON4) and wondered how much difference there would be using a dutch oven… If its sole purpose is to trap moisture in, it might be good enough for now? Or maybe the cast iron would produce a much more uniform and better baking?
Finally, a picture of my last loaf, still not getting a sexy crumb as yours but eventually I’ll get there! https://i.imgur.com/OUpVlzF.jpg
Thanks again,
Matteo
You’re very welcome! Not a problem, happy to help.
Levain: it’s just the build I prefer. You can definitely do a 1:1:1 if you’d like, and actually, sometimes I do this as well. I find that build is a little on the “aggressive” side and I was going for a middle ground with this recipe.
Mixing: if the dough does feel overly wet and slack after mixing/kneading, you can keep going until it tightens up some more. If this is the case, and the dough feels stronger (sorry these are very ambiguous terms) you might be able to reduce the number of sets of stretch and folds during bulk fermentation. See my answer to @passionatebaker:disqus below on the whole balance between strong dough and not too strong.
S&F: that 30 minute rest is very general. It’s really just an amount of time to let the dough rest before you give it another set. If the dough hasn’t rested enough and spread out, you won’t really be able to do much. So the key is it has enough rest to do so. Conversely, sometimes when I have a dough that’s super slack it’s possible to load the sets of stretch and folds up front because it spreads so fast, in this case I might do them 15 minutes apart.
Proofing: Not much rise in a home fridge is expected. Fermentaiton will continue a little before the dough chills, though, so it does add flavor complexity and crust color! I bake straight from fridge to oven in most cases. The only time I might not do this is if the dough is very under fermented and needs more time at warm temperature to finish proofing.
Baking: I prefer cast iron but I’ve seen great results with a myriad of vessels. The only way to say for sure is to test it…
Your loaf looks great! Lovely crust color, and a nicely fermented interior. Really nice work, I’d say.
Hope this helps and happy baking, Matteo!
Just used this guide to make my first ever naturally leavened loaves and they by far surpassed my expectations. Thank you so much for your detailed instructions and photos!!
https://imgur.com/a/qNVs2JM
Those look so, so nice. Really awesome work and glad I could help!
How could I adapt the recipe to do an overnight levain (say 8-10 hrs), and a room temperature proof rather than refrigerated? Thanks.
For 8-12 hours I typically build a levain with 10-20% mature starter, 100% flour, 100% water. For example, with this recipe I’d do 12g mature starter, 80g flour, 80g water, for 8-9 hours at room temperature.
I’ve made this recipe a couple of times now with good results. I like the bread a lot but I would really like it to be more sour. I can barely taste the sourness. I use 35g dark rye flour and 65g organic all purpose when I feed my starter. Any tips?
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.
Thank you so much! I’ll definitely try the rye in the dough mix. I’m limited on the other two suggestions as I work all week and the only way I can bake this lovely bread is on the weekend, using your very helpful weekend schedule that has the levain build happening at 11pm and autolyse at 7am. I have to use the starter in whatever state it’s in at 11pm. I think I have enough control at this point that I can (sort of) make sure it’s perfectly ripe, if life doesn’t get in the way. I need to find a way around this work business so I can bake more bread, sigh.
How do you make sure the dough doesn’t stick to the teatowel in the bowl? My dough is super sticky and I worry that it won’t come out the bowl easily!
Dust your towel in the bowl with a light layer of white rice flour (which has a higher scorch temperature than wheat flour). The light layer will ensure your dough removes cleanly.
Thought I was over developing strength but after some reading and understanding strength and extensibility better, my last loaf I really worked on strength with kneading more at mix, letting it rest 5 min and then kneading again. Then adding some S&F’s. Trying to be more gentle and precise with pre-shaping/shaping. I also think I needed more proofing, so left the dough out overnight (12 hrs) at about 60-65 degrees F. Next time might cool down a bit in the fridge before leaving out, too close to over proof for my comfort. Happy to say, much better crumb today, towards the edge it almost looks like yours! This is a testimony to choosing one recipe and doing it over and over. Definitely more sour tasting. Note: used half bread flour for the white flour part. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DRkV6TB7l-jo1wWA-1dGQodKouov8c-H/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x5Xl5B8hc8KogAKD1V1YGuHezqlSzYmr/view?usp=sharing
Right on, those changes sound great. You’re on the right track here, Kim! It definitely helps to stick to the same formula for a while, you’ll notice new things each time you bake and it helps you make more informed decisions. Happy baking!
Thank you so much!
Hi Maurizio, Shouldn’t the hydration percentage be the same (78%) for the dough mix and the total formula since the levain is at 100%?
No, the hydration will be lower in the dough mix (“final mix”) than it is represented in the total formula. The amount of levain used in the dough mix is actually 20.27% (it’s 20.27% of the total flour used in the final mix).
But since the hydration of the levain is 100% doesn’t that cancel it out? I will read back over (with my calculator) to understand it better.
What I am struck by is, in the photo where you are scoring the loaves, the “air bubbles” in the score lines, indicating I presume great fermentation. I am definitely not seeing this when I cut into my loaves and am not getting great open crumb. My loaves do not have the full rounded shape but slope more straight down from the top to about the halfway mark. I know you are overwhelmed with newbie questions so I’m not really looking for an answer. Just acknowledging that this is a challenging endeavor! I feel like my dough is lively but (I am guessing) either it’s not strong enough or it needs more proofing. After pre-shape, it flattens a bit but is still domed, but definitely flatter than in your post pre-shape photo. Working at shaping more gently and quickly. I’m following your protocol to a T (except using 1/2 bread flour and half AP) including using a proofer to control temperatures better. Onward! p.s. You baker’s math makes sense to me and seems in line with other experts 🙂
It sounds like you’re on the right track, you might just need a few changes here and there. First, changing from all bread flour to a mix of bread and AP might mean the dough could use another set of stretch and folds during bulk to add more strength to the dough. Regarding preshaping: it’s ok if your dough spreads a bit more, but this means you might need to shape it tighter so it holds its structure all the way through proof. After shaping the dough should easily hold itself together on the work surface and shouldn’t spread out quickly. If it does, shape it tighter. Hope that helps!
Thank you!
Hi Maurizio,
I’m at my 4th weekend of baking sourdough following your amazing and helpful instructions and recipes (Beginner’s Sd and Spelt Sd) and things have been going OK but not great. Shaping and proofing are not going according to plan, and my breads tend turn out pretty flat but the crumb is even and the bread fortunately tastes great so I’m happy to keep experimenting.
Problems always start after bulk fermentation. Even when I think the dough feels strong, and looks right and ready for shaping, it tends to flatten out and feel quite runny once I tip it onto the work surface to shape it. Needless to say, shaping is a nightmare. I never seem to get the compact, tight shape I see in your pictures and videos, and getting it into the banneton is tricky. Once in the banneton, it loses any shape it had and just goes back to looking similar to what is was like during bulk fermentation.
Based on many of the comments I’ve read on here, I think I’ll go for 80% or 90% hydration next time, to see if that will make it easier and more manageable.
Another problem I have is that after cold-proofing the dough in the fridge for 12-16 hours as suggested, transferring it to my DO for baking is incredibly messy. The dough often doesn’t even come out whole: bits remain in the banneton, and the dough is stringy rather than dry and compact. Is this also a hydration issue do you think? Or more to do with the fact that fermentation is not where it needs to be?
Any tips on what I might be doing wrong?
Thank you!
It sounds like your dough is over proofing.
Assuming you’re using the 78% hydration listed in this recipe, why would you up the hydration to make it easier to handle? The opposite is typically the case.
As @carinagressitt:disqus mentioned below, I’d suggest actually decreasing hydration to make handling the dough easier. I’d suggest you try dropping down 5% to 73% overall hydration and see if handling is easier.
Regarding the messy dough, it might be that your dough lacks sufficient strength by the time you go to preshape/shape/proof. Lowering the hydration will bring more strength to the dough so this will help, but you could also add in another set of stretch and folds during bulk fermentation to give it even more. When you’re performing the stretch and folds, really stretch that dough up and over.
Let me know how it goes next time with these changes!
Hi Maurizio,
I’m determined to master this recipe but I’m having some trouble. I first used the mix of flours recommended (all Bob’s Red Mill) but replaced the artisan bread flour with all-purpose. The loaf was flat and gummy. I then used the same mix but replaced the all-purpose with bread flour, also flat and gummy. I wondered if I wasn’t stretching and folding enough, plus I also halved the recipe as to not screw up 2 loaves. Will this affect the recipe? That goes to show my confidence level right now, LOL. Also, to clarify, 3 sets of 4 stretch and folds for the first 2 hours, then let rest for the remaining 2 hours of the bulk fermentation, correct?
My next thought was, is my levain not ready? It doubles in size in my jar but isn’t nearly as full and bubbly as the picture you show. It’s clearly still winter in Utah and I’ve had to use my proof setting in my oven to achieve warmer temps for growth. My next step is to get a thermometer. I’m hoping the problem is my water and dough have been too cold and I’ve shot my self in the foot from the start. My Instagram handle is @bexleyboys and in my story highlights is the end results of my last few loaves if visuals help.
Thanks so much for providing detailed instructions, very helpful!
It sounds to me like your dough was not sufficiently fermented (under proofed). Typically a gummy or dense result is a telltale sign of this, perhaps with scattered large holes. If your levain is used too early it just means the timeline for the rest of the process will need to be lengthened to compensate. It’s ok if your levain doesn’t look exactly like what I show in the pictures, but you definitely want it to be mature (ripe). It should have risen in its jar to its max height and perhaps just started to fall a little. From there, make sure you give your dough the time it needs in bulk fermentation (which will, as you guessed, be longer if cooler in your kitchen). Perhaps the next go try to let your levain mature a little longer and also lengthen your bulk by 15-30 minutes to see if that helps!
Your “baker’s math” is complete gibberish.
For people who came here for an understandable answer:
The simple answer is all the ingredients starter + water and + flour have to be the same weight.
if you don’t have a scale do by volume : 1 of starter .1 of water. Almost 2 of flour.
Thanks, John, for the input. There are many ways to construct a formula and several different ways to do baker’s math calculations. Sounds like you have a great method and it works for you — the important thing is to approach the “math” of all this in the way that makes the most sense for each baker. Happy baking!
I am attempting a loaf of gluten free sourdough. Have you tried this? Any suggestions for me if you have?
Hey, Brittany! I actually have not made gluten free sourdough just yet so I can’t provide any suggestions aside from the advice I provide here on my site for baking in general (which will be very applicable to gluten free bread as well!). Sorry about that!
Great website and article! I tried a couple other sourdough starter guides but yours was the one that worked best. Now I’m attempting my first sourdough bread using my own starter. I live in a dry climate at 6,000 ft above sea level, are there any tips or modifications I need to do to compensate for my climate? Thanks!
Thanks, Joel! Glad to hear my method for creating a starter worked well for you. I also live in a very dry climate here in Albuquerque, NM ( 5280 ft) so many of my methods here should work well for you. I always keep my starter jar covered (not sealed shut, but loosely covered to prevent it from drying out), I keep my dough also covered at all times (with reusable wrap when in a bowl and with resuable plastic bags when proofing), and you might have to adjust your baking times and temps — likely higher and longer for your altitude. The best way to adjust baking times and temps would be to stick with the temps I have listed here and take the internal temp of your loaves at the end of baking, if they’re not high enough (usually around 206°F or higher) keep baking until they’re done.
I hope this helps!
I have been following this recipe and got quite good results! I’m actually amazed by the quality of the bread!
Even though I do not have a dutch oven or baking stone, just using a big stainless steel pot over the bread in the start of baking has worked fine. Looking forward to obtain a dutch oven for a nicer crust and better growth though.
My comment, however is about the use of the bench knife, especially during pre-shaping. The dough is usually quite sticky (as expected) but it also sticks badly to the bench knife. Any idea if this is a problem with the dough (under fermented maybe?) or if I need to do something with the knife to make it less sticky?
That’s just fantastic to hear, Leonardo! You remind me of the very first time I baked a loaf like this so many years ago, I was shocked at how good the bread was and I became completely obsessed. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to do from home!
A sticky dough is totally normal, even with your bench knife. Try using quick, confident movements and remove the knife from the dough as soon as possible. You’ll become more and more proficient at this and sticking will eventually become less of a problem, but until then you can also use a little more flour to dust the dough. A light, thin layer of flour on top of the dough before you divide and pre-shape with your knife will help quite a bit.
Happy baking!
Thank you for the really quick reply!
It is indeed surprising (and easy to get obsessed!) how good this bread can be. I know I’m far from the quality that is possible to achieve at home, but it’s still better bread than I can find around to to buy.
I’ll keep practicing. I think maybe dusting the knife itself might help a bit. I only remember to try this after it’s already all full of dough… after the pre-shaping things do get easier. I was just wondering if I was missing any tricks, as your photos and the videos I see online make the bench knife look like something miraculous hehe.
Hah! Yes, just stick with it and it’ll get easier every time. Using extra flour will help in the beginning!
Hello, I really liked your recipe. I have been thinking about making individual mini bread loaves to avoid having to slice the bread and keep it fresh longer. My idea is to to make the dough as in the recipe then in the shaping stage, shape the dough into small balls and place into standard cupcake tins to proof. I would really appreciate your insight. Would this idea work? What temperature would I have to bake at? How long might it take? Would I need to cover the pans with aluminum foil? Would it be best to make about 16 or 32 for bread texture?
Sure, this would work just fine. Cupcake sized loaves are likely venturing into the area of a traditional “bun,” but that’s just fine. In fact, I have a post on baking buns on my recipes page, you might want to check that out for proofing times, baking temperatures, and much more. I would say with a dough like this you’d still need to steam the oven or cover the dough somehow during the first 20 minutes of the bake as is indicated in this post. You could divide these to any weight you’d like, but I probably wouldn’t go too small…
Hope that helps!
So after a couple of years being more artistic than scientific about this business, I am getting serious haha. Bought a proofer, getting batteries for my thermometer, paying attention to starter, more careful with pre-shaping/shaping. and so forth. This year has been one epic fail after another for some reason. So I am happy to post this loaf as a “new beginning.” Not perfect but a lot better than 2019’s crop so far! Thank you Maurizio for your painstaking devotion and sharing so much for your experience and knowledge.https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vEx38FdHTlA9zO4Cbyd1VxyB0XQ9YLff/view?usp=sharing
A few hours later, the smaller holes seemed to have shrinked!
Just want to add that because the dough seemed a bit sluggish, I let it proof for about 12 hours at 60℉ (the cooler part of my house) and then about 2 hours at 70℉ (the warm part of my house) before baking. (I have some ideas for fixing the sluggishness–going to get those batteries right now!)
Kim — definitely a great bake, nice work there! It’s certainly possible to bake amazing bread by “winging” every step of the process, but just a little added note taking, temperature obtaining, and observation really helped me increase the quality and consistency of my bakes. Worth it, I’d say!
I’m not sure why the holes shrank, but that might have just been normal compression of the loaf after baking. Do make sure to wait an hour or so after baking before you cut your loaf, otherwise the interior might not have fully set and it can lead to a dense, gummy interior.
Hope this helps and here’s to many more awesome bakes!
Hi! I am using this recipe and so far so good, until I added the levain and the water and salt. I forgot to measure out the levain and added all of it. The dough feels a bit watery, should I add more flour to balance it out? Thanks
It’ll probably be just fine as it is. I would not add more flour unless you’re still mixing. See how the dough feels after the last set of stretch and folds during bulk, if it’s still really weak and watery, give it one more set. Let me know how it goes!
It’ll probably be just fine as it is. I would not add more flour unless you’re still mixing. See how the dough feels after the last set of stretch and folds during bulk, if it’s still really weak and watery, give it one more set. Let me know how it goes!
Thanks for you advice- the bread came out and I liked it, the crust was not too thick (which was my main problem before). One loaf, the one that got a banneton, did rise nicely. The other one, that proofed in a plastic bowl, did not rise hardly at all. I followed the same process for both, so I’m figuring it’s the containers. Also the flatter one was the first one in the oven. Anyways, I’m really happy with this recipe, and I love the photos, those helped immensely. I have been following your starter maintenance routine, and that helped me revive my sourdough a lot! One question I do have, is this: when I shaped the loaves they would spread out quite a bit. They didn’t hold their shape at all. What do you think could be causing this? The only change I made to the recipe was to use all purpose flour instead of bread flour and a whole wheat flour instead of rye.
Glad to hear that! It might have also been shaping differences between the two, in combination with the proofing vessel differences. If the bowl is too large and the dough wasn’t shaped tightly enough, it’ll have a tendency to spread out and not spring up as much in the oven. The proofing basket helps keep shape!
It sounds like since your shaped dough spread quite a bit I’m guessing your dough didn’t have enough strength by the time you shaped. I’d either reduce the hydration of the recipe just a bit or add in another set or two of stretch and folds. Alternatively, you could knead the dough a bit right when your mixing, just a few minutes can help.
Changing from Bread to All-Purpose flour will definitely reduce the strength of the dough: BF typically has a higher protein percentage. If you switch to AP flour you’ll have to knead the dough a bit, do more stretch and folds, and/or reduce the hydration of the dough — all of these things have an effect on the dough strength.
I hope this helps!
Thanks! I wanted to wait and reply after I try again- this time I used bread flour, and it did seem to be stronger dough (the boules kept their shape after I shaped them and set them on the table for the resting part). The only question I have now is, why would the loaf collapse in one area when baking? It happened with both loaves. Only one half or so rose significantly, and the other side didn’t, or appears to have collapsed. The bread does taste good, and it’s still an improvement. Living and learning!
You bet. It might be from scoring in too deep or from uneven shaping… It’s hard to say. My guess with issues like this is usually shaping!
Hi! I am using this recipe and so far so good, until I added the levain and the water and salt. I forgot to measure out the levain and added all of it. The dough feels a bit watery, should I add more flour to balance it out? Thanks
Hi Maurizio I have just baked my first loaves of sourdough bread a couple of days ago. I shaped them differently, the boule I thought looked ok but the battard not so great. I used different baking methods for these, the boule was baked in a combo cooker iron pan and the battard on a pizza stone with the iron pan at the bottom to create steam. I was happy with the whole process all in all, even shaping the boule was ok-ish, I had more trouble shaping the battard. I was disappointed that the battard didn’t get an ear it just inflated like a balloon and at the bottom there was a big bump. Having said this the taste was amazing! And I was happy with the crumb it was open, glossy and chewy. I had big trouble trying to remove the parchment paper out of the boule, after this i dusted quite heavily with rice flour the battard and although it was easier to get it off, it was still a bit difficult.
Also wanted to ask if you can tell me how to clean a pizza stone? Mine has got some oils from when baking pizza and once it gets really hot it starts to smoke quite a bit.
In general I’m quite happy with my first attempt, i have posted my breads on instagram (my account is @bizcochopastries) but I though i’d like to get some feedback from you to see how can I improve. Thanks a lot for sharing your recipes and taking the time to reply to all of us I really think you should publish a book!
Glad things went pretty well, Myriam! It sounds like for your batard it might be a shaping issue, slightly under proofed dough, and/or not a deep enough score. If you haven’t yet seen my guide to shaping a batard, head there to take a look (there’s even a really great video to help). Even shaping is definitely important and takes practice!
Regarding the parchment paper: it might be the paper itself. Try a different brand (Reynolds high heat parchment paper is really great as is the generic brand from Costco).
I actually don’t usually clean my pizza stone, it’s really hard to do so. I scrub off any large pieces but so far as oils and liquids, they really get into the stone and I’ve never been able to remove them. Eventually the smoking stops and things will be just fine, though.
I’m really happy I could help! I’ll try to head to your account and give you some feedback. And yes, a book is something I’m thinking about — one day 🙂 Happy baking!
Thank you for your reply Maurizio, i will definitely get practicing my shaping! I have made a few of your recipes, the ciabatta is heading in the right direction (i want to believe!) and i think it’s my favourite so far as it’s so easy to make. I have made the Whole Grain Wheat and Spelt bread twice as well, the first time i thought the crust came out a bit too hard for my liking and it didn’t keep a domed shaped it got split on the top, the second time i used a more wholewheat flour (this time bread flour) and the shape was much better however the taste was almost like rye, i didn’t bake it for as long as per your instructions as i didn’t want to get such a hard crust but it was still a bit too hard, again it didn’t quite keep the domed shape, it split a bit on the side this time, the crumb was much softer though. Do you have a recipe for soft sandwich bread? I think that’s the only thing missing at home as i’ve done a bit of everything so far. Thanks!
I have several recipes here for sandwich bread, and coincidentally, I just posted my version of a pain de mie: a super soft sandwich bread that’s just sublime. I’d say give that a try if you’re looking for ultimate softness!
Thanks so much for this! I have a question though, when i baked my bread, the final product was dense on the bottom, and had large “mouse holes”. Have you run across this, and what is your suggestion for making sure there aren’t large cave like holes in my bread?
Hey there! Yes, that’s a very typical sign of under proofed dough. I’ll paste here what I told an earlier commenter: 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.
Maurizio, thank you so much for this amazing recipe! I tried the recipe twice (cut the recipe in half though): the first one was a huge hit among friends and coworkers (they even suggested that I should start an Instagram account or blog, and I told them the recipe is from you); I made the second one just to make sure I can really make this bread (not because of luck), burned the bread because my oven temp was messed up, but the bread still tasted amazing! Also last year I made my starter based on your blog. Anyways, this is just a long thank you note. If you ever publish a cookbook, I will get one for sure. Happy baking and many thanks!
That’s awesome! Very cool to hear that. You can definitely take credit for baking that bread for your friends, after all, it was your two hands that did the mixing, shaping, and baking 🙂
Thank you and happy baking!
Thank you Maurizio for such detailed information. I baked my first loaf this morning. Flavor is very good, crumb is excellent, but just didn’t get much rise.
After proofing in the fridge, are you supposed to let the dough come to room temperature before putting it in the oven?
No, I bake straight from the fridge. If you find the dough is under proofed (really dense) when you go to bake it you can definitely let it sit out for a while to ferment longer at room temp before you bake it. Just be sure to put it in the oven before it over proofs!
How do you tell if it is under or overproofed?
Thank you Maurizio for this amazing recipe! It helped me make my best sourdough so far! I have a very basic question because I’m new to sourdough and I want to understand the reasons for the various steps. Why is there no kneading step, other than the stretch and fold step? What effect does this have on the bread? What would change if I did knead it? Not complaining, I kind of loved that I didn’t have to knead it–just curious!
Right on, Lisa! It’s great to hear that. With the flour used in the recipe, the low-ish hydration, and the number of sets of stretch and fold during bulk, I don’t find kneading necessary — the dough will be plenty strong by the end of bulk fermentation. That said, if you want to knead you definitely can! You might find that the dough will be strong enough after the first or second set of stretch and folds during bulk and you can stop going them at that point.
The goal with baking any bread is to impart sufficient strength to the dough by the end of bulk fermentation (and, ultimately, all the way to baking). If you knead upfront then you can do fewer sets of stretch and folds during bulk. Vice versa, if you don’t knead, then you will likely need more sets.
Hope that helps and always remember, feel free to adjust things to make this your own bread, this is just a starting point. Happy baking!
I’ve made this recipe 3 times now. In the end, my bread has come out very tasty, with a pretty nice (albeit a bit denser) middle. But my question is this: after the bulk fermentation, my dough is VERY wet still. I’ve had to add a lot more flour just to be able to handle it. I think I’ve narrowed it down to a couple possible issues. 1) I’ve used all Jovial organic Einkorn flour rather than the different types of flour you show in the recipe; 2) I live at sea level and my humidity level is usually between 85% and 95%. Do you think either of these are causing my excessively wet dough? What corrections can you suggest?
Hey, Gina! Yes, einkorn will give you a very different bread than the recipe I’ve posted above. It’s a delicious flour, but requires some modification. I’d suggest you try to reduce the hydration of this recipe by 5% and see if that helps. Given your humidity I’m sure this will alleviate some of your issues with the wet dough.
Also, if you have traditional wheat lying around (like the flour types I specify in my post above), give that a try once or twice and see how things turn out. Happy baking, Gina!
Hi Maurizio ! I’ve been autolysing for two months :)) before I gained confidence to try to make sourdough. Honestly I was so intimidated by it. After reading your blog and few of the books you mentioned and few more that I bought ( the ferocious reader that I am ) I finally felt ready to explore the sourdough world. My starter didn’t give me any trouble at all and it got strong and ready at day ten. My husband named it Hercules :)) And that was my biggest fear, if I’d be able to recognize if it’s ready to build a levain. Today I made my third loaf with your beginner’s recipe and I was finally satisfied with it. It turned out fantastic. I am beyond thrilled. I’ll share it on Instagram. I want to thank you for sharing your bread wisdom with all of us and like you emphasize to treat temperature as an ingredient, I treat your words as ingredients as well. Thank you ! I also made your banana bread and my husband went crazy about it:)) Best regards !
That’s really, really great to hear Adelina! Happy that your starter is alive and well and you’re baking up some delicious bread in your home kitchen — there’s really nothing like it, right? Happy baking to you and Hercules!
Hey Maurizio! My starter is going and I will begin baking in a couple days… I have a cast iron pan but not the deeper top lid to the create the moisture… is there a way to bake without the combo cooker? like placing a pan with water in the oven? if so does that change the temperature and time of the bake? Thank you!
Hey, Marilyn! Sorry for the delay. You could use some elements from my oven steaming method to steam your oven without a Dutch oven. If you don’t want to use the pan with lava rocks that’s ok, even just a pan in there where you pour ample boiling water into will work super well!
Hi Maurizio! Thank you for this amazing blog. Ever since I started baking my own sourdough bread 6 months ago I have only used your recipies. So ofc, I have made a small donation. I have some questions that I hope you can help me out with:
– Can I use a standmixer for this recipe? If so, how should I go by it?
– Would you suggest me to use a stand mixer or go by hand? What are the pros/cons?
– I have tried this recipe maybe ten times, but I have never achieved the same volume as you. My bread rises in the bulk fermantation, also overnight in the fridge. But once I take it out from the proofing basket, it collapses a bit. I don’t make the cut in the bread, could this be the explanation to my low volume? I always add more flour to the recipe that you do in when mixing the leaven in – otherwise it is too soft and I find it difficult to work with. Should I add more?
Look forward the hearing from you 🙂
You’re very welcome, glad you’re finding it useful! Thank you so much for the contribution as well, it really means a lot to me and helps keep this site going 🙂
Answers:
– Yes, you can definitely use a stand mixer. Just mix until the dough smooths out and starts to ball up around the hook. You don’t want to mix to full “windowpane” by any means, I’d say moderate mixing. Because we’re giving the dough stretch and folds during bulk fermentation we will finish strengthening the dough there and don’t want to over mix in the mixer.
– Either mixer or by hand works, it’s really up to you. The machine will be more efficient and can potentially incorporate more air into the dough (depending on your mixer) which can open the interior up a bit, but it’s not mandatory. The dough you see in this post was all mixed by hand.
– It sounds like you could try reducing the water 2-5% and see if that helps you get more volume. It might also depend on the flour you’re using. If you have access to a higher protein flour (perhaps 13% protein), try using some of that in the mix as well. This will help give your dough more structure. Finally, you could try mixing just a bit longer in the machine OR give it one more set of stretch and folds.
Hope this helps, sorry for the delay!
Sourdough(s) done. Here is the crumb. BIG HOLES and dense texture. Very moist and doughy on the inside, maybe undercooked but boy did the outside start browning up.
One thing I will say is that at the during the dough mixing, I def didn’t get as wet a consistency as you have there. Also during the long fridge proof I got very little rise. I also did some slap folds when bulk fermentation started. Not a bread expert enough to know what might have contributed to this overall. Seems like a fairly good height though. Thats something right? But a bit sad.
https://imgur.com/gallery/HeUp8JB
Hey, Daniel. Based on the description and picture of your bread it could be that it was 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.
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.
Give it another go with attention to dough temperature (try to hit the temps I specify above in the post) and give the dough the time it needs in bulk fermentation. Let me know how it goes!
Hi Daniel, just wondering how can I upload an image here?
I love your blog! I’ve been trying out a couple of your recipes now and sometimes my bread will have a giant cave in the middle when I cut in half. What could cause this? over proof? under? too much water? too little?
Glad to hear that, Cecilia! Most likely it’s due to under proofed dough, but it could also be a shaping issue. I’d first take a look at the strength of my starter (make sure it’s nice and strong and use it when it’s mature) and try to nail the final dough temperature listed in the recipe. From there, give the dough the time it needs in bulk until you see it look similar to my photos above. You want it to smooth out, become elastic when you tug on the dough, and have risen considerably. This is very important! Try to keep as many things consistent as possible each bake and just change one thing at a time — start with increasing bulk a bit and perhaps let the dough sit out after you shape it for a little longer (15-30m) before sticking it in the fridge. Hope this helps!
That’s pretty typical — home fridges are cold enough to almost slow all activity. Yes, try leaving your dough out 15-30 minutes before placing it in the fridge to give it some more warm fermentation time.
Levain is maturing at the moment. I’m wondering though. As a first attempt, I cant for the life of me see the need (we’re not endless bread eaters) needing 2 loaves. If I want to give my first run on a single loaf, can I simply cut ingredients of the final dough in half?
I thought I read somewhere why many sourdough recipes recommend 2 loaves but can’t remember. Do these loaves freeze well?
Yes, that’s right, you can simply cut the final dough mix in half (be sure to only use half the levain, then!).
These do freeze well! I typically wrap an entire loaf several times in plastic wrap and then place it into a freezer ziplock. When I want to eat it I’ll take it out the night before and let it thaw in the fridge. Then, you could pop it into the oven to warm up the next day or slice and toast the slices.
If you plan to eat it somewhat in the near term, you could slice the entire loaf then place the slices in a freezer ziplock bag. Using a toaster (like this awesome toaster from Breville) you can thaw and toast the slices in one step and they come out fantastic.
Hope that helps and happy baking, Daniel.
Hey Maurizio! I came across your blog post on beginning a sour dough starter many months ago. This past November I finally got around to starting one. I put it away for about 5 weeks and brought it back to life this past week. Today I baked my first two sour dough loaves ever! I cannot tell you how valuable your tutorials and recipes have been. The loaves turned out picture worthy and I will be posting them on my blog sometime soon. One question though. After a total of 45 to 47 minutes baking, they seemed a little too moist inside. Any suggestions on what may be the problem (assuming it is a problem) and what changes I might try when I make my next loaves.
Hey, Mary! Happy to hear your starter is performing well and your bakes are turning out great.
If you have an instant read thermometer, poke your loaves when you think they’re done and ensure the internal temp is above 208°F or so — you definitely want to be sure they’re fully baked out so they’re not gummy.
If the hydration is too high for your flour it can lead to an overly wet or gummy interior. If the dough feels “soupy” or very “slack” then try pulling back the water percentage by 5% and see if that helps.
If your loaf is under proofed then this will typically lead to a gummy or “wet” textured interior. Make sure your starter and levain are very vigorous and strong when you use them. This is very important! From there, make sure to bulk ferment your dough fully (use the images you see in my posts to guide you on what the dough should look/feel like). You want the dough to be alive and aerated before you divide and shape. From there, a full and complete proof is also very important.
Just a few suggestions there! Let me know how the next bake goes — happy baking 🙂
Thanks so much Maurizio! Those are all good things to keep in mind. I think the actual problem was that I was so anxious to taste the bread, I cut it too soon. A couple hours later and the texture of the finished bread was perfect. Your step-by-step guides are invaluable for beginner sourdough bread bakers.
Yes, that will definitely do it. While it’s awesome to eat warm, fresh bread from the oven, letting it sit a bit helps it “set” and avoid an overly gummy interior. Happy to help and enjoy, Mary!
Thanks for creating this bread baking resource for the community, Maurizio. I’m working my way through your recipes and it’s been a lot of fun (really enjoyed the pretzel recipe). Just have two questions for you (or anyone else):
1. Baking temp — You emphasize that you should adjust the oven temp based on your location, elevation, etc. If my oven can reach 550 degree F is that worth trying based on your experience? I have seen most recipes on your site and others that go up to 475-500 degrees for the first 20 minutes but not higher.
2. Cold bulk fermentation — I typically put my dough in the fridge after the bulk fermentation process (3-4 hours with folds) for 8-12 hours, and then divide/preshape, and then put it back in the fridge for 12-24 hours for the final proof before baking. Given that the dough is fermenting (slowly, and in the cold) the whole time, does it matter when you divide/preshape it?
Thanks!
James
You’re very welcome, James! Answers:
1. If you’re using a baking stone or Baking Steel I find 550°F too hot. My oven can also go this high, but I choose not to push it that far, I’ve scorched the bottom of my loaves a few times this way. There may be some breads (like 100% whole wheat) that might benefit from an extra blast in the very beginning, but that’ll take some experimentation on your part.
2. With more country style bread that schedule will work just fine — and ultimately if your outcome is good, then that works! For breads like baguette and ciabatta, I don’t like to retard (cold proof) the dough as I find it tends to lend a slightly thicker crust than I like.
Hope this helps and happy baking, James!
I am confused. In your reply you say that you dont like to (cold proof) yet the directions above call for cold proof overnight in the fridge. Please explain. I might be missing something.
Jim — sorry about that. I meant to say with bread like baguettes and ciabatta, I don’t like to cold proof the dough in shape because they form a thicker crust than I like. With those doughs I perform a cold bulk fermentation, and then do a warm proof on the counter.
Hi Maurizio,
First of all, thank you so much for the inspiring work on the website. It has gotten me really excited about baking bread!
I am looking for some advice after giving this recipe a shot today. Unfortunately I didn’t get much rise during my bulk fermentation yesterday, so I ended up with a pretty dense loaf. Trying to figure out the likely culprit (or culprits) for this at the moment.
Things that did go as roughly expected:
– Following along with your instructions, my starter seems to be in okay shape, it rises (roughly doubling) and falls on a 12 hour schedule. I have been fairly good about keeping it fed on time, though admittedly not perfect with life getting in the way. I have been keeping the starter in my oven with the light on and the door cracked, which seems to keep things at a pretty steady 80F-85F, don’t know if this is too hot.
Things that could have gone better:
– My levain didn’t show much activity in the 5-6 hour window you described, so I let it go for another hour (~7 hours total). Realizing after the fact that this was likely a mistake, as I probably didn’t catch the cultures at their peak. In this case would it have been better just to use the levain at the described time, regardless of the signs of activity?
– My bulk fermentation didn’t yield much rise in the dough. My FDT ended up a little low, around 75F so I let the bulk go for 4.5 hours as you mentioned in your write up on dough temperature, but to little avail.
If you have any suggestions, that would be amazing! I am excited to improve.
Thanks again!
_noah
Right on, glad to hear that Noah!
– I definitely do not like to take my starter above 85°F, and rarely do I go much above 80°F. I doubt it would hurt things (unless it really got hot), but that’s the max I like to go.
– No, you should definitely adjust things in the moment: if your starter/levain looks sluggish, give it more time (what you did was correct). Conversely, if it’s moving super fast and has fallen in the jar, get mixing ASAP. As they say, “watch the dough not the clock” 🙂
– Sounds like you made the right move with bulk as well. You might have gone too far, but it’s hard for me to say. If you don’t see the dough smooth out, get strength, and show signs of strong fermentation give it more time (as you did).
If you didn’t get a lot of rise in the oven it might be from a very under proofed dough (I find it hard to believe given your temps and your description), a dough that wasn’t strong enough and spread in the oven, or over proofed dough.
So in the end, adjustments are definitely good, in fact, they’re usually needed. My biggest advice here is to try and repeat everything and keep as many things consistent as possible from bake-to-bake. Change just one thing each time and see how it changes the outcome.
Let me know how the next attempt goes!