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!
3,324 Comments
Hi Maurizio,
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/45964/fresh-oven
This is my beginner’s sourdough bread. It’s a good result and next weekend I’ll bake this bread again!
Thanks!
WOW that looks fantastic! Really nice work 😀
Hello Maurizio,
I’m new to here and baking sourdough bread. I’ve just baked bread with my own sourdough starter since April. Yesterday I tried your beginner’s recipe which is very helpful especially the time table. I haven’t got the hang of high hydration dough and 78% is too high for me so I decreased the hydration to 70%. My difficulty is pre-shape! My hands and bench knife always dither over the wobbly dough! Are there any good tips for beginners to do pre-shape?
Now the dough is in the oven! Seems to have good oven spring!
I want to have fresh bread at lunch time so your time table very suits my weekend plan.
Thank you very much!
Ako
I plan to have some videos up for each of these steps soon, that will definitely make things more clear. For pre-shape I like to gently dump out the mass of dough into the counter and then use the bench knife as much as possible while only using my flour-dusted hand when needed. I cut and push the dough with the knife and then using my other hand and the knife gently guide the dough around and around to build tension. Use a little more flour on you hands if necessary!
Your bread sure turned out nice so I’d say you’re doing really well!
The video is what I need. Repeatedly watching the hands and bench knife handling the dough is for me very helpful. Please do make some videos!
Yesterday I found when handling the dough the bench knife needs more than hands and I haven’t got the bench knife skill yet.
I’ll be working on those videos very soon 🙂
Yes it takes quite a bit of practice and as you practice your confidence and ability will grow!
Keep practicing and happy baking!
The crumb of my beginner’s sourdough bread turned out to be the best one I’ve ever done! So I’ve just started doing Instagram:)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGBS7hQINNn/?taken-by=helloiamako
Again, thank you very much for your precise instructions.
That’s great! I’m so glad I could help 😀
Hi Maurizio,
I’m looking forward to the videos as well. Thanks!
Coming soon!
Hello Maurizio,
I’m a first timer in sourdough. Glad I found your website. You explain it so well. I cant wait to bake this tomorrow morning. But , can I bake this with home-steam-oven method ? Is there any difference in crust between steam oven method and combo cooker method ? Thank you so much.
You can definitely bake this either way, in a combo cooker or using my home steaming method explained on my site. I find the combo cooker is easier when you’re just starting out and it gives really great results. It will color the bottom of your loaf a tad more but not a problem. I like my other method as I can do larger loaves and make different shapes such as longer batards. So yea, either way will work well!
At what point do you recommend adding flavors and aromatics like walnuts or herbs?
I’ve played around with this quite a bit and I usually either add it right before bulk fermentation, in my second phase of mixing, or right after the second set of stretch and folds. Honestly I think either way works really well, if you do it earlier you can mix things in a bit easier but later could potentially help prevent destroying the gluten network you’ve spent time and energy building through mixing.
I usually decide based on the ingredient I’m adding in: porridge (like oats or polenta) goes in early but more “harsh” ingredients like nuts go in later. As far as oils (like walnut oil or olive oil) I feel like adding these in at any time is fine.
Hope that helps!
Thank you!! It does help. By the way this beginner sourdough post has been so super helpful to me as I start to get into it. I’ve already played around with percentages keeping your base recipe and method and it works really great. Just did an 85% hydration 90% whole wheat (half of which was whole wheat bread flour) 10% buckwheat and it worked beautifully. My husbands fave so far. Next I want to go back to mostly white bread flour and incorporate some black garlic I just made, maybe with walnuts or dry cured black olives. Having so much fun with it!
So happy to hear that! I really love the flavor of buckwheat, adds a nice earthiness to the bread and that black garlic concoction sounds awesome! You’re right though, endless possibilities and so fun 🙂
Another question for you- when adding oils or something on the wetter side like nut butter, or honey – how do you adjust the percentages? Or do you? Would you lower hydration to allow for a wet flavoring ingredient or just go for it starting with, say, 50g per base recipe? I am wanting to do a sesame sourdough using tahini and sesame seeds. Thanks again 🙂
When adding in small amounts of oils and nuts I don’t adjust the hydration or flour percentages at all — many bakers take this approach. They are considered “add-ins” and not part of the base formula. I still list them here on my site in terms of baker’s percentages just so readers get a feel for how much is added.
Thank you for this and everything on your site- I so appreciate the time and detail, and that you are kind enough to respond to so many questions!
I have been reading and researching for my first sourdough starter for about a week now (and non-stop for the past 5 hours), and will be creating my first starter when my flour arrives on Monday!
If all goes well, that will put me on schedule for my first bake two weeks from now. I’ll be using organic sprouted white wheat flour and arrowhead mills organic rye, plus I have some whole wheat already on hand (can’t remember the brand). I was going to use the organic sprouted white wheat to replace the bread flour in your formula- wonder if you can anticipate any problems with that?
I just purchased a few vitals missing from my kitchen, but unfortunately made and fulfilled my list before finding your site. I bought a commercial-grade baking sheet in lieu of a stone (cheaper, needed for other things as my current ones are cheap and awful) and had read that I could use this with a pan of water in the oven for steaming… I know this won’t be the same, but will it still work with this recipe? Plan to buy the Lodge combo you recommended ASAP, but as a teacher heading into a no-pay summer, I have to watch my spending!
Thanks again for this wonderful blog!
You’re very welcome, Laura! Really glad you’re following along 🙂
I’m not intimately familiar with working with sprouted flour (coming soon!) so I don’t know all the characteristics of it — besides I’ve read it really increases fermentation rates and the health benefits. I’d say go ahead and use it, or perhaps some smaller percentage, and see how it turns out! I’m sure it’ll be delicious, just keep an eye on your dough as it might move along faster than the times I’ve listed in my recipes.
Your baking sheet will work just fine! Use what you have and you’ll get great bread, no worries about spending any more than needed.
Let me know if you have any more questions and let me know how things turn out, today is the day for you to get started!
Happy baking 🙂
I can’t wait to try this recipe. The only problem – I don’t have a Dutch oven, and I can’t afford one at the moment. I know you said use a stainless steel bowl, but that worries me. Could I just use the preheated baking stone and hope for the best? Will it not rise or get a nice crust without something on top?
Woops – one more question. Do you think I could somehow make the bulk fermentation (with the 3 stretch & folds) go a bit faster using the proofer in my bakery?
You can speed up bulk by increasing the ambient temperature at which your dough is resting. I usually target 80ºF but you could push it up to 82-84ºF and see how it does, it might complete around 3 hours at this temperature.
Alternatively you could also mix your dough with warmer water, say around 100ºF (don’t go too much higher than that, definitely not over 110ºF) to really shock things and get it moving.
You’ll have to experiment with these temps and times to suit your schedule but you get the gist! I hope that helps, let me know if you have any more questions.
Happy baking, Jenna!
Thank you!! Is using a metal mixing bowl really oven safe? I’ve been tempted to try but a bit nervous…
I’ve never personally used a stainless steel bowl but I know others have. Maybe if you pick one up at the store or on Amazon it’ll list the max temperature on it?
Absolutely! You’ll still get incredible sourdough — it may not rise as high as possible and it may have a little more of a dull crust but those things are no big deal at all. Your bread will turn out awesome.
Hello Maurizio,
Thank you so much for your blog, and for this detailed article «Beginner’s Sourdough Bread». It was so helpful! I read this article several times before attempting to do the recipe, yesterday, on Sunday. I am new to sourdough baking, and your recipe was my fourth attempt at making sourdough bread (the three other recipes I tried before were not very successful).
I have a very active rye sourdough starter, which rises easily (doubles volume in about 6 hours, and triples if I wait longer). I followed your recipe step by step, carefully measuring the ingredients in grams. I used Robin Hood white bread flour (a Canadian flour), and an organic integral stoneground wheat flour. During mixing, the dough looked very runny and wet sloppy, so I added about 1 tablespoon white bread flour (I didn’t measure exactly in grams for this 1 tablespoon addition.) My final dough temperature was 78/79ºF.
I performed 3 sets of stretch and folds, and let the dough bulk ferment for a total of 4h30. After bulk fermentation, dough had raised nicely, and there were some bubbles on top.
When I preshaped, and then shaped the dough, it was sloppy and spread a lot, and didn’t hold shape. I tried to shape the dough the best I could, and placed it in a towel-lined pyrex bowl.
For the final proofing, I recided to let the dough rise at room temperature, because I wanted to bake the bread during the evening. After about 3 hours, the volume of the dough had nearly doubled, and the poke test looked good.
When I flipped the dough on the parchment paper (on the pizza peel), immediately the loaf spread quite a lot. I quickly scored it and placed it in my Dutch Oven, and baked following the instructions on your website.
The final bread is not bad. The middle of the crumb is a little more dense and sligthly humid (the inner temperature was 210ºF, but I wonder if I should have left the loaf to bake a few minutes longer…). But overall, the taste is great, the crust is thin and crisp, and the crumb is tender, not heavy, and filled with little holes. Definitely my best sourdough bread so far.
Here is a picture of my bread:
https://goo.gl/X2S7Uo
However, I was disappointed to see that my loaf did not rise at all during baking, it had no oven spring at all… The final, baked loaf is exactly the same height as the uncooked dough that I placed in the Dutch oven. The final loaf of bread is quite flat… Any clues why my loaf didn’t rise in the oven?
I also wonder why my dough didn’t hold its shape. Maybe next time I should reduce the water in the recipe? What do you think?
Thank you!
Thanks for sending over that picture and detailed description, that helps a lot! To me it looks like your dough was over-hydrated, as you guessed. It looks like you have strong fermentation and I’d guess with less water in the mix your bread will turn out really nice.
Next time try reducing the water used by 10-15% and see how it turns out. The dough should definitely spread less and when you bake the interior won’t be so moist. I’m pretty confident this change will fix your issue!
Let me know how it goes — happy baking, Deb!
Thank you so much for your answer! I will try again this Sunday with 10-15% less water. I’ll let you know how it goes. Thanks again!
Hi Maurzio, thank you so much for your posts. They’ve been incredibly helpful in helping me wrap my head around baking my first sourdough loaf. I’m planning to bake this recipe for the first time and I had a couple questions.
What is the reason for leaving the cover to the combo cooker in the oven?
For baking the second loaf, do I stagger taking out the second loaf from the fridge?
You’re welcome, Kelsey! You don’t have to leave the cover of the combo cooker in the oven, but I do because I find it adds a little more mass to retain heat when I open and close the door. This way even when I open the door to the oven it quickly gets back up to temperature since there is a massively hot cast iron lid in there. Optional.
Yes, leave the second loaf in the fridge and take it out when your oven is back up to the preheated temp, then proceed just as the first.
Great questions! Happy baking 🙂
Hi Maurizio – just a quick question (sorry if you’ve already answered below, but I’m just about to start my new levain after feeding starter for the last 48 hrs). During the mixing of the flour stage to autolysing, how do you get your flour + levain + salt and the extra 50g water to mix in thoroughly? And is there such thing as overmixing? Do you add salt to the already mixed flour, then water then levain? I find it bit tricky to get my dough well combined during that stage, and some bits are softer than others? Thank you! Lyn
I do this initial mixing with my hand and sort of “pincer” the ingredients together along a line, and then fold one side over and repeat. This is a good way to get everything incorporated. Have a look up in my timeline under the “3. Mix – 1:00 p.m.” section, you can see the 4 pictures displaying my mixing technique.
There is such a thing as overmixing, but it’s very, very hard to do when mixing by hand. I wouldn’t be too worried about it.
It depends on the bread but for this recipe I add the salt, levain and reserved water together before mixing. Once you add all these things you really have to work the dough with your hand to get it all incorporated thoroughly. If you find the salt hard to incorporate you can dissolve it into the reserved water before pouring on top of your levain and dough.
I hope that helps, let me know if you have any more questions!
Thanks Maurizio! I will try that. I find that my levain needs longer than the 5-6 hrs. Not sure if it is the flour I’m using but still playing around with timing to get it to the right bubbly-ness. And that’s with a strong starter fed well over a couple of days…
And that’s totally fine! Adjusting to your individual starter (and conditions) is a good sign you’re doing the right thing — there’s no set timetable just read the signs (and smells) and adjust your feeding to suit. Good luck!
Thanks so much for the comments, I really appreciate that!
I was originally going to respond saying it’s possible your dough overproofed, if it goes too far (and this is easy to do with that much whole wheat and T70 — I find the T70 to really speed up fermentation!) you’ll get that spreading on the counter when you go to load them into your oven. From the description of your “poke” test though, it sounds like the dough was not overproofed. Keep an eye on this though and if my suggestion below doesnt help try to cut back on your proof time as well.
I would suggest you try to add a little more strength to your dough during mixing and/or bulk fermentation. Try adding 2 more sets of stretch/fold during bulk (really vigorous stretching and folding at the beginning), this should help prevent the dough from spreading so much after your preshape. I think what Chad Robertson describes in his book Tartine is important: at the end of preshape you want the dough to have really defined edges on your counter, it shouldn’t spread out so it looks like a flat pancake — if so then you need to either reduce hydration or add more strength to your dough.
I hope that helps, let me know if these suggestions work out!
Fantastic! Glad to hear it. T70 is one of my favorite flours to work with, such good taste and great performance. Have fun 🙂
Hello Maurizio! So this is my second time trying this recipe, albeit the small modifications. Taste is phenomenal. Crust is phenomenal. Both times, however, I have ended up with a very dense crumb with a few large bubbles. The modifications are the following: 1). all rye starter 2). Instead of Bob’s Red Mill Artisan Bread Flour, I used Bob’s Red Mill organic all purpose 3). I let the levain go for 8-9 hours (it expanded to its peak mixed after the autolyze close to 78 degrees F). Everything else was the same. 4 hour bulk ferment with 3 stretch folds at 30min intervals (got good signs of rising and bubbles here) at 80 degrees F. 16 hour proof in the fridge. Thoughts on why I am getting all that density? My starter is quite active on two a day feedings. The first time I thought this was the problem because the first bake was after 6 days. Second bake was after 12 days. Thoughts? Thanks so much.
Really glad to hear that, Anthony! It could be that your all purpose flour needs more strengthening, it has a lower protein percentage than “bread” flour. Try giving your dough 2 more sets of stretch and folds during bulk fermentation (so a total of 5 sets). Everything else sounds good to me, just make sure your levain is used around when it peaks (sounds like you’re doing that). As long as your starter is rising and falling predictably it should be strong enough to bake with, and it sounds like it is by your description of bulk fermentation with bubbles and rise.
Try a few more sets of stretch and fold with that all purpose flour and see if that helps open it up some more!
Thank you so much! Got a much better loaf this go around. Used a bread flour this time, did more stretch folds, a bit longer bulk, and I mixed the dough using the slap folds you had in one of your other posts. Appreciate your work and advice! Now that I am figuring out my process and I have had success, I am also looking to refine my ingredients from supermarket products to a good white bread flour and whole wheat bread flour. I called and talked to the folks at central milling. They recommended their organic artisan bakers plus (malted) and their T85 malted whole wheat flour. Have you used these? How was the performance? I am wanting to make a daily eater for my family and friends probably somewhere around 8-5% whole wheat. The last batch I did was more like 20% whole wheat. Thoughts? I appreciate your devotion to answering all these comments. Cao! (my family is originally from Alife which is about an hour and half north of Naples)
That’s fantastic news! Glad that last bake went so well.
I highly recommend Central Milling’s Artisan Bakers Craft (Plus) flour, it’s really good stuff. T85 is also one of my current favorites, it has an incredible taste (it contains more of the bran/germ than more white flour) and great performance. You cannot go wrong with those two flour choices. If you want to shoot for 5-10% whole grain in your dough with those two flours use mostly ABC with about 20% T85 (T85 is kind of like half white flour half whole wheat).
I haven’t yet been to Naples but it’s high on my list of places to go! Most of my family is in the south (near Brindisi) and some up north in Bologna. I love Italy! Ciao for now 🙂
Hi Maurizio, first of all thanks for writing these detailed instructions!
I tried to bake this bread yesterday, but the dough was really way to sloppy to handle. I did all required folds, but I didn’t manage to get the dough any firmer. When I left it to rest, it just spread out instead of staying in a nice shape. I ended up pouring it in a tin bread from, but it didn’t bake really well, no oven spring at all. I do live in Europe (Belgium), and read that there flour here can typically hold less water than American flours. Do you have any experience with this?
Hi, Steven! It sounds like a case of over-hydrating your flour. I’m surprised by this but again, every location has different flour and a different environment. I would recommend you try to reduce hydration significantly, perhaps by about 10% (try 627g water for the Dough Formula mix). This has happened to me plenty of times, usually a case of too much water for the flour to handle, as you guessed! Let me know how it goes, happy baking Steven!
Maurizio, thanks for the response! I tried making another loaf yesterday, this time decreasing the amount of water to 310 grams (I halved all of the ingredients). This morning, when I tried to shape it, it was still as liquid as the previous one. Actually, I didn’t even try to bake it, and just threw away the dough. One thing I forgot to mention in my previous post, is that I’m using spelt flour. I’ve searched around a bit, and found one site that recommended to decrease the water by as much as 10%-15%. So I’ll try reducing the water even further, to around 600 grams this time. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Ah sorry to hear about that Steven! I recently posted a spelt recipe here at my site and I warn readers about the same thing! Spelt does not hold onto water as well as traditional wheat does, be careful with that. Let me know how it goes next time with reduce hydration (even further). Happy baking 🙂
Well, I’m giving it another try, I’ve reduced the H2O to 255 grams (56% Hydration). It’s currently proofing in the fridge, and it’s the first time I’ve even bothered to put it in a banneton. But it still didn’t hold its shape well while resting after shaping it. It started as nice round dome shape, but ended a lot flatter even after letting it rest for 30 minutes. Still better than the previous one, which was more like a batter than a dough. Still, I’m not sure if how it will hold up when I remove if from the banneton tomorrow morning. Today, my Emile Henry bread cloche arrived, I can’t wait to give that a try first thing tomorrow morning! Let’s hope the dough doesn’t stick to the banneton.
I saw your spelt receipt yesterday, so I was eager to read it. But when I saw the hydration you use (85%!), there’s no way that would work with the flour I have. I think even the 56% I’m using now is a bit too much.
I couldn’t wait until tomorrow, so I baked it already, and it came out quite nice! http://twitter.com/sdehandt/status/725796606902153216/photo/1. A bit too much flour, but it’s the first time I’m using the banneton, so I wanted to be sure the dough wouldn’t stick. And now the hard part: letting it cool before tasting it… 🙂
Hah! Excellent, your bread looks great! I’m sure it tasted amazing 🙂 Yeah the hydration I’m using for my spelt loaf is so high mostly because the spelt flour is milled hours before using it, and it’s able to take on a little bit more water. It sounds like you might have found the sweet spot anyways!
Hi Maurizio, many thanks for this, it’s a great guide. I just made this bread and it’s delicious, but I have a problem when I bake that I never get a good oven rise. My starter is very active but my levain never passes the float test. I live in Asia. Do you think it’s possible that the local wild yeasts just aren’t strong enough to do the job?
You’re very welcome, thanks for the comments! I do not think it has anything to do with your locale. It’s fine if your levain doesn’t pass the float test, this isn’t a 100% reliable method, but it usually helps out. If you followed my guide exactly then the float test should pass, especially if you use the same types of flours I used here (if you make your levain with a significant portion of rye flour, for example, it would never pass the float test).
It could be that your levain is not quite yet mature enough to use and thus the sinking. Does it show significant bubbling around the sides and top? That aeration is what helps it float in water, you want it to have risen quite a bit and start to smell like ripe fruit — a little sour but not too much.
Check out my guide on starter maintenance, if you haven’t yet, which shows you what it should look like when it’s at its “peak”, which is exactly how you want your levain to look and smell.
Many thanks for the reply. My starter is a year old. I brought it over from Ireland. The very first loaf I made with it six months ago rose beautifully, but none have risen much since. I’ve switched to bottled mineral water and it made no difference. I followed your timings exactly and the levain failed the float test, so I gave it another hour, still with no results. I don’t use rye flour, the starter is fed with organic wholemeal and for the levain and bread I use a mixture of organic wholemeal and organic white bread flour. I’m stumped as to what the problem is.
Does your starter rise and fall predictably? You need this to happen for it to be strong enough to bake with. Make sure you’re feeding it on a schedule with the same flour and tap water (good enough to drink is good enough to use, don’t use mineral water) and try to keep at a temperature around 75ºF minimum. Once your starter is rising to a peak at around the same time each day (that’s when you should feed it) it’s strong enough to use!
Maurizio, you are officially the patron saint of sourdough.
Your last comment above made me think, maybe I’m keeping my starter in the fridge too much? I took it out & fed it at room temperature on a regular schedule for a few days, and it made a big difference. I also reduced the hydration to try to stop the loaf from spreading.
Your instructions on pre-shaping and shaping in this recipe are superb, I never really understood what to do until I read your descriptions, and they work. At the last minute I chickened out, and even though I had a nice boule I put it in a tin for the final retarded fermentation. Next time I’ll be braver, because I got a great loaf with lots of oven spring. I am delighted!
Thank you so much for this recipe and your very helpful comments. I’ve learned so much from your responses to others, too.
PS Still failed the float test, but didn’t seem to matter!
You’re very welcome, glad my comments have helped! Yes, you’ll definitely notice quite a bit more activity with your starter on the counter instead of in the fridge. The cold temperatures of your refrigerator will slow fermentation down significantly. In the future I hope to put up videos of shaping and other parts of the process, that should help significantly.
Happy baking!
My levain does not look nearly as active as this but I thought my starter was fairly strong. We shall see how it turns out.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEjiMk8FicM/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEjkOhgliRX/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEjka7vliR5/
Definitely did not get as much rise as yours did but I’m not unhappy with it by any means.
Camron, your bread looks great! For your first attempt that’s really nice. I’d say your dough could use a bit more fermentation, make sure during your bulk fermentation step your dough sits around 78-80ºF if that’s possible, if not extend bulk another 1/2 hour or 1 hour. That will help increase fermentation activity and time, respectively.
Great work!
I think the 2nd loaf turned out better. While the rise was kind of lacking, at least the oven spring was decent to balance out. The only real difference was slicing the box pattern instead of the single slit in the middle and the additional couple of hours in the fridge waiting to be baked.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEoD_EqFiYN/
I was able to keep it between 77 and 80 degrees during bulk using a space heater in my office but I think maybe my starter just needs to mature a little more also. I’ll keep up with three feedings per day for a week and see how it goes.
I’ll also give additional time a shot next time. The flavor is too good for there not to be a next time!
Looking great! Yes, I think that extra fridge time really helped, that added fermentation time is evident. You could try letting your dough sit out 30m-1h more on the counter after shaping but before placing into the fridge. This will give fermentation a little more time as well. Happy baking!
Thanks in advance for this painstakingly detailed tutorial on sourdough basics! I have studied it in detail and jumped in to the whole process with gusto. I am now at the end of Step 7 – my dough has been resting in the bowl for hours. (It didn’t rise nearly as much as yours did but I do see some bubble activity on the top.) However, I am stuck at step 8 because I don’t have a combo cooker or dutch oven, and I doubt my stainless steel mixing bowl would withstand 500F in the oven. Is there a simple, easy, and inexpensive hack for the oven set-up? Can I tent the dough with aluminum foil, and if so, is there a recommended technique for doing it? If not, what should I do with the dough – send it the way of the discarded sourdough starter (compost)?! Thank you very much for any suggestions you can offer!
I tried this recipe without a dutch oven and it turned out pretty good, though the crust wasn’t perfect.
Just bake on parchment paper in a flat cast iron pan or an oven tray. It’ll still taste pretty great, and you can work on the crust the next time.
You’re very welcome! As Henrik mentioned you can certainly just bake your dough without a Dutch oven or steam, it just wont rise quite as high. It’ll still be delicious!
Thank you so much for this resource — it’s by leaps and bounds the best I’ve found. Your tips and photography are so helpful and appreciated!
My bread didn’t work out, and I thought you might have some tips.
I think I have a pretty active sourdough starter, using the recipe and techniques you described and having fed it as needed for a couple weeks (APF and rye). I prepared the levain, and it seemed okay; same for the autolyse. But I didn’t get much leavening or bubbling during the bulk fermentation — a little activity, and a little sourness, but no significant proofing and no bubbling around the edges, as you describe and show above. Do you think I got it a bit too warm? (It was originally a little cool (I keep a cool house), so I placed a heating pad set on low on the top of the fermenting bowl (with a clean dish towel and some space below it).) Even though it looked like a failure, I went ahead and shaped the dough and refrigerated it as recommended, just for the practice and to see what would happen, and here are the results: decent flavor and some stretchy gluten activity, and some leavening when heated (I experimented with throwing it on a hot skillet, and it definitely proofs up), but overall no real bubbling or proofing in the fridge and no airiness.
Do you have any thoughts? I would love to try again this weekend! Thank you!
Thanks, I appreciate that!
It’s possible it was too warm for too long but during bulk you would have seen some rise, bubbles and activity in the dough during that time. If the heat was far too much then it’s possible you killed the yeast/bacteria present in your levain but it would have to be pretty hot to do that… I believe in excess of 110ºF.
Did you see activity in your levain? Did you try doing the “float test” to see if it was ready to bake with? Take a little of your levain and drop it into a lukewarm glass of water to see if it floats, if it does then it’s ready to bake with, if not give it a few more hours.
My guess is you didn’t have enough fermentation in your dough. The fact that it poofed up when heated is a good sign, it means there’s some activity but I’m guessing not enough. Make sure your levain passes the float test and then look for the signs I describe in the post above for your bulk fermentation, you want to look for all those before dividing and shaping.
I hope that helps! Let me know how it goes on your next try, we’ll sort it out. Happy baking!
Thanks, Maurizio. I didn’t try the float test, because I just assumed (based on everything I was seeing) that my levain was sufficiently activ–I’ll be sure to do that next time. As for my bulk fermentation, it didn’t get anywhere near that hot — maybe mid-80s at its warmest. I’ll keep working on it and let you know how it goes. Thank you so much!
My husband and I baked this bread a few days ago (our first experience baking sourdough!). We were overall pleased with how it turned out and thank you so much for such detailed instructions! I do have a few questions, though. It didn’t rise quite as well as yours during the bulk ferment. Any suggestions? I was also confused about the dough formula. Should I follow the quantities exactly as it is here?
Liz thanks for the comments and I’m glad your bread turned out great! You should follow the quantities listed here, yes, that will yield two loaves of bread. Once you get the process and feel down of course feel free to try other recipes here or adjust things to your liking.
There could be many reasons why I didn’t rise quite as much during bulk fermentation: is your ambient temperature between 74-82ºF? The warmer the temperature (within reason) the higher the activity you’ll see. Also, is your starter very active and strong? See my post on starter maintenance to get an idea of what things should look (and smell like).
Those are the primary things I’d focus on first, once those are in line then I’d explore other possibilities if your loaves still aren’t rising high enough.
Hope that helps, keep me posted and happy baking, Liz!
Bread baking day! =P We got more activity and better rise this time. We are waiting for our boules to cool a bit before cutting open. Excited to see if there is a more open crumb. Every boule we have baked has a burnt bottom though. Would placing the dutch oven higher in the actual oven help (it has been rather low)? Or maybe preheating the oven to less than 500 degrees?
Yes, with a DO you should definitely reduce the temperature (I mentioned this in the post above), but you could also preheat at 475ºF as well, that would help. Placing it higher in the oven would work if your heating element is at the bottom of your oven, some are like this, just make sure you have enough room to lift off the lid!
Hope it tasted great (I’m sure it did)!
Sam,
You can always adjust the timing to fit your schedule, just change a few of the quantities, or the water temperature, to speed up or slow things down (within reason — as they say, good bread takes time).
You can do a shorter levain, around 5-6 hours, by using 50% mature starter in the mix instead of something lower, like 20-30%. The higher the percentage of mature starter used in the mix the faster your levain will reach maturity.
3 hours for bulk fermentation could work just fine, it depends on how the dough looks and feels. You want a full and complete bulk for the best results. That doesn’t mean it has to be 4 hours, just look for the signs I describe above in the post (volume, bubbles, domed edges, etc.). If you want to shorten bulk you can use more levain in your dough mix, up to 25% would work.
5 hour proof is fine, but you’ll most likely have to do this on the counter instead of in the fridge. In this case, if it’s on the counter around 72-75ºF then a 3 hour bulk would probably work in combination. Use the “poke test” to determine when the dough is fully proofed and ready to bake.
As you’ve probably guessed all these steps are interrelated and build on each other. If you shorten one then you’ll likely have to lengthen another. But it depends on how the dough looks and feels, as they say “watch the dough not the clock”!
I hope that helps, let me know if you have any other questions and I’ll try to help you fit this into your schedule! Experimentation is probably going to come into play here 🙂
Thanks for putting all this together! Your instructions and method are so comprehensive compared to other stuff out there. I’ll admit, I am a little overwhelmed, as I usually just do a kneaded or no-knead yeast based bread. But I have been missing real sourdough after leaving SF and moving to Alaska, so I’m doing this! I have a 12″ combo cooker, a huge le creuset, and no desire to buy something new. Since this recipe is a commitment (but looks really worth it!!), I would like to at least bake the right amount of dough before tweaking to my taste. You listed the cooker by different measurements and I’m afraid the loaf will be too spread out, thus flat or dry. Would you recommend just doing one huge loaf rather than splitting the dough? How do you think that affects cooking and proofing time? I appreciate any suggestions you might have! 🙂
You’re very welcome! The process seems intimidating at first, but stick to the few major phases and you’ll have it down pat after just a few tries.
I wouldn’t recommend doing this quantity of dough as a single loaf, it will be quite large and hard to handle. You can always attempt this later on, but smaller quantities of dough are easier to preshape and shape. Having a larger mass of dough does help retain dough temperature and has other effects on fermentation, but I think the benefits of splitting into two loaves outweighs the cons. The dough will not spread out if you develop enough strength in it during bulk and shape time, just follow the steps above and look for the visual and tactile cues I describe — it will be just fine.
I hope that helps, if not please ask away! Happy baking, Jessa 🙂
Hi! Just made these today, and they were great. I baked them in a Le Creuset, in my electric oven. The first loaf I baked at 500/475, and the second one at 475/450. Only issues: that the bottom crust was pretty tough and dark on both — hard to cut through and a little hard to chew. Could this be because my oven was electric and is heated from the bottom? Also, there could have been more air pockets. Still delicious though.
Second question: how could this recipe be modified to use increased rye flour and decreased AP/bread flour?
Thanks
Averee
HI! your comment/question is almost identical to mine a few weeks ago 🙂 !! Do you have an oven thermometer? I bake my bread the exact same way as you, and the first time had the exact same issue. I realized my oven runs hot, like I set it to 500 and it gets up to and sits at 510-515. So my next attempt I lowered all the temps by 15 degrees and it totally resolved all my issues–tough/dark bottom crust and gave me more air pockets. Oven thermometers are super cheap too! I also bake mine on parchment in the LC. Hope this helps! happy baking!
Thanks for the comments, Brook! I had to do the same thing in the past, each oven is a little different 🙂
I notice I’ll sometimes get a slightly darker crust when I use a Dutch oven, it might help to do as Brook mentioned below and reduce the temperature of your oven by 15-20ºF next time. If you have an oven thermometer I’d also ensure the temps are actually what you’re setting!
If your oven heating element is at the bottom try raising your baking stone away from it as much as you can (make sure you can still easily access the DO lid!).
If you want to increase rye just remove a portion of the AP flour and add in rye in its place. You might have to adjust the hydration of your dough depending on how much rye you add as rye flour is quite a bit more “thirsty” and will require more. Also note that as you increase the percentage of rye your loaves will have reduced rise and if you add more than 20% or so they may become more “cakey” as rye has less gluten than traditional wheat. Rye does add some incredible flavor, though!
Hope that helps — happy baking Averee!
Your tips are amazing! So precise and easy to follow. I’ve been trying to find information about sourdough (the best type of bread for my taste) for sometime now and everyone just assumes you know the drill beforehand. Thank you so much for being so generous. Can’t wait to grow my own starter and make my loafs.
Thanks for the comments, much appreciated! Glad my tips have helped out, here’s to baking some amazing sourdough at home!
You’re so precise in your instructions I’m sure that this part wasn’t a mistake, but I just have to ask… It seems very interesting to me that the dough can go straight from the fridge to the hot oven, without being brought to room temperature first. Is that really an ok way to do it? Thank you for posting this recipe!
Some bakers do bring their bread up to temperature but I’ve never found a need to do so — I take my dough out, unwrap it, score it and into the oven. I’ve been experimenting with letting the dough come up to temperature but have yet to see a significant different.
You’re welcome, thanks for the comments!
Thanks so much for the response! I went ahead and tried it with dough right out of the fridge, and you’re right — it turned out great. 🙂
Hi Maurizio, I only want to make 1 loaf but I don’t quite understand what you mean when you say “If you want to halve this recipe just take all ingredients in the Dough Formula and divide by 2. I still recommend using the same quantities for the Levain Build below, however.” Do you mean that I should use the same quantities for the levain build and just use half (92g)? Or that I should use the full 184g of levain? Sorry if my questions seem a bit confusing. I can’t wait to try this recipe by the way!
Hi, Mia! I’ve reworded that a few times and I just can’t seem to get it right, sorry! What I’m saying is if you want to make 1 loaf take all the ingredients in the Dough Formula and divide them by two.
When you make the levain (Levain Build) still use the same quantities for everything but only use 92g in the final Dough Formula.
Hope that makes more sense!
Thanks! I figured that you probably saying to just use half but I wasn’t really sure.
Thanks for this – great level of detail and the additional photos in this really helped. Can you explain what would happen with a longer vs. shorter cold proof, as sometimes it’s difficult to get all of the timing right for the various steps involved with a busy personal schedule? How do you know when the proof has gone on too long or hasn’t gone on long enough? I know a longer proof could lead to a more sour flavor, perhaps, but how much does it affect the crumb and rise? Thanks!
Jennifer — thanks I appreciate that! The longer the cold proof the more sour your bread will become, overall fermentation will continue, and flavor will become more complex. There is a limit to this, however, as eventually fermentation will consume all the food (flour) present and your dough will weaken resulting in lackluster rise in the oven, or excessive spreading.
Determining the correct proof point comes with experience, especially if you bake the same formula over and over again. It’s hard to give an exact time because there are a lot of factors that come into play for the final proof (and fridge temperature is a big one), but I generally go 12-16 hours at 38ºF.
I look at the dough in the fridge from time to time and look for any weak areas that start to present themselves, areas that look like bubbles with very thin membranes about to pop. You can also poke at the dough from time to time and start to build up a feel for how the dough responds: is it very weak feeling (close to overproof)? Or is it puffy but still springy (just about right)? Does it feel dense (underproofed)?
I hope that helps!
Can I use this recipe if I want to use a loaf pan?
I haven’t tried that, but I mean to do that very, very soon! It should work out just fine, just keep in mind the dough will rise up above the pan rim most likely, so I wouldn’t put a lid on it. Score the top of the dough with a few slashes or a single long slash to let it expand upwards, and provide enough steam for it to rise. Happy baking, Cassie!