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
I’m trying to work out how intensely you work the levain, salt and additional water into the autolysed dough. Your description says to spread it over the top of the dough and pinch the dough around it so that it’s enclosed. Is that it or do you work it through more? I’ve tried it both ways but felt that working it through more just shredded all the beautiful gluten strands that had developed. Leaving it at just the pinched stage meant that the stretches and folds worked it through together more instead. Have been making great sourdough bread regardless and making use of any periods of covid-iso to try different variations. We are eating a LOT of yummy bread! Thank you for your guides and instructions.
It’s ok that the dough breaks apart a bit after the autolyse, you’re right, this will happen! Don’t worry, trust that the dough is still strengthened through the process, it’ll turn out better in the end!
New to this site. I mill my own flour and have been feeding my sourdough starter (cheated and used San Francisco yeast) with soft white and rye flour. Growing great, tastes good. Since I don’t buy flour, except King Arthur pizza flour, how would I substitute for the bread flour in this recipe? For the whole wheat flour, would I use hard white or hard red flour? Thanx. Looks like a great site.
Hey, Cindy! You could use King Arthur All-purpose for the bread flour, then reduce the hydration of the dough just a bit to suite that flour. You could even use their pizza flour, but be sure to drop the water, I have a feeling it won’t handle quite as much as their bread flour. I like to use hard red flour for ww. Hope that helps!
This is my third time making this recipe. The first two went well, and today’s attempt – not so much. Had a lot going on and missed adding the rye and whole wheat flour – nothing but bread flour. It’s a sticky mess so I’m going to toss this batch and start again tomorrow.
Ahh so sorry to hear that! I hope that next attempt went well, Rowland.
I have just made my first successful loaf of sourdough and I want to cry, it looks amazing. I had tried years ago but gave up. I first read everything I could from you and watched lots of your videos. My husband and I travel miles for a good loaf of bread, It’s still cooling and while it may not end up being perfect, or it may, you have given me the confidence to work at it. Thank you so much for giving your time so generously. I’m thrilled
Amazing, thank you so much for sharing that! Makes me happy to hear I’ve helped 🙂 I hope it was as delicious as it looked!
Thanks so much for this recipe! It’s been my go to for making sourdough. My only problem is my bread seems to explode and crack where I score it, and if I don’t score it it still explodes but wherever it wants to. I’m not sure why this is happening? Any insight would be appreciated!
You’re welcome, Ashley! It sounds like perhaps your dough was slightly underproofed. There are a few indicators your dough could be under: explosive rise in the oven, dense spots in the interior with potentially scattered large holes, and a 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 — it should look alive. If you tug on the dough a bit it should offer resistance to your tugging, it’ll feel stronger. Give the dough the time it needs in bulk fermentation! If you have to give it another 30m or hour to see these signs, do so. It’s important for this step to go sufficiently far for the dough to have enough fermentation activity before its proof.
Hello! New sourdough baker here. Love the website! It has been super informative.
I have yet to bake a successful sourdough following your beginners recipe and I was hoping to get some guidance. Each bake (3 total) resulted in a sticky and unstructured mess after bulk fermentation. After the first failure, I tried letting the dough rise longer in bulk ferm, I tried using less water and I also tried doing more folds. None of this seemed to help. The dough never looked like it rose all that much in all three tries either. Maybe 20ish% at most. I feel like my levain was healthy and ready to use each time. It had at least doubled in size before being added.
Do you have any suggestions on what I could do differently? Thanks!
Glad it’s helped, Ben! Maybe your dough was over hydrated? Try reducing the hydration by 5% and give it another go—the reduced water should bring strength to the dough and you’ll feel it immediately. Once you find a suitable hydration, you can try to push it back up (if desired), but as you do, take note of how the consistency of the dough changes: the dough will start to slacken out as you add more and more water, this means you’ll likely have to mix more upfront or add another set or two of stretch and folds during bulk fermentation.
Generally, with an increased hydration, you need to mix longer to develop the gluten in the dough to sufficiently support the water added, but this only goes so far. At some point, the flour you’re using just isn’t able to take on any more water and you’ll essentially have a weak and slack dough. It’s always best to start conservatively and work your way up with hydration as you feel out your flour. This is typically why I recommend holding back water during mixing, adding it in as the dough handles it.
Try to keep everything else as consistent as possible and let me know how the next attempt goes!
Hello, loving how much I am learning with the help of your site and all the comments. Thanks! Is it ok to let your bulk fermentation go longer than four hours? Thanks!
It all depends on your dough right there and then in the kitchen. The bulk fermentation time should be more like a guideline, if it’s warm in your kitchen it might need to be cut short. Conversely, if it’s cool, it might need to be extended.
Thanks so much, it was a little cooler so I left it as I had to go out. Worked out well because it grew a bit more then my past attempts. One other problem I am having is the crust on top and bottom being a little too done. 1st batch did the full 50 minutes and was a bit burnt but tasted wonderful. 2nd batch I stopped at about 40 minutes and internal temp was 212 and it was doughy inside. Today, 3rd batch I went full 50 minutes on first batch and added a sheet pan under my cast iron (saw that in another comment) and is still a little burnt. I’ll try 45 minutes on 2nd loaf and see how it goes. But any suggestions? Thank you so much!
You might want to try dropping the hydration of the dough just a bit, then bake it less. 212F is a bit high, I would shoot for 206-208F if you’re having burning issues!
I am on my fifth attempt at baking using your recipe for sourdough however I cannot get it to fully rise it seems that I am progressively getting a bigger rise but now I cannot get it to rise anymore what could potentially be causing that? It stays dense in the middle and the crust is pretty hard thanks Rob
Are you using your starter when it’s ripe to make your levain? And your levain when it’s ripe to mix into your dough? Usually problems like this are from using a starter/levain that’s not fully ripe!
I thought I was, the starter is several months old now and I take it out of the fridge after about 4-5 days in there and feed it twice daily for about 5 days before making levain…..the starter is ripe and bubbly, but i do notice that my levain after about 5 hours is not as tall and bubbly in my weck jar as yours is in the picture….should i try letting it ripen longer maybe? if yes, how much longer would you recommend and what is ideal ambient temperature allowable range while ripening? Thanks a million Maurizio….I am not giving up!
Rob
Definitely keep at it. Check out my starter feeding guide which answers all your questions! If you want to have the community help, too, have a look at the TPL Membership where you can post pictures and we can provide more feedback to getting that starter going again!
Just pulled these out of the oven….the smell is fantastic. I used AP flour and whole wheat flour because I didn’t have rye. I wish there was a way to post pictures of my loaves
So glad to hear they came out wonderful, Kat! While I don’t have a way to post photos here, we are all on the TPL Discord server posting there!
I have two questions. My family does not like rye or wheat. I have used all white flour but the dough seems a little wet. Do you have any suggestions for compensating? I know the rye and wheat drink much more water but not sure how much to use. My levin is ready right now so hope to hear back quickly on this
Second question…I have three levins right now so I can make several loaves. Do I have to do that or can I just double or triple the recipe and have everything in one great big batch?
If you’re going all white flour, drop the water in the mix. Hold back 50g and see if that helps! That’s right, to scale up, just double or triple everything (even the levain).
Is it possible to not proof overnight and instead leave at room temperature for several hours?
Yes, about 1-3 hours depending on the temps in your kitchen!
Halp! This week i made this recipe and the weekday loaves – and both bakes came out gummy (and no rise) ! it’s been awhile since i was on my baking streak, but i often made the beginners loaf recipe, but i never had gummy bread before. I did get a new starter from a friend – but i think it’s strong. I will pay close attention, but it seems good to me. I also closely monitored the temperature today when baking loaf 2 once i saw loafs #1 rise was poor, and the oven temp is fine. Maybe its the bulk fermentation? My dough temp was good, maybe even about 80 rather than 78. I am using the Raisenne Dough Riser because my house is cold. Also i just got a big bag of Central Milling Organic Artisian Bakers Craft – could this be it? i am using that + their Organic Whole Wheat Special + their Whole Dark Rye. I know it has to be one of these things, but i wonder which one so next time i can get some bread that we can actually eat out of it 🙂 🙂 🙂
All of those ingredients, process, and temperatures sound fine to me, Kim. At that temp, is it possible you’re over proofing your dough? If you find it has sluggish rise in the oven, lots of small holes, and a pronounced sourness that might be the case. My feeling, though, is that maybe your dough is over hydrated?
argh, just tried again and eliminated the Dough Riser – i reduced the water by about 50g, but still the same result. so i think you are right – over hydrated. i could sort of feel that while i was making it and during the bulk stage, it just felt like there was no room for air to come in. So i suppose this flour that i have 25 pounds of requires less water…how much less is the question! i think my next step will be to get a bag of regular Bob’s and if it works out, then i will know for sure.
Ciao Maurizio, thank you so much for this delightful website, there’s so much to learn!
I’ve been baking sourdough bread for a few years now although only recently started incorporating autolyse in the process. The one thing I really struggle with is with mixing the autolysed (1 hour) dough with the levain (100% hydration) + water + salt mix… I haven’t been able to find any proper explanation or video tutorial that shows how to do that nicely. In my case, and with the doses of this recipe, or even with a higher hydration, it really gets very messy and squishy when the mix is added to the dough, requiring quite some thorough mixing (if not kneading) to try and get to a nice consistency. Which in itself is countering the effect of the autolyse as I would have hoped to minimise mixing/kneading.
Any suggestion on how to best proceed with this part of the process?
Grazie mille for taking the time to read and hopefully help!
Gerlando
You’re very welcome, Gerlando! Welcome. You’re right, adding in your levain (and later, salt) into a dough that’s undergone an autolyse does sort of break apart the dough, requiring mixing again to bring it back together. However, while this is expected, once you work in that levain and salt, the dough will come back together and be “farther along” in terms of strengthening, requiring less time overall. Unfortunately, there’s no way to really avoid this, unless you want to do an autolyse with the levain included, but that’s not something I typically do here (once the levain is added to the dough, fermentation begins).
So I guess in the end, I’m saying it’s normal for this to be the case! The dough will come apart, but through a bit more mixing, it’ll come back together and then require less kneading overall (even if the dough feels slack and sloppy!).
Is it ok if I have to use all 730g of water during the autolyse stage? My dough is always so dry when I just use the suggested amount
Yes, absolutely. Use as much water as needed for your dough to achieve proper consistency.
Thanks for the quick reply! I’m up in New England stuck inside with this blizzard. Decided to make some sourdough and your focaccia bread today. My dough turned out perfect once I added in the salter and levain.
Yes, absolutely. Use as much water as necessary to achieve the proper dough consistency.
Thanks so much for this site. When I first started using this recipe everything came out perfectly. I have the same starter I’ve been using for almost 2 years now. It’s very active. Lately, my loaves have not been rising like they did in the past. In fact, on baking day, I have taken to taking them out of the refrigerator, bringing them to room temp and putting them in a warm place to rise. Even then it takes a long time for them to rise. Do I need an new starter? What am I doing wrong? I haven’t changed anything in the recipe because it has worked so well in the past.
You’re very welcome, Ramona! I like to feed/refresh my starter at lest 2, preferably 3, times before using to bake. I’d try doing that next time to see if you can get more strength in there before using it!
Hello! Thank you so much for all your helpful insight and guidance. I’m loving learning how to bake and am so encouraged by the results so far. It’s my second time using this recipe. I wanted to ask if the bottom of the bread is supposed to be fairly dark/almost blackened. To me this looks burnt but it may be expected? The first time I used my la creuset Dutch oven and the bought a lodge double cooker but It’s quite difficult to cut into and hard I feel.
Also I’m not sure if I am scoring to deep. Any guidance on how to deep is appropriate?
Thank you again!
Hey, Marjon! That’s a common issue, especially if you’re baking in a Dutch oven. Check out my guide to baking in a Dutch oven for tips on how to avoid that!
I’ve now baked four successful loaves following your recipe! In my second batch I noticed a big difference in the texture of the dough (stiffer, less hydrated, trouble mixing all dry bits in the autolyse stage). I sense that this may be a result of using a higher protein bread flour in this batch. Would you suggest upping the water content if the dough seems too dry?
Glad to hear that, Maria! Yes, if the dough feels dry, add more water. Typically, higher protein flour requires additional hydration.
Glad to hear that, Maria! Yes, if you’re using higher protein flour (which generally requires a bit more water), increase the hydration slowly during mixing until the dough feels (and looks) properly hydrated.
hi maurizio, thank you for this recipe! ive used it to bake all my loaves and im on my #9 today! every time its different and im still learning. i have split the dough into 3 and they are currently proofing in the fridge- i was wondering if there should be changes to the temperature or baking time with and without lid since the dough size has changed? could you also advise what is the longest duration that i keep them in the fridge for before baking? thanks in advance 🙂
You’re very welcome, Ginny! Usually, smaller loaves will require less baking time due to the reduced size. You could probably keep this dough one extra day in the fridge.
With other sourdough recipes I’ve tried that use an overnight step, there is an additional step of taking the dough out of the refrigerator several hours before baking to let the dough come to room temp. I don’t see anything about that here – are you putting the dough into the oven cold?
He has said in the past there’s no need to bring the dough to room temp and you can just put in cold. It’s much easier to score the dough cold as well.
As Chloe said below, no need to warm the dough before baking, just bake straight from the fridge.
Hi Maurizio – new to sourdough making and not giving up yet.. I’ve got my starter looking & smelling like it should, but I’m on my 4th attempt of making a loaf of bread now and each time, the loaves never turn out like they should. I’m in Australia and can’t get Bob’s Red Mill Artisan Flour (well, I can from Amazon, but it’s $49.44 for a 48oz box and then add $62.30 for shipping, that ain’t gonna happen!).
I’m following the instructions to a T, so I can only put it down to the flour. I’ve tried different local bread flours each time and the mix usually looks a little wetter & stickier than yours, so I’m wondering if I can ease back on the water a bit? Or any other recommendations?
It’s getting a bit expensive, so for the 3rd attempt I tried halving the ingredients, as I don’t really want two loaves (to throw in the bin lol), but nope, no luck there either – is it feasible to halve the ingredients for just one loaf?
Any other Aussies out there who can advise the best flours to use?
Cheers
No need to order special flours use what you have! It sounds like your dough is most likely over hydrated—your flour likely isn’t able to take on quite a much water, and that’s ok! Try reducing the hydration by 5% and give it another go—the reduced water should bring strength to the dough and you’ll feel it immediately. Once you find a suitable hydration, you can try to push it back up (if desired), but as you do, take note of how the consistency of the dough changes: the dough will start to slacken out as you add more and more water, this means you’ll likely have to mix more upfront or add another set or two of stretch and folds during bulk fermentation.
Generally, with an increased hydration, you need to mix longer to develop the gluten in the dough to sufficiently support the water added, but this only goes so far. At some point, the flour you’re using just isn’t able to take on any more water and you’ll essentially have a weak and slack dough. It’s always best to start conservatively and work your way up with hydration as you feel out your flour. This is typically why I recommend holding back water during mixing, adding it in as the dough handles it.
Try to keep everything else as consistent as possible and let me know how the next attempt goes!
I cannot seem to get the large holes you get in your photos. Also the bottom crust is rock hard and the top and side crusts are very thick and hard to cut. I would like a lighter crust if possible.
The other issue is the inside is much moister than I want. I use dutch ovens, lid on then off as you instruct. I spray water on the loaf just before covering it. The dutch ovens are heated in the oven so they are very hot when I add the dough. I use parchment paper to lower the dough into the dutch ovens. Nice oven rise, a few larger holes but not like yours.
I was thinking of placing a broiler pan the next level down in the oven and perhaps add water to keep the bottoms of the dutch ovens a bit cooler so the bottom crust doesn’t get so hard. Thoughts?
To get a lighter crust, do I lower the temp after pulling the lid?
FYI I use an instant read thermometer to verify the internal temp of 208 F. and I have verified the oven is within 5-10 degrees going up and down a bit as electric ovens do.
Hey there! Unfortunately there isn’t a single thing that leads to a more open interior in a baked loaf of bread. First, the flour used is very important, it needs to be strong enough (protein) and have the proper gluten properties to trap the gasses produced during fermentation. For example, no matter how hard you try with rye flour, the gluten properties in the grain just won’t lead to an open interior.
From there, a very strong and well-fed starter is important — it all begins there. Fermentation in general is so critical, it’s worth spending some time really stepping back to look at how your starter is performing and how well-fermented your dough is during bulk fermentation and the final proof. Without strong fermentation your loaf will never rise to its full potential.
Sufficient dough strength through mixing, and also organically through fermentation, is also important. Think of your dough as a balloon: you want it strong enough to trap gasses and expand in the oven, but not so strong that it won’t relax and expand out. Finding this sweet spot takes some practice.
A full and complete bulk is also very important. Cutting bulk fermentation short before the dough is sufficiently fermented will hinder the development in final proof.
I also find that, and this depends on the dough you’re working with, a very gentle preshape and shape are key to maintaining an open interior. If you’re rough with the dough during these times the delicate interior will quickly break down and become more dense. That said, the dough does still need enough strength through shaping to hold its shape during baking.
Sorry for the long winded answer but really all of these things are important! Each part plays into the next and overall what we’re searching for as bakers is balance. Balance between the extremes in each phase of the process.
As far as crust hardness, yes, I’d say bake for less time overall. The broiler pan may also help deflect heat if you feel your oven is blasting too much during the bake!
First, thanks for the response! I prefer verbose responses, as I need all the help I can get!
My starter peaks at about 4 hours at 80 degrees in my proofer.
I have both Stiff and Levain starters. Both are AP Flour starters.
I’ve given up on an open interior, and am just trying to get a loaf that isn’t damp inside. I have a friend who bakes the exact same recipe as mine, and her loaves come in at ~700-800g after baking. Mine are over 1100g and a slice has to be toasted to be any good. Just too much moisture. We both are using KAF’s “Artisan Sourdough Bread made with a stiff starter”. I use KAF or Bob’s Red Mill flour. We both start with a 500 degree oven with Dutch Ovens in to preheat for an hour. Both place the dough on wetted parchment, bake 20 minutes at 500 degrees, then 20 minutes @ 450 degrees then remove lid and finish 20 minutes @ 450. I even turn off the oven, pull the bread from the DO and place it on the rack for an additional 30 minutes. Still damp. Here are a few photos: https://i.imgur.com/3JqWzPc.jpg and https://i.imgur.com/44dkX1C.jpg
The rise is good, the outer crust is crunchy, the bottom is too hard but the insides is just too wet.
I’m at my wit’s end here.
Cheers
Jibs
I replied with links to photos. Your autobot said you had to approve the message (obviously due to the possibility of someone adding inappropriate photos… )
Will the message reappear when you approve the message? ‘Cause it looks like my message just disappeared.
Jibs
I approved the post, but having trouble locating it!
Ugh! I really messed up this time. Please help me as soon as possible!
I messed up. I made this into one loaf. Not sure how I forgot and didn’t divide it into 2. It’s ready to go into the oven. Can I divide it at this point, or should I leave it as one? If I leave it as one, any idea of how little no to bake it? And should I lower the temperature? I really messed up this time!
Sorry for the delay! I hope it baked up okay. I’d leave it as one large loaf and probably bake it for 1.25 hours or longer until the internal temp is 204-206F.
I messed up. I made this into one loaf. Not sure how I forgot and didn’t divide it into 2. It’s ready to go into the oven. Can I divide it at this point, or should I leave it as one? If I leave it as one, any idea of how little no to bake it? And should I lower the temperature? I really messed up this time!
hi, I am about to try your beginner bread and I am wondering of i can just use my levain in the finished proportions without doing step 1. what are your thoughts? my salami, raw onion and sharp provolone are anxiously waiting your response.
Yes, you can totally do that!
Hey Maurizio! A new bread baker and your long time fan writing! Due to having more free time I decided to start baking! Did a few batches of your beginer sourdough. But I came up with a few chalenges. The first batch of dough not too good not oo bad and was not holding its shape even after a night of fermentation in the fridge. The scoring was hard, and the loaf resealed itself while baking and did not rip so the steam releasing resulted in riped bottom. Though inside the loaf, the texture and the bubles were perfect! Second batch was double batch. I added 10g less water per batch and mixed not with hand but with mixer. The dough this time was perfect. After shaping I again left it overnight and the morning of the baking was the same story. Scoring very hard, the shape was not holding up too good. But this time the botom cracked even worse. Not in the place of the seal but randomly. Again the inside texture and the bubble structure was even better this time. Not sure where is the problem – because the formula is clear the dough not holding shape very well + bad scoring + quick reseal = no tear and steam releasing randomly.
Editing this comment after another try. I changed flour and my dough looks nicer, more activity and rise. Though same problem of not holding up shape. Its better but not yet good. Is it possible that I under mix the dough? I 1st mix 2mins and 2nd mix 4mins with a planetary mixer. And second thing I tightened one loaf out of the banneton just before scoring baking and it held form better. So I might be undershaping it before the final proof. Would be glad to hear some ideas from you!
Hey there! Usually spreading in the oven when scoring is a sign of under-strengthened or over-hydrated dough (or a combination of both, as they are related). If you find you’re still getting significant spreading, try first to add in another set or two of stretch and folds during bulk fermentation (or you can knead the dough a bit before bulk begins, check out my guide to the slap and fold kneading technique). If that doesn’t help, reduce the hydration of the dough by 2-5% to bring more strength.
Finally, it’s also possible your dough is over proofing, leading to a breakdown and excessive spread in the oven. If your dough felt strong and you shaped it tightly, try pulling back that final proof time a few hours (if you’re cold-proofing) to see if that helps. If it does, continue to dial in that proof time until you have a strong dough when baking.
I hope this helps!
I just tried my very first loaf with this Beginner’s recipe, and it worked beautifully! I’m curious…. Why is there no mixing stage in this recipe? For example, in the Walnut Cranberry loaf, there is autolyse, adding levain, mixing (slap method), followed by stretch & fold sets and bulk fermentation. Is there a reason one should or should not mix before S&F/bulk fermentation? Some recipes on the internet include it and others do not.
Awesome, Dominika! There’s no mixing needed for this because it calls for stronger flour, it has a relatively low hydration, and there are plenty of sets of stretches and folds during bulk fermentation to strengthen the dough. It all depends on the recipe and what’s needed to strengthen it sufficiently so it can trap gasses, hold structure, and rise tall in the oven!
Hope that answers your Q 🙂 Happy baking!
Not much mixing is needed for this recipe since it uses stronger flour, it’s a relatively low hydration, and there’s plenty of stretch and folds during bulk!
Regarding levain – when I build the ingredients they all add up to 190 gr. When I weigh my levain several hours later, I don’t have 190 gr. What is happening?! Should I make up the missing volume?
Donna—this is common, depending on how diligent you are about scraping our your jar, and it sometimes just comes in short anyway. That’s totally fine as long as it’s not a massive deviation, even 10g will be ok. If you really want to hit the mark, you could slightly scale up the levain so you’re making a little more than I call for (just keep the same ratios of ingredients, e.g., just add 5g to flour, water, carryover).
Question about building levain. If I’m building it at 8am, am I using starter I’ve left out overnight and hoping I have not passed the peak? Am I using levin I fed the day before and put it in the fridge at peak? Thank you so much for all of this wonderful information. So many of my questions have been answered here!
You want to use your ripe starter in the morning to make the 5-6 hour levain for this bread. That means your starter should have fermented overnight and be nice and bubbly and with a sour aroma. It’s ok if it’s a little past when you’d normally give it a feeding in the AM, just use it when it’s nice and ripe (or a little over). I never use a levain or starter straight from the fridge. Let me know how it goes!
Question: The stretch & folds – You say “Perform 3 sets of stretch and folds during bulk fermentation, spaced out by 30 minutes.” That gets me to 1.5 hours of the 4 hours. Do I just let it work without touching it for the last 2.5 hours?
That’s correct, just let it rest for the remainder of the time!
I risked that prior to your response and it was *gorgeous*!!!
Fantastic! Glad it turned out well 🙂 Trust those baker instincts!
I am planning on making my first sourdough loaf this weekend . The starter is looking good after 7 days. I have all the necessary ingredients for the first loaf BUT I do not have a Dutch oven & a basket. I do have a baking steel & a 10” cast iron skillet . Can I place the shaped loaf on the baking steel or on a cast iron pan ?
Yes, you can definitely bake in either. I’d go with the Baking Steel. You’ll need a large oven-safe bowl to cover the dough to create a steamy environment, or you can spray into your oven with a water mister or put a pan in the bottom with ice cubes.
Hello. Long-time reader. Your site has really upped my fermentation game and overall final outcomes…and I’ve only just scratched the surface of some of the things I want to try. I have spent HOURS devouring what you have written (and what I’ve made) and incorporating what I can. And I know I have MANY more hours of reading and baking ahead of me while I try to hone my skills. I literally have had my computer open with dozens of open tabs as one article leads to opening up several others. And I have so many of them bookmarked so that I can come back.
Your “Beginner’s” and “Simple Weekday” recipes are my go-to’s depending on my schedule. After a few epic failures, and several very edible AND beautiful loaves, I think I’m ready to try your “My Best” recipe. Thank you for all of the awesome guides and amazing explanations. Following recipes without understanding why has never appealed to me, so I appreciate all of the great info.
Jean-Luc Batard and I thank you! 🙂
Hey, Nate! Love your starter’s name (big time ST fan here). Glad my site has helped! So happy to hear you’re well on your way, and that MBSB is a great loaf, just be sure to watch the hydration and adjust it to suit the flour you have on hand (might mean a decrease in water, which is typical depending on the flour and your location). Regardless, have fun and thanks for the note!
I have been making sourdough now now since last December and your blog has been the most informative and helpful. I am doing everything I should in terms of hydration, autolease, bulk fermentation, etc etc, however I’m not getting a good open crumb. I only use organic flours and pay close attention to temperatures. Do you have any suggestions?
Hey, Sharon! Unfortunately there isn’t a single thing that leads to a more open interior in a baked loaf of bread. First, the flour used is very important, it needs to be strong enough (protein) and have the proper gluten properties to trap the gasses produced during fermentation. For example, no matter how hard you try with rye flour, the gluten properties in the grain just won’t lead to an open interior.
From there, a very strong and well-fed starter is important — it all begins there. Fermentation in general is so critical, it’s worth spending some time really stepping back to look at how your starter is performing and how well-fermented your dough is during bulk fermentation and the final proof. Without strong fermentation your loaf will never rise to its full potential.
Sufficient dough strength through mixing, and also organically through fermentation, is also important. Think of your dough as a balloon: you want it strong enough to trap gasses and expand in the oven, but not so strong that it won’t relax and expand out. Finding this sweet spot takes some practice.
A full and complete bulk is also very important. Cutting bulk fermentation short before the dough is sufficiently fermented will hinder the development in final proof.
I also find that, and this depends on the dough you’re working with, a very gentle preshape and shape are key to maintaining an open interior. If you’re rough with the dough during these times the delicate interior will quickly break down and become more dense. That said, the dough does still need enough strength through shaping to hold its shape during baking.
Sorry for the long winded answer but really all of these things are important! Each part plays into the next and overall what we’re searching for as bakers is balance. Balance between the extremes in each phase of the process.
So I just baked my first sourdough boules after tending to my starter for about three weeks. I’ve had regular activity with the starter, as well as the sour flavor when ripened. After cooking these loaves, the bread has some large air pockets but is otherwise kind of dense. There is also almost no flavor. Any ideas for trouble shooting?
It sounds like perhaps your dough was slightly underproofed. There are a few indicators your dough could be under: explosive rise in the oven, dense spots in the interior with potentially scattered large holes, and a 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 — it should look alive. If you tug on the dough a bit it should offer resistance to your tugging, it’ll feel stronger. Give the dough the time it needs in bulk fermentation! If you have to give it another 30m or hour to see these signs, do so. It’s important for this step to go sufficiently far for the dough to have enough fermentation activity before its proof.
Can I use AP flour and whole wheat flour for this recipe? I’m waiting for my rye and bread flours to arrive.
If so, is there anything to take into consideration in the process that could go differently because of the flours being used?
Yes, that’ll work! Those flours should work just fine without much modification.
Hi, I am confused about the flour and water weights. The ingredients sections lists:
811 grams bread flour
152 grams whole wheat flour
51 grams whole rye flour
730 grams water
However, the amounts inline in the instructions differ:
2. Autolyse:
773 grams bread flour
114 grams stoneground whole wheat flour
51 grams whole grain rye flour
603 grams water
3. Mix:
50 grams reserved water
18 grams fine sea salt
190 grams ripe levain (from step 1)
Now, reading between the lines and doing some simple math, I can see that the missing bread flour, whole wheat flour, and water are used in the levain… but this is not very obvious. I would recommend separating out the water & flour weights into 1) for the bread 2) for the levain. This would greatly reduce the confusion for me.
Thank you! And thanks for sharing your knowledge here 🙂
Hey, Phil! The weights in each of the steps add up to the Total Formula up top. the top formula shows you everything you need to make this bread. Then that’s broken down in each of the steps for what you need right there and then.