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 – I followed your guide many times, changing my starter from SF Style to Rye, and trying to get very close to the FDT. Same as Elisa below, my final loaf was so disappointing. It was stiff and dense, didn’t raise that much during the all process, no air, no tension created during the folds. I use to make pretty good SF style sourdough loaf folding outside the bowl. But that’s just a pretty simple bread flour and SF starter recipe.
I would love to get your recipe right. Is it more water? Is it the folding?
Thank for your amazing guides and help.
Very interesting, Marco! It could be a bunch of things causing that, I’d really need more info on the final loaf (pictures would be great, too). It could be either under proofed, over proofed, or even it needed more water in the dough!
Hi Maurizio! Huge fan of this website and your celestial work! I’ve had an ongoing issue with my attempts at this recipe, and some others recipes on the site. During stretch and fold my dough seems fairly strong, but by the end of bulk it generally domes only a very slight amount (less than it looks in your photo on this page). I usually then divide and shape at that point because the dough tastes like it’s fermenting and I don’t want to overdo it. Then during the bench rest it seems to spread out more than yours, and when baked the loaves have some spring but not the same degree as yours. Do you think this is an issue with the temperature at bulk? I don’t have a thermometer or a proofing oven and I put the dough in a cupboard with a boiler which is pretty warm. Any guidance would be much appreciated!
Thanks, Charlotte! It almost sounds like to me your dough is not strengthened enough. You’ll get more doming and a dough that holds itself better on the bench when it’s stronger. You could try kneading a bit before bulk fermentation or add in another set of vigorous stretch and folds. That should help!
I am too old to lift those heavy hot pots in and out of the over. Can I just use a stone and some steam like I do for my baguette?
Hi Gina, I use a stone too. I put preheat a cast iron skillet on the rack below as well as a loaf pan with a couple of rolled up clean dish towels. I pour a cup or two of boiling water over the towels about 20 minutes before I’m ready to put the bread on the stone to get a steamy environment going. I put a heaping cup of ice cubes in the cast iron when the bread goes in. If there’s any water left in the skillet after 20-ish minutes I pull it and the loaf pan out so things can get crusty and delicious. I have good success with these simple, light tools. No heavy lifting necessary!
Thanks for the very detailed advice!
Yes!
I am new to baking but always use an instant read thermometer when grilling and smoking meats. I assume, if I use a stone, I can/should bake to internal temp (208 as per your recipe) rather than worry about time? Foolish question, perhaps, but this is literally my first time making bread! Thanks in advance-and you site is incredible!
Hi Maurizio~ Love love love your guides, your easy to follow instructions and recipes. However, I have to say- I’m a bit discouraged. After following everything, I didn’t have enough levain and then during the bulk fermentation, I could tell the dough was very, very stiff and dense. I added more water, but that didn’t do it. By the final shape, I was feeling much better as it had the right signs to bake. However, my finished product was so disappointing. Not only was the crumb more like sandwich bread- there was very little taste to the bread. I am determined to try again until I get it right. Any thoughts on why it would turn out like that?
Thank you, Elisa! It’s common for the levain to come in a little short, but if you want to add a buffer, just add 10g to each component (flour, water, starter). It sounds like your dough likely needed more water at mix time. Next try, use the same flour and try to keep everything else the same but add in another 25g of water in the mix and see how that feels. If it still feels stiff and tight, add a little more water and mix and reassess.
Also, be sure to pay attention to the temp of the dough! You want that temp to be close to the final dough temp I list in the recipe, that’ll help keep it active and on schedule.
I know it can be frustrating, but stick with it! The next one will be better. Let me know how it goes, Elisa!
Hi Maurizio, I’ve made your pull apart rolls and cranberry walnut bread and love them. Normally I make the King Arthur classic Vermont sourdough recipe but I’m so impressed by your other recipes I thought I’d try your beginner sourdough, my only issue is I don’t like to make the levain in the morning because I keep my starter in the fridge and feed it once a week. it’s super healthy and works great but when I make a levain I feed my starter a few hours before that so it is at it best. Making a levain at 8am will not work with that process. can I make the levain for this the night before? or do you have another sourdough recipe you’d recommend?
thanks!
Matthew
Glad to hear that, Matthew! Yes, you could absolutely do an overnight levain for this bread. I would modify the levain build to be 36g whole wheat, 38g bread flour, 76g water, and then only 8g starter (10%). This should ripen after 12 hours and be ready to go in the morning.
Let me know how it goes and happy baking!
If I use mature/ripe starter instead of the levain (I’ve read elsewhere on your site that I could try this), do I add 190g starter to the mix in step 3 (38 + 38 + 76 + 38) to match the total weight of the levain in your recipe, or do I add 38g starter and then 38+38 of the flours + 76 water, directly yo the mix in step 3, as if I were doing the levain? Thanks 🙂
A very interesting question, and I see your line of thinking there! Use 190g of your ripe sourdough starter in place of the levain. When you make a levain you want it to be fully ripe, so in the same way, you’d use your ripe starter in its place.
A very interesting question, and I see your line of thinking there! Use 190g of your ripe sourdough starter in place of the levain. When you make a levain you want it to be fully ripe, so in the same way, you’d use your ripe starter in its place.
Hello – what size proofing baskets do you use for the 900 g boules?
For 900g I usually use 8″ diameter baskets.
I normally plan all my baking in one day. Can I hurry things along by skipping the overnight proofing in the fridge?
Hey David . . . . I had the same question. If you scroll to the bottom of the comments you will find the answer. It looked like Maurizio recommended 1 – 2 hours of proofing.
Thank you, Jill!
Like Jill said, usually 1-2 hours of counter proof, depending on the temperature in your kitchen (let it go as long as needed!).
Hello! Your website is great; you are nothing but precise. It is inspiring. Beginner’s Sourdough Bread. Question for you. I would prefer a larger levain. Reason being, I weighed everything per the recipe for the levain. I ran into a problem adding the levain though. Between the levain that was stuck on my fingers, a spoon, a spatula and the inside of the container that held the levain, I was only able to add 167 grams vs. the 190 the recipe calls for. It was a struggle to get the 167 grams of levain and I finally gave up telling myself, this is supposed to be fun. I am wondering if the recipe for the levain made more than 190 grams, it would be easier reaching the 190 grams goal and what that recipe would look like. Thank you and I look forward to making more your recipes.
Just made this today. Came out great. I used the steam oven method for the first time with a baking steel. I definitely got spring which is great. However the back end of the loaf did not spring as much as the front. And I think it’s because I did not push the pan with towels and the pan with lava rocks back far enough. They were up near the front of the oven. Is it possible that is why the back didn’t spring up? Next time I will just center the pans in the oven better.
One more thing- can you substitute Einkorn flour for the stoneground whole wheat flour?
In smaller percentages like in this loaf, yes, that should work just fine! Otherwise, you’ll need adjustments as einkorn can be sensitive to water.
Hi Maurizio! Been following your recipe for starter to a t and am ready to start the next phase tomorrow! However, as I was reviewing the steps for the Levain and bread, unfortunately, I do not have bread flour. I do have a 50/50 blend of bread flour and whole wheat that I used for the Tartine recipe. Will that work?
Glad to hear that, Elisa! You could certainly use that for the levain, but using that for the main flour for this recipe will likely alter things a bit, that’s more whole wheat than I call for in the recipe. If you wanted to go that route, check out my fifty-fifty recipe, which is, well, exactly what you have! 50% white flour and 50% whole wheat.
I hope that helps!
I felt a little intimidated by this site: there is soooo much great information. However, I decided to work my way through the steps, one at a time and give it a go. I have not had good success with sourdough bread up until this point and am happy to report that I have made two delicious loaves of bread (on separate occasions) in the past week. One thing I needed to work around was the pre-heating of my dutch oven. Mine is ceramic coated and is not supposed to be pre-heated. So, instead of putting it into the oven empty, I filled it with about 3″ of water pre-heated it, dumped out the water, dried it really quick with a linen towel, dropped the bread loaf in with the parchment paper underneath and voilá, beautiful bread! Thank you!
Hey, Shirley! Glad to hear you persevered even if my site was a little over the top (I tend to be that way!) 🙂 Nice work with the Dutch oven as well, I hadn’t thought of that. Some bakers have reported success baking in a Dutch oven that’s not even preheated—just load your dough in the (cold) pot and stick it in the preheated oven. I haven’t tried this but it’s on my list of things to try! Thanks for the feedback and I’m happy to hear my site has helped! Enjoy 🙂
If I half the ingredients to make just one loaf at a time, will this work Maurizio? Also, I don’t have a dutch oven. I have an Aga and have been throwing in a few ice cubes…. should I put the dough in a pan or on a tray (as I have been doing?)
Hey, Sue! Yes, that’ll work just fine (check out my post on baker’s percentages for more). Sure, that’ll work as well. Some ice in there will definitely help get you a nice color and better rise!
Awesome to hear that, Lauren! Yes, you can certainly add mix-ins to this dough. Cheese would be great! I’d grate the cheese and add it in during bulk fermentation.
Happy baking!
My dough is too hydrated and I’m in the stretch and fold stage. Anything I can do? This is my first time using recipe.
Give it a set or two more of stretch and folds to add more strength. When preshaping, if the dough feels super weak you can let it rest for 25-30m then preshape again. Be sure to shape it tightly as well.
Lynn, add in a few more sets of stretch and folds as necessary! If the dough is very slack during preshaping, give it a rest, then preshape a second time. Be sure to shape tightly.
I am a true beginner. My starter is on Day 6 of the feeding and looking good. I am using the King Arthur Gluten Free 1:1 Measure Flour. Can you suggest other GF Flours to add with this or is it OK just to use this one flour? I see the recipe has multiple flours. Thanks in advance!
Hey, Teresa! Should be fine to just use that one flour if you want to go with all gluten free. Happy baking!
Hey, Teresa! My comment to you seems to have been deleted, sorry about that. So, yes it’s totally fine to just use one of the gluten free flours, that’ll work.
Thank you! Testing out my first one today. Fingers crossed.
I am going to try this recipe but having a terrible time with the US measurement of the sourdough starter. 38 grams. Could you tell how much that is?? ty Looking forward to tasting your bread recipe.
I know this isn’t the answer you were looking for but you just need to get a kitchen scale. All these measurements are by weight (38g=1.34oz) and can’t be converted into volume (ex. Cups or Tbsp) unless you look up the density and do the math. Even then you would get “US measurements” like 2.7 tbsp that wouldn’t be very helpful anyway. I’m a bit of a minimalist and resisted buying a scale for years but it’s $25 and I use it FOR EVERYTHING. It makes all sorts of baking/cooking easier and overall I don’t have to wash as many measuring cups. Happy baking!
Maurizio,
First of all thank you for this website and all of your recipes. It has really helped me in my sourdough adventures. I do have a question…the beginners sourdough recipe I started baking around May of this past year I came back to it yesterday to see the hydration percentage to compare because I‘m going to make your other recipe called your best sourdough recipe with a high hydration of 85%. Anyway my question is…coming back to this recipe it seems it has changed from when I first looked at it and wrote it down in my notebook earlier this year. There are higher amounts of flours etc. Can you please explain why you made these changes? I’ve made this recipe now several times and it’s come out pretty well and I’m going to make it with your new changes, but I’m just curious why you made these changes. Thanks in advance.
You’re very welcome, Laura! I did update this recipe slightly to drop the overall hydration a few percentage points (which would appear as increased flour). I’ve done this to make the recipe a little more accessible to more people. It shouldn’t be a big change, and as always during mixing, adjust by adding or holding back water as necessary to get the dough to feel the way you’re used to! Let me know how it goes 🙂
Afternoon Maurizio, hope all is well
I’ve been getting back into things after moving in with my girlfriend and having access to my tools properly again, and the picture link here shows my efforts from two loaves I’ve done this morning https://imgur.com/a/EqjSfWV
And here is the dough last night after around 4 hours of bulk proofing with subsequent stretch and folds https://i.imgur.com/LRjKz7Z.jpg ; they had around 15 hours in the fridge overnight…
Whilst they taste great, I’m obviously a bit disappointed with the look of them; when I was scoring, the blade (a fresh Feather blade, I’m into wetshaving so have many in abundance) was tugging along the dough and nothing like what I see other people do. Just kinda went flat, and here is where I am now.
Any idea what the issue may be and how I can fix it? I noticed when mixing it was already getting kind of shaggy, so held back the 50g of water, but am still wondering if I was using too much liquid when it came to putting it altogether. Tool wise, I have a Lodge Combo Cooker, but an oven that only just push 230c. I’m slightly reluctant to say heat was the cause for this outcome though. I’ve had my starter going for about 15/16 months and using a strong white Canadian bread flour, but also wondering if shifting towards rye may help…
Thanks as always, and keep up the fantastic work!
Alex
I’m by no means an expert but my dough was turning out similar to your photos and I seemed to find a solution. The two things that seemed to help was 1) using a “younger” leavain that hadn’t quite doubled yet and was still on the rise and 2) doing ~10mins of continuous slap and fold with the dough directly on my counter top after I had mixed everything together. Once I did those two things, my bread had more oven spring and grow into the scoring a lot more.
Alex, it’s a bit hard to say without more details but my inkling here is a little too much water in the dough. I’d say hold back a bit more next time to see if you can get more structure. Give them a bit of time kneading upfront or a few more sets of stretch and folds in bulk fermentation. I don’t think switching flour will help in this situation.
One last thought: they could be slightly over proofed in addition to (or instead of ) over hydrated–but it’s hard to say on this without more details on the bake.
I’d start by lowering hydro just a bit. Jade’s comments below are both along the same lines as what I’m thinking (over hydrated a bit/under strengthened, a little over proofed).
Thanks for the advice Maurizio, much appreciated! I lowered the total water by 100g last weekend and this was the final outcome https://i.imgur.com/o5w9CwM.jpg ; a slight improvement and scoring was definitely a bit easier. Was also a bit more thorough when it came to incorporating the levain and autolease, but might look at some slap and fold which I’ve been a bit awful at with previous attempts
Thanks!
Hi Maurizio,
Just wanted to drop a note here to say thank you for the great site. I think I have my basic sourdough loaf in good shape now, and I made your sourdough fougasse from Food 52 for the first time on Christmas and it turned out great.
Thanks again –
John
Hey, John! You’re very welcome, I really appreciate the note. Glad your loaf is in good shape and the fougasse turned out well! That’s become one of my favorite “quick” breads to turn around, always a pleaser. Happy Holidays!
Thank you so much for the detailed write up. I’ve been struggling with wheat sourdoughs for a while and this recipe has so far produced the best result, although still far from perfect. One question I am hoping you can weigh in on – a number of times I’ve noticed that during shaping, my dough does not keep it’s taut exterior, and instead will start to spread while stretching on the surface, exposing the dough underneath. Everything until the point of shaping seems to go correctly. I used to think maybe my gluten was underdeveloped in the bulk ferment, but I’ve been doing the window pane test to confirm that it is strong after my stretch and folds. If I keep trying to shape, it worsens the problem. The last time I didn’t run into this, I actually reduced water even a bit further from your percentages because I thought maybe the hydration was the issue. Have you come across this before? Thank you!
You’re welcome, Jenya! Usually that sounds like dough that’s either under strengthened or over hydrated (they’re related, too). But if you’re getting a full windowpane, then it can’t be that. Is it possible the dough is actually over proofing on you? If you go too far with the proof you’ll eventually lose structure and the loaf will spread in the oven. Finally, it could be that you need to shape the dough a bit tighter to ensure it holds its shape all the way to the oven. A few ideas!
First of all I like to say that this is the most comprehensive site I have found and is the easiest to follow. I am starting my second batch using the recipe for Sourdough Bread for Beginners. My only problem is that despite carefully weighing my ingredients and following the recipe exactly, at the Autolyse stage, my mixture is too dry. I have to add all of the water including the extra 50 grams and then about 100 grams more to hydrate all of the flour. I did this on my last batch even though I hated to deviate from the recipe. The bread turned out very nice so I don’t think it hurt it. Any suggestions or advice? Also, one question is: If I want to skip building a levain and I just want to use my starter, how much starter would I use for this recipe? Any cons to that approach?
Thank you, Laura! Lots of time and passion into this page and for sourdough, as I hope you can tell 🙂 It’s ok if you need to add more water, and actually, some deviation is to be expected. It’s rare a bread recipe is exactly as it’s listed, there’s always some measure of adjustment for the flour you’re using compared to the one I have here. Totally fine. If you need even more, go for it!
You can skip your levain, not a problem. Use the same amount of starter as you would levain. To answer all your questions about that, check out my guide to the differences between a starter and a levain. If that doesn’t help, let me know and I’ll see if I can explain further.
Happy baking and happy holidays!
Hi! This looks to be an amazing recipe’ I am about to embark on the journey of making my first loaf as my starter is almost mature – for the flours in this recipe, what would the result be if I only used bread flour? I only have whole wheat pastry flour and no rye… thanks!
Will turn out great! You might want to give the dough a little longer in bulk fermentation with the reduced whole grain flour in the recipe. Just follow the guide (photos and cues) in the recipe for when to divide. Have fun with it!
Hi Maurizio, thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise! I follow you on IG as well 🙂
Can you help clarify the timing under the bulk fermentation section? If I were to “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.”, it would be within 2.5 hours, not 4 hours. Thanks!
You’re very welcome, Mimi! That’s right, all the folds are up front and after the third set, just let the dough rest for the remainder of bulk fermentation, untouched. Happy baking!