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
You’re very welcome! 8″ is definitely smaller than the baskets I use. The ones I have here (and are on my Tools page) are 10″ diameter baskets. Snug is totally fine, I just like to give the dough plenty of room for expansion.
Hope the bake turned out well!
Hi Maurizio,
I’ve just made this recipe, it’s now retarding in the fridge, but boy was it a wet, sticky, gooey mess when I dumped it on my floured work surface. I coud just barely scrape it off… I even lowered the hydration to 75%. I’ve managed 75% with a different recipe with yeast before, that was pretty managable. I just don’t know what I did wrong. My starter seems ok, rising predictably, more than doubling in size, although it lacks the crazy activity I sometimes see in your photos. I live in the Netherlands but I found a mill that has 13% breadflour from American hard wheat (Manitoba I believe), so that should be fine too. I followed your guide precicely, even used the oven with the light on to create the 76°F you call for in the recipe, the ambient temp in my kitchen is about 70°F…
I’m realy racking my brain here to find what I’m doing wrong, I really would like to bake that beautiful and tasty bread that you make! Can you please give me some pionters?
Ciao,
Tim
Tim — it sounds like there was just too much water for the flour you’re using (even if it’s from the Americas). It’s likely more humid where you live than where I am at so this might have just been too much water for your dough. I’d scale back the hydration percentage even more if the dough was too sticky and hard to handle. Sorry about that, I know it can be frustrating but each batch of flour, and each environment, is different!
Everything else sounds spot on, I’d keep that all the same if possible. It sounds like you are paying very close attention to everything else so that’s great!
Thanks! Well I’ll try and bake the wetmass in about 10 hours, maybe it still taste great! 🙂 Next bread I’ll try 72% hydration. Or do you think I should even go lower?
Start at 70%, hold back 2% and add it in as your mixing towards the end if it feels like it can take it 🙂
Tim, your bread looks great! Nice crust and good fermentation going on. To reduce sourness you could try pulling back on the cold proof 1-2 hours and see if that helps. I do not use convection with my bakes, just a standard electric oven set to “bake”.
I don’t have my baking spreadsheets available yet but I do plan to share these in the future once I get them cleaned up. I’ll certainly post them here at my site when they are available!
I agree, I do need more videos here — it’s a challenging thing to do when the dough won’t wait for anyone! This year I do plan on getting more videos uploaded, stay tuned.
Happy baking, Tim!
Your bread turned out fantastic! Really great to see that bake. Higher hydration dough definitely does take practice, you’ll notice you get more and more confident with each bake.
One thing you could do with the sel gris is dissolve it in a little bit of the reserved water for the mix, this way you are mixing in a salty slurry instead of raw salt flakes.
Hope that helps!
Well, nailing that hydration can be tricky and it can vary day to day! You could split the water, or hold back a little more than usual to make this slurry happen.
Hi Tim .I’m in the Netherlands too and always need to drastically reduce the water in all bread recipes .As for the celtic salt problem, I use a pestle and mortar to grind it, and put it in dry with the levain and that works well.
Greetings, is n’t this a great blog?Thank you so much Maurizio!
Thanks Annelies, it’s a great blog indeed!
Really great ideas Annelies! And you’re welcome, thanks for the kind words!
Hello there, I’m about to make this recipe for the first time and my first time 100% sourdough bread. The only thing I have to change is the time of the levain build since I will be gone to work. So I will have the levain mixed at 6:30 am and I will be back home at 16:00. Autolyse for an hour and then mixing everything at 17:00. That’s 10,5 hours of levain build in my kitchen where the room temperature is rather low (18-19,5 Celsius). Shall I change something for the rest of the recipe or it should work decently?
Thank you
Hi! It’s hard for me to say exactly because there are a lot of conditions at play but that timetable sounds like it could work given the very cool temps in your kitchen. As I’ve written about here, cooler temps will slow fermentation quite a bit but keep an eye on your levain when you get back from work. If it looks like there is not a lot of activity give it more time (and maybe put it in a warmer spot in your kitchen) to develop. The “float test” as I describe above is a pretty good indicator for when your levain is ready to be used. Don’t rush that step, you want your levain nice and active before you use it!
Thanks Maurizio,
I followed the plan, my levain was happy, similar to how my starter looks but just doubled in size (my starter is at least triple at its peak!).
I used Oldums strong flour (Irish commercial brand) Oldums wholemeal and Dove organic wholemeal rye. All was good but I didn’t pay attention to water temperature and I just used tap water that was around 18 C. Anyway… I kept going by using a hot towel underneath the mixing bowl every time I was stretching and folding, just to help the dough a bit. I BF for 5 hours and the result was similar to yours, around 20% risen, judging by the eye, with several bubbles on the sides of the bowl and the surface but a bit less domed and more wet. I think I wet my hands to much during SF and by that I must have contributed to the recipe. Very tricky to handle it and I had to use quite a lot of flour to avoid stickiness, eventually u had to slap and fold and after some time fighting with it I managed to preshape it!
I have to say at the beginning it wouldn’t even look that it will come to this point!
I managed to create tension on the surface of my loafs and now there are already 10 hours since I am resting them in the fridge… Let’s see what the final outcome will be! I will source better flours for next week.
Any piece of advice for my next weekend bake will be highly appreciated!
Thank you so so so much!
You might want to try reducing hydration a bit from my recipe to accommodate your flour, it sounds like it was a bit too wet to handle. I’d go down by 5% and see if the dough is more manageable!
Forgot to mention that FDT was only around 22 C after BF. Also, couldn’t find any rice flour yet and I just used AP flour instead…
Hello Marizio!
I have been thoroughly enjoying your delightful blog. Your passion for sourdough is contagious! My attempts at following your beginners loaf instructions have yielded a bread that is close to flat without much rise at the last stages. I have been using a large enamel pot to bake in…. Observing the dough throughout the process, the failure seems to happen at the very last stage (from fridge to oven) as the dough seems to proof very well and I have managed to create what seems to be a healthy levain (bubbly and active). I am wondering if perhaps the bread might be overproofing (leading to later collapse) or??? Wondered if you have any ideas…Thanks again,
Susanna
Susanna — glad to hear that! Yes, the dough could definitely be over proofing. If you notice a very well aerated interior (lots and lots of small holes) with little rise this could definitely be the cause. The dough could also be over-hydrated, if it feels soupy or super wet to you hold back water from the recipe to counter that.
I’d suggest reducing your proof time by 2-4 hours and see if that helps next time!
Hi Marizio – I’m new to sourdough (actually bread baking in general) and i LOVE your blog. Thanks so much for all the work you put into it!
I’ve tried your recipe for the first time and have a couple questions:
1) After proofing should the dough rest on the counter / come up to room temperature? I ran two loaves from the same batch and seemed to get better rise with the dough that came to room temp (second loaf to bake as i only have 1 dutch oven)
2) should the dutch oven lid also be pre-heated? i’m baking for 20m covered and the loaves seem to brown more than the expected (pale golden / yellow)
thanks for your help!!
Thanks Bijan, really appreciate that!
1) The dough doesn’t need to come up to room temperature before baking. However, if your dough needs additional fermentation time (because it might be a little underproofed) then you can certainly give it the time it needs at that point. When I pull my dough from the fridge if it looks like it could use a little more time before baking I’ll pull it out while the oven preheats to give it that time.
2) I do preheat both sides of the Dutch oven. Your environment and oven is different than mine, though, so adjust as necessary. Perhaps your oven needs less preheat time than mine!
Hope this helps, happy baking!
Hi again Maurizio! I made this recipe for the 2nd time now and WOW did it turn out amazing this time!! What I changed was that I used a traditional cooking clay pot with a lid. The result was fantastic! One question though (I’m sure I read it here somewhere, but I cannot find the comment now) – I live in an area 500 to 700 meters above sea lvl altitude. Especially in my part of town it can get very humid even in winter (a lot of fog for example). Does that mean I should lower the water in the recipe? I’ve noticed that the dough becomes very wet and soupy like if I add the whole amount of water stated in your recipe, so I skipped the 50 grams at the mixing stage, because I was afraid it was going to be too wet. Thanks again for your time!
Regards!
Hey, Dimana! Really glad to hear this bake turned out so well for ya. Yes, you will likely need to adjust the amount of water in this recipe to suit your environment and your flour. Good call on leaving out that remaining 50g! Hold back (or add) as much water as necessary so the dough has the “right” consistency — this will take some experimentation and intuition but over time you’ll develop a sense for how much water is just right.
Happy baking!
hi Maurizio. First of all thank you for your awesome instructions. I tried to bake my first bread today but it didn’t turn out great. I followed your guides for creating a starter with rye and wheat flour and it doubles in size predictably. But when I create the levain with all purpose flour (I couldn’t find bread flour here in germany) and whole wheat flour it is quite liquid (should I just add a few grams more flour?) and its size only increases by 50% at most. So my bread is quite dense, although it tastes great. Now I took part of my rye starter and am trying to replace the rye with whole wheat over a couple of feedings until I get as much rise as with the other starter. Do you think I am on the right path here or would you do it differently?
You’re very welcome! If your starter is too far on the liquid side, yes, use more flour to get to the right consistency. The flour you’re using out there might not be able to take on as much water as the flour here in the US — that’s totally fine. You might want to keep this in mind when doing your dough mix as well. Add water in slowly during mixing to avoid over hydrating.
I’d say you’re on the right path! Let me know how it goes, happy baking Radecke!
Thanks for your reply. I think it’s incredibly that you reply to every single comment on here!
Yes, I’ve been adding more flour to my wheat/whole grain starter and it seems to be doing better every day, though still not as well as my wheat/rye starter. As far as the dough mix goes I don’t really know what to look for concerning overhydration since I don’t have any experience yet. It sure was a sticky dough. Maybe I’ll just use 50g less water and see how it goes. I will try it out in the next couple of days and keep you updated.
You’re welcome! Well, I know how frustrating baking bread can be sometimes, especially without help! Trying to do my best to get everyone baking great bread at home 🙂
Sounds good. It does take a little while to build up that intuitive feel for the dough and how much water it can handle. My best advice is to dial back the water and when things are under control slowly work back up (if desired). Good luck!
Hey Radecke, I live in Germany too, but come from Australia (where labeling of flour is different to here). Bread flour in Germany is known as Weizenmehl Type 812. Type 405 and 550 (which most supermarkets have, e.g. Edeka) are all purpose flour.
I’m in Berlin and found a place where I can get Type 812 (aka bread flour), as well as many other types. If you’re in Berlin, I can let you know the place.
You may know all this already, but wanted to mention it just in case, as it was a bit difficult for me trying to work it out 😊
Thanks for your reply. I did eventually find out that type 812 is bread flour but right now I live in a small town and I can’t find it anywhere. I guess I’ll just have to order it online 🙂
Thank you so much for this extremely detailed, clear, and well-explained guide. I just made my first sourdough bread and it was beyond delicious. The crumb was PERFECT. I was very intimidated by the whole procedure, but it really wasn’t that bad! Your guide and tips were very helpful. My starter consisted of 50% white all-purpose flour and 50% whole kamut flour. As for the dough formula, I used kamut for the My only issue is that the bread did not taste sour enough for my liking. I love that sourdough taste and while this bread was tasty beyond belief, there was only a hint of that sourness. Do you think that could be due to the kamut flour? Thanks again for these amazing instructions, can’t wait to try your other recipes (that fig and fennel sourdough is calling my name)!
Ahh so, so glad to hear that! The lack of sourness isn’t related to the Kamut flour. If you want to try and work in some more sour flavor you could up the percentage of whole grains in this recipe (whole grain dark rye is perfect for this, perhaps 5-10% instead of the called for white flour) which helps boost acidity in the dough. Additionally, you could let your dough proof longer in the fridge, perhaps 2-4 more hours and see if that helps. The longer, cold proof will also help develop more acidity in the dough.
Hope this helps and enjoy the Fig/fennel loaf, it’s amazing!
Excellent, I will try both those things! Thanks for the tips!
Hi Maurizio,
Quick question about the oven and the baking equipment.
Since I live in a very small apartment I do not have that much space and I certainly don’t have these 2 heavy pans that you’re using for your loaves. Here’s what I have:
1. Electric oven (nothing special about it, generic one, but good. So far it never failed me when baking. Not even when making meringues 🙂 )
2. Pizza round stone
3. Large shallow rectangular pan that came with the oven and fits entirely it in (similar to this one – http://zebrahome.bg/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/k/c/kcmchb25_main.jpg)
My question is:
Will I need the pizza stone at all given the fact that I can just preheat that pan I have and use it directly?
I suppose that this pan is not the best option, because the dough might lose it’s shape, but it’s the only thing I have so I have to work with it.
Any suggestions are welcome 🙂
Thank you!
P.S. – Would it be possible to add Celsius degrees to your recipes at some point? Thanks!
You could definitely use your pan (your link doesn’t work but that’s ok, I can visualize it). Ideally you’d also have something to cover the dough as its rising — like an oven-safe metal bowl to help trap steam but it’s not even 100% necessary. You can bake without steam and you’ll still get wonderful bread! You might not get the same height and shine to the crust but it will still be delicious nonetheless.
Give it a try, you might be surprised just how versatile this process is, even with just using what’s on hand 🙂
Hi Maurizio,
First of all, both my husband and I thank you for your amazing amazing blog. He happily enjoys the fruits of my labor! I first started out using Tartine’s book, but I was confused the entire time, not knowing if I was doing any of the steps correctly (turns out, I was doing things completely wrong). It wasn’t until I found your blog, specifically this beginner’s sourdough recipe, and saw all of your helpful comments, instructions, and pictures, that I began to learn how to do things right. I am proud to say that I am starting to get that baker’s “intuition”, knowing what feels, looks, and smells right. All thanks to you!
I had a question about this sourdough recipe. I have had good success making this bread, though I tend to have tighter crumb without many holes, but with good to excellent oven spring with “ears” from my scoring. In other words, from the outside the bread looks beautiful and just like the ones you make. But I’m always disappointed when I slice into it and see the denser crumb. So I can never tell if I’m over proofing or under proofing (it’s not flat, nor is it runny with no shape, nor are there giant holes/crevices inside). Do you have any thoughts about this?
So I’m starting to consider maybe I am doing things right, but maybe I should try to experiment with increasing my hydration level to see if I get those big wavy looking holes in the crumb. At what hydration level would you recommend for this purpose?
Thank you so much again. I really do love love love this blog. I am excited to try all of your other recipes, including the pizza dough, whole wheat sandwich bread, and the higher hydration recipes. Thank you!
You’re welcome and I’m happy to hear you guys are making such awesome bread! That intuition does take a bit of time to develop but it sounds like you’re well on your way. It’s funny how after a while such simple numbers convey so much meaning!
It’s hard to say without more details why your crumb is more dense, there are so, so many things that go into it! If you’re getting overly dramatic rise in your dough with lots of ruptures on top, you might want to try fermenting your dough longer — it could be slightly on the under proofed side. Let your dough go a couple more hours than usual to see if that helps open the interior up a bit more. Aside from that just try to focus on one thing at a time and see if that single change helped, or didn’t, achieve the crumb you’re after.
You can definitely try to slowly increase hydration. I’d bump things up in 5% increments from this recipe to ensure you’re not rushing things. Wetter dough can be a challenge!
You’re so welcome. Keep me posted on how it’s going!
Hi Maurizio! Thanks for your reply. Do you mean a couple of extra hours during bulk or retarded proofing in fridge? I actually experimented last weekend: one loaf I proofed for 16 hours in the fridge per your instructions, another I left in the fridge a full day longer and baked at 36 hours. They both came out similarly. The second load was a bit more sour but the density seemed very similar (maybe the second one had a bit looser crumb but essentially the same). Both also had good oven spring though the second one had bigger ears.
So maybe my denser crumb is due to overproofing? But that doesn’t seem to explain the good oven spring I get?
Thank you in advance for any suggestions/thoughts.
I meant a few more hours in proof. However, it is important your bulk is complete, you want that dough to develop enough at that stage before dividing. The dough should look similar to my photos here when bulk is finished (stronger, smooth, slightly bubbly). You’re right, that longer proof doesn’t quite explain why there was sufficient rise in the dough if it was over proofing — it should be pretty sluggish in the oven.
A few other things could be causing a dense crumb including over hydrated dough (you’d know this right away, though, everything would be soupy and hard to handle), over handling the dough during the entire process and even the actual flour choice you’re using. If you’re using Bob’s Red Mill like I do here you should see similar results, the protein levels in that flour are high enough for an open crumb.
It’s hard to say without more pictures/details!
Thanks for your reply again. More details…I don’t think my dough is over hydrated (not soupy, I’m able to get good tension during shaping so they become rounded balls). After bulk fermentation, the dough does look like yours, a bit doomed at the edges with bubbles. I’m also not doing any extra stretch and folds during bulk so don’t think I’m over handling it. I do use the Bob’s Red Mill flour per your recipe.
How can I send you (or post) a picture?
Another thing is at times the crumb would come out a bit gummy and sticky (which is what you mentioned in your recipe due to the flour type), and I have baked it longer at higher temperatures (20 min at 500) and that seemed to help.
Sounds like, yes, you could use to bake a little longer at a lower temperature to help remove some of that gummy texture.
Shoot me over an email (maurizio (at) theperfectloaf.com) with any photos if you’d like!
Hi Maurizio! Thanks for your good work! I made your pizza crust a few days ago and it was incredible. A quick question-how much leeway does the proofing time have in the refrigerator? The timing of this is always a little difficult.
You’re very welcome, glad to hear that about the pizza crust! There is actually quite a bit of leeway in the fridge proof, assuming your dough is not overly fermented by the time you put it in there. For the pizza dough I’ve had people email me that they’ve let the shaped balls proof for a few days after expecting to use it with just a slight compromise in crust rise height (but also increased flavor). The best answer I have there is to experiment with it. Make a batch of 4 balls, use two one night for dinner and then try to use the other two a few days later and see how it goes (perhaps have a backup for dinner, just in case :)).
Hope this helps & happy baking!
Hi Maurizio-thanks! I wasn’t clear and I meant proofing for the bread. I proofed one loaf 22 hrs and the next 23 hours as time allowed. Both came out incredibly beautiful and tasted amazing!!! I’m not sure how to post a pic here but wish I could show you! Thank you!!!!!
Oh, gotcha. That’s great! Unfortunately there’s no way to post a picture here (wish there was) — I’ll just have to imagine you enjoying this with some great butter!
Quick question, I am trying to nail down this whole Baker’s Math thing and I am having a hard time deriving at some of your numbers. Can you explain how you got to you exact numbers! When I add up all your flour in your Final Dough recipe I get 907 grams to get to the percentages I take 748 grams of bread flour and divide it by 907, and multiple by 100. When I do that I get 82.47 not 82.43? The same with the rest of the ingredients, the last two digits are always off.
For your vitals you say that the bread is 78 percent hydration. I took 691 grams of water plus 100 grams of levain water and divided it by 1007 to get 78.55 percent. Another way is would be to take the water from the levain 184/2= 92-20 from starter 72. add 72 to both the total water and the total flour. Take 763 grams of water and divide it by 979 grams of flour.
Last question is about the pre-ferment flour percentage, how did you arrive at this number? The closest I can get is to take 72 grams of flour from levain not counting the starter and divide it by 907, gives me 7.9 hydration.
I was able to figure out the answer to my second question! You Total Formula hydration is 78% because you take 783 grams of water by adding 92 grams of water from the levain to the 691g of water in the final dough and then you divide 783 by 999 which gives us 78%!
I am still not sure how you figure out the pre-ferment flour percentage, for this recipe yours is 7.5%, could you explain how you got this?
This is what I am getting when calculating the percentage of prefermented flour!
92g of flour in the preferment.
total flour weight is 999g (748g bread + 110g ww + 49g rye + the 92g in the preferment)
92g / 999g = .091, so it should be 9.1% preferment.
Sorry for the confusion on this. I have a master spreadsheet I use to create all my formulas, this spreadsheet I created calculates everything automatically based on flour percentages for input, water and desired pre-fermented flour. Sometimes, as with this recipe, I manually increase the amount of levain created just to make sure there’s a little extra for readers here just in case. There have been times when I calculate an exact amount of levain needed for a recipe (this is calculated from the pre-fermented flour percentage I am looking for) and I ended up with a few grams to little for the bake — this is why I manually increase the levain. When I do this I did not take into account the adjustment of inputs for calculating the PFF (pre-fermented flour) percentage I report here. Sorry about that!
The PFF percentage I list here IS STILL accurate, but the levain numbers I have listed are a little off. I’ve received one other email from a reader about this recently. I will work on correcting this in each of my recipes here so things aren’t misleading (or I’ll put a note in here on why I’m doing what I do).
That said, your calculation for PFF is perfectly correct, however, when calculating this percentage you do not want to include the flour in the “seed” (your starter) used to create the levain. So while my recipe calls for 184g of levain (half of which is flour, or 92g) you only want to include the flour added to the levain, which is 74g. Then, you have:
74g flour in preferment / 981g total flour = 7.5% pre-fermented flour.
I base my spreadsheet calculations on the Bread Baker’s Guild of America (BBGA) guidelines and this is how they do the calculation. I could see either being correct, but I do adhere to their recommendations. The BBGA simply takes the total amount of flour used to create the levain and divides that number by the total amount of flour in the recipe.
Thanks again for your comments. I’m going to spend some time and go back to update all my “vitals” sections to take my changes into account in case this comes up again in the future. I hope this make sense!
I just made this loaf and followed the directions, it appears to be flatter than the loaves on your site. My started is good (floats when dropped in water). I did it on a baking stone/parchment and covered it with a lodge pot for 20 then uncovered for 30 at recommended temps. Oven had about 1:15 warm up time. Any thoughts on what I could be doing? I am milling my own flour (winter hard white) on a KoMo Classic. sifting most of the flour and some whole. If you have a few ideas on what I could do to get a different result, that would be great. I imagine this is a needle in a haystack situation, but hoping a few ideas might help me solve the problem.
Like you indicated, there are many reasons why your bread might not have as much height as my loaves shown here in this recipe. Your baking times do sound fine to me, though (assuming temps are close to what I have listed here).
Make sure your bulk fermentation is complete when you decide to divide the dough. You want to see a good amount of rise in the dough with strength to it, it should not look “soupy” but rather it should show signs that the dough is holding its shape in the bowl (see my bulk photos above). Once you divide and shape make sure to shape with enough tension in the dough that it holds it’s form on the bench on its own after you’re finished (right before transferring to a basket). You want that dough to have this tension so it springs up and does not spread out when baking. For your proof step, you want to make sure the dough has enough time to finish proofing but still enough “energy” left so it springs up. If you notice the interior has lots and lots of small holes but overall height is low, it could be the dough proofed for a bit too long — cut back on your overnight proof a few hours and see if that helps.
If you have any pictures of the interior/exterior of your bread feel free to send me an email through the Contact link up top. I might be able to help by examining those. It’s so hard to offer any advice over what I’ve written here without more details! Hope that helps 🙂
Just made this for the first time last night, came out great! The crumb and crust textures were just how I like them. The only thing I would say is that I didn’t get the oven spring I was expecting so the loaf wasn’t as high as I would have liked. Any reason why that might have happened?
Awesome, really glad to hear that! There are a few reasons this could happen but usually it’s do to either insufficient tension in the dough from shaping (so it springs up instead of flops out) or overproofed dough. Try to focus on getting a nice tight skin on the dough during shaping (as I show in my pictures above) so the dough kind of holds itself on the counter after you’re done. If you’re still having issues after that try reducing the time in the fridge by 2 hours or so and see if that helps increase rise in the oven.
Hope this helps and happy baking!
Great! Thanks so much for your response. I’ll definitely give it a shot. Keep up the good work, looking forward to more recipes.
Took your advice and the second loaf came out incredible! Got that perfect oven spring and a beautiful airy crumb. I think my starter was also more robust than it was the first time around after a couple more weeks of feeding and strengthening, so I think that helped too. I think I’ve found a new hobby!
Fantastic!!
I just made this recipe (and sourdough) for the first time. Sadly, my loaves came out dense, spongy, and really moist. The texture was very different from the pictures shown. I noticed during the process that my dough did not seem to have as much structure as in the pictures. And after reading another post I thought I should mention that I also used an electric oven. Could either of these things have contributed to the spongy texture? Is there anything else I should be aware of?
Thanks so much for your help.
Ahh that’s a bummer! The electric oven is not a problem, that’s what I use. It does help to make sure the temperature of your oven is where it should be, though (using a thermometer inside there, see my comment below). It sounds like maybe your flour was over hydrated or it did not have enough strength in the dough. Make sure when you add the water to the dough it doesn’t end up becoming very soupy and wet, it should be pretty firm. Hold back some water until it feels this way to you, only adding in small increments to make sure you don’t over-hydrate.
Additionally, and probably the most important thing here, make sure your starter is very strong and rising/falling predictably like I discuss. Have a look at my starter FAQ and my starter maintenance routine just to make sure you have a good idea for what your starter should closely resemble. Without sufficient fermentation in the dough you’ll end up with a pretty dense loaf.
I’m sure we’ll get you back on track here, you’ll love this sourdough bread once we do! Let me know if you’re still having issues on the next attempt. Happy baking, Megan.
Help!
I have used this recipie so many times and it has worked out perfectly! Recently I moved into a new home and had to leave my gas oven behind… We now have an electric oven and I can not get my loaves to come out the same! They are dense and heavy and very moist when cut. Nothing has changed in the process except the oven.
I use. Dutch oven to bake the loaves in and use literally your baking method. Should the initial steam before I remove the lid be longer? Do you have any experience with electric ovens?
Getting a gas oven is out of our reach currently.
Ayuda!
Alex
Hey, Alex! Glad to hear about the successes but bummed about the latest results. Every time I bake in a different environment it requires me to adjust my process a bit — it’s annoying but to be expected. If you don’t have an ambient oven thermometer I’d suggest picking one up (something like this) just to double check your new oven is at the temp you think it is. Aside from that if your dough looks, smells and feels the same you should still be on the right track but perhaps one thing is off, or different, from how you were baking before.
Check the oven and then pay close attention to the dough and make sure it’s moving along like you remember (or if you’ve taken good notes this is the time to take them out!). I hope that helps in some way, good luck I’m sure you’ll get back there soon!
Oh, I also wanted to mention I’ve always baked in an electric oven, never gas!
Hi Maurizio, I first discovered your Instagram account (which is amazing!) and then I discovered your awesome blog! First of all, thank you for your detailed explanations, they are really helpful and inspirational. All I want to do is bake your recipes one by one everyday 🙂
I have been baking sourdough bread for a while now, I had so many failures both with my starters and bread but these made me practise more and more because once you get the taste of sourdough bread, you can’t eat anything else. Anyway, I have a question regarding the bulk fermentation. I normally give the dough a 30-min rest before starting the sets of stretch and fold and do 4 sets. When should we start the sets when we follow your recipe and method, right after the mixing stage?
Thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate the time and effort! Hope my loaves will be like yours someday!
Best,
Ceylan
Thank you! After you’re done mixing bulk fermentation begins. Wait 30 minutes after the start of bulk fermentation to do your first set, you want to let the dough relax after mixing before giving that first set of stretch and folds.
Hope this helps and thanks so much for the kind words! Happy baking 🙂
This was exactly the way I did it! Thank you so much for your reply 🙂
You are the best!!
If salt is added to the Autolyse with the flour will this ruin the bread?
No it wont ruin the bread, but a true autolyse is without salt (only flour and water). If you want to add salt in right away to do only a single mix step then you might as well skip the autolyse period and just go right into mixing. Hope that helps!
Good info. I keep forgetting to withhold the salt along with the Levain (perhaps an edit above?), but still baked great bread. Was wondering what chemistry was occurring in front of me. Also, are there any special “things I need to know” if I want to make eclectic sourdough (i.e. Cheddar/jalapeno, cranberry/walnut)?
Good suggestion on the edit, I’ll add that in. I love this term: “eclectic sourdough” — fantastic!! Generally it’s pretty safe to toss whatever you want into the dough, especially the ingredients you’ve mentioned. Of course each will have an effect on water absorption, structure of the dough, etc. so be aware of that. For example, walnuts seem to pull water out of the dough and I end up adding a little extra hydration during bulk when I mix the walnuts in (I have a few walnut recipes here on my site in my Recipes section).
Have fun!
Is there video somewhere of the preshape and shape steps? Because, frankly, I cannot make heads or tails of what you’re trying to describe in those places. Thanks.
I’m still working on videos for my site, but I do have a few up on Instagram that will help.
Here is a video of me preshaping a boule.
If you’re going to do a final shape as a boule as well (as I describe above), try to follow the steps I describe in this post about “folding it up” and then you will round the dough very similar to the video above!
Hope this helps until I get some proper videos uploaded here 🙂
Tomorrow marks my first time trying this recipe. I’ve studied it for weeks while waiting for my starter to get good and strong. I am very excited and hope it turns out!
Also, hello fellow New Mexican!
Good luck with it! Glad you have taken your time and fully read through everything, will make the process much smoother for sure. Let me know how it goes, fellow New Mexican!
Bread and crumb came out beautiful. It tastes like a wonderful rustic bread, not sour at all. 🙁 Also, as mentioned with other commenters, the bottom ended up burnt in my Lodge DO. Thank you for the great tutorial, now to work on getting some sour notes in my next loaf!
You’re very welcome! If you want a little more sourness try adding some more rye flour in there (not too much or you’ll end up with a more squat loaf) and you could try extending that proof in the fridge another hour or two, that should help!
You’re very welcome! You can definitely go longer than 16 hours but really only if your dough can handle it — it’s very relative to how much fermentation has undergone in your dough. If your dough has already fermented significantly before you place it into the fridge then you might be pushing it if you go longer. My recommendation for this is to usually say, try it and see what happens. If you’re pushing things too far your dough will be sluggish to rise in the oven and may spread a bit more than usual, if this is the case next time back it off a few hours and try again. Finding that sweet spot takes a bit of trial and error but it does give us some flexibility in bake time. If you follow this recipe exactly I would say you could usually go 2-4 hours longer without any problem.
I am new to creating my own sourdough. I am in the process of creating my starter and have had very good results. I understand that the starter can be maintained and nurtured indefinitely. Additionally, the starter can take on the nuances of the particular bake that you are making. My question is this, do you take a portion of you bake dough, from any particular bake, to continue the starter? If so, is there anything in particular that I need to do that portion to maintain or recreate it as a starter?
You can certainly do that: keep a portion of the fermented dough to keep your culture going. However, I find it’s easier (and safer for me) to just keep a completely separate culture going in its own jar. When I want to make a levain for a specific bake I’ll take some of my starter out of my ongoing starter jar, add it to a new jar, mix up a levain and use that in its entirety in a single bake.
Hope that helps!
Thank you for the great resource! I’ve been baking sourdough off and on, but I’ve decided to really improve my skills for 2017. I’ve made this recipe several times now with great results EXCEPT the bottom burns every time. I tried lowering the oven temperature (pre-heat at 475 instead of 500) and waiting to put the cast iron in until 20 minutes before I bake, but this hasn’t helped. Any suggestions?
I’ve noticed this does happen more often with the Dutch oven. That’s a good move preheating it less but there are a few more things you could try: 1) if you’re using a baking stone don’t place the DO directly on the baking stone, put it on a normal oven rack. 2) You could try sprinkling on a light layer of cornmeal or raw wheat germ on the bottom of your dough before you flip it over onto the parchment paper.
I’d say reducing the preheat temp of the oven and the time of the DO, plus one, or both, of the above should help reduce the over-baking of the bottom of your loaves.
Hope this helps!
Fantastic site with a lot more detail than so many others [my engineering background appreciates this].
Since taking a KAF course on rye bread I have been maintaining a 100% hydration starter using whole grain rye flour keeping it in the refrigerator for 1 week at a time then taking it out for a couple of days while feeding then returning. This has made quite a few good loafs of rye bread.
Question #1: Now I would like to try some sourdough. Can this 100% hydration whole grain rye starter be used or should I create a 2nd one?
Question #2: If it can be used, should I wait a day or two after removing it from the refrigerator.
Thanks again for such a great site.
Thanks, really appreciate that! Nice to get a nod from a fellow engineer as well 🙂
Yes you can definitely use your starter, even on this recipe it will work very well. As long as you have strong fermentation and it’s reliably rising and falling it will work just fine. You can use your starter to make the levain specified here.
I like to regularly feed my starter for 1-2 days after taking it out of the fridge so that it gets back up to full strength. You’ll notice after a day or two of feedings it will be back at strength and ready to go.
Hope this helps!
Thank you for you reply. The starter has been removed from the frig and after a couple of days, per your suggestion, I will give this a try.
Your site is the gold standard for a how to do “xyz”.
Thanks again.
Appreciate that!
Hello Maurizio, I hope all is well. I’ve been following your blog for awhile now, it has been immensely helpful. I have two quick questions. When I am doing the turns, the dough always picks up in one mass, it doesn’t stretch like it should. What can I do to fix this? Is this elasticity? Also, there is a local flour mill that I’d like to start buying flour from and I’m not exactly sure where to start. Can you give me a recommendation on what flours to try? Thank you so much! And congratulations on winning the saveur blog award!
Jared
Really glad to hear that, Jared! If your dough picks up in one single block it’s because the elasticity of the dough is very high and it’s resisting stretching out. You can try doing a longer autolyse period as I describe in this post, add another 1/2 or 1 hour to it to see if that helps.
Local flour is fantastic! I’d say just go with their “bread flour” or “all purpose” option, if they have something like that, to try out. After you get comfortable with it experiment with other options. If they only sell whole grain that is fantastic also but might take some experimentation if you’re trying to follow this recipe (whole grain doughs can quickly over proof, watch for the signs I describe in this post and adjust as necessary). You could look through my Recipes page for whole grain recipes there which might help.
Thank you for the kind words and I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any more questions, especially with regard to flour selection.