I was intimidated to make my first loaf of sourdough bread. I’d heard others talk about flat and dense loaves—dough that never rose. It wasn’t until I read a sourdough book cover to cover and painted it with post-it notes, highlights, and dog-eared pages that I felt ready to put my newborn sourdough starter to work. I bought flour. I filtered water. I measured. I mixed and kneaded. I folded ever-so-gently while I held my bread until, hours later, I pulled my first sourdough from the oven.
I had my wife taste it. “Pretty good,” she said. “Yeah, pretty good bread.” Only later did she fess up that it was “actually just okay, to be honest.” But all-in-all the bread had a nice rise, a crunchy and well-colored crust, and it did taste great considering it was my first loaf of any kind of bread. And you know what? We ate the entire thing.
This Beginner’s Sourdough Bread post has several videos where I walk you through each step of the sourdough bread-making process. Be sure to see the end for a complete video walkthrough of me making this recipe!
As the new obsession set in, I started making fresh sourdough bread for every meal. There was something about the whole bread-making process that I found captivating. It was–and still is–exciting to mix such elemental ingredients and to see them produce beautiful, life-giving sustenance: it is modern-day alchemy. It’s such a simple thing, and yet it brought me so much joy to see my family and friends tear into a freshly baked loaf that I wanted to bake every day of every week.
This recipe will give you confidence as you take your first steps in baking sourdough bread from your home kitchen.
Starting to make your first loaf of sourdough bread can be daunting. That’s why I’ve put together this beginner’s sourdough bread tutorial and recipe—it will give you confidence as you take your first steps in baking sourdough bread from your home kitchen. This how-to guide starts with explaining baking terms and definitions so that we will have a common vocabulary once we get to the recipe.
And then, each step of the process has lots of information to ensure you understand what is happening and what to do. But, before we go on this beginner’s sourdough bread recipe, let’s first take a look at what sourdough bread is.
What is Sourdough Bread?
Sourdough is a specific type of bread created through a natural fermentation process involving suitable bacteria and wild yeasts in the environment (i.e., the air and even a baker’s hands) and, most importantly, on the grain itself. A sourdough starter culture is used to seed fermentation in new dough when making sourdough bread.
Generally speaking, bacteria are primarily responsible for producing organic acids (lactic acid and acetic acid) that contribute to sourdough bread’s flavor, texture, and storage qualities. The wild yeasts produce carbon dioxide gas and ethanol during fermentation. When this gas becomes trapped in the dough’s airtight gluten matrix, the dough begins to rise, resulting in a final loaf of bread with a light and airy texture.
All recipes on The Perfect Loaf are naturally leavened; in other words, you won’t find any commercial yeast or instant yeast here. There’s nothing inherently wrong with commercial yeast, but I prefer to make bread this way because of the wonderful flavor and texture, the health benefits like increased bioavailability of minerals and nutrients, increased keeping quality thanks to the acids generated during natural fermentation, and the fact that it requires so few ingredients (just three!) to make something so delicious.
For a high-level look at each step of the sourdough process, read through the Beginner’s Guide to Sourdough Bread →
Creating a Sourdough Starter
It all begins with a sourdough starter. Before we look at how to make sourdough bread, you need to create a healthy sourdough starter that shows consistent signs of fermentation each day. Creating a sourdough starter is easy: mix flour and water for a few days in succession, and eventually, thanks to the bacteria and wild yeasts on the grain, natural fermentation will begin.
If you’d like to look at how I feed my starter daily, look at my sourdough starter maintenance routine. In this guide, you will see the visual and aromatic cues to look for when your starter is ready for refreshment (feeding).
While waiting for your sourdough starter, let’s look at some terms bakers often use to discuss the various parts of the bread-making process.
Baker’s Terminology
Sourdough starter
A starter is a mixture of flour and water you allow to ferment naturally. You’ll refresh (feed) the starter indefinitely to keep the fermentation active and healthy, and you will wait for it to become fully ripe before you use any of it to make bread.
When you want to make bread, you take a small amount of your starter to create an off-shoot called a levain (see below). See my post on starter creation to read more about the starter and learn how to make one.
Levain (or leaven)
A levain is made by mixing a small off-shoot of your ripe starter with water and flour and allowing it to ferment before mixing it into a dough. You can always use your starter directly to make sourdough bread, but a levain is a small off-shoot that allows you to adjust the flour, hydration, and ripening schedule (which have implications on the bacteria and wild yeast balance).
Also, unlike your sourdough starter, which lives on as its own entity, the entirety of the levain goes into the dough and has the same fate as the bread itself: to be baked in the oven. See my post on what a levain is and how it’s different from a sourdough starter for more information.
Autolyse
Some recipes utilize a step called autolyse (“auto-lease”). It occurs at the beginning of bread baking and is a step in which only flour and water are mixed together and left to rest. The goal of autolyse is to initiate enzymatic activity in the dough to help draw out sugars from the flour. Additionally, it helps increase dough extensibility (the ability for the dough to stretch out without tearing).
In most cases, increased extensibility is good as it helps the dough expand and fill with gasses, resulting in a light and airy loaf. See my in-depth post on the autolyse technique for more information.
Bulk fermentation
The dough’s first rise is called bulk fermentation. After mixing the flour, salt, and levain into a dough, you put it all into a bowl or container, cover it, and let it rest. The dough will undergo a fermentation process during this critical step. Bacteria and yeast begin to generate organic acids and alcohols and leaven the dough, which will translate to flavor and rise in your final bread.
For more on this critical step in the bread-making process, see my in-depth guide to bulk fermentation.
Proofing
The proof is the dough’s final, or second, rise after the dough has been divided and shaped and lasts until the dough is finally baked in the oven. During this time, the dough continues to ferment, further strengthening and leavening it. I typically proof at a cold temperature in the refrigerator (also called “retarding”).
In my ultimate guide to proofing, I talk about how to spot when the dough is finished rising and ready to bake, plus a whole lot more.
Final Dough Temperature
The final dough temperature (FDT) is the dough’s temperature after mixing all ingredients. The dough’s temperature is important because it’s the main factor that affects fermentation strength: a warmer dough will ferment faster than a cooler dough.
Naturally, each component (levain, the flour, the water, and the ambient environment) has a temperature. While most of these are out of our control, we can easily adjust the water temperature, which enables us to change the FDT of the entire dough to meet whatever the recipe calls for.
I have a handy water temperature calculator you can use to quickly figure out what you need to warm or cool your mixing water to get the dough to the right temperature.
Or, so you don’t have to do any calculations, here’s a quick cheat sheet for this Beginner’s Sourdough bread recipe:
| If your kitchen temperature is | Warm or cool the mixing water to |
|---|---|
| 68°F (20°C) | 98°F (37°C) |
| 70°F (21°C) | 94°F (34°C) |
| 72°F (22°C) | 90°F (32°C) |
| 74°F (23°C) | 86°F (30°C) |
| 76°F (24°C) | 82°F (28°C) |
| 78°F (25°C) | 78°F (25°C) |
| 80°F (26°C) | 74°F (23°C) |
If your kitchen is outside of these temperatures, my guide on the importance of dough temperature in baking will walk you through calculating exactly what to warm (or cool) your mixing water to so your dough meets the FDT for any recipe.
Baker’s Percentages (Baker’s Math)
Baker’s math, or baker’s percentages, helps bakers adjust the actual quantity of the ingredients up or down, depending on how much bread they want to make. I write all the formulas on The Perfect Loaf in baker’s percentages, where all ingredient weights are a percentage of the total flour weight, which always adds up to 100%. Read through my introduction to baker’s percentages for a more in-depth explanation (including how to scale up and down a bread recipe).
TPL Members (the baking community here) have access to all the recipes here at The Perfect Loaf in spreadsheet form, making scaling up and down recipes as simple as changing a few numbers.
Baking Tools
There are a few necessary tools for baking your first loaf of this beginner’s sourdough bread. The following might look like a long list, but you probably already have many of these in your kitchen—There are a few tools necessary for baking this beginner’s sourdough bread. Note that one item is absolutely necessary: a kitchen scale. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, please consider buying one. Measuring flour with cups and scoops is entirely inaccurate!
- combo cooker like a Lodge 3qt. cast iron combo cooker or a Le Creuset Dutch oven that can withstand 500°F (260°C) in the oven and has a well-sealing lid
- large mixing bowl to mix your dough by hand
- two medium kitchen bowls to proof your dough
- two kitchen towels or a tea towel to line the proofing bowls
- bench knife to cut and shape the dough
- plastic or silicone bowl scraper
- kitchen scale that measures in grams
- instant-read thermometer
- white rice flour for dusting proofing bowl
- blade for scoring your dough (a “lame”), or a razor blade, sharp knife, or scissors
- fine-grain sea salt
- parchment paper
- pizza peel (or cutting board)
- heavy duty oven mitt
- the best bread knife for cutting your sourdough bread
You can find a full list of all the tools I use when baking on my baking tools page.
The Importance of Dough Temperature
When I first started baking, I didn’t quite grasp how important temperature is in the bread-making process. I always like to say: Treat temperature as an ingredient, just as flour, water, and salt are ingredients. What I mean by that, practically, is that if one day you mix with water that is 70°F (21°C) and then a week later mix with water that is 80°F (26°C), you will get drastically different outcomes.
Temperature determines the amount of fermentation activity you’ll see. Lower temperatures generally mean less activity; therefore, things will take longer. Higher temperatures generally mean more activity; therefore, things will take less time. Working with consistent temperatures will ensure consistency in your bread baking, and you’ll get the desired results in terms of flavor, rise, texture–well, everything.
Treat temperature as an ingredient, just as flour, water, and salt are ingredients.
If it’s cold where you’re baking, see my tips on how to bake sourdough bread in the winter. And conversely, if it’s warm where you are, see my post on how to bake in the summer. These guides will help ensure your loaves have the best flavor and volume.
Flour For Baking Bread
I used commonly available supermarket flour for this recipe: Bob’s Red Mill Artisan Bread Flour, Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Flour, and Bob’s Red Mill or Arrowhead Dark Rye Flour. These are great flour choices, but any of King Arthur’s offerings are equally suitable. I chose “bread flour” as it has a higher protein percentage than all-purpose flour, which helps bring significant strength to the dough so that less mixing and kneading is required–it also makes things a bit easier for your first loaf of bread.
As you’ll hear me mention throughout this site, I do like to use as little high-protein flour in my recipes as possible as I find it leads to a slightly chewier, gummy interior—or be sure to use it in the correct way.
Baking Schedule
This beginner’s sourdough bread is a two-day-long process where the bread is mixed and prepared on day one, cold-proofed (retarded) in the fridge overnight, then baked on day two.
I love the convenience of this type of schedule: most of the work is done on the first day, then the dough can be left in the fridge until the next day, when it can be baked in the morning, afternoon, or even the evening.
The baking schedule to the right shows you a high-level view of what step takes place and when.
Beginner’s Sourdough Bread Formula
Now we get to the formula for the beginner’s sourdough bread formula. I start every recipe with two tables: Vitals and Total Formula. The Vitals table gives you a high-level view of the contents of the dough, as well as how much the recipe makes (in this case, two loaves). The Total Formula table lists the ingredients needed for the entire recipe and their respective amounts.
Vitals
| Total Dough Weight | 1,800 grams |
| Pre-fermented Flour | 7.5% |
| Levain in final dough | 20.3% |
| Hydration | 72.0% |
| Yield | Two loaves |
Total Formula
| Weight | Ingredient | Baker’s Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 811g | Bob’s Red Mill Artisan Bread Flour | 80.0% |
| 152g | Bob’s Red Mill Stoneground Whole Wheat Flour | 15.0% |
| 51g | Bob’s Red Mill Dark Rye Flour | 5.0% |
| 730g | Water | 72.0% |
| 18g | Fine sea salt | 1.8% |
| 38g | Ripe sourdough starter, 100% hydration | 3.8% |
Beginner’s Sourdough Bread Method
1. Levain – 8:00 a.m.
| Weight | Ingredient | Baker’s Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 38g | Ripe sourdough starter (100% hydration) | 50.0% |
| 38g | Bob’s Red Mill Stoneground Whole Wheat | 50.0% |
| 38g | Bob’s Red Mill Artisan Bread Flour | 50.0% |
| 76g | Water | 100.0% |
Remember: the levain is an off-shoot of your continually maintained sourdough starter and is likewise composed of bacteria and yeasts. You make this levain well before you mix the dough, so it has time to ferment, and eventually, it’s added to the dough to seed fermentation.
Mix the ingredients in the table above in a clean jar (I use the same sourdough starter jars) and leave it at warm room temperature, 74-76°F (23-24°C), for 5 to 6 hours. When it’s ready, it will be expanded, bubbly on top, inside, and at the sides, and have a slightly sour aroma. The photo below shows my levain before it goes into my dough mix.
2. Autolyse – 12:00 p.m.
| Weight | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 773g | Bob’s Red Mill Artisan Bread Flour |
| 114g | Bob’s Red Mill Stoneground Whole Wheat Flour |
| 51g | Bob’s Red Mill Dark Rye Flour |
| 603g | Water (this has 50g less than the overall formula, reserved for Mix step below) |
The desired dough temperature (DDT) for this dough is 78°F (25°C). As described in the temperature section above, we will try to get the dough to this temperature right at the end of mixing (which is also at the beginning of bulk fermentation).
Warm or cool the autolyse water so the mixed dough reaches the FDT for this recipe. Place the flour and the water called for in the table above in a large bowl. Use wet hands to mix until no dry bits remain; the dough will be shaggy and loose. Use a bowl scraper to scrape down the sides of the bowl, keeping all the dough in one area at the bottom. Cover the bowl and place it near your levain for 1 hour.
Note that the autolyse stage does not incorporate salt or the levain in any way since the autolyse is a long one hour. Adding the levain to the autolyse would mean fermentation would begin, which could end up overproofing the dough. Salt is rarely added to an autolyse because the salt would diminish enzymatic activity during this time, which is precisely why we are doing an autolyse. The autolyse and levain are two separate entities that will be mixed together later in the process.
3. Mix – 1:00 p.m.
| Weight | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 50g | Reserved water (this water was held back in the Autolyse step) |
| 18g | Fine sea salt |
| 190g | Ripe, 100% hydration levain (from Levain, above) |
Use your instant-read thermometer to take the dough’s temperature and compare it to the FDT for this recipe. If it is higher, use cold water for the reserved water; if it is lower, use warm water.
At this point, your autolyse is complete and your levain is ready—it’s time to mix and strengthen the dough. If the dough feels very wet and shaggy, do not use all of the reserved 50g of water; use only a splash to help incorporate the salt and levain. If the dough feels good to you, use all the reserved water.
To the autolyse, add the ingredients in the table above (salt, reserved water to help adjust dough hydration and consistency, and levain). I like to spread everything on top of the dough and use wet hands to pinch all the ingredients together. Transfer the dough to a container or thick-walled bowl for bulk fermentation.
Take the temperature of the dough to get your final dough temperature. If your FDT is below 78°F (25°C), next time use warmer water, and conversely, if it’s above 78°F (25°C), use cooler water. Cover the dough.
4. Bulk Fermentation – 1:10 p.m. to 5:10 p.m.
At 74-76°F (23-24°C) ambient temperature, bulk fermentation should go for about 4 hours. Perform 3 sets of stretches and folds during bulk fermentation, spaced out by 30 minutes.
Each set of stretches and folds consists of 4 folds: one each at the North, South, East, and West sides. Wet your hands with a little water to prevent sticking, and then lift one side (North) of the dough with two hands. Stretch the dough high enough so you can fold it completely over to the other side. Rotate the bowl 180° and do the other side (South). Finish the other two sides (East and West) to complete the set. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes, covered, between sets.
In the video below, you can see how I stretch and fold this dough during bulk fermentation.
After the third set of stretch and folds, let the dough rest for the remainder of bulk fermentation. During this time, fermentation aerates the dough (making it rise), continues to strengthen it, and further develops its flavor.
At the end of bulk fermentation, your dough should have risen by 20% to 50%. It should show some bubbles on the top and sides, and the edge of the dough where it meets the bowl should be slightly domed, which indicates strength. In the photo above, you can see all these signs. If you don’t see these signs, leave it for another 15 minutes in bulk fermentation and check again.
5. Divide and preshape – 5:15 p.m.
Lightly flour a work surface. Using a bowl scraper, gently scrape the dough onto the work surface and use your bench knife to divide the dough directly in half. Using your bench knife in your dominant hand, and the other hand wet (or floured, if you prefer) to reduce sticking, turn each half of the dough on the counter while lightly pulling the dough towards you. This gentle turning and pulling motion will develop tension on the dough’s top, forming a circle.
Preshaping bread dough is an often overlooked step, but it sets the stage for successful shaping later. See my guide to preshaping bread dough for more information.
Let the dough rest for 25 minutes, uncovered.
In the video below, you can see how I preshape this beginner’s sourdough bread dough:
6. Shape – 5:35 p.m.
If you’re new to shaping bread dough, check out my guide to shaping a boule (a round) in addition to the steps below.
Lightly flour the top of your dough rounds and the work surface. Working with one round at a time, flip the round so the floured top is now down on the floured work surface.
As seen in the image below, with lightly floured hands, grab the bottom of the round and stretch it lightly downward towards your body, and then up and over about 2/3 of the way to the top.
Then, grab the left and right sides of the dough and stretch them away from each other. Fold one side over toward the other and repeat with the other side.
Then, grab the top of the circle, stretch it away from your body, and then fold it down to the bottom of the dough. You’ll now have a tight package that resembles a letter.
Finally, flip or roll down the dough so the seams are all on the bottom. Using both hands, cup the top part of the round and drag the dough gently towards your body to create surface tension on the dough. The angle of your hands will gently press the dough’s bottom on the counter. This dragging helps create surface tension on the dough, which helps keep it in shape during proofing.
Let the dough rest on the bench for a few minutes to help the bottom seam seal.
In the video below, you can see how I shape bread dough into a boule shape.
Meanwhile, prepare your proofing baskets. Line two proofing baskets, kitchen bowls, or bannetons with clean kitchen towels. Dust lightly and evenly with plain white flour or white rice flour. Gently transfer each piece of shaped dough to a proofing basket, seam-side-up.
You can also top this dough with sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pepitas, and much more—see my guide to topping bread dough for more ideas and instructions.
7. Rest and proof – 5:40 p.m. to 9:30 a.m. (next day)
To prevent your dough from drying out overnight, place your bowls containing your shaped dough into reusable plastic bags and seal. I usually puff up the plastic bag around the bowl by opening it wide and then quickly closing it.
Let the dough rest on the counter for 20 minutes. Then, retard (a baker’s term meaning place into a cold area to proof) in the refrigerator at 38°F (3°C) for 16 hours (overnight).
During this time, overall fermentation will slow (especially yeast activity), but bacterial activity will continue at a reduced rate, resulting in a more complex flavor and, ultimately, deeper crust coloring.
8. Bake – Next morning: preheat oven at 8:30 a.m., bake at 9:30 a.m.
Now, it’s time to bake your sourdough bread. It’s not a difficult step, but there are some things to know. The oven needs steam for the best crust and tallest rise. I like to use a Dutch oven or combo cooker, which is very easy. These pots trap the steam released from the dough and provide the right environment for it to rise optimally.
See my full guide to baking sourdough bread for tips on scoring your dough, pots, and steaming.
Place an oven rack in the bottom third of the oven with no rack above it. Put your combo cooker or Dutch oven on the oven rack, and preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C) for at least 30 minutes. If you’re using a combo cooker, place the shallow side face up on one side and the heavier, deep side face down on the other.
When your oven is preheated, remove one of the proofing baskets from the fridge, uncover it, and place a piece of parchment paper over it. Place a pizza peel, cutting board, or inverted baking sheet on top of the parchment and, using both hands, flip everything over. Gently remove the basket; your dough should rest on the parchment.
Using a razor blade, sharp knife, or baker’s lame, score the dough at a 90° angle between the blade and the dough. I chose to make a “box” pattern. If using scissors, snip the dough a few times at a very shallow angle between the scissors and the dough, forming a set of ridges down the dough’s center.
While wearing your heavy-duty oven mitt, and with caution, pull out your shallow side of the combo cooker and place it on a heat-safe rack or stovetop. Slide the dough into the combo cooker or Dutch oven. Place it back into the oven and cover the shallow side with the deep side, or put the lid on the Dutch oven. This sealed environment helps trap the moisture (escaping steam) from your dough to steam the loaf exterior as it bakes, which encourages maximal rise and a crunchy, shiny crust.
Bake for 20 minutes. Vent the oven of steam: use your oven mitt to very carefully remove the top of the combo cooker or Dutch oven. Leave the large side of the combo cooker in the oven to the side. Close the oven door and bake for 30 minutes more. When done, the loaf should have an internal temperature of around 208°F (97°C), and the crust should be a deep mahogany color and crackle/crunch when squeezed.
Use your oven mitt to transfer the bread to a wire rack carefully. Cool for 1 to 2 hours before slicing into your beginner’s sourdough bread. For the second loaf, preheat the combo cooker or Dutch oven for 15 minutes and repeat.
Follow my guide to storing bread to keep your loaves fresh for as long as possible.
Once you get the hang of this beginner’s sourdough bread process and formula, you can endlessly modify it with add-ins like walnuts, cranberries, seeds, and a host of other ingredients bound only by your imagination. But the most important thing is to bake and have fun. Remember that sometimes bread doesn’t come out as you intended–but stick with it, and you’ll be rewarded time and time again.
And of course, buon appetito!
Watch me make this Beginner’s Sourdough Bread from start to finish
In my YouTube video below, you can see how I make my Beginner’s Sourdough Bread, from creating the levain to slicing the final loaves.
Beginner’s Sourdough Bread Recipe
- Prep Time: 23 hours
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 24 hours
- Yield: 2 loaves
- Category: Main course
- Cuisine: American
Description
The perfect bread to get started baking sourdough bread at home. This crusty, crunchy, and absolutely delicious loaf of bread is perfect for any lunch or dinner table.
Ingredients
Levain
- 38 grams stoneground whole wheat flour
- 38 grams bread flour
- 76 grams water
- 38 grams ripe sourdough starter
Main dough
- 773 grams bread flour
- 114 grams whole wheat flour
- 51 grams whole grain rye flour
- 653 grams water
- 18 grams fine sea salt
Instructions
- Levain (8:00 a.m.)
In a small container, mix the levain ingredients and keep at 74-76°F (23-24°C) for 5 to 6 hours. - Autolyse (12:00 p.m)
In a medium mixing bowl, mix the flour and 603 grams of water (reserve 50 grams until the next step). Cover and let rest for 1 hour. - Mix (1:00 p.m.)
To the mixing bowl holding your dough, add the salt, ripe levain (from step 1), and reserved 50 grams water. Mix by hand or with a dough whisk until incorporated. Transfer your dough to a bulk fermentation container and cover. - Bulk Fermentation (1:10 p.m. to 5:10 p.m.)
Give the dough 3 sets of stretch and folds at 30-minute intervals, where the first set starts 30 minutes after the start of bulk fermentation. - Divide and Preshape (5:10 p.m.)
Lightly flour your work surface and scrape out your dough. Using your bench knife, divide the dough in half. Lightly shape each half into a round shape. Let the dough rest for 25 minutes, uncovered. - Shape (5:35 p.m.)
Shape the dough into a round (boule) or oval (batard)—place in proofing baskets. - Rest and Proof (5:40 p.m. to 9:30 a.m. the next day)
Cover proofing baskets with reusable plastic and seal shut. Let the dough sit out on the counter for 20 minutes. Then, place both baskets into the refrigerator and proof overnight. - Bake (Preheat oven at 8:30 a.m., bake at 9:30 a.m.)
Preheat your oven with a combo cooker or Dutch oven inside to 450°F (230°C). When the oven is preheated, remove your dough from the fridge, score it, and transfer to the preheated combo cooker. Place the cooker in the oven, cover with the lid, and bake for 20 minutes. After this time, remove the lid (you can keep it in the oven or remove it) and continue to bake for 30 minutes longer. When done, the internal temperature should be around 208°F (97°C). Let the loaves cool for 1 to 2 hours on a wire rack before slicing.
Notes
While the recipe calls for 16 hours of total proof time, you could extend this time and bake the loaves in the morning, afternoon, or even the evening on day two. Leave the proofing dough in the fridge until ready to bake.
Beginner’s Sourdough Bread Frequently Asked Questions
Why is sourdough bread good for you?
Sourdough, and its lengthy natural fermentation process, can help break down the gluten in grain, which helps aid in the body’s digestion. Additionally, fermentation helps “unlock” the nutrition inherent in the grain, allowing for better absorption.
Is sourdough bread sour?
Sourdough isn’t super sour in the traditional sense—it’s not sour like taking a bit of a lemon. But it does have tanginess which is the byproduct of lactic acid fermentation. Sourdough bread will have more sourness than one made with 100% commercial yeast due to the acids created by natural fermentation.
How can I make sourdough bread more sour?
To increase the sour flavor of this sourdough bread, add more whole grains (both to your sourdough starter and the dough itself), keep the dough warm (78°F/25°C or warmer), and lengthen the total fermentation time by keeping the dough in the fridge to proof even longer than the 16 hours specified in the recipe—24 hours is a good starting point.
How can I get a more open crumb with my bread?
First, focus on your sourdough starter to get a more open crumb for this sourdough bread: it should be refreshed (fed) often, kept warm, and used when ripe. Next, strengthen the dough sufficiently during mixing and bulk fermentation by using stretches and folds. Finally, your dough must be fully proofed so that when you press a finger into the dough, it slowly springs back about halfway (if it springs back quickly, let it proof longer; if the finger indentation stays, bake immediately).
What’s Next?
After baking this beginner’s sourdough bread, check out my Baking Guides for more in-depth discussions on all parts of the sourdough bread-making process. If you’re looking to add mix-ins to your bread, have a look at my walnut cranberry sourdough bread—it’s one of the most popular recipes here at The Perfect Loaf—and for good reason! Or, have a look at my Simple Weekday Sourdough Bread for a way to squeeze sourdough bread baking into a busy workday.
Finally, now that you have your sourdough starter bubbling away on your counter check out my sourdough starter discard recipes for ideas on how to use leftovers!
3,331 Comments
Any suggestions to storage of a loaf that has been cut into? A zip lock + fridge kills the crunch of the crust, currently testing plastic wrap on the counter
Robert: I usually use a bread box to store my bread after it’s been cut. If I’m using a bread box I won’t place the bread in anything — just straight into the box. The purpose of the box is to keep just enough humidity in there to keep the bread soft but not too soft. If I’m not using my bread box then I’ll either be sure to keep the crumb side of the loaf down on the cutting board so the crust naturally surrounds the entire loaf. Imagine cutting a loaf directly in half and then turning those halves down.
When freezing, I’ll wrap an entire loaf several times in plastic wrap and then place it into a freezer ziplock. When I want to eat it I’ll take it out the night before and let it thaw in the fridge. Then, you could pop it into the oven to warm up the next day or slice and toast the slices.
If you plan to eat it somewhat in the near term, you could slice the entire loaf then place the slices in a freezer ziplock back. Using a toaster (like this awesome toaster from Breville) you can thaw and toast the slices in one step and they come out fantastic.
Hi! What’s the temperature of your fridge usually?
Usually it’s around 39°F.
Hi Maurizio,
I wonder if you can help me troubleshoot.
I am using the country loaf recipe from Tartines first book. The first time I did it I did not think I wanted two loaves, so I halved the recipe, following it to the letter and it came out the most perfect bread I have ever eaten!
So today I decided to try again with the full recipe because that first loaf was eaten in a day.
I followed again to the letter.
What happened was my dough never formed into a dough. During bulk, it just continued to be a flacid batter. It is fermented, bubbly and active, smells and tastes amazing, but has absolutely no strength. It looks very much like a big bowl of starter. I’m just going to leave it in the fridge tonight and see what it’s like in the morning.
Stats…exact measurements from Tartines recipe using locally milled organic 900 grams soft white wheat and 100 grams whole wheat. 700 grams 80° well water. A nice strong 100% rye starter that produced a beautiful loaf just last week. The temp was kept up using an ambient space heater, no fan, just radiant heat. The leaven build was 10 hours at 65°. Autolyse was 1 hour at 68°. Mixed 20 grams salt and 50 grams more water and began bulk, in a Pyrex glass bowl. Placed in a 78° spot. Did turns once every 30-45 minutes. At 3 hours moved to slightly cooler spot, 73°. Another turn. It just sticky, flacid and wet, like pancake batter, no gluten development whatsoever, so I decided to put it even cooler, 62°, one hour later and I give up!
I plan to start over tomorrow, with a new batch, but can this mess be saved or is it just pig food at this point. I thought maybe pouring it into loaf pans and baking that way, maybe?
I would love to know what went wrong. This time I did use different flour than last time and I guess that must be it, because it was the only difference, last time I used flour from a different local mill, all purpose and rye. It is colder outside, but my warming method was the same.
Thanks so much for all of your help so far, even though this is my first post to you, I have read almost every entry on this blog.
You could salvage the dough by using pans like you said, they should at least be great sandwich bread! Additionally, you could use the “batter” to make pancakes or waffles — seriously, they’re delicious.
It sounds to me like the flour is the issue here. It could be that the new flour needed a drastic reduction in water — your description sounds like a classic case of over-hydration. When trying new flour I like to start very conservative with water, adding it in slowly through mixing if it looks like it can handle it.
The other thing it could be is the actual quality of your flour might not have been suitable for making bread. This is rarely the case, at least in my experience, but it’s possible.
I’d try again with much lower water and see if that fixes this issue. Let me know how it goes!
How long should I let the Sourdough loaf rest after baking…before I slice into it and eat :)? Thanks for all the info….fantastic website.
That’s totally up to you! I find waiting at least 1 to 2 hours is best. For me, I usually let them rest several hours, I find the wheat and complex flavors really shine through when it’s fully cooled at set.
There is something special about cutting and eating a warm loaf right from the oven, though 🙂
I love the dark, crunchy crust that this recipe produces, but my husband prefers a lighter colored crust and one without quite so much heft. What would you suggest as the best way to achieve that? Should I lower the baking temperatures, and if so, at which stage and and how much? How would lowering temps affect crumb, etc.? (We do temp our loaves before taking them out to cool.)
And secondly, why is it necessary to preheat the oven and combo cooker for the whole hour? Might we get away with less?
Yes, I’d lower the baking temperature. You could try reducing the first half by 25°F (to 450°F) and then keep the same temp for the second half. Additionally, it’ll help if you remove the loaves a little earlier from the oven, right once you see the crust color to your liking (not too early, though!).
Preheating for an hour is my way of mitigating various oven preheat times here — if your oven gets up to heat much faster then by all means reduce the time to suit.
Happy baking!
@maurizioleo:disqus – so i just made this recipe and completely forgot to add the rye flour. I noticed that the dough was much wetter than the last time….now I know why. I already shaped the loaves, so I still plan to bake them tomorrow…I’ll let you know how that goes!
How did they turn out? Hopefully just fine. You can always leave out the rye if you’d like, just dial back the hydration a bit to suit.
Hey there – does anyone else feel like they’re losing a ton of flour during the autolyse? It’s just so damn sticky!
You can always skip or decrease the autolyse time if it’s making your dough feel too slack. It shouldn’t really make it more “sticky” per se, it should actually smooth out a bit!
Can you keep one in refrigerator longer if you only can bake one at a time?
Yes, this is exactly what I do!
Hi Maurizio,
What’s your advice if the shaped loaves don’t rise in the refrigerator, at 40 Fahrenheit?
I tried this beginner recipe several times and each time the dough does not rise in the refrigerator. Starter is 25% organic dark rye and 75% organic unbleached all-purpose flours, 100% hydration and mature. The levain doubles in about 4-5 hours, bubbly and smells nice. At the end of the bulk fermentation, the dough has risen some (something around 20%, not 50%). During the shaping, a few bubbles form, and the dough comes together nicely–not too slack. This was all keeping to the temps that you outlined.
The shaped boules are put into bowls lined with linen cloth dusted with a mix of rice and bread flour; covered and put into the refrigerator for the 16 hours. The thermometer keeps a record of the high and low, and shows a constant 40 Fahrenheit.
Still perplexed why the dough doesn’t rise at all, not more than 1 inch high when put in the bowls and coming out of the fridge. This latest try, the final boules rose coming from the oven. (Put directly on a preheated stone and covered with a preheated La Clouche dome.) Baked shape was about 9″ wide by 3″ high. Nice holes, coloring, and smells wonderful.
Suggestions?
This is very common. At such a low temperature (40°F) you won’t really see much overall rise in the dough. If you’re looking for more fermentation throughout, try leaving the dough out for 15-30 minutes, or longer, before you place it in the fridge. Shape the dough, place it in their proofing baskets, and cover them and let them sit to continue fermentation at room temperature. This extra time will give the dough a chance to rise higher before the cold temperature of the fridge stalls it out.
Even at such a low temp, flavor and complexity will continue to develop in the fridge even if you don’t see a whole lot of rise.
It sounds like your bread has been turning out really nice, though, so that’s great to hear. I hope that helps!
Maurizio, I developed my starter about a month ago and having been baking for the last three weekends. The beginner recipe has been tried and true! Watching each loaf come out of the oven is little surprise each time. Thanks for sharing your advice, tools and experiences. Oh, and the banana bread and sourdough waffles rock!
Right on, Fran, glad to hear all that! Each loaf definitely has its own personality — opening that oven to vent the steam has got to be one of the most exciting parts of the whole process. Happy baking!
Is it ok if the dough only remains in the fridge from 9pm-9:00am?
Yes, that should be just fine! Ultimately you want to be able to tell when the dough is most likely ready in the morning by how it looks and feels. If it looks nice and airy, it has risen some since first placed in the fridge, and it’s relaxed out to fill the container, it most likely will be ready to bake. Over time you’ll learn to read the queues for when to put it in the oven. Happy baking!
Hi! Thanks for the great and detailed post 🙂
I was wondering why you were using a levain instead of your sourdough starter as I commonly see in other sourdough recipes? (This is the starter I’m making, will be ready in a couple of days: http://paulhollywood.com/recipes/sourdough-starter/ )
Also how do I go about changing the amount of levain in the dough (assuming that more levain means a stronger sour flavor)?
Thanks in advance!
You’re very welcome, Shir. I use a levain because I like to build certain properties for the dough in the levain — the levain can bring a certain acidity to the final dough, a certain flavor, and even more/less strength depending on if the levain is more acidic or not. That said, you can definitely just use a portion of your starter and add it to a dough because a levain and starter really are the same exact thing, it’s just that the levain is an off-shoot of a starter that will ultimately be totally consume in a single bake.
Changing the levain percentage has certain implications on the final dough and fermentation schedule. The higher you go the faster the dough could ferment in general, and it also means it could bring added acidity (sour flavor) to the end result. Typically I don’t like to go over 20% for the most part.
Hope that helps!
I don’t have a dutch oven or cooker….I do have a hot-stone…for pizza…would that work? do I just put my bread on top of the stone or is do you suggest parchment paper in between the stone and bread? ….really appreciate it!
Yes, a pizza stone would work really well. I would recommend using a piece of parchment: it helps slide the dough onto the peel after you score it with a blade and it helps insulate the bottom just a bit to prevent burning.
I’ve making Tartine bread for a few years now and am always interested in new variations. I have 2 questions though, I want to make only one loaf today(for instance) and then use the other half for pizza in a few days. Does that work with the dough in the fridge? Secondly, I’d like to make more of a traditional sandwich loaf so can I do my final rise in a loaf pan??
Thanks
You could use half of this dough for pizza, sure. It won’t be Neapolitan style pizza by any means, but it’ll make a nice pizza. Or you could make one of the loaves as a hearth loaf (free form like I show above) and one as a pan loaf (like sandwich tin loaf) — they’d both be great!
hi there, thanks so much for this guidance. i’m new to baking sourdough. i have a good starter (100% hydration) and i tried this recipe last weekend. http://www.theclevercarrot.com/2014/01/sourdough-bread-a-beginners-guide/ i think i rushed it so the taste was good but it didn’t rise and the crust was very tough. i’m wondering about a couple of things – is it ok to use all bread flour in your recipe (the whole wheat seemed to make the bread even more claggy last weekend), and if it’s cold in my house overnight is it ok to leave the bread to rise on the counter? i’m a little concerned about the temperature overall in terms of the bulk fermentation / autolyse — i’ve seen some recipes say to do this in the oven w/ the light on, but wondering if that causes more problems than it solves. thank you!!
You can definitely use all bread flour if you’d like, but I do prefer to use a combo of bread flour and all purpose if you have some in the kitchen. You can also leave out the whole wheat, that’s up to you.
For the bulk fermentation portion of this recipe, and most recipes in general, you want to keep the dough warm so it rises optimally. I like to keep mine between 76°F and 80°F for 3.5-4 hours. This is actually really important. For the final proof, if you’re going to go a long time you need to keep it cold, otherwise it will over proof on you — this is why the fridge is used. If it’s around 40° – 45°F in your kitchen then you might be ok, but any more than that and I would be hesitant if you’re trying to go 12 hours or so.
One thing to always keep in mind with baking bread: don’t rush the dough.
Hope that helps!
Hi.
I was just wondering if u cover the dough during bulk fermentation? I’m in the middle of making the bread now, and just assumed it should do the bulking covered
Hey! Yes, I do keep the dough covered during bulk (and also during proof). Happy baking!
Hi Maurizio,
I will hopefully bake my first bread this weekend! I can’t wait! The starter is looking great! My question is…after removing the 40g to create the levain, how much do I then remove to maintain my starter and…how much do I then feed it? Thank you.
Excellent, Laura! The way I maintain things I end up using the entire levain in the dough mix (if there’s some small negligible leftover you can just compost it) — it’s your starter that continues on indefinitely. If you’re not building a specific levain like I do in this post, but you’re just using part of your starter as the “levain,” then make sure you keep enough leftover in the jar to perpetuate your starter. The amount you leave in the jar is up to you and what you’re typical feeding schedule is like. For me, I typically leave 20g mature starter and to that I feed 100g flour and 100g water.
Hope that helps!
Awesome! Thank you! This morning, when I did my feed, I also took out the same amount and put it in a separate jar and now have a second starter going. Once it’s able to be made into a dough, I’m going to share it with a friend. I’m assuming that I can split up the main batch since it’s still “usable”, it just needs to be separated to be “fed”! Please tell me if I am not understanding correctly! Thank you, again!
Yup, you’re totally correct. You can take any portion of the mature starter out an keep a separate culture going (or give it to a friend!).
Awesome! THANK YOU! Can’t wait to bake!
Hi Maurizio, thanks for posting this very detailed guide up! I attempted my first sourdough loaf yesterday, and while in the stretch and fold stage, the dough got pretty wet (as opposed to the autolyse stage), and by the time shaping came about, I could barely handle the dough and it just stuck all over my countertop and hands. Do you think something went wrong? Should I flour the dough more? I live in a humid tropical climate, so I’m not too sure if that’s a contributing factor. Also, if my oven only has a maximum temperature of 464F, do you think it’s still possible to bake bread with it, or should I invest in an oven with a higher temperature range?
Hey, Arista! I’d say err on the side of under hydrating your dough — dial back the water next time, perhaps by 5%, and see if that helps. It’s possible it was over hydrated and didn’t show signs till later. It’s also possible the flour you’re using has issues, but I’d first say reduce the hydration. That temp should be fine for baking, especially if you’re using a Dutch oven or good quality baking stones. Happy baking!
Hi Maurizio,
I have a basic white flour starter and i feed 2oz starter+2oz water+2oz flour
But I’m having a problem calculating that into the begin recipe that you have. do you have a modified recipe for dummies or for folks with ADD/ADHD? I REALLY have a difficult time wrapping my head around Baker‘s math and the formulas and theres so much on the beginners page that my brain feels like it’s going to explode. I cant seem to make sense of it all and retain it 😞
Hey, Chenoa! At this time I don’t have a recipe that’s more “simple” than this one, but it’s something I’m working on right now (it’ll likely be up next month). If you need more guidance on something in particular, feel free to send me an email through the Contact button up top and I’ll help ya out. That said, you shouldn’t have to do any math here at all! Just weigh out the ingredients I call for at each step, mix it together, and follow the process 🙂
Hi Maurizio,
I’m just starting out with creating my first sourdough starter and have been following all the steps on your starter page (very detailed thanks!) I’m just getting my head around the timings etc for when I’ll be ready to make my first loaf, and have a question (apologies in advance if this has been answered before or if the answer is somewhere on your blog already!)
Question: You state that the best time to make a levain out of your starter is when it is at it’s peak, which (when looking at the timing you give on one of your blog posts), is around late evening? However, on this post when you make the levain you use an amount from your starter in the morning which surely is when the starter is not at it’s peak point? So, I’m just confused as to how you create a good levain in the morning by using a starter that wouldn’t be at its peak? Again, apologies if the answer is very obvious and I’m missing something here!
The exact time your starter peaks will most likely be different than what I show here, the key is to learn the signs (sight, smell, texture, etc.) for when this peak is. You want to use your starter when it’s nice and mature so you’re using maximal populations of yeast and bacteria. If you haven’t had a chance yet, check out my sourdough starter maintenance routine, in there you’ll see a bunch of description and photos about how to determine when your starter is ripe. Additionally, the post talks about how you can adjust the timetable of your starter, to lengthen or shorten the duration between feeding and ripeness.
I hope this helps!
Hi, thanks for your comment-I’ve spent more time getting to know my starter and I’m still tweaking flour amounts to change around the peak time etc.
Pleased to report I made my first sourdough bread yesterday following your beginners recipe! The taste and crust were great, but the crumb was quite tight-lots of small holes, not large ones… do you have any idea what could have caused this? I’m thinking maybe I rushed the bulk ferment slightly?
Also, I’m struggling to get my head around the pulling and turning technique for the ‘pre-shape’ (I’m also using Tartine-they had a few more pictures), and I found my dough incredibly sticky to work with- could you point me in the direction of any video links that might be around which demonstrate this technique/(or any advice)-I figured maybe you would have come across some over the years?
Thanks again for all the time you’ve put into your blog-I’ve found it an invaluable resource for me these past 2 weeks! 🙂
Based on the description of your dough it could be that it was slightly underproofed. There are a few indicators your dough could be under: explosive rise in the oven, dense interior with potentially scattered large holes, and gummy texture to the interior.
Don’t rush bulk, it needs to be full and complete. If you rush it the dough might not be strong enough and will be that much harder to preshape and shape as fermentation helps strengthen the dough.
The preshape movements are almost exactly as shown in the Tartine book! If you want to look back a bit I have a few videos on my Instagram feed that show how I preshape:
http://www.instagram.com/maurizio
Happy baking, Pasha!
Hi Maurizio,
I’ve made several loaves with this recipe, and they’ve been delicious! Many thanks for providing such thorough and clear instructions.
The only problem I’m having is that the loaves tend to be a bit burnt on the bottom. I’m using a Dutch oven, placed on the second rack from the bottom. I’m cooking each loaf at 475 degrees for 20 minutes, then at 450 degrees for 25 minutes. The inside temperature is perfect: about 211-212 degrees. Any suggestions for avoiding burnt bottoms?
You’re welcome, happy to hear that. This is somewhat a common symptom when using a Dutch oven, that cast iron simply gets super hot (and stays that way) causing slight scorching on the bottom. A few things I’ve done to help: don’t place the DO on baking stones (just on a rack), preheat the DO for less time (you’ll have to play with this, perhaps 20 minutes will be sufficient), use coarse cornmeal in the pan sprinkled down right before you load your dough so it provides a little insulation. Aside from that you could also play with turning down the heat during that initial half of the bake and see if that helps!
Hi Maurizio!
I just baked my first ever loaf after your recipe! And I’m quite happy with the result, the crust and the flavor is nice 🙂 But… the crumb is just a little bit… swampy? I think its just a tad bit undercooked. Is there anything i can do about it? or should i just deal with the swampy-ness or throw it away? The loaf had rested on the bench around 3 hours before i cut it and is now completely cool. So i now have 1 loaf thats cut and a bit undercooked and 1 loaf that i haven’t cut yet, but is probably also undercooked.
Mel — well, glad it turned out pretty well! It sounds like it was probably under baked. My advice would be to toast it heavily or you could slice it up and bake it a little in the oven, perhaps under the broiler. It should crisp up nicely.
Next bake push it a little longer in the oven. If you have an instant read thermometer you can verify the internal temperature of the loaf is 210°F or above, that should finish it off nicely.
Happy baking!
Hi Maurizio, I’ve been baking sourdough for a while. I’ve found must of my breads are with hard crust especially at the bottom. How can I improve it with a thinner crust, especially the bottom? I noticed some people would place the dough on a rack inside the combo cooker or DO after they take off the cover and continue to bake. Does this help? I usually use DO to bake for 30 minutes with cover and uncover for 20 minutes as I don’t prefer to have too dark crust. Thanks. – betty
That thick bottom crust is difficult to eliminate, especially in a DO. I sometimes get the same thing, and it’s due to the nature of the baking vessel. I’ve had moderate success reducing the preheat time of the DO so it’s not quite so hot, or a rack could possibly help (I have not tried this). One thing I do make sure of is if I’m using a DO I don’t place the pot directly on baking stones — it just gets too hot for too long.
Hope that helps somehow!
Hi Maurizio,
I want to start this recipe today, but I don’t have time until tomorrow afternoon to do the bake. Is it okay if my proofing goes ~20 hours instead of 16?
Thanks for the awesome post! Love that you included times of day.
It all depends on how the dough is going through the process, but generally, yes I’d say it could last a few more hours. If you’re worried, you could cut bulk just a bit shorter than I prescribe above, perhaps only by 15 minutes. Or just place the shaped dough right into the fridge with minimal time out to ferment further.
Hope that helps!
Hi! Thanks for all the details in the blog/recipe – super helpful.
I also won’t be able to bake mid-morning, and probably won’t make it home until early evening. Could i re-stretch, fold, and shape the dough first thing in the morning so that it does a second fridge proof during the day?
Last time I left it in for additional hours, it ended up like a rock, so I’m nervous about it holding up for that much time.
Thanks!
It’s hard to say why your bake turned out poorly that last time you left it in the fridge longer. Usually this dough can last several more hours in the fridge, but 8 hours or so might be too much. You could try reshaping it but I fear that would probably make things worse as you’d degas the dough and usually (in my experience) at that point in the process you want to be as gentle with the shaped loaves as possible.
What you could do instead is to shift the entire process timeline so the dough is ready to bake really early in the morning. There are other options as well, such as doing a cold bulk fermentation overnight in the fridge but it would really depend on your schedule.
Hi Maurizio, quick question: What’s the purpose of the wrapping the plastic bags around the bannetons?
By the way, I am having so much fun baking, almost every day now. Thanks again for the wealth of information!
Glad you’re having a great time! It’s addicting (and healthy!), that’s for sure. I wrap them in bags so they don’t dry out in the fridge during the long, cold proof. If you have high enough humidity you wouldn’t need to wrap them (70-80%). The enemy here is a thick, dry crust that could form on the outside of the loaves if exposed too long in a low humidity environment. Happy baking!
Hi Maurizio, do you have any good tips for transferring the dough to a pre-heated traditional dutch oven that is fairly deep? (NOT combo cooker)
This is a great question! My preferred method there is to create a parchment paper “sling” that I use to gently lower the dough into the pot. I’ll cut a circle in parchment to fit my proofing basket and then cut little handles out of the sides so I can kind of drop the parchment (with dough in the center) down into the pot. If you don’t cut handles it’ll work as well, but the sides will bunch up quite a bit and could deform the dough inside.
That’s my best method!
Hi there, I recently discovered your blog and thought you might be able to answer a sourdough question of mine… I have been baking sourdough for just two months maybe and am just starting out. My loaves (usually I bake higher hydration recipes) bake up beautifully, with lovely dark crust and a nice soft crumb. The flavor is pretty good. But there is not even the tiniest hint of sourness…ever. I’ve tried long, cold fermentation but it hasn’t seemed to help at all. I just started a new starter (based on your post) using organic rye flour. My other starter was actually based on cultivated yeast (how embarrassing!) Could that be the culprit? Any ideas on how to get some sour taste to my bread?
There are a few things you can do to try and increase the sourness of your bread. First, you want to use your starter, and levain, when it’s very ripe. If it rises up to a certain height, let it sit there for a bit before you use it. If it starts to fall that’s ok too, just try to catch it right before, or after, it falls. That mature, ripe starter/levain has much more acidity than if used when it’s more on the “younger” side. Just be weary that your dough fermentation rate might be a bit faster than previous, keep an eye on it during bulk fermentation and divide the dough when it looks ready.
Additionally, you could try using some rye flour in your final dough mix. Rye helps stimulate more acid production for a more sour flavor. I wouldn’t go overboard on the rye, though, as the more you include the more dense your loaf will be. It’s up to you on the percentage, but even 5% plays a big role.
Finally, if you can try to push the cold proof in the fridge. There’s a limit of course, but if you could go even a few more hours you should notice more sourness. You said you tried this, but in combination with the suggestions above you might have more success!
Hi Maurizio, another question… This will be my second attempt to making this recipe. I am not getting this part though…
You wrote in the post
“The flour is always expressed as 100% and all other ingredients are expressed as a percentage of the flour weight. In this example to calculate the percentage of mature starter required:
40g starter ÷ 80g total flour (40g whole wheat + 40g bread flour) × 100 = 100% starter
This means we need as much starter as flour in the levain build. You’ll also notice the water is also at 100% (80g water ÷ 80g flour = 100% hydration), which tells you this will be a liquid levain.
… So my question is how is 40 divided by 80 X 100 equal to 100%…. Shouldn’t it be 50 %???
Am i missing something? I hope you can clarify this for me. Thank you very much!
Yes, that’s right it’s 50% — but that’s what I have written up there! I had that typo, and fixed it, a while back. Are you looking at a printed version of this or an older, saved version? The post is correct and you should see 50%.
Happy baking!
Okay, now I am seeing the corrected version! For some reason I was seeing the previous version then because I literally copied and pasted the words from the text. Anyways, thanks for clarifying! That helps 🙂
Once the oven is preheated to 500 why must you wait an hour before baking?
I say preheat for one hour to ensure the baking stone / baking steel has ample time to fully saturate with heat. That’s typically the amount of time it takes for my baking surface to really reach 500°F, not just the oven cavity!
As someone who has loosely dabbled with sourdough baking a few times over the past few years, I’ve been able to maintain a strong starter for months at a time but have not had success with bread. My loaves have always turned out far too dense. I recently found this website and tried following these directions as closely as possible and the end result was easily the best loaf of bread I’ve ever made and (maybe I’m just really excited at the moment) some of the best bread I’ve ever eaten. Thank you for such thorough instructions and the deep dive into the importance of dough temperature, which I think I was really missing. I could make only this bread for the rest of my life and be perfectly happy, but I’m excited to try your other offerings too!
Jon — super, super glad to hear all that! I find baking bread at home can be challenging but with a few clarifications and, admittedly, a few “a ha” moments here and there, we can all make awesome bread right at home. Thanks for the update and here’s to many more excellent bakes!
Hello Leo! So my question is – to knead or not to knead? I see here you don’t mention kneading (the autolysed dough w the levain). Why? Isn’t it important to knead the dough when using wheat flours?
Thank you! My bread is slowly getting better 🙂
Hey, Daniel! Kneading isn’t necessary by any means, and it really depends on the flour you’re using, the hydration, and what kind of bread your making in general. I personally find a little kneading upfront to help strengthen the dough before bulk, thereby reducing the number of stretch and folds required.
The key is strengthening the dough just enough to retain structure (not spread in the oven) and trap the gasses produced during fermentation. If your flour has a high protein percentage and it feels strong throughout the process you might be able to get away with no kneading at all. Additionally, if the hydration of the dough is low enough (this brings strength to the dough) you might not need any kneading to get the dough to a strong enough point.
I hope this helps!
Thank you Maurizio!! <3
Not that you keep track but just to let you know that finally loaves are rising and delicious 🙂 Thanks in big part to you and your lovely website. Thank you!!
I do try to keep track — glad to hear this!! Enjoy 🙂
Well if you do keep track 🙂 🙂 then I will share a few more words – I am basing on this recipe and slowly reducing % of white and increasing % of whole and rye. Accordingly raising hydration, and so far so good. Made loaves with cranberries (!) which were so good.
One thing I do notice is that bulk fermentation, which I place in the hottest place in the house near the oven, takes up to 7-8 hours. Before that there is very little significant rise. I ordered a thermometer so I will have more specific info in the future.
Have a great week!
Daniel
Sounds like you’re making small changes each bake — this is a great approach! Then you can determine if one change helped or didn’t. Yes, cranberries in bread is so, so good! It’s kind of a revelation, actually.
Hope the bakes are going well!
Ciubole All! New person responding. Kitchen physics is a subject very close to my heart. In particular, HEAT, in all it’s permutations, exchanges, losses and gains and the endless transformations it can catalyze. I live in an area where heat is infinitely more difficult to manage than in others. Normally we have only two temps: hot and hotter. In summer, (duration 10.5 months), we sustain temperatures well over 103 degrees with peaks of 115. Without a central air/heat system my fridge refuses to cope with the delta t. Bugger all, if I don’t get out of bed to re-infuse my starter which has to live in the fridge, it will bloom its way out of the container, ooze out the fridge, down the road, and by morning will have established its own zip code. I should have purchased stock from King Arthur flour decades ago because of all the starter I have poured into the compost pile. I had to embrace the pinche composting worm business (blech) to keep from going insane over the waste issue the excess starter causes.
Due to the high heat for so much of the year, wild yeasts are incredibly prolific and profligate here, such that even in our whole five weeks of winter my starters seem to be exponentially more colonized than anyone else’s. Also, I do not have a conventional oven…. I only have an outdoor kitchen and I cook and bake on wood-fired heat sources. Therefore I am bloody sick of Flatbread; as its harder to burn on the stone. I wanna bake loaves!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Any advice from the maestro? I am comfortable with wild yeast, (only used store-bought yeast 3 times since I started making bread in 1964) and fairly wet dough but I still have to make myself measure stuff. I have filled countless notebooks with the physics of flops. Ayudame por favor
Hey there, Laura! Love, love your comments. Temperature is so critical in baking and yes, for those whom live in areas where it’s excessively warm it can be a challenge to tame. One suggestion for ya: use some salt in your starter! As you probably know, salt inhibits fermentation (that’s simplifying things but that’s the essence) and sprinkling .5 to 1% in your starter should help slow things down to somewhat manageable levels. Play with that salt level but a little goes a long way.
Additionally you might find it beneficial to convert your starter over to a stiff variety (50-65% hydration). I find a stiff starter to be much more forgiving in terms of when it needs a refreshment — it can typically go an hour or more after it is “ripe” with no problem.
I hope this helps and thanks again for the comments!
Hello, I’m new here. This is a very well-written article and generally an awesome website, and I’m sure I’ll be visiting more as I continue on my sourdough adventure. That being said, I think I know why people are having trouble with the FDT formula. It seems to ignore heat, and instead focus on temperature. You might have had better luck if you looked up intrinsic specific heat capacities for each ingredient, then integrated from initial temperature to desired final temperature. Put the sum of these on one hand of the equation and then integrate for water on the other side of the equation. Multiply all terms by the mass of the respective ingredients. Assuming your mixing bowl is well-insulated, this should give a good estimate as to what water temperature you need. If the bowl is not well insulated, which is probably the case, newton’s law of cooling can be helpful.
I hope my suggestion helps some people out! I can post a formula somewhere if anybody is interested in it, although it might be difficult to obtain the heat capacity of flour.
Thanks for the kind words, Armon! Agreed, I think the FDT calculation is pretty “bare bones” but it’s one that’s easy to calculate on a napkin when in the kitchen 🙂 Your formula, taking into account heat capacity would definitely be more accurate — this would be a great formula to include in software geared towards bakers!
Thanks for the suggestions and happy baking!
Software geared towards bakers? Now that’s an exciting idea! I have never thought about it, but I bet that it’s very important to commercial, industrial, and artisan bakers. After exploring your blog a bit more, I noticed that you offer an FDT calculator. I don’t really know how to ask this, but would you be interested if I offered to work on a new formula for it? As a chemical engineer, the prospect of using engineering principles for baking really excites me. If this could at all be useful to you or your website, please let me know!
As a software engineer myself this is something I’ve often thought about — perhaps one day I’ll work on something myself, as well 🙂 I’m still thinking about how I’d like to upgrade my “calculators,” once I get there I’ll send you over another message. I really appreciate that offer!
Awesome, I look forward to it! Thank you very much for that.
Are there misprints in your Bakers Math section? 40g starter / 80g flour = 50% not 100%. Then in following table it lists the starter as 25% instead of correct 50%.
Thanks for pointing that out, Pat, you’re right there were some typos in there!
In your levain build, you list one ingredient as “40g mature liquid starter (100% hydration)”. Does this mean 20g starter + 20g water?
I’m pretty sure 100% hydration means whatever quantity of starter you have, half will be flour and half will be water. The water weight equals whatever the flour weight is, ie the water weight is 100% of the flour weight.
As @patindavisca:disqus said below 100% hydration means there’s as much water as there is flour. Typically we ignore the inoculation percentage of the starter (the amount you carryover each feeding) and do the calculation with the total water and flour in the feeding (e.g. 100g flour and 100g water is 100% hydration).
Thank you. So, just to be clear, the answer to my question is “yes”?
No, it’s not simply 20g water and 20g starter. “40g mature starter” means 40g of the starter you have going in your jar, when it’s at a mature state. Scoop out 40g of this mixture into a new jar when making the levain, then add fresh flour and water to that as instructed.
We could calculate how much flour and water is in that 40g of mature starter but it’s not really necessary — in my opinion at least! Hope this answers your question!
Thank you very much for clarifying, Maurizio. I appreciate it. Respectfully, might I suggest that the ingredient “40g mature liquid starter (100% hydration)” be changed to simply “40g mature starter”? The words “liquid” and “100% hydration” are what had me confused and, according to what you’ve said, don’t seem necessary.
A very good suggestion, thanks for that. I’ve updated the post above — “liquid” and “100% hydration” are redundant and confusing. Thank you!