Hey there, new baker! My name is Maurizio, and I’m the baker here; welcome.
This new baker, start here page has a rollup of resources that’ll help you get baking sourdough bread quickly in your home kitchen. It begins with creating a sourdough starter from scratch (just flour and water!), your first sourdough bread, a few guides, and some of my favorite (and reader’s favorite) recipes.
Sourdough can be intimidating for new bakers, but it doesn’t have to be. With a few essential basics, you’ll be baking crusty and healthy loaves of bread in short order. And if you get stuck? I’m almost always lurking around here, answering questions and providing help—leave a comment, and I’ll get back to you.
Step 1. Create Your Sourdough Starter
A sourdough starter is the most important aspect of baking sourdough bread at home, and without it, you’d have flour and water mixed. It takes a little care to keep it alive, but it’ll reward you with countless loaves of bread, pizza, and more.
It takes about 5-7 days to get a starter going from scratch, using only flour and water. But, of course, if you have a friend who is a sourdough baker, you can always ask if they’ll give you a bit of theirs to get going. If not:
Check out my guide to creating a sourdough starter from scratch →
Step 2. Review the Baking Process
While your sourdough starter is starting up, review my eight steps to making sourdough bread. In this beginner’s guide, you can see a high-level view of each step of the bread-making process with detailed explanations of each step.
Read the Beginner’s Guide to Sourdough Bread →
Step 3. Bake Your First Loaf of Bread
Here. We. Go!
Once your sourdough starter consistently shows the same signs of fermentation each day, it should be strong enough to bake a loaf of bread. I have two recipes here that are great introductions to baking sourdough at home.
Most Detailed Recipe: Bake my Beginner’s Sourdough Bread Recipe →
If you want a more condensed recipe that gets straight to baking, have a look at my simple weekday sourdough bread:
Easiest: Bake my Easy No-knead Sourdough Bread →
Step 4. Review More Baking Guides
Once you have that loaf of bread crackling on the counter as it cools, review more of my baking guides to increase baking consistency and confidence. These guides have in-depth tips on maintaining a sourdough starter (with video walkthrough), creating baking schedules around your busy work week, working with baker’s percentages (baker’s math) to scale up and down recipes, and numerous guides to shaping bread dough.
My Guides Page is a great place to bookmark and return to from time to time to review the basics and expand your baking toolset:
Explore my baking guides page →
Step 5. Use Your Sourdough Starter For Other Things
Because a sourdough starter requires fresh flour and water each day (or less if you’re keeping it in the fridge), we tend to have sourdough starter discard—don’t throw it away! Instead, I like to save up the discard in a container in the fridge during the week, then use this to make sourdough pancakes, sourdough waffles, and sourdough banana bread.
I’m also a huge fan of focaccia. This is one of the most-baked items in my kitchen, and my recipe couldn’t be easier. Use all of your sourdough starter discard one morning, and you’ll have fresh sourdough focaccia for dinner (and it’s an amazing canvas for any veggies in season!).
See my collection of sourdough starter discard recipes →
Step 6. Upgrade Your Baking Tools
One of the challenges of baking at home is consistency. It can be hard to bake consistently great loaves when the environment—our hectic home kitchens!—is always changing. I’ve collected my tried-and-true tools in one place, and they’ll help you make the bread easier and more repeatable in your home kitchen.
My top 3 recommended tools (read: if you’re going to buy anything, get these):
- A simple kitchen scale to accurately measure ingredients
- An instant-read thermometer to quickly and accurately measure dough temperature
- A foldable dough proofer to keep your dough warm and fermentation activity high
Explore all my favorite baking tools →
Step 7. My Top 10 Favorite Sourdough Recipes
- A Simple Weekday Sourdough Bread
- My Best Sourdough Bread Recipe
- Spelt, Rye, and Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread (50% whole grain)
- Fifty-fifty Whole Wheat Sourdough (50% whole grain)
- Sourdough Pizza
- Pain de Mie (super soft sandwich bread)
- A Simple Focaccia
- Whole Grain Spelt Pan Loaf
- Super Soft Sourdough Rolls
- Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
Step 8. Join The 2500+ Member Community and Come Chat
Want to take your baking to the next level or get help with an issue you’re running into? Join the community here at The Perfect Loaf and get:
- Remove all ads from the website
- Instantly download my recipe archive and baking spreadsheets, plus other baking tools
- Join our private community to share photos, talk baking tips, tricks, and get help (I’m chatting there daily!)
- Access exclusive tool and flour discounts
- First access to live baking events
- And more!
Check out the baking community and membership →
Step 9. Experiment, Have Fun, and Happy Baking
One last note: don’t be afraid to experiment and have fun—after all, what’s the worst that can happen? No matter what comes out of your oven in almost every case, it’s perfectly edible and delicious. Some of my most significant baking improvements came from accidents that turned into opportunities for me to learn and grow as a baker.
Happy baking!
366 Comments
Is there a trick to build a good starter at high elevation? We live at 7200 ft
I don't get a good rise and it seems to always be runny.
If it’s too runny, just hold back some of the water you use at each feeding. It should work well for you at that altitude (or any, really)!
I just made my second sourdough loaf (tutorial simple sourdough). I used an 11.5% protein flour recommended in the book. As I was mixing, it seized up and couldn’t knead it, let alone do stretch and fold. Rested it 1 hour between stretch and fold attempts, it bulk fermented ok and was soft and malleable by pre-shape. Overall turned out pretty well.
Any ideas what went wrong? Thank you.
Just made my second sourdough loaf (Tutorial Simple Sourdough). When I mixed the flour (an 11.5% protein flour recommended in the book) the dough seized up so tight it was impossible to knead it, let along do stretch and folds. I let it rest an hour between stretch and folds attempts and it relaxed some. Bulk fermentation went ok and the dough was soft and malleable by pre-shape. End result was pretty good.
Any ideas what happened? Thank you.
Hey! Any secretes to get a more open crumb? I use usually about 70-76% hydration, and usually a pretty much no kneed technique with an overnight retardation in the fridge. I then place in a basket, let a second rise, then dutch oven baking.
The flavor is fine, but the crumb is tight, and not sure what I can do to get a more open crumb!
Do you work much with gluten free flours? My gf sourdough came out beautifully, but I'd like to stop discarding so much starter; want to find good gf ways to use it
Unfortunately, I don't work with gluten free flour very often!
Hi,
I love the beginner sourdough recipe but I would like to bake it in a loaf pan so I can evenly slice it. What modifications should I make to bake it like that? Thanks! Love the Book, I’ve gifted it to many friends and family.
Generally, for pan loaf recipes, I’ll increase the hydration significantly. Have you seen my honey whole wheat pan loaf? It’s an amazing bread…
https://www.theperfectloaf.com/the-best-honey-whole-wheat-bread-recipe/
I'm making the Best high hydration bread. I used emmer 64gm and KA bread flour. Following autolyse, there were large lumps of dough that I massaged for several minutes. I added all of the held back water plus a little more. dough remains stiff. I've never had this happen before. I'm wondering if it's the emmer flour? Or something else?
Hey Jena—yea it definitely sounds like the flour (or there was an error in measuring). I would add more water as needed, especially if it's feeling very stiff and clumped up.
hi – I just joined your membership after ordering your book a few weeks ago. Exceptional content!!! Was wondering your thoughts on fermentolyse? I see you autolyse many recipes but I don't see that you employ fermentolyse. Would love your thoughts. Thanks.
Hey Barbara! Sorry for the delay and welcome. Means a lot to hear that, thank you so much. I don't often do a "fermentolyse" because I prefer to keep fermentation starting at the end of mixing, in bulk fermentation. If you do a fermentolyse, just be aware that fermentation is happening during this time (hence the name!), so this needs to be taken into account if you're following a recipe that isn't expecting this. Not a big deal!
Thanks 😊
What’s the basis of your preference? Have you experience with both methods?
Maurizio:
Do you have a bakery in Albuquerque? We are planning a trip soon.
Hey Alan! I don't (yet??), sorry!
Hi Maurizio,
I have been working on your method and information re sourdough bread for the past six months and I am totally grateful for the assistance you have provided me through your engineering background. I believe I have found success with the perfect loaf with the addition of 25g of olive oil. I am using an old cast iron camp oven in my BBQ outside.
Thank you for your help.
Darryl
Amazing, Darryl, great to hear it. I often sneak in a little EVOO to my loaves as well, I love the sheen the crumb gets and the added flavor, too!
Hi there I recently started following your page..I made one of your recipes yesterday..I am new to baking sourdough bread..I have an active starter that is now 3 yrs old I feed once a week..from the fridge..
have tried many different recipes but never had success..your recipe was the best I've done so far..
my question is I made a levain the night before but was late the following day put it in fridge overnight..then was late by the time I used it for your recipe..my sourdough just didn't seem to rise enough..although it was edible..the bread had a finer grain..not large airy holes like yours..is it because of my starter being done day before and in fridge overnight??..I really want to bake better than I am.. thanku selena
Hey Selena, welcome. I would not put the starter in the fridge if you're planning to bake within the next few days. You want it out at room temp (or warmer) and fed to keep strong!
I am in the process of making the wheat bread recipe in your book, I prepared the dry levain and waited the five hours. After the five hours, the levain was still stiff and dry with a dry layer on top.
What did I do wrong, and how can I fix it?
A dry layer on top usually means the levain was exposed to too much air. Try setting a lid on your container during fermentation to prevent it from drying out. You can scrape off the dry layer and use what's underneath if it looks active. For next time, make sure the container is covered well to retain moisture.
Maurizio, i'm happy to tell you that i'm not only a member of your online baking community but also i recieved your book, The Perfect Loaf as a gift and this will be a great experience. I am only a one year sourdough baker who took it up in late retirement as a hobby. Its great. I just wanted to congragulate you on the expertise you show in both your book and on line. Thanks. (:
Thank you so much for the kind words, and welcome to the sourdough journey! One year in and you're just getting started. Enjoy the book and happy baking!
Hello! I bought your book The perfect loaf and it has been fantastic. One question i had — you mention all these flour types and a combination of companies where you can buy some of them. When doing research there seems to be a lot of options and don't necessarily align 1:1. Do you have recommendations on where to purchase each type (i.e. white flour vs. whole wheat flour vs. whole spelt vs. Whole rye) Thanks!
Thanks for getting the book! For flour sourcing, I'd recommend Central Milling, King Arthur, and Bob's Red Mill as reliable options that are widely available. Each carries a good range of white, whole wheat, spelt, and rye flours. Local mills are also worth exploring if you have any nearby. Don't get too caught up in finding exact matches; most quality flours will work well with the recipes.
I have learned so much from your book. I was overwhelmed at first but it helps to actually make a loaf and then many of the steps start to fall into place. My granddaughters LOVE the English muffins and I have to stay busy making those fluffy pillows of deliciousness. So thank you from me and them. I have a tip for those of you who have excess discard and a garden. You can pour any discard you were not able to use this week into your compost or directly into the garden. The dirt and leaves love it and I feel better not just throwing it in the trash.
So glad to hear the book is clicking for you, and that your granddaughters are enjoying those English muffins! Great tip about the compost too. The garden is a perfect place for excess discard, and it's a nice way to close the loop. Thanks for sharing!
Hei Maurizio, I am reading your amazing book, and I am interested to know more about the ph levels. In what range of ph numbers the bulk fermentation is done? And in what range of ph it's ready for baking after the cold bulking? Thank you so much
Thanks for the kind words! To be honest, I don't typically measure pH during fermentation. I rely more on visual and tactile cues like dough rise, texture, and jiggly movement. If you're interested in diving deeper into the science, I'd recommend checking out some of the academic research on sourdough fermentation, but for home baking, reading the dough is the most practical approach.
Hi all, I am super new to this group and to making sourdough. I have had good success so far and I am looking to move forward and begin making some flavored bread. However, I was wondering if anyone has had any luck creating a starter with gluten free flour. Thoughts and tips would be greatly appreciated.
Kimberly, while I don't specialize in gluten-free baking, I can share that brown rice flour tends to work well for gluten-free starters. The key is consistency and warmth – keep your starter in a warm spot (around 75-80°F) and feed it regularly. The fermentation process might take a bit longer to establish compared to wheat-based starters since there's less available food for the microorganisms. Happy baking!
Maurizio, first thank you for all you do!!! I have your book and am making your Simple Sourdough. Two questions. One, whenever I make your levain, I make it exactly to the gram, but when I go to use it, it is never enough. Should I just start making more? Also, in stretch and fold, my dough is not as elasticy as yours. When I pull it up to stretch, the whole thing comes up. When you do it seems much looser. What am I doing wrong?
Amy, thanks for getting my cookbook! For the levain, I mention this in the book, but it's common for it to come in slightly under. If you're worried about this, add 5g more of each (water, flour, starter) when making your levain to build it up a bit bigger.
For the dough strength – this often means the flour you're using might not be able to handle all the water in the recipe. Try holding back about 50g of water during the initial mix. Then, as you perform your stretch and folds, slowly work in that reserved water if you see the dough can handle it. The dough should start to feel stronger and more elastic as you progress through bulk fermentation.
Check out my guide to dough strength for more help:
https://www.theperfectloaf.com/guides/mixing-bread-dough/