How To Make Sourdough Bread: A thorough Step By Step Guide

Everything you need to know to make homemade Sourdough Bread at home successfully. Made with just flour, water, salt, and sourdough starter, this sourdough bread recipe makes the best-tasting homemade bread.

Enjoy this thorough, step-by-step guide to crispy, chewy, slightly tangy bread that you won’t get enough of! If you know nothing about sourdough bread, get ready to learn lots.

From all the recipes on this site, no other recipe ever has gotten as much dedication, practice, research, and attention before it was brought before your eyes as this sourdough bread recipe.

I have done the research, read the books, baked, then read again, then did research again, then baked and baked, all in an attempt to not just bake a good sourdough loaf but understand it. Below, you’ll find a comprehensive guide so that you can repeat my success and create the most fantastic bread in your kitchen.

Many recipes give you a recipe without explaining the “why, ” making it hard to understand what went wrong when you get a puck instead of fluffy bread. I hope that this sourdough guide will equip you with the knowledge and tools necessary to create your own delicious homemade sourdough bread and be able to adjust the recipe for your needs.

So, now I have a “go-to” sourdough recipe I’ve perfected. It’s based on my artisan yeast bread recipe, but I use sourdough starter instead of commercial yeast.

There are various methods of making sourdough bread. After trying different approaches, I have found a combination of techniques that produces excellent bread while also incorporating time-saving tips that do not compromise the quality or taste.

My sourdough is mixed all at once, as opposed to a multi-step process you’ll see in other recipes, and left to rise in a simple makeshift proofing box to speed up the rising time. The high hydration of the dough keeps the bread moist and fresh for many days.

I hope you give it a try! And if you don’t succeed at first, don’t give up! Making sourdough is the type of knowledge that is worth the practice.

So, what is Sourdough Bread?

Sourdough bread is the oldest way of making leavened bread. It is as simple as it is genius. Sourdough bread is made with flour, water, salt, and a fermented wild yeast culture made with flour and water, also known as a sourdough starter.

Sourdough starter is a natural alternative to commercial yeast. It not only makes the bread rise as the yeast does but also makes it easier to digest and improves the bread’s texture, flavor, and keeping ability due to the sourdough’s bacteria and enzymes that commercial yeast does not have.

Depending on your preference and how it was cared for, the starter can impart a lot or a minimal sourness to the bread. So don’t be warded off thinking that you don’t like sourdough because it’s sour.

What is a sourdough starter?

In the simplest of terms, a sourdough starter is a live fermented culture made with only flour and water.
Through fermentation, the starter captures and replicates the wild yeast and bacteria naturally present in the flour and the environment.

Gluten breaks down when the bacteria eat the flour, creating air bubbles (CO2), acids, and alcohol as a byproduct. This process makes the starter rise and become light and fluffy.

To keep the sourdough starter alive and thriving, as any living thing, it needs regular feedings. Flour and water are the starter’s food of choice. Feedings help the good bacteria and yeast in the starter grow and become stronger and more resilient over time.

Where do I get a starter?

If you don’t want to create a starter from scratch, I suggest buying a ready-made one or asking for a mature starter from someone you know. This can save you time and effort.

A mature starter is much more stable and less fussy than a young, temperamental one. If this is your first time making sourdough, having a mature starter gives you one less variable to worry about as you sail on this bread-making journey.

If you would like to get sourdough starters online, here are several options:

• King Arthur Sourdough Starter
• San Francisco Style Sourdough Starter
• Send a prepaid envelope, and they’ll send you the Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter from 1847 for FREE.

Feeding a sourdough starter?

Let’s start with some simple concepts and understanding the effects of feeding on the starter.

Feedings are needed to keep the starter alive and thriving. The sourdough starter feeds are typically done in ratios. As such, a 1:1:1 feed means that 1 part starter, 1 part flour, and 1 part water by weight are added. A healthy starter fed a 1:1:1 ratio and kept at 70 F should take about 4 hours to at least double in size.

The starter will rise as the yeast and bacteria go through the flour. At peak rise, the concentration of natural yeast in the starter is at its highest, which makes it the best time to use it for making bread.

A consistent feeding schedule will ensure the starter stays strong, healthy, and vigorous.

Discard

Each time the starter is fed, only a tiny amount is used, and the rest should be discarded. If the starter is fed less than a 1:1:1 ratio, you risk having a weak, unhealthy starter that carries over too much acidity from feed to feed and into your loaf.

You can store this discarded starter in the fridge for recipes that call for discard specifically.

If you do not discard most of your starter each time you feed it but continue topping it off with more and more flour, you’ll end up with too much weak and probably very acidic starter.

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Weekly feedings:

Keep the starter refrigerated if you only bake once every week or two. Feed it once a week to maintain health. When ready to bake, do at least two consecutive refresher feeds to activate the yeast or at least one refresher feed with a larger ratio (ex: 1:10:10).

Weekly maintenance feed:

• Add 10 grams of the sourdough starter (discard the rest), 10 grams of filtered water, and 10 grams of unbleached bread flour (1:1:1 ratio) to a clean 8 oz jar.
• Stir vigorously to combine.
• Clean up the sides of the jar and mark the current level outside of the jar with a rubberband or marker.
• Cover with a lid. Leave at room temperature for 1 hour, then refrigerate.

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Daily feeding: (recommended*)

Store the starter at room temperature (around 70°F) if you bake several times weekly.
Feed it at least once every 24 hours or when it reaches its peak rise, adjusting the ingredient ratio to hit the peak at the 24-hour mark.

Daily maintenance feed:

• Feed a 1:10:10 or 1:20:20 ratio to maintain between 68F – 70F.
• For a 1:10:10 ratio, mix 5 grams of peaked starter, 50g of water, and 50g of unbleached strong flour in a clean 8 oz jar. Vigorously stir for 1 min. Mark the current level. Close with a lid closely. Leave at room temp until the next day.
  Feed again or use at peak to leaven bread dough.

When is the starter ready to use?

If the starter (fed a 1:1:1 ratio) at least doubles in size in under 4-6 hours at 70F, it’s OK to use. But, starting the dough with a peaked starter will result in a higher concentration of yeast and bacteria, leading to a quicker rise.

What does a peaked or ripe starter look like?

• Concave surface: As the starter rises, it will have a domed top. Once yeast runs out of food, its activity will halt, and the air pockets created earlier will start to deflate. At this point, the starter’s top surface will become concave, which will be most noticeable around the edges of the jar.
  
• Popping bubbles: You will also be able to observe some of those bubbles popping/winking as you watch the surface of the starter.
  
• Variation of bubbles: The sides of the jar should have lots of large and small bubbles.
  
• Peaks and valleys: The top surface will have peaks and valleys.
  
• Float test: If you drop a spoonful of starter into the water, the starter will float.
  

Tools for making sourdough bread

I linked to the tools that I use. You’re welcome to replace them with alternatives.

• 1 qt wide mouth jar – preferably with straight sides for easier mixing of the levian
• Digital scale – to measure the ingredients for more consistent results
• Small, sturdy rubber spatula – to mix the starter when feeding
• Plastic container & lid or a large/wide bowl – for mixing and stretching the dough
• Banneton Basket (12″ oval or 10″ round) – to hold the shaped dough and wick moisture off the exterior of the dough while refrigerated.
• Lame or a sharp serrated knife for scoring the bread before baking
• Dutch oven (7 qt oval or 5 qt round) to help retain steam and help the bread open up as it bakes
• Perforated Plastic Bags – the perforations on the bag allow the steam to escape while keeping the bread from drying out. It’s also perfect for giving away bread 🙂

Ingredients for sourdough:

White bread flour, whole wheat flour, water, starter, and salt. Now, let’s talk about them in depth.

• Unbleached Bread flour or unbleached high-gluten flour – I use Central Milling High Mountain Flour. You can use any unbleached flour, but high gluten or strong bread flour will allow you to use a higher water-to-flour ratio, giving you a more moist crumb and creating a more open bread structure.
  
• Whole Wheat Flour – any whole wheat flour will work, but Bob’s Red Mill whole wheat flour doesn’t impart as much sourness to the dough as other brands. You can replace whole wheat with regular white bread flour. But whole wheat flour adds flavor and a variety of bacteria to improve the nutritional value and speed up the fermentation of sourdough bread. It also absorbs more water than white flour, so the dough will be stiffer and easier to handle than if you used all white flour.
  
• Warm (90 F) filtered water – I use cold filtered water straight from the refrigerator’s water filter, then heat it for 1 minute in the microwave to achieve 85F – 90F. The water filter removes any of the harmful bacteria and chlorine that might compete with or kill the good bacteria in the sourdough starter. Starting with warm water means that the yeast will have a favorable environment for growth from the start.
  
• Sourdough Starter – for best results, catch it at peak. Peaked starter will have the highest concentration of yeast.
  
• Salt – use kosher salt or any salt without iodine/additives that can interfere with the sourdough’s bacteria/yeast. Salt not only adds flavor to the bread but also helps tighten the gluten in the dough.

1. Feed the starter the evening before making sourdough bread. Adjust the feeding ratio to make it ready to use in the morning.
   
2. Mix all ingredients in the morning. Knead for 4-5 minutes by hand or 1 minute by mixer until no dry flour remains. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
   
3. Stretch & fold to build strength in the dough by performing 4 – 6 sets of stretches 30-60 minutes apart (2-3 hours total).
   
4. Rise: Cover and let the dough rest in a warm place for 1-3 hours or until the dough has risen by about 30% – 50% or looks puffy and no longer dense.
   
5. Shape & refrigerate – preshape the dough and rest for 30 minutes. Then do final shaping, transfer to the banneton seam side up, cover, and refrigerate for 12-18 hours overnight.
   
6. Bake: Remove from the fridge the following day, invert onto parchment paper, slash the top of the bread with a lame & bake in a preheated Dutch oven until golden brown.

Now, let’s do a deep dive down into the step-by-step process.

How to make the Sourdough Bread from scratch

This sourdough recipe is made over 36 hours but three days. If you start before going to bed one day, you’ll prepare the dough on the second day and bake it in the morning of the third day. Keep this in mind as you make this sourdough bread. You can adjust the timeline to fit your schedule.

Make the leaven – 8 p.m.

Make an off-shoot of the starter (the leaven or levian) in the evening; it will be ready by morning.

• 8 p.m. – 10 p.m.: create a leaven (1:5:5 ratio) by mixing 10 grams of active sourdough starter and 50 grams of warm water in a clean jar. Then, add 50 grams of bread flour and mix thoroughly.
  
  Clean the sides of the jar. Mark the current level and cover it loosely.
  
  Keep warm (70F), undisturbed for 10-12 hours or until the leaven peaks.
  
  Adjust the ratio based on your room temperature and desired rising time.

See approximate ratios below:
1:2:2 ratio for 66F – 67F room temp 8 hour rise time
1:3:3 ratio for 70F for an 8-hour rise time
1:5:5 ratio for 70F – 10-12 hour rise time

Mix & Warm Bulk Fermentation 8 a.m – 12 p.m., next day:

Bulk Ferment, or first warm proof, starts when the starter is added and ends when the dough is pre-shaped. During this step, the yeast in the dough begins to multiply, making the dough rise while the fermentation breaks down the gluten.

• 8 a.m.: Mix warm filtered water (90F) with the prepared leaven in a large bowl and stir until the water looks milky. Add the flour and salt and stir roughly to bring everything together.
  
• Knead the mixture for 3-4 minutes by hand or 1 minute with a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until no dry bits remain.
  
• This marks the beginning of bulk ferment or the first rise when the dough proofs as a big mass. This is an excellent time to start a timer for 4 hours, which is typically how long the bulk ferment lasts for this particular recipe.

The dough should be chunky and wet but not runny like cake batter. If it looks like cake batter, add enough flour to make it wet and shaggy. Clean up the sides of the bowl with a firm spatula.

Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel or lid and rest in a warm place for 15 – 30 minutes (set a timer). This will allow the flour to absorb the water, relax the dough, and start the yeast activity.

1st set of Stretch & Folds (S & F)

• 8:30 am: The dough will look shaggy but much more relaxed than when it was first mixed. Wet your hands. Grab a chunk of the dough with your hand, pull it up until it stretches, then fold it over it. Go around the dough and keep pulling up and over until it no longer stretches. Set it seam side down. Cover and return to a warm spot for 30 minutes (the dough should be kept in a warm area between all stretch-and-folds going forward).

2nd set of S&F

• 9 am: the dough will look smoother and should now spread into the container’s bottom. Do another set of S & F with wet hands, turning the bowl 90 degrees as you go around until the dough doesn’t stretch anymore. Set seam side down, cover, and let rest for another 30 minutes.

3rd set of S&F

• 9:30 a.m.: Repeat the S & F once again. Adjust the timing between stretches according to your dough’s ability to relax, setting a timer to remind you to check on it in 30 minutes.
  
  By this set, the dough should look slightly puffed up with many tiny blister-like bubbles on its surface. If it doesn’t, don’t worry. It might just need more time in a warm place.

4th Set of Stretch & Folds

• 10 a.m.: If you’ve kept the dough in a warm place (80F) between stretches, the dough will be puffed up (but not by a lot) and feel lighter. After resting for 30 minutes, the dough folds will stay visible and not pool into a single mass easily. If the dough still pools into a single mass, continue strengthening it by stretching and folding it every 30 minutes until about 12 p.m. Otherwise, leave the dough to rest covered in a warm place until 12 p.m. for the dough to continue rising.
• At 12 pm, the dough should be well puffed up, and have lots of big and small big and small bubbles underneath its surface (see pix below). The surface will be smooth and elastic.

This marks the end of bulk fermentation.

If your dough looks and feels as described above move to the next step. If not, add a couple more folds to strengthen the dough, or leave the dough to rise in a warm place until it feels lighter and increased by 30% – 50% voume-vise. Use your eyes to gague if the dough is ready to move to the next step. My time table is approximate and you might need to adjust it to your own dough.

Sourdough dough behaves differently than a simple yeast dough. You do not need to wait until the sourdough doubles in size. As long as it feels lighter and you see small “blisters” that are just underneath the top surface of the dough, you’re ready to move to the next step.

Shape the sourdough 12 p.m. – 12:50 p.m.

Pre-shape

– this step aids in building height, creating surface tension, and establishing the structure for shaping the bread. Dough that rises under tension will have a better oven spring and an open crumb structure when baking.

12 p.m. (or whenever the dough has increased by 30% – 50% and is strong)

• Dust the top of the dough inside the bin with flour. Turn over the container and allow the dough to fall onto the counter. With floured hands, stretch the dough into a rough square.
• Visually divide the dough into thirds vertically. Fold the left and right over the center third with a bench scraper or floured hands. Now, roll the dough into a roll by tucking/pulling, then rolling to make a tight roll.
• Leave to rest uncovered for 30 minutes to dry out the surface.
• Prepare the bannetone mold (proofing basket) by dusting it with rice flour or heavily dusting it with regular flour, set aside. Alternatively, use a bowl lined with a cotton or linen kitchen towel dusted with flour.

Final shaping – 12:30 pm:

• Using a bench scraper, invert the rested dough bottom side up (do not add flour). Gently stretch the dough out into a circle.
• Grab the top portion of the dough (12 o’clock) and stretch it out and over the top third.
• Next, grab a chunk from the right side and fold it over the center third, followed by the left side over the center.
• Now, fold the edge closest to you over the whole thing, inverting it smooth side up.
• Push the dough towards yourself with the bottom side of your palm or the bench scraper, creating a taught surface.
• Flour the top of the shaped dough

Optional: To cover the dough with seeds or other toppings, spray the top with water, then pick up the dough with a bench scraper and turn it over wet part into the seeds. Roll the dough gently to cover it well.

• Pinch the sides of the dough to create neat ends.
• Using a bench scraper, pick up the shaped dough smooth side down and seem side up into the floured basket.
• Leave to rest for 10 – 20 minutes.

• Pinch both sides of the dough in a zig-zag pattern to create a taught surface.
• Cover the mold with a disposable shower cap or a kitchen towel.

Cold Fermentation – 12:50 p.m. – 8 a.m. (next day)

Refrigerate the dough overnight for cold fermentation (also called cold retard). The yeast’s activity slows drastically during this time, allowing the enzymes to break down gluten further.

In a pinch, you can cold retard (refrigerate) the bread only until the evening (5 p.m. – 8 p.m.), instead of overnight, then bake it. But, I find the texture and flavor is a lot better when baked the next morning, 18-20 hours later .

Bake the Sourdough Bread – 8 am – 10 am: Next morning

• Preheat oven: Adjust the oven rack to one below the middle. Place the Dutch oven with the lid inside the oven. Preheat the oven to 475F for at least 30 to 40 minutes or up to 1 hour.
• Remove the dough from the fridge right before the oven is done reheating. Take the cover off. Turn the sourdough over onto the parchment.
• Score: Using a razor blade (aka lame, – a French word for “blade, pronounced LAHM) or a sharp knife, score the dough off the center lengthwise, about 3/4 inches deep, at a 45-degree angle. This creates a weak spot for expansion as it bakes. Prepare two ice cubes.
• Transfer to the Dutch oven: Remove the hot Dutch oven from the oven. Then, quickly but very carefully, place the parchment paper with the dough inside, keeping your hands away from the hot Dutch oven. Add the ice cubes to the side, and quickly cover the pot with the lid to trap the steam. Steam keeps the crust soft, preventing the crust from hardening before the bread can fully expand.
• Bake for 20 minutes with the lid on. Then, remove the lid and bake for another 20-25 minutes or longer, depending on your preference for the darkness of the crust. The darker the crust, the more flavor the bread and crust are imparted with.
• Remove from the oven and set the bread on a cooling rack to cool completely before cutting, at least 2-4 hours.

How to store sourdough bread?

You can store the sourdough bread cut side down on a wooden board, covered with a dome to prevent drying out if you plan to eat it the same day.

Alternatively, you can slice the bread, place it in a ziplock bag and refrigerate it.

If not eating right away, slice the sourdough bread or keep it whole, place it in a ziplock bag, or wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and freeze. When ready to eat, leave in the fridge overnight to thaw, or microwave for a minute or two until the bread is softened but not hot.