Sourdough Bread

After over 4 years of learning and making my own sourdough bread, I’m ready to teach you my recipe. I’ve used a few different recipes over the years and have learned what works best for me, my climate, and my schedule. Please keep in mind that mastering sourdough takes lots of patience and practice. While the amount of steps and time can seem overwhelming, I assure you it’s very flexible and so rewarding to learn. It will become second nature to you in no time at all.

What is Sourdough?

Sourdough is slow fermented bread. Unlike traditional bread that uses a bakers yeast, it uses a ‘starter’ – a live culture of flour, water, and naturally occurring bacteria and yeast, that makes the bread rise.

Is Sourdough Bread Better For You?

• The slow fermentation of sourdough bread gives us a head start on digestion, which for some with digestive issues has been shown to make it much more tolerable.
• Sourdough acts as a prebiotic, feeding the good bacteria in your gut and intestines.
• Sourdough bread contains much less gluten than regular yeasted bread due to the slow fermentation process, but it does not remove all gluten and is not gluten free.

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Where Can I get a Starter to Make Sourdough Bread?

You’ll need your own starter to make this sourdough bread. You can purchase sourdough starter online, get some from a friend, or make your own. Keep in mind making your own will take several weeks and can be very frustrating for beginners, which is why I don’t recommend it. I highly suggest getting some locally from a friend, a neighborhood Facebook group, or just ordering it online. Once you do so, you’ll need to feed it regularly to keep it alive. Everything you need to know about Feeding and Maintaining a Sourdough Starter is here.

What Supplies Do I Need to Make Sourdough?

Must Haves For Making Sourdough Bread:

1. Your own starter
2. Bread Flour – I use King Arthur’s unbleached bread flour from my local grocery stores. They sell an organic option online if you prefer organic.
3. Salt
4. Digital Kitchen Scale – I can’t recommend this one enough. It has a nice big screen that you can see even with a large bowl or plate on it.
5. Mixing Bowl – My favorite bowl is 9″ in diameter and about 3.5″ deep. It’s from Target but no longer available. I found a few similar ones that you might like on Amazon. This one or this one both look like great options. I wouldn’t go much bigger than 9″ in diameter because the shower caps only stretch so far.
6. 7″ Banneton Proofing Basket(s) – I like this size best, but anywhere from 7-9″ baskets will get the job done.
7. Razor blade or Bread Lame for scoring your bread before baking.
8. 4qt. or larger Dutch Oven(s) -I like baking 2 loaves at a time and these 4qt. dutch ovens fit perfectly together in my oven. I was recently gifted these beautiful 4qt. Staub Cocottes from Zwilling and I’m smitten with them. These will last my lifetime. For a more affordable option, check out these Lodge 4.5qt cast iron dutch ovens.
9. Half Sheet Pan 13X18 – If you have an old one, just use that! This will just be going in on the bottom rack while cooking your loaves so the bottom doesn’t burn.

Additional Supplies I love for Making Sourdough Bread:

1. Bench Scraper
2. Disposable Shower Caps – I use these to cover my dough and they’re amazing. You can reuse them multiple times.
3. Baking Mats – These are wonderful, but you may need to cut them down to size like I did.
4. Danish Dough Hook
5. Bread Bow Knife

You can buy a lot of these things in bundles. Here is my full sourdough shop on Amazon will a few bundle options I think would be great.

How to Make Sourdough Bread: Step by Step Guide

Step #1: Make your Levain

In a large jar combine:

• 30 g bubbly active starter
• 130 g bread flour
• 130 g water (room temp)

This will sit our your counter and ferment 8 -12 hours. (I tend to do this first thing the morning so I can begin the next step around 5 or 6 pm.)

Step #2: Mix the Dough

In a mixing bowl (or your electric mixer) combine:

• 662 g water (room temp)
• the levain (about 290 g total)
• 1037 g bread flour

I like to combine the water and levain first with my dough hook. Then slowly add your flour a couple cups at a time. Once all the flour had been added you can knead by hand 5-10 minutes, or put it in the electric mixer with the dough hook attachment for 10 minutes. Once done, cover with a shower cap or large plate and let is rest on the counter, or “autolyse”, for 15-30 minutes.

TIP: Wet your hand occasionally with cold water to prevent so much sticking. Don’t fret if your dough is stuck to your hand, keep kneading and just scrape it off as best you can when done.

Step #3 Add the Salt

In a small bowl combine:

• 19 g salt
• 1 tablespoon water

Pour this into your dough and knead an additional 5-10 minutes by hand or in your electric mixer. Cover with your shower cap or plate and let it rest 45 – 60 minutes.

Step #4 Stretch & Folds

Wet your hands and gently grab one side of the dough and pull it up, stretching it out as much as you can without tearing it, and fold it over. Turn your bowl to stretch and fold all four sides of the dough, as if it were a square. Cover and let it rest 45- 60 minutes. Repeat this stretch and fold series 3 more times, for a total of 4 stretch and folds.

You’ll notice your dough start to transform with every series of stretch and folds. These stretch and folds are an important step used to strengthen the gluten in your sourdough.

At this point you’ve been working with your dough 3-4 hours. If you’re on the same schedule as me, it’s almost 10:00pm. If you only got 3 stretch and folds in, no big deal, move on the the next step.

Step #5 Bulk Ferment

After your last series of stretch and folds it’s time to cover the dough and let it bulk rise. This might be the trickiest step for beginners. You’re looking for your dough to almost double in size, and appear much less dense. You’ll learn with practice to recognize when the dough is ready. If left sitting on the counter, in a home that is around 68-70 degrees, this bulk rise typically takes 8-10 hours. If your home is cooler, it will take longer, and if your home is warmer, it will rise quicker. Another way you can manipulate your schedule some is to let it bulk rise in the fridge for up to 24 hours. You’ll just want to let it come back to room temp before moving on to step 6. Here’s a look at what I typically do:

1. 10:00pm – Put the dough in the fridge overnight.
2. 7:00am – Pull the dough out and place on the counter to come to room temp and finish rising.
3. 12:00pm – My dough is now at room temp and appears to have doubled in size. Time to move on to step 6.

I usually do it this way on weekdays because I have school drop off first thing in the morning, I go to the gym, and often run errands before going home. If it were a weekend and I knew I had time in the morning to I would instead do this:

1. 10:00pm – Put the dough in the fridge.
2. 2:00am – Pull the dough out and place on the counter to come to room temp and finish rising.
3. 7:00am – My dough is now at room temp and appears to have doubled in size. Time to move on to step 6.

Step #6 Divide , Laminate, & Shape

Divide – Remove the dough and place on a clean, dry surface(Do not use flour). Divide the dough into two equal loaves. You can use a food scale here if you want to be precise.

Laminate – Begin stretching one of the loaves out on your counter top, being careful not to rip it apart. I like to place mine in the center of the counter, and section by section, lift and and gently shake the dough to stretch it out.

If you want to incorporate any inclusions (cheese & jalapeños, cinnamon & sugar, etc.) This is when you would do so! Sprinkle your inclusions on the dough when stretched out. See my sourdough highlight reel on my IG for more ideas!

Shape -Begin folding the dough up. You can fold in each side and roll it up (I do it this way if using add-ins) or fold each side into the center going around and around until you have formed a loaf. Take your loaf and build tension by pushing and pulling the loaf across the counter. Once you have a nice, tight, round loaf repeat with the second. Let them both rest on the counter for 10-20 minutes before repeating the lamination process(this is called the bench rest). Keep in mind that the second time around the dough will remember it’s shape and won’t stretch as far as the first time. This is why I like to incorporate my inclusions during the first lamination.

Step #7 Final Proof

After the final shape flip your dough upside down and gently drop in your floured banneton baskets. Cover and let proof for about 1 – 1.5 hours. In warmer months I do closer to 1 hour, in cooler months I let them proof at least 1.5 hours. Again, you will learn to recognize when they’re fully proofed with practice.

At this point you could move on the the final step, but I prefer to bake them cold so I put mine in the fridge for 4-6 hours, or in the freezer for 1 hour. Which I do simply depends on my schedule that day.

Step #8 Score & Bake

Place the dutch oven(s) in the oven with the lids on and preheat to 500 degrees.

Remove your sourdough from the bannetons by covering each with a piece of parchment paper, or a baking mat, and fliping the basket upside down. Gently shake or tap the dough out of the basket.

Scoring the dough is one of my favorite parts of the whole process. Of course you can simply just slice your loaves across the top and be done with it, but I like to experiment with pretty designs. I gently wipe off any excess flour and use my bread lame to slice in my designs.

Gently drop your sourdough into your dutch oven pan(s) and place in the oven with the lid on. Add a half sheet pan to the bottom rack below the dutch ovens (on the rack below, not directly under the dutch ovens). Reduce heat to 450 degrees and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the lid(s) and bake an additional 20-25 minutes, depending on how toasted you prefer your sourdough.

7 Minute Deep Score Tip – Another trick I’ve learned is to take the dough out of the oven real quick after 7 minutes of baking to do the expansion score. This gives the smaller scored design time to expand and look pretty.

Eat & Enjoy!

I don’t know if there is anything better than freshly baked, warm sourdough.

I always let mine cool 30-60 minutes before slicing with a bow knife. This knife is so very sharp, but it makes for perfectly uniform slices.

How to Store Sourdough

• In the dutch oven with the lid just slightly cracked open.
• In a ziplock bag (Make sure to let it cool completely before sealing the bag).
• Double bagged in the freezer (Again let it cool completely before throwing in the freezer). I like to pre slice my whole loaf so I can take out 1 slice at a time and to toast.

Sourdough Inclusions

I’ll share a new post with inclusion ideas soon! For now see my sourdough highlight reel on my IG for the final more about this.