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!
3,336 Comments
Hi! I’ve tried this a couple times now. My starter is in good shape, but both times I go to make the levain, it isn’t very active. Any tips? I’m using dark rye, whole wheat, and central milling artisan baker’s flour. Thanks for your great site!
Try to keep it warm and give it more time! It might be just fine, it doesn’t have to look super bubbly or rise up to some set height (i.e. double, triple).
I’d like to do step 7 for 12 hours instead of 16 hours. Will this effect the bread badly?
Should be just fine!
Hello Maurizio from Canada: Thanks so much for all your instruction and answering all these questions! I’ve made this recipe a few times with moderate success I’d say. Here’s my question: I typically feed my starter half and half dark rye and AP flour. The recipe above, however, calls for the levian to be made with bread and whole wheat flour. Therefore this levian is characteristically quite different from my usual starter. Can I use a levian with rye or should I stick to what the above recipe says? Basically I’m wondering if the levian can or should be made with the same types of flour I normally use to feed my starter.
Does anyone else have an opinion on this?
You can switch flour types immediately in the levain, it does not have to be the same flour used in your starter.
Thank you for your advice!
Here are a few questions: 1 – I’ve been microwaving water for my starter to make it warmer. My thermometer finally arrived, I tested temp., and it was 140 degrees, and was shocked it was that hot! Will having it that hot matter? My starter has been rising/falling well. 2 – I have not had an oven for a few weeks, so cannot bake bread. Is it sufficient to just keep feeding my starter 2x day until my stove arrives, and keep in oven with light on as I have been doing? 3 – When would I start feeding 3x day? 4 – And, how can I make my rye starter DISCARD less sour so I can use it in recipes for frying, etc.?
That’s definitely too hot! Just adjust from now on to keep it cooler, it’s likely just fine and as long as you’re seeing consistent rise and fall, it’ll be ok.
Yes, keep feeding 2x a day (you could also do 1x if you’d like to reduce feedings, but then keep it cooler out of the oven).
You don’t have to feed 3x a day, I only feed 2x. It’s really up to you on that!
Use your starter earlier to decrease the sourness.
Did the baking instructions recently change? I thought I remembered lowering the temperature a few times?
Ha! Yes! I thought I was going crazy. 🙂
Yep! I’m going to stick to the original baking instructions… they work so well for me.
Use what works for you!
I replied above on why I did this 🙂
I noticed that too!
Marisa: I replied above on why I did this 🙂
Yes, I believe they did. the last time I checked, within the past month , I believe the old temp instructions were as follows
> preheat 500F for 1 hour
> reduce to 475F and bake 20mins
> reduce to 450F and bake 30mins
I have successfully baked about 5 loaves using above temps but it would be interesting to try one temp for the whole process. Perhaps it was done to improve the simplicity of the recipe and I suspect it makes little difference in the outcome. I would however be curious about @maurizioleo:disqus ‘s take on how temp modifications during baking can effect the process.
Yes, you’re right. I’ve dropped the temps down to make things easier and I’ve also found better results dialing things back for this recipe (mostly because of the Dutch oven/combo cooker and how it retains heat).
Yes, I’ve adjusted things to keep the temp lower during baking — I’ve found better results this way!
Hi! Followed this recipe. This would be my second time making a batch. Both times my dough came out gummy. Any idea why? It’s almost like it cooked too quick bc the outside had an ideal look to it, but the temp inside registered at 212degF. I waited an entire 24hrs before cutting into it. It had a nice rise. I weighed ingredients. Everything except the texture inside was perfect to me.
Please help.
Based on the description of your loaves it could be that they are slightly under proofed. 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. Finally, it’s possible the bottom of the loaf might be slightly bowed upward (like the letter “U” — the top will kind of dome).
Make sure to build your levain from a starter that’s strong and mature (meaning it’s risen to it’s peak height before you take some to use). From there, bulk fermentation is very important! Make sure your bulk fermentation goes sufficiently far, you want the dough to look smooth, it should have risen considerably, and have bubbles here and there — it should look alive. If you tug on the dough a bit it should offer resistance to your tugging, it’ll feel stronger. Give the dough the time it needs in bulk fermentation! If you have to give it another 30m or hour to see these signs, do so. It’s important for this step to go sufficiently far for the dough to have enough fermentation activity before its proof.
Hi Maurizio. I’ve shaped two loaves ready for baking tomorrow – one is a boule which I’ll bake in my normal Dutch oven but one is a batard. I don’t have an oval Dutch oven, I also don’t have lava rocks or a baking stone.
I was planning on following the usual baking instructions in this recipe but to replicate the steam of the Dutch oven with the lid on I would put ice cubes in a roasting tray on the bottom of the oven – do you think this would work? Is there anything else you would do? I can have other roasting trays in the oven to try & maintain a high heat around the loaf. Thanks!
Yes, that should work just fine. You could also spritz into your oven with a handheld mister to add a little more steam in there. I’d likely also repeat the spritzing after 5-10 minutes into the bake (but be careful in case steam comes out of the oven, it’s hot!).
Your website is fantastic and I appreciate the scientific accuracy – it’s refreshing to see!
I’ve been working on perfecting this beginner’s sourdough bread before moving onto your other recipes. I’m currently using bread flour, rye flour, and whole wheat flour sourced from a local farm, as I was struggling with a wet/slack dough using Robin Hood AP flour before. Since getting these new flours, I have been experimenting with different hydration levels (65%, 70%, 75%, 78%) to see what these new flours are able to handle! Other than the thickness of the crust, I have found that these hydration levels have resulted in similar loaves. Currently, I’m struggling with height development during baking and getting that open crumb. The loaves have consistently been coming out flatter and denser than I would like it. I do quarter your recipe to make a smaller, 450g loaf daily, which gives me some flexibility to experiment more! Ambient room temperature here is between 21C-22C, and I am ensuring that FDT = 25C. I follow your timings listed for bulk fermentation and cold proof, and use a dutch oven for baking (we’re considering getting a combo cooker!) Shaping is always a bit difficult, as even at 72-75% hydration, I find the dough is sticky. I also notice your crust are beautifully caramelized and bubbly/crispy, whereas mine is browned but not quite as visually appealing.
Any tips for me? 🙂 Cheers from Canada!
Edit: If you would have any time to do so, I would love a guide on tips and tricks for shaping a basic boule and batard! I know you already have a couple videos on shaping, but it would be nice to have all of the resources in a guide.
Tina, thank you! First, I do have guide’s up on shaping! Check out my guides page and scroll down to the shaping section.
Unfortunately there isn’t a single thing that leads to a more open interior in a baked loaf of bread. First, the flour used is very important, it needs to be strong enough (protein) and have the proper gluten properties to trap the gasses produced during fermentation. For example, no matter how hard you try with rye flour, the gluten properties in the grain just won’t lead to an open interior.
From there, a very strong and well-fed starter is important — it all begins there. Fermentation in general is so critical, it’s worth spending some time really stepping back to look at how your starter is performing and how well-fermented your dough is during bulk fermentation and the final proof. Without strong fermentation your loaf will never rise to its full potential.
Sufficient dough strength through mixing, and also organically through fermentation, is also important. Think of your dough as a balloon: you want it strong enough to trap gasses and expand in the oven, but not so strong that it won’t relax and expand out. Finding this sweet spot takes some practice.
A full and complete bulk is also very important. Cutting bulk fermentation short before the dough is sufficiently fermented will hinder the development in final proof.
I also find that, and this depends on the dough you’re working with, a very gentle preshape and shape are key to maintaining an open interior. If you’re rough with the dough during these times the delicate interior will quickly break down and become more dense. That said, the dough does still need enough strength through shaping to hold its shape during baking.
Sorry for the long winded answer but really all of these things are important! Each part plays into the next and overall what we’re searching for as bakers is balance. Balance between the extremes in each phase of the process.
I hope these tips help!
Thanks!!!
Thank you for your input; your answer was not long winded at all.
I will check out your guides for shaping, as I do feel that I need to improve my shaping skills.
Looking forward to some great loaves! Thanks again and take care 🙂
I am going to try this method today. Question: Step 8 seems to indicate that you take your dough straight from the refrigerator and bake. Is that correct? No need to bring it to room temperature first? Thanks so much. This blog has been very useful!
EDIT: So I made the dough following the above instructions very closely. During and after bulk fermentation the dough was somewhat wet and shaggy–and difficult to work with (and did not look nearly as nice and elastic like the photos above). It had some dome-ish qualities but very wet. My loaves are proofing in the fridge and do not look nearly as round and perky as depicted. Will see what the morning brings.
This process seems pretty tricky and has me questioning the “beginner” title.
Yes, you can bake this straight from the fridge.
The hydration in your mix will also require some degree of adjustment. I’d say next time hold back a bit of the mixing water and don’t add it in, especially if the dough was overly wet, weak/slack. Each flour is different!
I hope the bake still turned out great. Sometimes we can be surprised!
Thanks so much for responding. The bread turned out much better than expected and I now have a huge appreciation for the detail you put into these blog pages. Here’s a loaf image from this morning’s bake.
I think it was mostly a lack of dough handling technique on my part (very new to this!).
Looks wonderful — nice bake, Steven!
Troubles in paradise.
OK, i did not exactly follow directions, because i did not exactly have all of the correct tools or ingredients.
Like @disqus_GqEfbFXSCP:disqus (8 hours ago) i also had troubles with shaping. My flour was mostly 80% whole wheat mixed with some rye. In my second round to fix the wetness i reduced the hydration from 78% to about 73%. I did this by removing 50g water from the Dough Mix prior to Autolyse. In a third round i might want to drop that to 72%.
Also, Maurizio’s Shaping a Boule page was very helpful. Particularly the video. The stretching of top is very important.
This second round first bread still came out like a pancake. So, I also made a few other “adjustments” to correct for my deficiencies. Since I didn’t have a Dutch Oven, at first i tried to create an enclosure with aluminum deep tins, to retained some moisture. But, the Dutch Oven does a lot more than retain moisture, it also works as a heat reservoir providing a quick blast of close even heat, which apparently is more important than i thought. So to adjust for this, i put a heavy cast iron skillet into the oven and let that heat up first. Then onto that i put the makeshift aluminum enclosure without it’s cover. I let that bake for about 4 minutes. This dried out the crust a bit to add structural stiffness preventing the oozing into a pancake. This is when i cut the slit across the top. Then i covered it and continued baking for the remainder of the first 20 minutes. And uncovered again for the last 30 minutes. This procedure resulted in 90% more lift… and it actually looks like a bread.
To get an idea of what i’m not working with, my next purchases will include a Dutch Oven, Kitchen scale, Bench knife, and Proofing baskets.
Hey 🙂 after bulk fermentation my dough is very wet and it won’t let me shape it. Is there anything I can do to fix it? Thank you!
It happened to me last week and I found out I over fermented it … It was a pretty hot day so the dough just needed less time.
I baked it in a metal tin bc I didn’t want it go to waste, it tasted ok but it isn’t a loaf we are looking for.
I’d watch it more closely the next time if I were you to avoid the over fermentation! hope this helps.
I’d likely shape it as tight as possible and bake it in a loaf pan!
Hello, I’m wondering what kind of results I would have if I left the shaped dough in the refrigerator for 5-6 hours longer than specified? If I baked at maybe 2-3pm instead of 9:30 am? I’m thinking it may not make much difference considering it would be in the fridge for the extra time. Just to work around my schedule 🙂 Thanks for any input. I made this bread once and it turned out fantastic!!
Ahhhh. I just got the answer I was looking for from your post “Simply Weekday Sourdough Bread.” According to what I read there, I can retard my shaped dough for 24-30 hours and still bake successfully 🙂
I’m wondering if this would work with the above recipe??
Yes, that should be just fine! It really depends on how fermented the dough is going into the fridge, as the longer you retard the dough in the fridge the less rise you’ll see with more sourness in the end. But 5 hours should be just fine.
Thanks for this beautifully detailed description of the process. I’ve made these loaves three times now and I have never made–and seldom eaten–a better bread. Your photographs helped me to be patient and move to the next step only when my dough was ready, by eye and touch.
Thanks so much for that feedback, glad to hear this!
Best sourdough recipe I have tried so far! Already making a second loaf! Thanks!
Thank you, Stephanie — have fun and happy baking!
I have been having issues with my loaf not holding its shape when it’s time to score. Two things I have been doing different than you is I proof overnight in a bowl not banneton and I do not have rye flour so replaced with WW. I did get some rye flour and will try this weekend and may try to get a banneton too. Do you think the addition of the rye and/or the use of the banneton could solve my problem or should I lower the hydration. Thank you for the advice!
Hi Lisa, I have the same problem, and I use rye! I’ve never managed to have a loaf keep its shape during scoring.
I decreased the water today by 30 g and so far preshaping is going really well, I am also going to try overnight proofing in a colander to help “dry” out a bit since I cannot find a banneton anywhere right now. I also am going to score and
cook straight from the fridge (i usually let me dough warm up while the oven pre heats). Let you know if these things help.
I had this same issue when I baked this recipe last weekend – but it all came out ok in the end when I baked. I’m trying again today, but found some guidance online around additional folding/shaping techniques for a high hydration dough that I’m hoping will help.
Let me know how it goes, my loaves turn out good its more just of a nuisance and stressful while scoring and putting them into the dutch oven.
It might be the dough is not strengthened sufficiently. You could try kneading the dough at the end of mixing for a few minutes or adding in another set or two of stretch and folds. From there, be sure to shape the dough tight enough to form a skin on the outside of the dough. This skin should remain through the proof and provide a clean surface where your score can cut into.
Reducing the amount of water in the recipe can also help!
Hey Maurizio! Thanks so much for providing such detailed information! I’ve followed your starter guide completely and I’m ready to make my first loaf! The only thing I’m missing is whole meal flour- can I use plain / rye instead? Thanks a lot!
That’ll work just fine!
Hey! Thanks so much for providing such detailed information! I’ve followed your starter guide completely and I’m ready to make my first loaf! The only thing I’m missing is whole meal flour- can I use plain / rye instead? Thanks a lot!
Hey Maurizio – Just finished with the bulk fermentation step (btw, great step-by-step instructions) and maybe I missed it but what do you do with the balance of the starter. Should I refrigerate it until I make my next batch; should I feed it now and then wait? Much thanks!
I usually feed it after the bulk fermentation, and if I’m not planning on baking for the next 2-3 days, I leave it on the counter for a few hours, and then stick it in the fridge! If you’re planning on baking in the near future, then leave the starter out at room temperature + feed at the schedule your starter peaks at.
After you use your starter to make a levain, feed it, let it sit out 1-2 hours, then you can keep feeding it 1-2x a day if kept on the counter, or place in the fridge for a week or so until you want to bake again.
Hey Maurizio and other bakers! My starter is ready to go but I’m wondering about the 8:00 am suggested time for making the levain. I feed my starter in the morning so it is not at its peak at 8:00 am. What can I do make sure my starter is in a good place to make a levain at 8:00 am so I can stay on track? Or is ok to use the started at feeding time because the levain peaks?
Thanks!!
You could try feeding your starter at 8pm the night before (or even later that night, mine takes 10 hours to peak so I feed it at 10:30 pm for use at 8:30 am).
Thanks Lisa! Mine is peaking in about 6 hours so this is tricky. I’ve tried to slow it down by reducing the starter I’m carrying over each day but it didn’t make much difference. Next up I’ll try cooling the water before I feed the starer.
Checking back to see what you did – I have the same issue and wasn’t sure how to work around it.
Hey Mary! I reduced my starter carryover by 10 g AND started cooling my water in the freezer for about 5 minutes before I mixed it and that did the trick. I hope it works for you! I also stopped storing it in my oven since it’s pretty warm in my kitchen already.
If yours peaks in 6 hours try leaving less starter in the jar when you feed, this will increase the time between feedings. This way, you can feed at night and then it should be ready sometime in the morning.
Thanks! I did that and cooled the water and I’m now getting to 10 hours. Baked my first loaf today. The bulk fermentation didn’t seem like it went well BUT the baked loaf came out way better than I expected 🙂
Can’t wait to do it again! Thanks for the guidance
Wow!!! Best sourdough I have ever made!!!
Awesome to hear that, Kaia!
I need advice! My dough barely rose, if at all, during bulk fermentation and the overnight rise. It was also very loose and soft. I’m skeptical of putting it in the oven for fear of producing a gummy, flat loaf. Should I make another leaven to try to get more rise out of the dough? Thanks
No bubbling either with the fermentation 🙁
try putting it in a warmer spot. mine hadn’t risen much and I’m at the end of bulk fermentation. I just moved it closer to stove and it’s picked up some height
in oven with only light on seems to help to create a consistent warm spot with a static temp.
Try setting your overnight proof fridge temperature to 10deg C, I find the recommended 3 deg C in this recipe to be too cold.
Be sure to use your starter when its at its peak height and mature. From there, keep your dough warm during bulk fermentation to increase fermentation activity!
Can anyone share their experiences on the effects of instant yeast to the sourdough starter? Can the starter be contaminated by the instant yeast?
I live in a hot and humid country and the only way for me to keep my sourdough starter happy is to store it in a cooler with a few blocks of ice. Last week, I needed to make a poolish (using instant yeast) and I placed said poolish in the same cooler as my starter. After a few days, my starter started acting differently. It’s more active in the first few hours and it smelled less sour. I recently made this beginner sourdough bread to test if it would still have a sour taste. The bread had a good oven spring but the sourness was barely noticeable.
Is it possible for the starter to be contaminated by the instant yeast? I read a few posts in thefreshloaf stating that instant yeast can’t survive in the starter’s acidic environment. I tried not feeding it for a day to make the starter very sour but that didn’t work. I’m having doubts and I’m thinking of buying a can of pineapple juice.
It is possible for your starter to “pickup” strains of bacteria/yeast from commercial yeast. Since I’ve never used commercial yeast I can’t say how it would affect the end result!
Thanks for the reply Maurizio! I guess I have no choice but to create a new starter. This is a good opportunity for me to try making a starter using rye flour without adding pineapple juice.
Thanks for your helpful answers so far. RE: my AP flour starter, it had been showing lots of activity until 4 days ago. Since then, it’s been very thin, not rising/falling too much, and the taste is VERY sour! Might it make a difference that I now have my starter not in a tall jar but in a lower, flatter sort of bowl? Help!
Is there quite a bit of liquid (hooch) forming on top of the starter?
Also, for matters of controlling variables, if you are planning on making a 100% hydration starter (grams of flour = grams of water), make sure you do measure out your ingredients. I’ve noticed a higher hydration starter will “peak” earlier, and then will cause your yeast + bacteria to create ethanol and acetic acid (the sour taste) earlier if you don’t feed it.
Thanks. No, I never see any hooch on top of the starter. But even though I measure my ingreds. out, I don’t have a metric scale, so I guess that makes all the difference. My scale will be delivered soon, I hope. And it doesn’t rise as much as my rye starter, which seems to be doing great. I was wondering if keeping the starter in a wider, shorter bowl made the difference. And, when would I start doing 3 feedings a day?
I like to use a container that keep the starter bunched up instead of letting it spread out. This helps increase fermentation efficiency and also helps it retain temperature much better. It won’t harm it to be spread thinner, but that’s not my preference.
Thanks so much for taking time to answer!!
duh…sorry for the foolish question, but what, specifically, does 100% saturation mean when building the levain?
With 100% hydration, the weight of the water is (100%, so) the same as the weight of the flour.
50% hydration would mean the weight of the the water was half the weight of the flour.
DO NOT preheat your dutch oven in the oven on 500! This is probably fine for cast iron, but enamel will crack. Found out the hard way. Dutch oven ruined 😢
A good quality dutch oven shouldn’t be damaged by that heat. Sorry to hear about your dutch oven. If it was a good brand I’d think about contacting them about it.
I have a Cuisinart enameled dutch oven, which *had* a bright orange hue to it. After pre-heating, when I took it out to place the shaped dough in it, I noticed the orange was now a deep, sunset orange tone. Didn’t have much time to stop and check it, though, since my oven was open and the dough was ready to be baked. The bread will be ready in ~10 min, and once the dutch oven cools off, I’ll post an update about the final effect on its color and whether or not there are any cracks. Hope not!
You should be able to clean any discoloration off using a baking soda past. Search online for this!
though it will get very dark
Sorry to hear about this, Pete! I’ve used my Staub Dutch oven like this without any issues…
We’re a little strapped for fridge space at the moment and I’d like to proof the breads on the counter. How long would you recommend they proof? Our kitchen is about 19-20c. Apologies if this has been asked before, I browsed the comments pretty thoroughly but there are a ton!
check the tartine recipe online – https://tartinebakery.com/stories/country-bread. no frig time.
At that temp, perhaps 2-4 hours or so. Check out my latest bread recipe where I proof the dough on the counter (there’s a video showing how I tell when it’s ready!).
Hi Maurizio, I just baked this as my very first loaf and despite nearly despairing that my starter didn’t float, it baked a fantastic loaf! The dough prep and fermentation was spot on, shaping will need practice, but main issue I had was during the bake itself. It stuck to the parchment paper, and the paper itself rippled and indented the edges of the loaf, so it looks a bit ugly! Also, my crust was very dry, not shiny or golden brown, but brown-grey and dull. I didn’t dust off the rice flour after removing from the banneton, but will do that next time. I’m using a le Creuset oblong lidded dish as a dutch oven.
Any tips on getting a nice shiny crust?
Re: the parchement paper, I’ve found that not all parchment paper is created equal. I switched to using unbleached, half-pan sized sheets of parchment a few years ago and get MUCH better performance, and you can store the box of parchment alongside your baking sheets as a bonus! Here’s what I use: https://amzn.to/2KDB5jH
As @nate said below, the brand of parchment paper can matter here — I typically use Reynold’s brand but the one he linked below is also a great choice. For more shine, add an ice cube or two in the Dutch oven when you load your dough.
Hi Maurizo! As a newbie in sourdough I m trying to navigate my way thru this tough business and I feel really blessed you are here!
I made this bread today and below is a crumb shot. I havent attained the beautiful big holes interior. What do you think could be the possible reasons, given that I followed the recipe quite closely? The 2 things I suspect are: I dont know of my fridge temperature; and my oven temp can only get as high as 230°C. ( the dough temp before I put in the fridge was exact tho). Thank you!
https://quyentran.smugmug.com/Beginner-sourdough/n-rbnKLS/i-8dQjQ8J/A
It could be that your loaves ended up a little over proofed. There are a few indicators your dough could be going over: sluggish rise in the oven, the score on top of the dough might not open with a nice “ear” and instead just kind of fuse together, the interior will have lots of small holes and perhaps one or two large ones near the top (but no dense areas of unfermented flour), and finally the loaf could be a little on the sour side.
I’d say try pulling back the proof time in the fridge or reduce bulk by 15m to 30m and see if that helps!
Have all purpose flour instead of bread flour.
Will the recipe still work?
If so – Should I do anything different to make up for the change of flour?
Also is it possible to bake a loaf without the night in the fridge?Thanks!
It’ll work but I’d slightly reduce the hydration a bit. I’m working on a new recipe that uses 100% AP flour I should have up later this week!
Thanks for the reply! Started it before your reply, but I’m at the shaping stage, and it looks pretty similar to your pictures, so I’m quite optimistic! Thanks again!
And here’s the recipe with 100% ap flour!
Hi Maurizo, thanks for a great recipe! Will my dough rise in the fridge during proofing? I am worried that it did not rise enough during bulk fermentation. Many thanks 🙂
You won’t see much rise in the fridge!
Thank you for replying. Yes it barely rose. I still baked it (on a baking tray) but it did not hold it’s shape and was quite flat. I was still very happy with the air pockets, taste and texture. Best one I’ve made so far. Just need improve on the rising.
The minute i saw the formula for water temperature…
This is the site for me!
Finally, a site in “english”.
😊
I followed your recipe after an unsuccessful attempt with King Arthur’s Sourdough recipe. I made a half recipe and it turned out FANTASTIC! It was just as good as those loafs you buy at the farmers market. I was worried because the dough looked wayyy more wet than your pictures, but I guess it didn’t matter! The final loaf was very big, and with a nice open crumb like the pictures above, even though the dough did not rise too much after the first and second proof. This is a magical recipe! Thank you so much for providing 🙂 I would like to add that I used course ground whole wheat flour, no rye flour, and I am at high elevation – these factors didn’t seem to make a major difference.
Glad to hear all this, Jane! Thanks for the information about your flour and altitude, yes, I think this likely helped you especially if you found the dough wet feeling. Enjoy!
I’ve tried this recipe twice now and run into the same problem – after 4 hours of bulk fermentation at 78-80 degrees, the dough has risen substantially and shows plenty of bubbles on the surface. However it does not show the signs of strength you talk about – the edges are not pulling away from the bowl, and it doesn’t hold it’s shape very long after stretch-and-folds. At 4 hours, thinking the dough was not strong enough, I did another gentle stretch and fold and let the dough ferment for an additional hour, after which it had risen more and again had showed bubbles on the surface.
After this, pre-shaping and shaping went ok. The dough held it’s rounded edges during bench rest (image). I ended up with a shaped loaf that felt airy and bouncy as you can see in this image.
I proofed in the fridge for 16 hours (in a covered mixing bowl lined with parchment). But after baking, I got only a little oven spring, the score barely opened, and the crust shows very large bubbles and uneven color – see photos here and here.
I don’t think over-hydration was the problem. I already had adjusted down to 76% hydration.
I am using Giusto’s Artisan Bread Flour, which has 11.5% protein. Since this is lower than most bread flour, do I need to adjust the recipe (longer autolyse? more stretch-and-folds?) to compensate?
Any thoughts on what went wrong? Did extending bulk fermentation too long result in an overproofed loaf? Do I need to strengthen the dough more agressively early in bulk? Or just get a more traditional higher-protein bread flour while I’m a beginner at all this?
HELP!! Love your website. I have learned so much. Thank you. I followed your instructions to build my sourdough starter. Took almost two weeks to get the predictable rise and fall you describe. I attributed it to my cool kitchen temp. Once I got the starter mature I baked my first beginner loaves according to your instructions. Everything went well but I didn’t get much rise during bulk fermentation or overnight in the fridge. Bread came out flat. It had a great crust and tasted great. Just flat. So I nurtured my starter for another week and it seemed to get better and better. With that I made bread again today. Unfortunately, exact same result. I would appreciate any advice you could offer. By the way, I saved my discard all week and made your pancakes this morning. OMG they were awesome!!
Mark — awesome to hear your starter is up and running. Be sure you use your starter when it’’s very mature (rising to its peak height in the jar) to mix your levain — this is important! Similarly, use your levain when it’s mature, this is what will get your bread fermenting at a strong rate, if you use it too early you might see sluggish fermentation in the dough. Finally, give your dough the time it needs in bulk fermentation. This means it might take your dough 30 minutes more to rise up, get bubbly, and generally feel nice and jiggly in your container. Generally, it sounds like you needed to give the whole process more time to ensure lively activity.
Hope this helps, let me know how the next attempt goes!
Maurizio,
I just did my sixth loaf and yet again, it came out flat. My starter is very strong, I give the dough all the time it needs but I never have any huge bubbles as on many of your photos at the end of bulk fermentation. And once I left it longer waiting for the bubbles and I over fermented the dough so …
Also, I don’t have a dutch oven; I cook it in my regular oven, with boiling water on a tray to create steam and on a classic metal tray where I put the dough on a parchment paper. Could this be the reason my bread doesn’t rise much in the oven?
Any suggestion much appreciated.
Based on my failures… lack of a Dutch Oven is a key problem.
Hi! Your guide is very detailed and helpful, I’m really finding it useful for learning about sourdough. This weekend is my second ever attempt, and I haven’t baked yet because I started late yesterday, but I think they are going to come out flat discs (same problem as last weekend). I have a couple of questions:
1. You don’t mention kneading in the explanation above. I did slap and fold AFTER bulk fermentation bc that’s where I see it in other recipes, and my dough just fell apart. It was already wetter looking than yours.
2. Could you provide more detail on the type of dough consistency/moisture level after mixing and before bulk fermentation? I was hesitant to add the extra 50g water but then I did bc the dough seemed dry… But then it seemed way too wet after bulk proof. I guess because the flour hydrated, not sure.
3. My starter is very happy and my levain passed the float test before I mixed with the dough but I didn’t get much rise during bulk proof. Could it be the salt inhibiting the yeast? Maybe temp (even though I let it bulk proof for longer than 4 hours)?
Any help would be sooo appreciated! Thanks!
1. You want to do slap/fold before bulk fermentation. Once in bulk, we want to be more gentle with the dough and give it sets of stretch and folds to finish strengthening the dough instead.
2. It’s very hard to convey this through words… And it really is dependent on the dough that day in the kitchen. I’d say hold back the water for now, and if you get good results work it up as desired until things get too wet/slack. The dough should be wet and sticky during mixing, this is normal, but it shouldn’t feel like “soup” or be so weak it just sloshes around in the bowl.
3. The amount of salt in the recipe is typical for bread, so that’s not the issue. It might have been your levain was still on the early side even if it floated (it’s not a foolproof test!). I’m working on a post right now with more images and description on what I mean when I say “mature” levain. Keep an eye out for this soon!
Hope this helps for now!
Thanks so much for your reply! I tried again this weekend and had much better results!! I skipped the knead completely this time, I think last time I just destroyed all the air. I wasn’t sure since the Bon Appetit recipe calls for slap and fold after bulk ferment. I also lowered the hydration and that helped too… Although I definitely want to work back up to higher hydration.
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer me and everyone else. This info is invaluable!