Beginner Sourdough Bread Recipe

If you found your way to this page, you are probably new to making sourdough bread. Learning to make a great loaf of sourdough bread takes practice and determination. This easy beginner sourdough bread recipe will walk you through all the necessary steps, plus a few extra tips and tricks, to get you starter on your sourdough journey. 

Before we get started, I want to share some encouragement with you. Making sourdough bread is easy. But it’s also hard. As you start baking, you will find that there are a lot of nuances to making bread. As a beginner this can be frustrating and challenging to get the hang of it. BUT, you WILL get the hang of it.

Like anything, baking sourdough bread takes practice. If you have spent any amount of time in the kitchen, you can likely look back at when you first started learning to cook. You had to have a lot of instruction. You needed a recipe and always used exact measurements. As you started to get the hang of it, you realized you didn’t always need to exactly measure the salt and pepper. You could eyeball when a pancake was ready to flip. You could recognize when your tomato soup was hot enough without even tasting it. 

This is exactly how making sourdough bread is. As you practice, you will be able to look at the dough, feel the dough, and know when it is ready to shape and bake. 

The most common pitfall people have when starting sourdough baking, is giving up too soon. I promise, if you push through the challenges, you will become a proficient sourdough baker in no time. 

As for me, it took me about a year of consistent baking before I really felt confident in baking consistently good sourdough loaves. (READ THIS POST to see what the main reason I was struggling with my loaves).

So now that we got that out of the way, let’s move on to my super easy sourdough bread recipe. 

Ingredients

• Bread Flour
• Water
• Salt
• Sourdough Starter

That’s it. You only need four ingredients to make sourdough bread but you do need to use the right types of ingredients. 

Flour

I highly recommend using bread flour. This will help you create loaves with a great structure especially if you are new to baking. 

What is Bread Flour?

Bread flour is wheat flour that contains a higher amount of protein completed to other types of flour including all purpose flour and cake flour which have lower protein content. 

The two main proteins that are found in flour are gliadin and gluten and contribute to the formation of gluten. Gluten, is the structural protein that creates structure in sourdough bread and allows it maintain the chewy texture and open crumb sourdough bread is known for. 

Bread flour has a higher amount of these proteins, which is why we use it for sourdough bread. 

Once you have become a more advanced baker, you can try using all purpose flour. I do sometimes use it but find that my loaves usually turn out better in appearance and structure when I use bread flour. 

I personally love King Arthur bread flour but many grocery store brands also carry great options. 

Sourdough Starter

Above all else, your starter needs to be healthy and active in order to make a loaf of sourdough bread. This means it needs to double reliably before using it. I recommend feeding it about 8 hours before you plan to make your dough. If you are storing your starter in the fridge and consistently baking at least once a week, you can likely get away with one feeding. 

That being said, I recommend feeding it twice before using it in your dough. A good way to do this is to feed it a 1:2:2 ratio (starter:water:flour) the morning before you plan on making your dough, then again 8-12 hours later (i.e. that evening). This will allow it to become active across two feedings before you are ready to use it the following morning. Check out my full guide on how to feed and maintain your sourdough starter).

Water

Water is a controversial topic when making sourdough bread. I always recommend starting with filtered water when creating a starter or starting to bake bread for the first time. This is because chlorine, which is found in most municipal water supplies, can inhibit the growth of your starter. Obviously this is an issue when we are making bread. 

Some people recommend boiling water for prolonged periods of time to remove chlorine, however, this is not effective to remove a type of chlorine found in some water systems called “chloramine.”

To take this variable out, consider using bottled water, or using filtered water that reliably removes chlorine. 

Salt

You can use any type of salt. I usually recommend table salt in your recipes. Certain types of salt are denser (example table salt vs flaky sea salt), but since we measure our ingredients by weight, this should not be an issue. 

Sourdough Baking Techniques

My recipe for sourdough bread is very simple. I have tested and experimented with various techniques and found that an autolyse really isn’t necessary. 

What is Autolyse?

Great question. An autolyse is a process in which the flour and water is mixed together. The dough is then left to sit for a period of time, usually anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. After this initial rest period, the salt is added.

What is Fermentolyse? 

Similarly to autolyse, a fermentolyse also is a rest period for the dough. However, in a fermentolyse, the sourdough starter is also added but the salt is left out. 

Why I Don’t Use an Autolyse or a True Fermentolyse

The purpose of an autolyse and fermentolyse is to improve the texture of the dough. In my experience, this step does not make a noticeable difference, especially if you are a beginner baker. 

I recommend mixing all ingredients from the beginning. I have seen so many bakers forget to add the sourdough starter or salt and go straight to stretch and folds. This will ruin your dough. 

Instead, get used to reading your dough and learning how to master bulk fermentation, shaping and scoring. These are the core skills you need as a beginner. As you get more experienced, you can start to text out different techniques to develop your own unique and preferred baking process. 

How to Make Sourdough Bread

8:00 PM (the night before): Feed Your Starter

Feed 25 grams of starter with 50 grams of flour, and 50 grams of water. 

NOTE: This assumes you have a relatively healthy and active starter. If your starter has been sitting in the fridge for several weeks without being used, I would feed your starter a few extra times at 12 hour intervals. 

If your starter seems a bit sluggish, replace 15 g of wheat flour with 15 g of rye flour. Rye flour is amazing at boosting yeast activity in sourdough.

8:00 AM: In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, water, sourdough starter and salt. Mix with a bread whisk or rubber spatula until all the loose flour is mixed in and a shaggy dough forms. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes. 

8:30 AM: Perform your first set of stretch and folds. Grab one edge of the dough, gently pull it up until you feel maximal resistance. Fold the dough over itself. Turn the bowl a quarter turn, then perform another stretch and fold. Continue to do this two more times until you complete a full rotation around the bowl. Cover and let rest. 

From here, perform two more sets of stretch and folds over the next two hours. It is easiest to set a timer for every 30 minutes, but do not stress if your time intervals are a bit longer or shorter. 

~10:30 AM: After your last set of stretch and folds cover the bowl for bulk fermentation.  

Bulk Fermentation

There is no specific time that bulk fermentation takes to complete. The amount of time is highly dependent on:

• The time of year
• Altitude
• Your home temperature
• The activity of your starter

While this can be frustrating as a beginner, just know that you will get the hang of reading your dough and knowing when to end bulk fermentation. 

As a point of reference, where I live, my dough usually finished bulk fermenting after 5 hours in the peak of summer (home temperature about 72-73F), but takes close to 10 hours in the winter (home temperature 67-68F).

When is Bulk Fermentation Done?

Here are a few ways to assess whether your dough is finished bulk fermenting: 

Size

Your dough should increase in size by at least 50% when complete. This is not a perfect indicator that your bread is done but is helpful to observe.

Windowpane test

Feeling the dough is my favorite way to know if my dough is done. I highly recommend using the windowpane test. Grab a small edge of the dough, then gently pull the dough up and begin to stretch it. You should be able to stretch the dough quite thin to the point that it is somewhat transparent without much breakage. If the dough is breaking in several places, it likely needs to proof longer. 

Appearance

The dough should have several medium-large sized bubbles on the surface of the dough when completed. It should also jiggle like jello but not collapse. 

Touch

The dough should not feel very sticky. Sticky dough indicates a lack of adequate gluten development. When you press the dough with your fingertip, the dough should not spring back immediately. If so your dough is not proofed enough. It should spring back slowly when optimally proofed. 

Shape the Dough

Once bulk fermentation is complete, it’s time to shape your dough. 

Lightly flour a clean work surface. 

Gently dump the dough onto the floured work surface. If the dough sticks to the bowl, gently scrape and loosen the dough with your hand. 

Stretch the dough into a rough square. Fold the dough into thirds by grabbing one edge of the dough and folding it 1/3 of the way across the dough. Grab opposite edge of the dough and fold it over the dough, as if folding a sheet of paper in an envelope.

Roll the dough towards you to form a ball of dough. 

Place the dough seam side down on the counter. Pull and rotate the dough towards you on a diagonal angle several times. This will build tension around the surface of the dough and form it into a tight ball. 

Place the dough seam side up in a lightly floured banneton or a bowl lined with a lint-free cotton towel. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator. 

Cold fermentation: 

Refrigerate your dough for at least one hour, or up to 72 hours for a long cold fermentation. 

Most people cold ferment their dough for 12-24 hours but the time range is very flexible. 

Can you skip cold fermentation?

Yes, you can go straight form shaping to scoring and baking your dough. In fact, this is a great way to reduce the sour flavor in your bread.

Score and Bake the Bread

Preheat the Oven with the Dutch Oven in it

Place your dutch oven in the oven. Then, preheat your oven to 450F. You want the dutch oven to get hot before putting your bread in it for baking.

Score the Bread

Before baking the bread, you will need to score it.

Flip your bread onto a square of parchment paper.

Use either a lame (I really like this style of bread lame) or a sharp kitchen knife.

If you are new to baking sourdough bread, I recommend scoring your bread in a simple X pattern. See below.

Start with a relatively shallow score. After 7 minutes in the oven, pull the bread out, deepen the score and return to the oven. This technique is amazing at creating a great oven spring (rise) and will result in a taller loaf. If you score too deep right away, your dough will spread out horizontally before it can set.

Bake the Bread

Once you have scored the bread and preheated your oven, pull the dutch oven out of the oven. Carefully remove the lid. Use the parchment paper to pick up the dough and place it in the dutch oven (including the parchment paper).

Return the lid to the dutch oven, then place the dutch oven in the preheated oven.

Bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, pull out the dutch oven and score the bread deeper. Return the lid and place back in the oven. Bake for another 10 minutes.

Once the 10 minutes is up, remove the lid and bake for another 15-20 minutes. The bread should be a deep golden brown color when done. If your bread is not browning and still looks pale, check out this troubleshooting guide to why is my sourdough bread pale.

Remove the dutch oven from the oven. Immediately pull the bread out using the parchment paper. Place the bread on a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Do not leave the bread in the dutch oven or the bottom will burn.

How to Store Sourdough Bread

While sourdough bread can be stored at room temperature, I recommend refrigerating it. There are no preservatives in sourdough bread, making it more susceptible to developing mold.

If your family will eat the bread within 2-3 days, store at room temperature in an airtight bag such as a gallon ziplock.

Why Isn’t My Sourdough Bread Rising?

There are many reasons your sourdough may not rise.

The most common reason is that your starter isn’t active enough. This was a mistake I made for several months before realizing it. Your starter should reliably double with every feed. If you get some rise, but it does not double, it likely isn’t active enough. I have a whole post on how to create a healthier sourdough starter where I help you troubleshoot this.

This could also be related to a proofing issue. Oftentimes, beginners overproof their dough when learning to read the signs of completed bulk fermentation. Some signs of overproofed dough include:

• Your bread has trouble keeping its shape. It may spread out when scoring or when baking.
• Your bread comes out pale and doesn’t brown evenly.
• The crumb is evenly distributed but consists of very small bubbles.

Why is the Bottom Crust of My Sourdough Burnt

This is a very common problem faced by sourdough bakers. This usually occurs because the bottom of the dutch oven bakes the bottom crust faster than the rest of the bread. There are several ways to minimize this from occurring:

• Place a heat-safe trivet on the bottom of the dutch oven.
• Place a baking sheet under the dutch oven when you place the bread in the oven. This can shield the bottom of the dutch oven.
• Pour some uncooked rice in the dutch oven just before baking the bread to create a barrier between the bread and the bottom of the dutch oven.