Beginner Artisan Sourdough Bread Recipe
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Homemade sourdough bread is one of the most rewarding baking projects you can take on. This beginner artisan sourdough bread recipe uses a Tartine-style method to create a crusty loaf with an open crumb, deep flavor, and beautiful oven spring—without kneading.
If you are new to sourdough, this artisan sourdough bread recipe walks you step by step through the long cold fermentation process that helps build structure, flavor, and rise. It is a true no-knead sourdough bread method designed to help beginners make bakery-style sourdough bread at home.
Over the years, this recipe has brought in hundreds of questions from bakers working through the same common sourdough issues: shaping sticky dough, scoring confidently, getting better oven spring, understanding crumb, and fixing dense loaves. To make this recipe easier to succeed with, I’ve linked my step-by-step sourdough guides throughout this post so you can get help exactly where you need it.
In this guide, you’ll learn:
- how to build dough strength through stretch and folds
- how long cold fermentation improves flavor and structure
- how to bake for a crisp crust and open crumb
- how to avoid common beginner sourdough mistakes
Let’s walk through the process.
Start Here If You’re New to Sourdough
If you want help with specific parts of the process, these sourdough guides will walk you through each step in more detail:
- Want better dough tension and loaf shape? Read How to Shape Sourdough Bread
- Need help scoring your loaf? Read How to Score Sourdough Bread
- Want better oven spring and crust? Read How Steam Baking Sourdough Affects Oven Spring and Crust
- Not sure what your crumb is telling you? Read How to Read Sourdough Crumb Structure
- Struggling with heavy loaves? Read Why Is My Sourdough Bread Dense?
- Wondering whether you need a dramatic ear? Read Do You Need an Ear on Sourdough Bread?
This recipe is the foundation. These guides will help you understand the process and improve your results from one bake to the next.
This beginner artisan sourdough bread recipe includes a complete step-by-step video walkthrough of the Tartine-style method. If you prefer learning visually, watch the entire process from mixing to baking.
If the embedded video does not load due to ad blockers, you can watch the full artisan sourdough bread tutorial directly on our YouTube channel here.
Watch the Video Demonstration:This video compresses the 24 hours it takes to complete this recipe into about 6 minutes. You can accomplish this basic sourdough recipe. And your family will love you for it.
What is sourdough Bread? Sourdough bread is a type of bread that is made through a fermentation process that uses a natural starter culture, rather than commercial yeast. The natural starter culture, also known as a sourdough starter, is made from a mixture of flour and water that has been fermented by wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria. This mixture is then used to ferment the dough for the bread, which gives it its characteristic sour flavor.
Is sourdough a Healthy Bread? Sourdough bread is made through a fermentation process that uses a natural starter culture, rather than commercial yeast. This process can result in a bread that is easier to digest for some people and that has a lower glycemic index than other types of bread. Additionally, sourdough bread is a good source of fiber, protein, B vitamins, and minerals like iron and zinc.
Read My Post on Why Sourdough Bread Is good For you. It goes deep into why sourdough bread benefits your health and should be a regular part of your diet for good health.
This is a basic sourdough bread recipe that uses the long cold rise method. Allowing the dough to ferment in the fridge for 12 to 36 hours will develop the flavor and texture of the bread and allow the fermentation to give you the best health benefits of sourdough bread.
I have had a LARGE number of readers tag us on our various social networks and email me pics of their wonderful results. The best part of my day is seeing your successes.
Learn the techniques used in this naturally fermented bread recipe. Take every step in order and make this beautiful sourdough bread. Let us know in the comments if it helps you out.
This is a lean bread. Very crusty with a tender, creamy well developed crumb. And only THREE ingredients. Flour water and salt.
Learn this beginner sourdough artisan bread recipe. It will pay you back every time you DON’T buy an artisan loaf from the bakery.
Artisan bread making is a HUGE subject. I will go into as much detail as I can for you here and include resources for you. Feel free to ask your questions. But FIRST PLEASE READ the entire tutorial.
Sourdough artisan recipes with the stretch and fold method and long cold rise are a unique class of bread. Learn the methods to make these breads and you will be a bread baking star in your foodie circle.
Do you need a dutch oven for sourdough bread?
Baking sourdough loaves in your dutch oven provides a way to steam the dough as it bakes. This helps form a crusty loaf with a tender moist center. The dutch oven sourdough bread method keeps the outside crust from becoming too tough during the main baking process. The lid comes off the dutch oven the last 10 or 15 minutes of baking which allows for a crispy crust with a tender bread center.
To ensure proper bread baking you will need to create an environment that captures both steam and maintain heat. There are a few other methods you can try if you do not have a dutch oven.
Use a baking stone to help maintain the high heat needed for proper artisan bread baking. Use a casserole dish or deep roasting dish that can hold in the steam. A deep cast Iron pan with a lid on it can also be used for sourdough bread baking, just make sure that it is tall enough to allow the bread to properly rise. And if all else fails try a cookie sheet with a roasting pan lid over it.
Steam Baking:
The point is you need to create steam around the dough as it bakes. Most ovens do not have a great seal. So spritzing the bread in the oven as it bakes is less than ideal. For the best crust and texture you need constant steam around the loaf while it bakes at least the first 15 to 20 minutes. Read our Guide on Steam Baking Sourdough to go deeper into this.
That shattered crust and open tender crumb is the Homemade Food Junkie Artisan sourdough goal. Learn this method. There is no going back. And you can do SO many bread varieties with this recipe.
Supplies:
If you make sourdough loaves like this for a while you will get MUCH better results from a few purchases. The crusty flavorful breads are so good. All you need is flour and salt and a few supplies to bake some pretty amazing breads.
- Measure your ingredients by WEIGHT. Measuring by weight is one of the simplest ways to improve your sourdough results. Learn why it matters in Measure Sourdough Ingredients by Weight. Flours especially need weight rather than volume measures for the most consistent results. Here’s a decent 22 lb. food scale.
- Salt measured by volume is unreliable because crystal size and density vary—weight is consistent. I use sea salt or pink salt for this recipe. Salt plays an important role in fermentation and dough strength. Learn more in Salt in Sourdough Bread: Why It Matters.
- You will need a dutch oven or other HIGH HEAT (to 500 degrees) oven safe skillet with a lid. Use either a cast iron skillet combo or a dutch oven. Here’s my 6.5 quart Le Creuset oval Dutch oven (gifted to me by my Lovely In laws).
- I am SO happy I bought this dough scraper set . They are VERY helpful working with high hydration doughs. The bowl scraper is genius. This is a sticky dough and the bowl scraper (when wet) slides that dough around like a dream.
- 8.5 inch Bannetons are for the final long rise often done in the fridge. They come with handy cloth liners that fit to help keep the dough well formed. The finished bread has lovely ridges in if you remove the cloth liners and just flour the baskets.
- A lame knife for scoring your loaves. Also really helpful in releasing the dough to rise properly.
- A VERY good starter. You can make and strengthen your own with our tips in this post. OR buy it from our friend Sasha on etsy!
Interested in baking 100 percent whole wheat sourdough bread? Hop over to our post on Beginners Whole Wheat Artisan Sourdough Bread .
I put helps, tips and information into the sourdough whole wheat bread post specific to working with whole wheat flour.
How to Bake Sourdough No Knead, Tartine Style Bread:
This is a basic artisan bread. The 4 stretch and folds 30 minutes apart replace the traditional kneading yeast bakers are used to. This bread does all the work for you. It just takes time.
Sourdough dutch oven bread recipe from a wild yeast starter. It uses the long cold rise and the stretch and fold technique we have discussed.
Once you learn how to make Sourdough bread a whole new baking world will open for you.
Use a very active wild yeast starter. Learn How to make Wild Yeast Starter in this post.
- Wild yeast starters provide a much Better, Fuller, more Complex….AMAZING flavor and texture than commercial yeasts can. You can easily build your own wild yeast starter. But plan ahead.
- Give yourself about a week to get it ripe and bubbly.
Sourdough recipes with starter require a VERY active Starter. You can use any starter recipe you prefer IF it can pass the float test. MOST important for a good rise in your loaf.
Where can I buy a Sourdough Starter?
You can purchase a sourdough starter on the online if you do not have one on hand. The other option is to make your own. However, established sourdough starters are a great option to make delicious bread quicker. We have purchased this sourdough starter on Etsy and have used it with great results.
This starter is very tangy. It is local to the San Francisco area and definitely is more of a San Francisco sourdough bread flavor. Click here to purchase the BEAST sourdough starter on Etsy.
How much Sourdough Starter is needed for a loaf of bread?
You will need 100 grams of active sourdough starter to bake one loaf of bread. This recipe calls for 200 grams of sourdough starter and yields 2 loaves of artisan bread. That’s because we feed the starter before baking. Every time.
Balancing Your Starter:
Feed your starter 1:1:1 and bring it back to the float test. I feed my starter the night before I want to bake.
- 100 grams starter-unfed or recently fed-room temperature
- 100 grams flour
- 100 grams warm water
Now let it ferment several hours to overnight to return the starter to the float test. This process is a simple way to ensure your active sourdough starter is properly balanced for bread baking.
The float test:
The float test is NOT 100% accurate. But it most often works well as a tell for starter readiness. If Your starter is weak from going hungry too long, don’t use the float test. Rather feed the starter 1:2:2 and if it doubles in 4 to 8 hours it’s probably strong enough.
Most time the float test is a good indicator of starter readiness. If you take a teaspoon or so of starter and drop it in a cup of room temperature water it will float when it’s ready to make bread.
If your starter does NOT float. Feed and balance it as I describe above and try again after several hours to overnight.
But, even more important, make sure your starter is active enough to double in 4 to 8 hours or overnight. If it doesn’t, I recommend you feed it again before baking.
After the starter is active like this one, (and floats firmly in a cup of water) it’s time to bake bread.
Use high protein bread flour:
When I started making sourdough I used my all regular all purpose flour. The bread was delicious BUT it did not give me the form or the rise I prefer.
I was schooled on this by our contributor Sasha Hunter our bread baker extraordinaire friend.
Sasha recommends King Arthur bread flour or high protein All purpose Montana White flour. What a difference in my loaf rise! Look for flour the is over 12% protein or 5 grams protein on the label. Flour choice has a big impact on dough strength and rise. For a deeper look at how different flours behave, see Sourdough Flour Types Guide.
More Helpful Tips:
- Expect the dough to be sticky:
- WET HANDS really help when handling this dough. The stretch and fold process transforms the dough from a sticky shaggy mess to a workable dough. But it will always be slightly sticky with 100 percent white flour and High hydration.
- MEASURE YOUR INGREDIENTS BY WEIGHT FOR BEST RESULTS:
- Your climate, flour type, season of the year…all sorts of stuff changes the way a bread baking recipe works. This is especially true of this type of bread.
- High hydration loaves can be tricky. Help yourself out and weigh the ingredients. WEIGHING is best for consistent results. Read more about measuring by weight.
- Begin with a healthy leaven (your wild starter) that bubbles and floats in a cup of water. (More on that below.)
What Is Autolyse vs Fermentolyse?
In traditional bread baking, an autolyse is a resting stage where only flour and water are mixed and allowed to hydrate before adding starter and salt. This helps develop gluten and improves dough structure.
In this recipe, the starter is added at the beginning, which makes this step a fermentolyse rather than a true autolyse. That means fermentation begins during the resting period, not just hydration.
Both methods help improve dough strength and handling, but fermentolyse combines hydration and early fermentation into one step, simplifying the process for home bakers.
This is done immediately after you mix your starter, flour and water. The purpose of this passive process is to fully hydrate your dough.
Fermentolyse 60 minutes. it’s Important for complete dough hydration and good fermentation- you can rest the dough up to four hours. Do NOT skip this step.
Hydration and flour type both affect how your dough develops during this stage. Learn more in Understanding Sourdough Hydration.
REMEMBER Temperature affects ferment rate.
- Keep the dough at around 70 to 75 degrees F. for the bulk rise.
- Some flours are easy to over ferment and other flours need a warmer temp (Not too warm though) to get properly fermented.
- Learn your dough as you handle it. Watch it go through the stages. If it gets slack and won’t rise the dough might be over fermented. (pizza!)
f you’re unsure whether your dough is ready to move to the next step, see How to Proof Sourdough Bread for clear visual cues.
The stretch and folds replace kneading in this recipe. Making sourdough bread no knead makes it simpler and less likely you will overwork the dough. In my opinion, the bread texture is significantly improved with the no knead method of sourdough bread making.
Your Dough should pass the windowpane test. Which means when you stretch the dough it’s pliable and stretches thin enough you can see light through it.
This is a test of gluten strength. Read more about dough structure.
The Final Rise.
Cold fermentation and proofing time both affect structure and flavor. This recipe uses both the cold bulk (referred to in this recipe as the Long Cold Rise) and the cold proof (dough in banneton, in fridge for final rise.) Learn more in Cold Proof vs Cold Bulk Sourdough. It explains both processes and why we use them as we do.
- Cold temperature (below 55 degrees F- I use my fridge temperatures) and long rise (12 to 24 hours) give the dough a chance to develop better texture and flavor in the final rise.
- I have made this bread with a four hour final rise and also a 36 hour long cold rise. It all impacts the results. I do notice an improvement in the dough structure with the overnight rise.
NOTE: I sometimes cheat on this recipe by fudging the rise times or reducing the other steps. Life happens 🙂
However, The results DO vary. For best results FOLLOW the directions and keep to the timetable for every step. As you gain experience with this recipe your hands will learn the dough. Then you can play around with it and still get good results.
Shaping your dough:
Learning how to shape sourdough properly is key to oven spring and crumb structure. For a full step-by-step breakdown, see How to Shape Sourdough Bread.
Learning how to properly form your dough into loaves is one KEY to building the rise in your loaves.
- To have a open crumb you have to be very gentle when handling your dough in these final stages. The dough is full of air.
- You want to retain those bubbles in your dough as you work.
- It’s all about keeping the dough arated while you work it and building tension in the surface of the dough.
TIP: Please watch the video and look at how I pull the loaves around to keep the surface tension of the loaf while shaping the boules. This is key to building a good rise.
Making Sourdough Bread in bread pans
You might prefer an even crumb baked in a loaf pan for sandwich bread. Here are the steps.
Shaping dough for bread pans:
- I use two 9 x 4 oiled bread pans.
- After the final rise roll the dough into a rectangle so all the gasses are deflated.
- Fold the wide sides of your rectangle to the middle.
- On ONE end fold the corner to the middle seam making a point.
- Roll your loaf up from the point to the other end.
- Pinch the seams and ends.
- Place in oiled bread pans.
- Rise at room temperature until the dough is at the top of the pans.
IF your dutch oven is large enough put the loaf pan right in the dutch oven and cover it. Bake as directed. Works great!
Baking sourdough hearth breads in bread pans:
- If you have a large dutch oven bake one loaf at a time in it. Follow the directions in the recipe card.
- If you cannot fit the bread pans into your dutch oven place them on a cookie sheet.
- You will also need a lower heat. Preheat to 400 degrees F. for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 and bake another 30 to 40 minutes.
- On the shelf below the pans fill a pan with water (like a roasting pan) for steam.
- Spray your unbaked loaves liberally with water before setting them in your hot oven.
- follow the recipe instructions. Do the thump test to make sure they are done.
Sourdough Bread Recipe with Starter is very different from other yeast bread recipes.
Cooling Your Loaves:
You MUST resist cutting your divine smelling sourdough bread until it’s room temperature all the way through. Why?
- Your loaves are still baking and developing the crumb and crust even as they cool.
- Do you hear the ‘bread music’? Bread music is the crackling sound your crust makes as it cools. This creates a shattery artisan crusty loaf. Let it happen!
- Inside your bread the crumb is also going through its finishing touches. The crumb is setting.
- If you cut your bread when it’s still piping hot you will squish that gorgeous loaf. The crumb will be crushed and your experience with your sourdough artisan bread will disappoint.
- Cut your cooled loaves with a GOOD sharp serrated knife. The crust will be crusty. A good knife will penetrate the crust and NOT squish the tender crumb.
If you print the recipe the pictures will not print. This is to save you paper and ink.
Beginners Artisan Sourdough Bread Recipe
Make your own delicious bakery quality artisan sourdough breads at home. This recipe is a good start for new sourdough bakers. It's a long process but an easy one. These breads are so worth it!
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 525 grams water-80 degree F. -NO chlorine, 2.22 Cups
- 20 grams salt OR 1 Tablespoon MAX. (different salts might weigh out differently. They will also have different volumes so don't go overboard.)
- 200 grams Very active starter - make sure it floats , 1 + Cup
- 700 grams All purpose Flour (or bread flour), 5 1/2 Cups
Instructions
MAKE THE STARTER:
- Make the STARTER AHEAD
(This can take up to a week or more) AND DO NOT USE UNTIL IT IS ACTIVE ENOUGH TO FLOAT A TEASPOON ON A CUP OF WATER. 
Prep the Starter For Baking:
- This process balances your starter for best rise. Feed 100 grams starter with 100 grams flour and 100 grams warm water.
- Let sit overnight.
- It should pass the float test in 8 to 12 hours.
- If it does not repeat feeding.
MIX THE DOUGH:
- Pour the water into a large bowl.
- Add the ripe balanced starter to the water and mix thoroughly with a whisk or by hand until the floating cloud of starter is mixed completely into the water.
- Add the flour to the leavened water and mix with the dough bowl scraper or other spatula. At the end use wet hands to form a shaggy dough ball.
fermentolyse
- Let it rest (fermentolyse stage) about an hour. This stage can be extended without worry up to four hours.
- After fermentolyse, add the salt to the bread dough. Use your hands to pinch and stretch the dough gently until the salt is mixed into the dough.
Stretch and Fold:
This process builds the structure of your dough without kneading.
- Using your wet hands pull the dough from under the dough ball up and stretch it gently as you pull it over the dough ball top. Release. Repeat this process as you give the bowl quarter turns until the dough is stretched and pulled from each quarter of the bowl.
- Over the next 2 1/2 hours repeat the stretch and fold every 30 minutes for a total of FOUR times. The dough will change from a slimy ropy mass to a billowy dough with many air pockets and definite body as you stretch and fold it. DO NOT PUNCH DOWN THE DOUGH AT ANY TIME. Those air bubbles create the excellent crumb and flavor.
- The dough should become an elastic resilient dough that passes the window pane test. IF your dough is still breaking before it goes transparent when pulled. Do ANOTHER stretch and fold.
BULK RISE:
- Allow the dough to bulk rise IN THE BOWL at room temperature an hour or SO until it rises by 30 percent or so. If you're unsure how much rise to look for, see How to Proof Sourdough Bread.
- Cover the bowl of dough with a plastic bag and set it in the fridge for 12 to 15 hours (Or overnight). It should continue to rise slowly so give it room in the bowl.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and let it sit on the counter in the bowl for two hours or until the dough reaches room temperature (or pretty close). The dough will soften and gently rise (a tiny bit) as it warms.
DIVIDE AND BENCH REST THE DOUGH:
- On a clean unfloured counter pour out the dough into a large mass. Flour the top of the dough lightly but evenly.
- BEING CAREFUL NOT TO OVERWORK THE DOUGH-Form each half into a dough ball. The most efficient way to do this is to use the counter as your pivot point. Scrape in a circle around the dough (leave it unturned, flour side up). The unfloured counter will hold the dough center and create tension as you circle the dough with the scraper forming a ball. Repeat to form two dough balls. The DOUGH edge should be round and the dough ball should have some form and resilience to it.
- Let the dough balls rest for 20 to 30 minutes. They will spread out but should not fall off at the edge of the pancake. If they do, reform the loaves and bench rest them again to build the structure of the dough better.
FINAL SHAPE AND RISE:
Gentle handling at this stage helps preserve gas for a lighter crumb. Learn more in How to Shape Sourdough Bread.
- Gently slide the dough scraper under one of your dough balls and flip it over so it rests on the floured side. Gently form into a flat square like this.
Now gently stretch and pull the dough over from the bottom to 1/3 up the loaf. Stretch and pull the dough from the sides to the dough middle. Bring one end up to middle like this.
- For the final stretch take the dough from the top of the ball and pull it all the way down to the bottom. Clinch the dough into a ball and set into your floured banneton. Form a seam on the dough to create more tension as the dough allows. Pinching the seam as necessary. (view the video for help here)
- Place the dough seam side up in your rice floured, cloth lined banneton or bowl.
- Rise in the fridge 2 to four hours.
Baking Instructions:
- Set a baking stone (if you have one) on your oven bottom rack. Set your dutch oven with it's lid on next rack up (lower third of oven). PREHEAT oven to 500 degrees F. for at least 30 minutes.
- Keep the formed loaf in your banneton in the fridge until you actually need to place it in your preheated dutch oven. Cold dough will aide the oven spring.
- Remove one banneton from the fridge. Place the dough in your preheated dutch oven. I do this by flipping it into the dutch oven as gently as possible seam side down.
- Alternate method: Place high heat safe parchment paper over the banneton. Turn the banneton upside down so the dough falls gently onto the parchment paper.
- Score the loaf (For better oven spring and cleaner expansion, see How to Score Sourdough Bread. ) with your lame knife or a razor blade or sharp scissors. Scoring helps the dough rise better.
- Now pick up the scored loaf with the edges of the parchment paper, if using, and gently and carefully place it into your VERY hot dutch oven.
- Put the lid on the dutch oven and return it covered to your preheated oven.
- Bake 30 minutes at 500 degrees with lid on..
- Now REMOVE the lid (and parchment paper if using). Steam should come out. Hopefully the bread is a light golden color with a nice rise and set crust. Reduce heat to 450 degrees F. Bake an additional 20 minutes UNCOVERED or until the loaf thumps hollowly and the surface gets dark (Caramelized darker than you are used to maybe) and the scored areas look shiny. (To prevent over browning turn the parchment paper (or foil) upside down over the loaf as it finishes in the oven.) Loaf internl temp is around 208 to 211 degrees F. when completely baked through.
- Remove the dutch oven. Place the finished loaf on a cooling rack. Do NOT cut it for at least an hour to set the crumb.
- Return the dutch oven (with lid on) to the oven at 450 degrees F and preheat for 15 minutes. Repeat the process with the remaining loaf.
- TELLS: Look at the crust and LISTEN to it cool. The crust should be 'shattery' which means as it cools it will crack. You can see it and hear it. This is bread music 🙂 also a dull sounding bread is probably not completely baked. When you cut the loaf is should have a creamy but springy crumb with lots of aration.
Not sure if your loaf turned out correctly? Learn how to evaluate it in How to Read Sourdough Crumb Structure.
Notes
TIPS:
- WATCH your dough as it goes through the stages of fermentation. This dough can easily over ferment at high room (Or oven proofing) temperatures. If your dough gets slack, unworkable and won't form or rise it is probably over fermented. At this point I suggest you Make pizza with it instead of loaf bread 🙂
- To avoid over fermentation keep the room temperature (or oven) at 80 degrees or less. Whatever flour you are using will influence this process. Learn to work with the dough you are creating.
Freezing:
- This bread freezes VERY well. After it is completely cooled double wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and set in the freezer. I have done this several times. Defrost at room temperature wrapped or unwrapped. Slice and eat.
Storing the loaves:
- For best results store your sourdough bread loaves in a bread box (I use my dutch oven with the lid slightly cocked). That beautiful crunchy Sourdough crust gets soft in an airtight container or plastic sack. Once cut just set the bread cut side down to protect the crumb. These loaves hold very well for at least three days. Freeze the other finished loaf if you can't eat it right away.
Banneton Tips:
I am using my ceramic round bowls lined with linen dish cloths for my bannetons. The high hydration doughs like these tend TO STICK to those cloths. To help with I scrub rice flour into the cloth. And leave an extra bit of it in the banneton bottom. Once the dough is in the banneton I add a bit more rice around the side of the loaf to keep it from sticking during the rise.
IF your dough sticks a bit to the banneton cloth, use a sharp knife to pull it away and add some rice flour to the sticking spot. Now it should invert without too much trouble. For really tough sticks, cut the dough away and repair it carefully by pressing it to reshape it before baking. Careful of burns if you are doing this in a hot pot.
Baking sourdough hearth breads in bread pans:
- If you have a large dutch oven bake one loaf at a time in it. Follow the directions in the recipe card.
- If you cannot fit the bread pans into your dutch oven place them on a cookie sheet.
- You will also need a lower heat. Preheat to 400 degrees F. for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 and bake another 30 to 40 minutes.
- On the shelf below the pans fill a pan with water (like a roasting pan) for steam.
- Spray your unbaked loaves liberally with water before setting them in your hot oven.
- follow the recipe instructions. Do the thump test to make sure they are done.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
24Serving Size
1 sliceAmount Per Serving Calories 104Total Fat 0gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 0mgSodium 324mgCarbohydrates 22gFiber 1gSugar 0gProtein 3g
Common Beginner Sourdough Problems
This post has over 600 comments and questions asking about all things related to baking sourdough. We answered! To help our bakers, we have created, (and will continue to create) an entire sourdough guidance section on this blog to help bakers bake better. We hope these posts help.
- Bread turns out dense: Why Is My Sourdough Bread Dense?
- Dough spreads after shaping: How to Shape Sourdough Bread
- Score won’t open: How to Score Sourdough Bread
- Crust is soft or pale: How Steam Baking Sourdough Affects Oven Spring and Crust
- Not sure what your crumb means: How to Read Sourdough Crumb Structure
- No ear on your loaf: Do You Need an Ear on Sourdough Bread?
In addition to this list, if you read the post in. its entirety it has even more helpful post links answering questions about measuring, flour and salt. Find our complete Sourdough Guides Hub here and remember, we are always here to answer your questions and help you be a sourdough baking success!
More Sourdough Artisan Bread Recipes:
These breads all turn out perfectly when you follow the instructions. If you need more help with getting sourdough bread you want read our sourdough guides.
After you gain experience, feel free to go your own way with techniques and recipes. Please share with us your successes!
- Milk and Honey Sourdough Sandwich Bread
- Rosemary Garlic Sourdough
- Whole Wheat Sourdough
- Walnut Cranberry Sour-dough Bread
- Oatmeal Sour-dough Bread
- MultiGrain Sour-dough Bread
- Sourdough Banana Bread with Blueberries
These gorgeous dutch oven breads are so flavorful and crusty.
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Resources:
These books all were very helpful to me. They are probably available in your local library but make valuable resources to keep on hand. Make your best sourdough bread recipe by getting information and experience.
Books:
- Tartine By Chad Robertson
- Tartine 3 By Chad Robertson
- The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart
I’m new to bread making and even newer to sourdough. After experimenting with crackers, pancakes and yeasted sourdough breads, I gave this recipe a try. I followed it to a T. My loaves came out perfect. Crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, great crumb and toothy. I love it! But…. Here’s the thing, I felt overwhelmed by the whole “ordeal” I think I would rather knead the dough for 20 minutes and then put it in the fridge rather than spend 2.5 hours folding every 30 minutes and then letting it rest another hour before going in the fridge.. I ferment other foods and drinks and totally get the whole “slow” ferment approach by putting it in the fridge, so I’m ok with that. Is it possible and/or as effective to simply knead the dough for 20 (or w/e) minutes after the autolyse and addition of salt, then letting it rise for an hour and then putting it in the fridge? When I reached the point of pulling the dough out of the fridge and realized that after separating, shaping, resting, and flouring cloths that it went back in the fridge for 2-4 hours, I thought I was going to collapse!!
Headline: “Woman found collapsed on garage floor in front of refrigerator, no one knows what happened but there was bread dough everywhere.” (bread humor, Ha ha..)
I have a lot to learn about sourdough, I’m still trying to figure out the difference between fed and unfed starter and at what point is a starter considered fed or unfed. It seems to make more sense to me that an unfed starter would be more eager and able to ferment and raise a dough, but what do I know?!
At any rate, I’m working on figuring it all out.
Thanks for the great recipe and any input will be greatly appreciated. 🙂
Hi Cindy, LOL! Love the headline! I’m glad you toughed it out and got a good result from this recipe. I am pretty sure you would be unhappy if you tried to change this recipe and expect the same results. The long cold rise and stretch and fold create the artisan ‘holy’ texture and give this bread it’s bakery artisan feel.
HOWEVER, here’s the thing. If you want to knead the dough you can.Follow the link to this recipe by LizzyT. She uses a very different method to make her sourdough. It’s a VERY different sourdough bread but it might be a better fit for you.
As far as the starter goes, I PROMISE an unfed starter will be too weak to raise this bread. Believe me I have used my starter at all strengths and it must be VERY strong to work in this bread. I hope this helps you. Have a great day!
Thanks for the response Diane! Yeah, I know, you’re right, it won’t be the same. I figured as much. *kicking pebble*
Maybe after making it a few times, it won’t seem as overwhelming.. We’ll see..
Again, Thanks and thanks for the link, I’ll check it out… 🙂
Cindy I know with practice this recipe gets much easier. It does take time but after you learn it you can easily make it work in your life without so much attention. This recipe is more flexible than you think. BUT you must have a strong starter. That is the biggest point I can make about this bread. Hope you keep with it!
I’m new to making sourdough, though I love making bread. I made my own starter and that did take me a while to get it active. I’ve watched this video 4-5 times, and I have made two batches of bread using your method and both of them have turned out great both times. I really enjoy working the dough and watching it progress. With the first batch I found that the bottoms of the loaves was a little too brown and tough even though I had set a cookie sheet on the bottom rack. The second batch, I only heated my cast iron dutch ovens for 15 minutes and the bottoms were better. I let the second batch autolyse for close to 4 hours and let the dough rise overnight for about 14 hours. This gave it the more sourdough taste that I was hoping for. My husband loves the bread. Today I’ve started my third batch. Thank you for the great instructions and demonstration. I have other recipes but I’m afraid to try them because this one works so well. LOL
Hi Lois, Thank you SO much for sharing your experience with this recipe. It is wonderful to know it worked well for you. I appreciate you also sharing how you adjusted the recipe to suit your own oven. Some ovens run hotter than others. I know other readers will benefit from you sharing how our sourdough recipe worked best for you. Your ready for the next level now. Try out some new sourdough recipes. This one will always be there for you. Our Milk and Honey sourdough recipe is a nice one if you want a good sandwich type bread. Have a great day!
Hi, I was excited to try your recipe and follow your great instructions. I watched the video and used distilled water, King Arthur AP flour, and my starter was at the perfect floating stage. My bread came out beautiful looking, sounded hollow, but I wasn’t getting the crackling sounds. figured it was my hearing. After the first loaf cooled I cut a slice and had those beautiful holes glaring at me. I found the crumb to be wetter than I am accustomed to. I started another batch the next day and used KA bread salt, distilled water instead of tap water. I used Kosher salt and tap water the first time and thought that might be the problem. I always use distilled water in my starter. Baked my next two loaves longer tenting with tinfoil so as not to get too dark. Same results, rather moist inside, but they did not rise as well as the first batch and the crust was somewhat tough. They did look lovely though and there were lovely holes throughout.
I have pictures but I can’t figure out how to attach. Is artisan sourdough crumb supposed to feel a little damp, or am I doing something wrong!
Hi Judy, THANK YOU for the review and rating.
To answer your questions: When perfectly baked this bread is creamy on the inside. Moist but not wet with a crust that is hard(Not a rock but it should shatter a bit when cut). The crumb (once completely cooled) should cut and not mush down but have some resilience and spring. If the crumb is wet and mushes when cut then I would say your oven is not getting hot enough. It is fine to preheat your oven to 500 degrees and bake the loaf for 10 minutes, THEN reduce the heat to 450 and bake for 20 more minutes WITH THE LID ON. Now remove the lid and do the foil tent as necessary. That should take care of it and give you the bread music (cracking sounds). Hope this helps! Have a great day and happy baking 🙂
Hi Diane,
Made this today. I used a scale and measured exactly following you guided video(which is wonderfully helpful), but I noticed that my flour absorbed way too much of water. In South africa we have very limited brands of stoneground unbleached flour, I used Eureka. I added in more flour to resemble your first dough mix which seemed to have worked. To get the window pane effect my dough took many more stretch and folds but eventually got there. But I think with practise, its gonna get much easier. The overnight rise was beautiful and i’ve just pulled it out the oven and it looks wonderful!!
Thank you so much for the video, guided steps as well as all the helpful tips.
Hi Kirsten, I’m so happy for your success with this recipe! Thank you for your lovely review. Another South African baker also succeeded with this recipe but explained the flour there is very challenging. I’m glad you found a way to compensate and carry on. Our other sourdough breads may also work for you. The Beginner whole wheat white flour may be worth a try if your flour is dense. The Milk and honey sourdough bread is another good one. Now you’ve conquered the basic process. So much more deliciousness awaits in this amazing sourdough world. Have a great day!
This is the third bread I made in life (I’m 33), and definitely the best one!!! Even though I couldn’t follow the exact amount of time in each step, it turned out very well!
I’ll keep following this recipe until it is good enough and I’m able to make a different one.
Thanks =)
Hi Patricia, I’m glad you are having good success with this recipe. Thank you for the great review and have a fantastic day. Happy baking!
Oh, I forgot to ask… the only problem was that I used parchment paper, and it glued to both loaves of bread =/ (I don’t have a proper dutch oven, so I used a large iron pot I have at home, and put the bread in the middle, with the paper).
Any tips on not letting the paper glue to the bread?
Hi Patricia, HMMM. I don’t think the loaf baked hot enough then. I have used the parchment method myriad times and it never sticks to the loaf. You need to make sure you preheat the oven with your baking pan in it for at LEAST 30 minutes. The OTHER thing that could be happening is the pan you are using is allowing the steam to escape from it. This will affect the loaf as it bakes. Your crust and rise will not be optimal and the parchment paper is more likely to stick. Hope this helps. I’m pretty sure the pan you are using is at the base of this problem.
I use the paper all the time. When done it should be very brown and crumbly. If not, probably a temperature/time issue.
Hi Diane, can’t wait to try this out! I have Mochiko sweet rice flour on hand, will this work for flouring the basket, or would you recommend picking up regular white rice flour? Thanks!
Hi Kyle, I’m not familiar with sweet rice flour but if it is used as regular rice flour it should be fine. My only caution would be additives in the flour that may make it sticky. Wheat flour will also work for flouring the baskets in a pinch. I’d love to know how your bread turns out. Thanks for the question and have a great day!
I don’t have bannetons and no rice flour. I have two bowls that look exactly like a bannetons, but when floured not much sticks. I have to gently remove the dough from them, and it works well.
Hello! I stumbled upon this recipe looking for a gluten free sourdough recipe and was wondering if you or anyone has experience subbing the recipe with gluten free flour and starter? I have a healthy gluten free sourdough starter using a gluten free all purpose (cup for cup) blend but am having a hard time finding a good GF sourdough bread recipe. Most call for using volume instead of weight and/or a bunch of different flours instead of one all purpose mix. The one recipe I tried did not turn out at all 🙁 If you have any feedback or advise I’d love to hear! I was going to try and sub my GF flour and starter and see what happened! Thanks so much.
Hi Jess,
I have never tried baking with gluten free flour. This recipe is all about the Gluten. I have little hope a straight substitution would work for you. I went out and researched a bit for you. I found an article on Culturesforhealth.com. This site looks like it has a lot of info that will benefit you and maybe help you have success in gluten free sourdough baking. I wish you all the best. I’d love to know if you find a good gluten free recipe I will link to it for others that need gluten free. Have a great day!
So now I am trying to use my existing starter. It has been in the fridge for almost 2 weeks. I pulled it out and it was very gassy. I let it warm to RT, it was nice and foamy, floated in water.
I prepared the dough and while it looks and feels OK, it isn’t rising any at all. I am wondering if the started wasn’t active enough?
Hi jg, Hmmm. Since you have successfully baked this recipe I assume you are noticing this is different from your first success?
So, time to trouble shoot.
I don’t know what point you are at in the process. With that in mind…
Did you get a good float and IMMEDIATELY make your dough? Even 15 to 30 minutes can make all the difference in a starter being prime for making the dough. You may think it’s ready if you float the starter and then get busy elsewhere and come back later and make the dough. This has happened to me. I have learned to immediately put the dough together after a good starter float.
Are you using the same percentage of water in your starter?
Have you changed the flour type you are using in this bake?
I have noticed both of those things will affect the amount of rise in my loaves. If you are using a heavier denser flour that will make it harder to achieve the rise.
Green flours will affect this issue if you grind your own flour. There is a Note on that in the blog post
You may be having trouble with the proofing. It’s possible the dough is over proofed. This can happen in high summer heat rather quickly at counter temperatures.
If you are again following the recipe precisely and cannot get the dough to rise (I suggest it as a fantastic pizza crust BTW if you get no rise after 24 hours). I would assume something has gone amiss with the starter. It should float AGGRESSIVELY not lazily halfway. If it hangs unformed in the water. Feed it again until it bounces up and make a ball as pictured in the recipe card for you.
Hopefully these tips will give you ideas about how this process works and may be affecting your results. Bread baking is a science and an art. Can be tricky!
Hi Diane,
I made the dough immediately after the float test. Everything was the same (proportionately) as the first loaf.
This one was 2/3 the size of the 1st loaf (I am scaling down). It turned out just fine. It was obviously leavened, there were lots of voids in the bread, it was just fine.
The started, still sitting on the counter after being fed yesterday, was very vigorous and frothy, float test was great. One thing I noticed with the first loaf and many float tests is that clean water floated better than water with blobs of starter in it. I had some that just sort of hung or flat out sunk, but in fresh water they floated nicely.
From McGee (“On Food and Cooking” – I HIGHLY recommend this book, It is not light reading – it is a text, but it is OH SO VALUABLE):
Yeast competes with lacto- and acetobacillus. Lactobacillus produce lactic acid, which is the souring agent. You know this flavor if you’ve ever had a Belgian sour beer. Acetobacillus make acetic acid, vinegar.
The bacteria grow 100-1000x as quickly as the yeast and often inhibit the CO2 production of the yeast, so a sourdough can be prone to not rising like other breads. The acidic conditions along with protein digesting enzymes from the bacteria break down the gluten structures and make the dough more dense.
McGee maintains that a starter should be divided and fed 2+ times/day. This is because the microbes are consuming nutrients rapidly and produce acids and other growth inhibiting substances. This dividing and feeding dilutes down the inhibitors.
Another important point is to aerate the mix with a whisk. Yeast are aerobic and need oxygen to function. Whisking helps to incorporate more oxygen into the starter ‘batter’.
As you mentioned Diane, the starter should be used when at its peak of activity. It also should be kept around 75F, where yeast is most active. A little warmer, 85 – 95F, you get into the sweet spot of bacteria activity and that is counter productive. You want some of the acids (it is SOURdough after all), but just some. Not a lot.
The last bit is the salt, it is very important. Salt inhibits some of the bacterial protein digesting enzymes as well as tightens up the gluten. Presumably this is added into the dough and not the starter.
GREAT INFO jg! Thanks SO much for sharing this in depth analysis of the process starter goes through and needs; to be at it’s best. I actually found this out on my own through trial and error. However I didn’t have the back up of the science info you just provided and thought it might be local to my house. I’ll mention this in the post. Very helpful. I’ll look for that book!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0684800012/ref=mw_dp_olp?ie=UTF8&condition=all
Used $12, new 21.
I can’t say enough about this book. It is truly amazing, you won’t be able to put it down. But it is a textbook, heavy on science. I’m a chemist and electrical engineer, so right up my alley!
LOL! Well I will have to ask you to translate the parts over my head. Sounds like a great book for deep background on foodie things. Thanks so much for the link!
OK JG, I ordered the book! Looking forward to it. Thanks again!
On a side note:
Most people take something and then scale it up. I am going to do the opposite – make them smaller.
Will a smaller loaf hold its shape in the dutch oven or do I need a smaller dutch oven?
I just made two very small loaves of this recipe in my dutch oven and they turned out great. They were 100% white whole wheat flour so the structure of the loaves was dense. I would go ahead and give it a try. I have also made this recipe in bread loaf pans with bread flour and put the pans in my dutch oven. They also turned out fine. So go ahead and give it a try. Let me know how it goes!
I’m new to bread making. Will I get the same results if I cut the recipe in half and make only one loaf?
Hi Missy,
Yep! If you follow the recipe exactly and cut the proportions down exactly in half the recipe should work great. We’d love to know how it turns out for you. Thanks for the question. Feel free to ask more as you go through the process if necessary. Happy Baking!
I fear no more – for I have made sourdough bread! I’ve always said I’m not a baker, but have developed a love for good sourdough. The fermentation has allowed it to be more easily digested. I ran across @homemadefoodjunkie blog and followed her instructions and the success was amazing. I feel like I had a bread coach in the kitchen with me. Her YouTube video was super helpful. More baking ahead. I’m so grateful I stumbled upon this blog; I’ll be making more from here in the future. I wish I could show you pictures and have you listen to my “bread music.”
Thank you Renee. I’m so glad I could see your finished loaves. They are wonderful! I appreciate your rating the recipe and encouraging others to give it a try. Have a great day. It’s been great to get to know you a little. Happy baking!
Hi Diane.
I stay in South Africa. We get a wheat white bread flour here and it’s unbleached and stone ground. Eurika Mills is the brand if you want to look them up to check. Will this be suitable? The all purpose flour you get here is a cake flour.
Look forward to your feed back
Hi George, How fun to have you in our community! I have made this recipe with 50/50 whole wheat flour with good results (but it is a denser loaf). I tried it once with 100 percent whole wheat. It does work but it will not give you the light loaf. The loaf I made was deliciously flavored and made wonderful bread. (excellent toast). But it will be denser and flatter.
Today, I just bought some white whole wheat flour to use in this recipe. I’m going to see if it works for a lighter loaf. Let me know how this recipe works for you. I would mix it in with your all purpose flour if it has a high protein content. That should help it rise a bit better and make SURE you has a really active starter. All the best from the U.S.!
Hi George, I made a post on Beginner Whole Wheat Artisan Bread you may benefit from. Along with our video to help you with techniques. I hope they help! https://homemadefoodjunkie.1wp.site/beginner-whole-wheat-artisan-sourdough-bread/
my dough gets very wet after the fourth teeth and fold
. and rather than forming a smooth top, its sticks badly to my fingers and leaves them wet. Not sure why that is… could it be the flour? I use very strong white wheat flour and wholewheat rye wild yeast.
Hi Ren, Have you watched the video I made on this process? I linked it in the post for you. There you can see how the dough develops through the stretch and folds. This is a very sticky dough. I recommend wet hands when handling it at all stages. As the dough goes through the rising processes it should build up for you. We recommend a good high protein white flour so you should be fine there. Rye flour starter will change the texture of the dough (make it even stickier-whole wheat will too). I hope you have a really active starter. That will help the rising and building of the dough. I have used whole wheat in my starters and it does change things a bit but will still make an excellent bread. I’m sure your dough will be fine as long as it’s developing gluten. Do the windowpane test. Your dough should stretch without breaking (almost at least) by the final stretch and fold. I hope this helps. Remember the dough is just getting started. It has lots of time to develop during the rising process. Love to know the outcome for you!
My starter isn’t active as you indicate. I’ve had it 5+ days at RT on the counter, plus 2 days in the fridge. There are bubbles but not foamy. It feels light, as if proofed some, smell is almost neutral, but taste is very acetic.
Will it work as is?
Hi JG, I’m afraid not. The test your starter must pass it to float in water. Other wise it does not have the required structure to raise the dough. The good new is you have a great start. To ‘hurry up the process’ take out a cup of your starter from your fridge batch. Feed it with flour and water every 12 hours (even six hours can work) and let it sit covered at room temp. Repeat the discard and feeding until you can float a teaspoon of starter in a cup of room temp water. The starter should literally bounce right up to the top of the water once dropped in the cup. NOW your ready to make sourdough. Good luck! Please let us know how this turn outs for you!
Yeah, I did the water test yesterday and it did not float at all. This was at RT for 4 ‘feedings’, then in fridge for 2 days. I pulled it back out, let it sit for 2 days, tossed half, and fed it again. It is still sitting tightly covered with dish cloth. I guess it just isn’t infected enough, there is some activity but not much. Definite acetic acid so at least something is happening.
Ok It’s not ready yet. The first starter can take up to two weeks (or more) to really get going. Patience is important with this process. Tip: Do NOT refrigerate an incubating batch of starter. Leave it at room temp and to hurry it up increase the feed and discard tempo to twice a day. You should see it rise and fall during the day. After the feeding it should swell up. THAT’S when you need to try the water test. And it if floats use it right away. If not, feed it and let it incubate some more. It will happen. You have a start. Just not a starter yet.
Here we are 6 days later and it has changed considerably. I let it sit at RT since last post, I discarded/fed I think two of those days. It now is really bubbly and floats in water (usually, occasionally a spoonful sinks). It develops a skin too if I let it sit a day unmolested. But definitely active now. It is moderately runny, not much of an odor.
Bravo Jg! From your description you have a good starter ready to bake. HOWEVER, all starters go through the float stage and then they sink and need more feeding. SO be sure your starter if floating before you begin a batch of bread. I can’t wait to know your results!
What would you suggest for the keeping of the starter?. My idea of sourdough was that there was a live culture kept in the fridge ready to go, handed down generation to generation, I’m not sure how to propagate the concoction. I believe you mentioned drying it out and keeping that in the fridge? How does one make more from this?
Hi Jg, I keep my starter in the fridge in a mason jar and feed it once a week or so. Then when I plan to make bread I put it on my counter to warm. The starter will need reviving at this point. So I usually plan two to four feeding about 12 hours apart to get it back to the float stage. For long term storage you CAN freeze your starter dried. Dry your starter by smearing it on piece of parchment paper, saran wrap or silpat mats. When it’s dried the starter will easily flake off. Then you can wrap the flakes tightly in saran wrap and a plastic resealable bag with NO air to keep it fresh. Put it your freezer in a airtight container.
NOW if you want to keep your starter growing and active I suggest you follow the instructions I give for feeding and maintaining your starter in my post on making a wild yeast starter. I hope that helps. Happy Baking!
First loaf is completed and I am very happy with it. The crust is A+++, looks really good. My only issue is the finished dough is just a bit doughey, there isn’t an crumble. I don’t think ore time baking would be a good thing as it was very dark when I pulled it out, I wouldn’t want to go further and get off-flavors.
Taste and texture (other than the doughey bit) is superb.
Hi JG, Two things:
1: Let the loaf cool COMPLETELY before cutting. The loaf crumb will set as it cools. If you cut the loaf warm the crumb will not hold up.
2: If your loaf needs more oven time to be completely done and the crust is browning too much use a tinfoil tent over the loaf to protect the crust.
To determine a completely done loaf tap on it. The loaf should sound hollow. Also the crust will appear shiny where it is scored (called caramelization). Finally as your loaf cools it should crack. This tells you the loaf was correctly baked. This sound is called “bread music” and occurs as the loaf sits cooling.
You are off to a great start with your loaf. Every oven is different. You will learn over time how to determine your loaf is finished correctly. I’m glad you are happy with your first try! Have a great day and thanks for allowing us to follow your progress through your first sourdough loaf!
Diane, I let it sit overnight unmolested. It had the proper sounds, looked good, sounded good. Just needed a little more time I think, perhaps 5 minutes.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CRQTNykO28surmrYswAN6gEXzOU91wh2/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PON6BCfjJXzWlqrZnD1D87S32hIKlvg3/view?usp=sharing
Oh THANK YOU for adding your pics. That’s so helpful. Your loaf looks perfect to me. yes if you want it firmer you can give it a bit more time. Next time try the tinfoil tent to protect the crust. The crumb looks like a A+ too. Nice bake!
I followed your recipe to a T. including folding and stretching, the bread is out if site ,I already ate half the liaf! That will be my dinner.Outside nice and crispy ,inside spongy and just hint of sour.W o w! So easy to follow your recipe.Thanks for that instruction video of stretching and folding.
Hi Krystyna, THANK YOU for the wonderful feedback on this recipe. Your the first to let me know the video was a help too. So happy you had a great result! Happy Memorial Day weekend 🙂
I made mine with wholemeal spelt and my yeast was a bit watery and separated when I used it the bread looks amazing but inside is heavy what was the fundamental mistake ?
Hi Babs, It sounds like you created your own version of this recipe. Spelt flour is an entirely different flour from the all purpose bread flour this recipe uses. Spelt is a heavier flour and will make a denser bread. Also, If your starter was not active enough you had a double whammy. A really active starter that bubbles and floats is what you need. I’m making a video now that I will be publishing soon on this bread process. I hope that will help you with this recipe. But this recipe will never work well with spelt or Einkhorn flours. This recipe is only for all purpose high protein bread flours.
I found this post on making a spelt flour bread. I haven’t posted any spelt or Einkhorn recipes yet but it’s on my ‘to do’ list. Hope this helps and have a great day!
Krystyna.
Grrrrreat recipe !!!!!!!!! I could follow easy and my very first set of loafs turned out great! I didn’t have the proofing basket so I had to improvise with mixing bowl lined with perchment paper. It turned out good but I will order the bennetons for my next batch. Where I can find your video how to fold the dough etc.?There are lots of youtube post but I would like to see yours. Thanks again.!
Hi krystyna, I’m REALLY happy this recipe and instructions worked so well for you! I DID make video of the stretch and fold method. BUT it was so dark I didn’t post it. Now that the light is better here I will try again soon. It’s tricky to video with sticky hands :).Thanks for letting me know you want to see the method demonstrated. It helps spur me on. I will attempt to get one published in the near future.
Hi Krystyna, I did get the video finished and published on you tube. Here is the link for you. https://youtu.be/8vhjqwDPkm0 I hope you find it useful!
Amazing!! Thank you!!! So excited!! My starter finally floats… we’ll see what a I can do
Hi Renah, We just added the new video to help you through the process. It takes about 6 minutes to watch but will familiarize you with the techniques needed. I’d love to know how this goes for you. Be sure to send us a pic of your bread! Happy baking!
I used this recipe for my first try making sourdough (or any bread for that matter) and it came out PERFECT. Thank you for the in depth explanations!
Hi Holly, Wonderful to hear! I’m so glad it helped. Thank you for coming back to let us know. We really appreciate your great rating on this recipe.
Is there an absolute maximum on the overnight bulk fridge rise? I really need to have it in there for more like 20hrs to make my life work around it tomorrow, so I’m hoping that doesn’t negatively affect anything!
Hi Richelle, You can hold it up to 24 hours in the fridge. Just omit the bulk rise stage and window pane test. After the stretch and folds refrigerate it and then follow instructions. It should be fine. Let me know if you have more questions. Happy Holidays!
Hi – Just wondering about the final rise overnight in the fridge. You mention the importance of cold temps and describe that as 55 degrees F. Most fridges, mine included, are set below 40 degrees F. When I keep my sourdough starter in the fridge between feedings, it deflates at that temp so I am hesitant to put the dough in there overnight. Any thoughts or suggestions?
Hi Lea, Thanks for bringing this up. You do need to put the dough in your fridge for the long cold rise. Your fridge temps should work fine for this. Sorry if I confused you with the 55 degrees. That just means not over that temp for sure. The dough should rise very slowly to develop its full flavor. If you are used to working with yeasted breads this is a very different process and result. Hope that helps. Please let us know how it goes for you and have a great day!
I am hoping to learn how to make a good sourdough bread for my family; I was happy to find your beginners artisan sourdough bread recipe and have begun making it today. I am confused though and I need you to clarify.
In your recipe you say to use 10 g of salt which according to your recipe is equal to 1 tablespoon. I measured out 10 g of salt and it came to 1 teaspoon. Which is it, 1 tablespoon or 1 teaspoon?
Hi Marianna,
Thank you for pointing out this inconsistency in the recipe. I have updated the recipe. It should have stated 20 grams of salt. NOTE: the TYPE of salt matters. They all weigh differently by volume. This NYT article will help explain the problem. Table salt is denser than sea salt which is what I use. I hope this helps. Thank you for asking your questions. If you have any more please let me know. You helped make this recipe clearer and more precise! have a great day and please let us know how this recipe turns out for you.
Thank you! I’m just to the point of having it let it rest the first time so now I’m ready to add the salt. Thank you for getting back to me so quickly so I know the correct amount. I’ll keep you posted 🙂
Beginner Artisan Sourdough Bread Recipe. I just wanted to point out a math error that might cause some of your readers a lot of trouble. The recipe calls for 525 grams of water, or 2.5 cups. 2.5 cups of water weigh 591 grams. I use a scale, and I know you are encouraging your readers to use a scale, but those who use a measuring cup, or those who use a measuring cup for water even if they are scaling all the other ingredients, are going to end up with an 86% hydration dough instead of a 78% hydration dough.
Thanks so much Rob! I’ll change the recipe to fix this error. I appreciate your input on this.
Hi, before I dive in are there any necessary modifications for high altitude? I’m at about 6000ft. Thank you, I’ve never made a yeast bread before and I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Hi Sadie, We live right at sea level here. So personally I have no ideas. HOWEVER, I found this post on King Arthur flour that may help you convert any yeast bread recipe to your special high altitude circumstances. Sourdough baking is pretty close to yeast baking so this may give you a good starting point. You may also want to take a look at our yeast Oat bread bread recipe. We actually had a reader contribute her High altitude adjustments for that bread recipe. I hope this helps!