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
Hi I live in a city where plastic grocery bags are banned so I do not have access to any. What would you suggest to create the same type environment for the refrigerator step?
Hi Heather, If you have a bowl with a fitted lid you can use that. Otherwise you can cover it with plastic wrap. If you have no other option you can oil the dough top or brush it heavily with water. The purpose of all this is to keep the dough hydrated in the long cold rise. I have done that with no cover but the dough does dry out if left open. Hope this helps.
I’m so excited to have found this site! I made my first sourdough bread using this process and my Dutch oven and it was amazing ! I want to try it using a perforated French bread pan . What would I need to do to make this work?
Hi Denise, Welcome to Homemade Food Junkie. 🙂 I’m delighted our recipe and method worked so well for you. To use a perforated french bread pan make the recipe as instructed through the bench rest stage.
Divide the dough into equal parts for the amount of loaves your pan holds.
Form the dough into baguettes
Line the pans with parchment paper since the dough will be sticky even in a non stick pan. (you could try oiling the pans but parchment will work)
Final Rise the dough on counter covered for an hour or so until they rise then bake as follows.
Set a shallow pan on your bottom oven rack.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F
When the oven is hot Score the loaves and wet the tops of the dough with water (or spray them).
slide your bread pan in the oven. middle rack.
Fill the shallow pan half full or more with water. It will steam which is what we want.
bake the loaves 5 to 10 minutes depending on their size.
Remove the pan and remove the parchment paper from under the loaves. The crumb is now set so they will not stick.
Return the pans to the oven and bake another 20 minutes or so. You can spray the loaves for a crunchier crust when you put them back in the oven.
Let me know how this comes out for you. happy Baking!
Thank you so much! My bread turned out perfectly! I appreciate your help.
You’re welcome. I’m so happy your bread worked out for you. Thanks so much for letting us know. 🙂
I LOVE LOVE LOVE ? this recipe. I was so happy when my bread came out perfectly!!
I am hoping to get some tips about doubling the recipe and baking one giant loaf?? Is that possible? What temperature and time would you recommend please?
Thank you x
Hi Christine, You can double the recipe. If you wade through the comments you’ll find that others have also double the recipe with great success. I often will increase the dough by a third. That makes a nice size loaf and it bakes pretty much like normal. If you have a smaller dutch oven this may work better than doubling.
For the double size if you have room in your dutch oven just bake as directed but extend the time. Spray the dough well to get the steam going in your pot. Leave the lid on for 30 minutes before removing. And once the lid is off give the loaf another five minutes or so in your oven. THEN check the internal temp. Make sure the bread is at 200 degrees before removing the loaf. Remember your oven is not my oven so keep and eye on it to make sure the loaf is completely baked and not over brown. I have to shield my loaves with foil when I increase the oven time. Best of luck!
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! Since the pandemic I started making bread, I’ve made maybe a dozen or so loaves with this recipe, and the bread has come out amazing, every single time, even when I accidentally skipped some steps. I haven’t been using parchment and I don’t have the special cloths, or bowls, or knife. I’ve just been using what I already have in the kitchen. The process is very time consuming, but the results are so with it. I’ve been creative with the recipe and made cinnamon raisin, olive rosemary, fresh thyme and herbs, and everything bagel bread! Thanks again!! I think I’ve almost get the recipe memorized, but I like to check back to the recipe to make sure.
Hi Alex, I’m delighted to hear this recipe is now part of your regular sourdough rotation. Yes this is a very forgiving process. I baked this recipe nearly a year before I bought the proper tools. HINT: The tools do help to make sourdough high hydration dough like this easier to work with. 🙂 All your additions sound amazing too. Thanks for commenting for us and inspiring other new bakers. Happy Baking!
I love this post! I am new to sourdough and followed it exactly (I love the video!) Now I have made it so many time that I don’t even need the recipe anymore! My loaves have all turned out beautifully! One question I do have….some recipes say to let the final rest on the counter and some say in the fridge. Is the main difference the better oven spring if you bake it cold? Also, if it has not risen enough after the final forming, should I leave it on the counter for an hour after the final form and then into the fridge for 2-4 hours? I didn’t last time and the loaf was still but I wonder if I had perhaps I would have had a better rise?
Hi Laceydawn, YAY! It’s wonderful to hear your having great results with this sourdough loaf. Now… You are comfortable enough to play around with it a bit and see what works best in your own kitchen. I have made this recipe SO many ways. And the results do vary but we always have enjoyed the bread.
Answers to Your questions: Yes the oven spring is best when you bake a cold dough in a preheated pot.
You CAN leave the dough on the counter longer before the final cold rise and see if that works for you. Your room temperature and starter activity will impact the way the dough works at the counter.
Be CAREFUL not to overproof the dough. That means the dough is exhausted and unable to finish the rise during baking. In summer, high room temps make over proofing much more likely. It’s easy to get confused and see a low rise as not enough counter time. In higher summer temps it COULD mean over proofing. Try to keep your work area around 70 to 75 degrees.
Other things that affect the rise include how you form the boules. Try to keep the surface tension tight. (pull the dough around like you see on the video)
and how deeply you score the loaves. Try to score deeply to allow the dough to release during baking.
Best of luck!
Hi. I am a complete newbie to baking, having only made yeast no-knead bread a couple of times before this. I followed your recipe exactly (I think). I noticed that the dough didn’t rise much in the bulk rise (certainly not 30%). Also, when I was doing the stretch and folds it didn’t seem to change consistency and firm up much. The result was that when I was ready to divide and bench rest and put the dough on the counter it didn’t hold its shape and just sort of spread out like a limp mass and was completely unworkable. I picked it up and most of it came off the counter and I was able to put it back in the bowl. It continued to ferment and rise as it sat out for a couple of hours, but it never became firm.
Do you have any thoughts about what may have gone wrong?
Hi Khurram, Welcome to Homemade Food Junkie. Here are some ideas:
Likely the starter was too weak or the flour was too low on protein if you didn’t see changes in the stretch and fold stages. Try again! I had many fails before I figured out how to make good bread. It’s worth the trouble. Promise!
This sounds like what I experienced my first couple times with this website, I’ve found that it was actually the salt I was using! I was using pink salt that I was actively grinding. Once I switched to using the fine morton iodized salt, it COMPLETELY changed the texture of the dough and it wasn’t such a sticky, completely unworkable, blob.
Wonderful tip Alex! Thanks for sharing that.
Sourdough newbie here and this recipe/tutorial was so helpful! This bread would make fantastic breadbowls too. If I were to do that & I split the recipe up into 4 or six rounds do you have a guesstimate on the cooking time? Thank you!
Hi Mara, I’m so glad this post and recipe worked out so well for you. Your bread bowl idea is inspired! But unless you have a great deal of time you won’t be using your dutch oven. So.
I’d put the bowls on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Spray or brush the bowls with water liberally.
Cover the bowls with a large roaster lid if you have one? Or tent with tinfoil in a pinch.
Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. (maybe 10 minutes. depends on bowl sizes.)
Uncover the bowls.
Spray the bowls and oven with water.
Continue to cook for another 5 to 10 minutes to brown them.
Shooting for an internal temp of about 200 degrees.
Please let me know how they turn out and if these directions work for you!
Have a great day.
After 3 failed attempts at sourdough, I decided to go all AP flour and searched for a recipe. I found this one, and DING DING, I finally made a loaf that was properly hydrated, proofed and had a GLORIOUS crumb with great air bubbles! I did 2 things differently- 1, I had to refrigerate my dough before it could rise by 1/3, so after chilling for 14 hours, I left it out at room temp until it rose that 1/3.(Dough neeever rises in my fridge.) 2-I have an electric range, which can be a pain for figuring out temps and baking times. I heated my dutch oven to 500 for an hour, baked the loaf with lid for 20 minutes, then whacked it down to 450 for another 25-30 sans lid. If I could attach a photo here, I would, I’m so proud, LOL. Thank you!
Hi Nicole, you made my day. 🙂 I’m so happy you found a way to use this recipe and make great sourdough bread. I’d love to see your loaf. If you are on instagram tag @homemadefoodjunkie with a pic. Or you can email me at homemadefoodjunkie@outlook.com. Your on your way now. Happy Baking!
I’m a sourdough baker – curious that your autolyze includes the levain. Normally, autolyze is water & flour only (1-4 hrs). Once you add levain, your dough in in bulk proofing mode. So the variable timing notes you offer (to let the autolyze rest for 1-4 hours) is confusing. A person who rests dough for 1 hour will have a less fermented dough than a person who rests it for 4 hours. – if all other instructions are followed. I find more consistent results if I add levain after autolyse and then start the bulk proofing time “clock”. Make sense?
Can I make half a recipe? And what can I do final rise in if I don’t have a proofing bowl? Thanks for all the help, can’t wait to try!
Hi Colleen, Yes you can divide the ingredients in half (might even drop the salt to 8 grams). For the first year I made this recipe I used a ceramic bowl with a rice flour or cornmeal infused cloth for the final rise. It works great. ANY bowl of the correct size will work just don’t make the bowl too big or your boule will be very flat. Happy Baking!
The recipe and instructions were so helpful. My bread came out beautiful_-great crust, nice crumb. Thanks!
Our Pleasure Susan, So happy to hear it worked well for you. have a great day!
I have to work all day, does the dough still works if I let it rise for 24h in total? The highest temperature will be room temperature and in the morning I would put it in a cooler environment
Hi Morgana, If you want to slow down the dough so you can work you can let it sit in your fridge 24 hours with no problem. Letting it counter rise that long will give you an overproofed slack dough. You don’t want that. Cooling it down in the morning will be way too late to do you any good.
This is a very different type of dough than a yeast bread. The rise is not as important as a slow fermentation process that builds the dough structure and flavor.
Just do the stretch and folds and set it (covered) right in your fridge. You can eliminate the counter bulk rise if necessary. Lengthen the fridge time (up to 36 hours in a pinch) and if you have a REALLY long fridge time you can bake the dough straight out of the fridge. Just divide the dough and bake in a preheated oven as directed.
This is not ideal unless you can see bubbles forming in the dough and the dough structure is strong. Otherwise go through the bench rest, forming the boules and all the rest. It all develops the dough.
Hope this helps. I bake it all the time and adjust the fridge time to my life at the moment. I’ve baked this with only four hours in the fridge and I’ve baked it with three days in the fridge. Don’t be afraid to play around with the processes as you need to but BEWARE room temp rising too long. Not a good idea.
Happy Baking!
I was terrified to try sourdough bread since I could barely make a decent loaf of white bread. I was skeptical about a starter working for me. In fact, I think I used it prematurely last weekend and it was a disaster. But I let it get stronger and stronger and by the time I made this recipe (two weeks from starting it) it was very ready! This recipe, from the instructions to the video, made this very easy. It’s been going so well that I haven’t even finished baking before writing this comment. Thanks so much for giving me the confidence to try this. Question: If you decide to prove it outside of the fridge, what are you looking for to know its ready? I don’t have much room in my fridge for two bowls.
Thanks again,
Adam
Hi Adam, I’m thrilled the recipe and video worked well for you. That was the hope when I wrote this enormously long tutorial. We tried to hit all the bases for new bakers. Thanks for the great review.
And…you don’t have to put the bread dough in the fridge for the final proofing. HOWEVER, it will help you attain maximum oven spring when the dough is cold going into a hot oven. Do what works best for you but if you only can do one loaf at a time in the fridge.
Try baking one warm and one cold. If it makes a difference to your results….pull some of those condiments out until your loaves are baked. Lol. Priorities.:)
Why did my dough not hold its shape? I followed all the instructions, my starter passed the float test, room temperature was optimal at 22 degrees Celsius. The only problem I can think of was that it may have over-proofed in the fridge? I left it in for 15 hours as suggested but am not sure where things went wrong.
Hi Sarosh, If you have baked your loaves and they did not rise there are a few things you can look at. First look at the flour you are using and make sure it has a protein content of 5 grams or 12% or higher. if so, From what you’ve told me. A low flat rise may be either from the shaping of the loaves or scoring. When you shape the loaves you need a tight surface tension on the dough to encourage a good shape and rise. Look at the video and watch how I pull the dough ball to me as I move the dough into shape at the bench rest and when shaping the loaves. You will get better at this with more experience.
Scoring the loaves deeply also helps promote a higher rise and rounder baked loaf. Shallow scores do not help the rise. Get your sharp blade down into the dough an inch or so and score the length of the loaf. Now cut across the loaf from the opposite direction. This score will help allow the dough to come up through the opening and push the dough into the round shape we want as if bakes.
All of this takes practice and experience. Keep trying!
The page was very long. II tried to use the recipe but the amount of ads and popups made it extremely hard to scroll to find, and stay on, or refer back to information I needed on the page. Maybe consider a shorter page with just the recipe?
Hi Maria, Yes this is a VERY long post. Because it is a tutorial it has many helps. If you don’t need the extra help just click on the Jump to Recipe button and it will take you directly to the actual printable recipe card. Happy Baking!
This came out amazing! Thank you for this tutorial. Our store was out of AP and bread flour so I used whatever AP I had left (200g) with 500g of whole wheat and the flavor, texture, and crust was fantastic. I felt it was a bit salty and wasn’t sure if maybe I made a mistake when measuring the salt. I used a scale and measured out exactly 20g, which was more like 2 tablespoons for me. Besides that, I got a lot of compliments on the bread!
Will definitely be using this recipe from now on!
Hi Emily, I’m happy the bread recipe worked well for you. Now for The salt question. This article explains why salt is important to bread making.
There are a LOT of Different salts. And different salt grinds have different weights and volumes. For this recipe 1 Tablespoon of salt is more than enough. I use a kosher salt and by volume and weight it comes out to about 20 grams or 1 Tablespoon salt.
I think you must be using a different sort of salt to get double the volume so I’m going to say don’t exceed 1 Tablespoon. Cut the weight in half for what you have. 10 grams should work better for you. I hope this helps.
Every single variable in the recipe impacts the final result. I’ll refine the ingredient list to say Kosher salt. Thanks so much for bringing this up! Happy Baking!
This recipe and the direction are perfect. I used it the first time I made sourdough bread and have used it 3x since, with 8 perfect loaves as the result. I added in some copped sun dried tomatoes (not soaked in oil), fresh minced garlic and shredded parmesan cheese during the final stretch and fold step the last time and the loaves were incredibly delicious and didn’t lose rise. I also began shaping my loaves in oblong loaves to offer more uniform pieces throughout the loaf. So good! The video is so helpful!
Thank you 🙂
What delicious Ideas for add ins! Thanks so much for the wonderful recipe review. We also appreciate you sharing your experience with other bakers. I will have to try this. The sun dried tomatoes are so intriguing…
Could you make rolls from this recipe?
This bread is not the best for rolls. The crumb is open so your would get lots of holes. Even degassed the crumb will not give you a soft pillowy roll. HOWEVER, We DO have a wonderful Soft Sourdough Sandwich bread that will make wonderful rolls.Hope this helps!
I actually did make rolls with this (before I saw this reply) and they were perfect! After the division of the dough I just shaped one half into 6 rolls, scored to tops and baked! My husband was very happy. 🙂
That’s wonderful!! Now I will have to give that a try. My husband loves rolls. I assume you baked them as per the recipe? Do tell.
After dividing the dough as your recipe says to, I divided into 4 rolls (will do 6 next time!) and put them on a baking sheet while I preheated the oven to what the recipe says. I baked for 20 minutes but should have let them go for longer! Will tweak a bit and start another batch tonight for tomorrow! I might also try adding a water bath to the oven to get some steam going.
Thanks for sharing your method for the rolls. I’ll be giving this a try. Happy Baking!
Hi,
Thank you for this amazing recipe and video (the video made all the difference for a Newbie). I have made this recipe 3 times and have had great results each time. I have one concern/question about my dutch oven. I have recently learned about crazing… Since I noticed my Dutch oven form these hairline cracks. Some of the main causes are preheating an empty pot and drastic temperature changes. I was hoping for some input on this as your recipe calls for both preheating my Dutch oven and then placing my fresh out of the fridge (aka much colder than my Dutch oven) bread dough in this Hot pot. Could this have caused the crazing? Is there a safer way of getting the same results?
Thank you
Hi Nina, I’m so happy to hear this recipe is working well for you. Welcome to sourdough baking. It’s a fun world.
Now about Crazing: I have made this and MANY bread recipes in my dutch ovens over several years. I have two le Creuset dutch ovens. Both are enameled. One is a 5 quart round. The other is a 6.5 quart oblong. They are both still in great shape after having been preheated empty dozens of times.
I found this article by the Kitchn about caring for your dutch oven. In it addresses the proper way to preheat your empty dutch oven.
HERE”S THE SHORT ANSWER:Put your empty cold dutch oven into a COLD oven. Now preheat them both SLOWLY together. This will protect the enamel on your dutch oven.
I actually read a rather contentious Face Book thread from my favorite Sourdough FB group on this topic. I HIGHLY suggest you join this group for a wealth of information. Just don’t expect them to agree with each other. 🙂
Hi, this recipe looks great! If I wanted to add rosemary, in which step would I add it? Thanks!
You can add it into the third stretch and fold, just make sure its fresh rosemary 🙂
Thank you!
Hi again! I have done 4+ stretch and folds and my dough is not passing the windowpane test. Should I continue to do the stretch and folds until it passes the test? I don’t want to overwork the dough.
If the dough is dense and breaks before giving you a transparent stretch go ahead and add another stretch and fold. Then do a bulk rise on the counter. You may want to add a bit of time to your long cold rise to help the dough develop. It’s all about building the structure and flavor of the dough. Just don’t go overboard or you’ll over proof it. hope this helps!
When you say during the 3rd stretch and fold, do you mean of the 4 stretch and folds in the 2 1/2 hours? It later just before putting them in bannetons?
Hi Jennifer, Welcome to Homemade Food Junkie. To see the stretch and folds and all processes demonstrated watch our video. If what you are asking is when to include add ins like dried fruits, nuts, dried or pickled peppers, cheeses… then you would do that during the third and fourth stretch and folds. Add in half of your add ins at each stretch and fold. Otherwise, follow the recipe in the recipe card. I hope this helps. Please feel free to ask any more questions you have. Happy Baking!