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 was wondering if this method will sort of ruin the Dutch oven. I have a nice, and expensive, one and would not want to ruin it. Would a cast iron pot work the same and do you always use the parchment paper. Great video and recipes, my new “bible”.?
Hi Rita, I have looked into this since I have two very expensive dutch ovens with enamel finish. Is The problem you are worried about the enamel finish cracking? If so, the solution is to put the dutch oven in a COLD oven. THEN preheat the oven so the enamel heats slowly rather than shocking it. This has worked well for me for over four years. I have no cracked surfaces.
BUT if you don’t want to risk that you can certainly use a your cast iron dutch oven with the same process of preheating. I always use the parchment paper at least until I take the lid off. After that you can slip it out if you prefer. You don’t have to use the parchment paper if you have a good heel on your pan and the dough bakes completely. But I always do just to be sure it won’t stick. Hope this helps. 🙂
What would happen if I use 400g of starter with 400g of flower To make the bread instead of 200g starter and 700 g flower
Well Xavier, I think you would have a mess on your hands. I promise you the recipe works best as written if you want the results you see pictured. Since you don’t mention using the water called for are you planning to omit it? If you try this and it makes good bread I would love to know. All the best!
In fact I am adding water too. I just did not want to discard the third day of bread starter so instead decided to use the overweight to try to do bread. For now I am at the fourth stretch and the dough looks perfectly elastic and passes the test of window. More on this tomorrow after a night in the fridge.
Great! Thanks for keeping us posted. 🙂
This recipe looks amazing just started the starter last night hoping to make my first try on Monday. Do you happen to have a recipe for French Parisienne baguette different from regular baguette. Heard you can’t make this in California due to humidity and flour that are different? Thank you for your response.
Hi Xavier! You can try this recipe https://bakingamoment.com/crusty-french-baguette-recipe/ Let us know how it works out!
Thank you. However the crust on this recipe is way too thick. The Parisienne baguette has a very crunchy and very thin crust. Will continue my search. Bought your baskets to make artisan sourdough.
Hi, I have made sour dough a couple times and I stumbled across your recipe, it seems so much more simple then the recipes I had previously tried.
I did have a question about the dividing and bench rise. Do you think I would be able to shape the dough following prior to the overnight rise in the fridge and then bake it cold in a preheated Dutch oven in the morning and skip the bench rise all together?
Hi Julianna, This will work fine. Just make sure you give the dough at least 12 to 15 hours of long cold rise and bake the dough cold with a deep score to help the rise. All the best! Please let us know how it turns out for you.
I started baking bread when my oldest child was an infant. She is now 54 years old; and I have baked bread continuously ever since. I have been baking sourdough for a long time. I made this recipe today for my husband and he is impressed with how well it turned out. I am going to start baking some sourdough things with leftover starter.
Hi Presbytera Mary, Welcome to Homemade Food Junkie. I’m so happy this recipe worked well for you. That is great to hear from such an experienced baker. I think you will also enjoy our other sourdough recipes. We have other sourdough breads and lots of recipes to use up your extra starter. Happy Baking!
I have saved a number of the “discard starter” recipes. I hope to try one of them this afternoon. Thank you for all your efforts on sourdough baking!
It’s our pleasure. I hope you enjoy them. Have a great time.
Hi there. I have tried many recipes but none are this high of moisture percentage. Not scared to try but wondering if it will still work well if i cut the recipe in half a do one boule instead of 2? we have a lot of bread in the freezer and on the counter so i don’t want 2 boules. thank you for the video tutorial!
Hi Candice, Welcome to Homemade Food Junkie. Yes you can cut the recipe in half. Just keep the proportions the same. This dough will be sticky. Follow the recipe exactly. Use wet hands and wet tools to work with the dough. A wet bench scraper is also really helpful for working with the dough. Please watch the video. It’s all really quite simple and the results will be worth it. Happy Baking!
I love this recipe but is it possible to skip halfing the dough into 2? The doughball is perfect for my 6qt dutch oven and I would really like to attempt this as one loaf. Is that possible? In that case would I just skip the cutting the dough into 2 part and continue as the recipe calls?
Hi Alecia, I have never made this recipe as one boule but others have and said it worked well for them. Yes, just keep the dough as one piece and continue with the recipe. The baking time will be a bit longer. Be sure to use a digital thermometer to be sure the loaf bakes to 206 degrees F. in the middle of the loaf. I’d love to know how it comes out for you. Happy Baking!
Update: I’ve made this bread as one loaf a bunch of times and it’s perfect! I skip the dividing it part and continue with the rest. I bake in my Dutch oven for 30 mins covered and 30 uncovered.
Hi Alecia, Excellent. Thanks for the tip!
Thank you for this recipe! I have a question, as a newer sourdough maker. About how long do you mix the flour, water, and starter before autolyse? I have attempted this recipe several times and am trouble shooting why my dough doesn’t turn out “firm” enough at the end after the final rise. It’s often a little slack and therefore bakes a bit flatter than I’d like. I’m wondering if I might not be mixing enough at the very beginning and therefore not getting enough gluten structure. It does not flatten out during bench rest, but does spread a bit. Thanks for your help!
Hi Elly, I make this bread exactly the way you see it demonstrated in the video and have for years. The only time I have problems is if I’m not following the instructions. (For example-I like to use too much starter. If I have extra I’ll throw it in and this will throw off the recipe some).
If you are following the instructions and weighing the ingredients then there are a few other things yet to look at.
1: Are you using a high protein flour (5 grams or more protein or about 12% protein on label)
2:Is your starter very young? Even an active young starter will not raise bread as well as an older starter. Feed your starter a lot (2 or 3 times a day even.) if it is young to quickly build the strength.It should be doubling every 5 to 12 hours when its really strong enough to raise bread.
3:Also watch how you form the loaves. The surface tension on the loaves has a lot to do with the rise. Experience is needed here. Just keep practicing.
4:So does the final chilling in the fridge (gives great oven spring)
5:Scoring. Score the loaves DEEP. about an inch down. This helps the bread rise from inside the dough like it should.
6 Over proofing: This can happen at very warm temperatures. If your house is over 75 degrees F. try putting the dough in the fridge some to prevent it from developing too fast on the counter. You can eliminate the bulk rise. Just add some fridge time. Slow development is the way you get good structure, rise and flavor.
As a last resort hold back on the water. Maybe reduce by 25 to 50 grams. This will reduce the hydration and make the loaf easier to work with. Hope this helps. Have a great weekend!
Hi there, this is the first sourdough I have made and the crumb and the top crust seem good, it’s just the bottom crust that is quite hard, and difficult to cut even. Is there anyway to avoid that? Thank you for the very thorough recipe and look forward to many more loaves of delicious sourdough!
Hi Kristy, I’m happy you are enjoying the flavor of this bread. It’s one of our favorites. I make it all the time. I have found the bottom crust is a bit chewier than the top but it should not be extremely hard to cut.
I assume you are following the recipe exactly and baking it in a dutch oven to the proper temperature with this result. If so,here are some ideas to try:
-Improve the insulation on your bottom crust by adding another layer of parchment paper on the bottom of your dutch oven. OR place a baking sheet or pizza stone on the shelf under your dutch oven to temper the heat to your bottom crust.
-Try keeping the lid on your loaf about 10 minutes longer than the recipe calls for. Now take the lid off for the remainder of the baking time. The extra steaming time may help the crust stay softer for you.
-If you are baking this loaf in a really large dutch oven (7 or 8 qt) that can cause the bottom crust to dry out and get tough.Try using a pot with less room around your loaf when it’s baked.
Hope this helps. Please let us know how it goes for you. Have a great day!
AMAZING! I’ve been searching for the perfect sourdough recipe for months and just couldn’t get it right. Stumbled upon this recipe and it is, in fact, perfection. Easy to follow, clear directions and an amazing result. Nice crust, perfect wide crumb and great flavor. Thank you, my search is over.
Thank you for letting us know this recipe was a success for you and the great review. Have a great weekend.
I am confused about how to feed the starter to make the Levain for the bread. Recipes have many different ratios of starter to flour to water. What ratio to use?
Barry
Hi Barry, Here is how I prepare my starter for baking. The night before I want to bake I Feed 100 grams of starter with 100 grams of warm water and 100 grams of flour. The starter should double within 5 to 12 hours and float in water. Then it’s ready to bake. I hope this helps.
So 1:1:1. That’s how I feed starter every day. Some recipes (Forkish) are 4:1, flour to starter and Chad Robertson is about 10:1. Does it make a difference?
Thanks.
Perfect! Your starter should be nearly ready to bake this recipe then. In baking it ALL makes a difference. Baking sourdough is a science project. You can play around with lots of different ways to make your starter. Different ingredients and ways of feeding too.
This is the way I do it. For the recipes I have made I prefer 1:1:1. It gives a nicely balanced flavor and consistent rise in my breads. It’s also quite common for people to feed a starter 1:2:2. You’ll find your own way eventually. Happy Baking!
I am curious if after the overnight rise in the fridge, are you able to just divide the dough in half straight from the fridge and leave one half to sit in the fridge for another 12-24 hours or so while continuing the process regularly with the other half to bake it that day? I do like my loaves with more of a sour flavour anyways so I am not worried about that. I’m just curious if it will affect it any other way dividing it straight from the fridge still cold.
Hi Kendra, Sure You can do that. Divide the before the bulk rise BEFORE the fridge time. Put one straight into the fridge and let the other bulk rise and follow the recipe timelines. That way you only have one dough to handle on the first day and the second will be there for the next day. More long cold rise time should not hurt this dough. We’d love to know how that works out for you. Happy Baking!
Ok, the first time I made this, the dough rose considerably in the fridge for the overnight bulk rise. About double in size and lots of bubbles poking through. The bread had nice big holes and was fantastic.
My next couple of batches, they did rise, but not a lot. Bread still delicious but did not have the big holes in the crumb like the first time.
I measured everything the same. Starter floated. Can’t figure out what I did differently.
Any thoughts?
Thank you.
Hi BF,
Remember how you form the loaves also impacts the rise and how deeply you score the loaves. Experience with forming and scoring can help a lot.
Here are a few more things to look at when the rise is not optimal.
-Are using a high protein flour (5 grams of protein or about 12 % on the label)?
– Your starter should be doubling every five to twelve hours. Your starter may be active but out of balance. This happened to me. I have the best results when I feed the starter the night before baking (8 hours to 12 hours). NOTE: Feed your starter this way: 100 grams starter to 100 grams warm water to 100 grams flour. This is a 100 percent starter and works well for our recipes.
-In summer it is very easy to overproof high hydration doughs in room temperatures over 75 degrees F. If that’s the case reduce or eliminate your counter bulk rise and just use the fridge for the cold rise. You can reduce the fridge time too.
-Make sure you are getting the window pane after the stretch and folds. If not work the dough a bit more. Work the dough Gently to keep the air pockets.
-Put the dough in the fridge for 12 hours (up to 24 hours) and just go straight to bake from the chilled dough. This eliminates the counter time (helpful in high heat) so just dump out the dough on the counter cold and form the loaves for the final cold rise. This should give you a good oven spring if your dutch oven is thoroughly preheated.
I think something here will help you make a better sourdough loaf. I also recommend the Perfect Sourdough FB group for a WEALTH of help and inspiration from bakers around the world. All the best and happy baking!
Thanks for the info but it was not the cooking rise but rather the rise in the fridge.
Hi BF, Look to your flour protein content and the balance of your starter. Also your room temperatures. The dough development in sourdough is going to change with these factors. If you are a yeast baker this will be very different from what you are used to.
I have been baking with sourdough for over 30 years but just moved to a high altitude last year. This new elevation is giving me fits trying to modify all my baking skills, especially sourdough. Then I found your blog, followed the process exactly, and had success! The trick was that second cold rise before baking. You have restored my faith in my ability to make great sourdough bread. My family (and friends) thank you.
That is wonderful to hear Lisa! We are so happy you found us and had great success with the recipe! It’s one of our very favorite recipes. 🙂
I was about to make this recipe and realized I didn’t understand what your 1 + one cup of starter means. What is the first “1” you refer to? Thanks!
Hi KK, I strongly suggest you use a digital scale and weigh your ingredients as listed in grams if you can. I included the volume measurements in case you don’t own a scale. So the 1+Cup of starter is meaning a cup measurement that is slightly overtop the top of your measuring cup. Volume weights of starter are not going to be accurate since they all have different weights. So I gave my closest guess. It should work if you are close to that. Hope this helps. 🙂 Have a great day.
Hi there, I’ve used your recipe a bunch of times and it’s our favourite bread. I’ve shared with some lucky friends and family and they all agree this is amazing bread. I have a question, can I substitute different types of flour? I’d love to try a rye sourdough.
Hi Samantha, How wonderful to hear you and your friends and family love this recipe. We do too. You can substitute different kinds of flours IF you know your flour and how it will work with this process. I replace the all purpose flour with my home ground whole wheat flours at 50 to 100 percent with great results. Here is my post on using this recipe with white or red whole wheat flours.
Rye flours are a different matter. For ideas on using rye flour in sourdough bread go read this post by Cultures for health. You will need some bread flour to help the process along. At least 25 percent by weight.
This method may work perfectly well for rye. I’m pretty sure other bakers have used this recipe with rye flour. I have not. If you don’t want to risk it Cultures for health also has some sourdough bread recipes using rye flour. I hope this helps. Sourdough is a science project. All the flours make a difference to the finished loaf texture and flavor. You are well started on sourdough baking. Now go play. 🙂
First of all, your recipe is the first success we’ve had with sourdough bread baking! Thank you! I may have missed this in the post (I’m on my phone), but at what point should I add rosemary? And how much? Could we do chopped garlic too?
I should clarify, I know this isn’t a recipe for that, but we wanted to try a little flavor experimenting 🙂
Hi Jessica, I’m delighted you are having success with this recipe. You can add the rosemary and garlic in at the third and fourth stretch and fold. But ALSO we do have a separate recipe for a delicious roasted garlic Rosemary bread. It is a very different process but the flavor is ourstanding. You can use the amount of rosemary and garlic used in that recipe for this one too if you like. All the best!
Hello There!
First of all, thanks a million for posting this very practical and detailed recipe. I’ve had great success, for the most part.
However, I have had a tougher time trying to bake the loaf in my bread pan, IN my dutch oven. Your recipe says both to let it rise in the bread pan at room temperature, and in another section to rise in the refrigerator….which one is recommended and for how long? Until the bread is truly at the edge of the bread pan (around 2 hours?).
Also, I’ve had two loaves that stuck to the pan so much that it ruined the whole loaf. I had greased the pan with what I thought was a generous amount of vegetable oil. I did not use parchment paper however, and am wondering if that is best for next time? I baked the loaves as instructed, at 450F for 30 minutes, removing the lid and baking an additional 10 minutes. Could you elaborate just a bit on this process, so I can get the perfect sandwich loaf within my dutch oven, without sticking? Thanks so much, I would truly appreciate it!
Hi Kyle, I’m happy to hear your enjoying this recipe. We love it and make it all the time. Usually in boules but occasionally I’ll make loaves.
Here is how I make this recipe in a loaf pan.
-Form the loaves as directed and put in a loaf pan. Mine have not stuck if the pan is well oiled. However, line your pans with parchment if they stick for sure.(If you’re preheating your dutch oven and put the pans in the hot oven they should not stick. Sounds like maybe the loaves are not quite cooked in those deep corners?)
-For the loaf pans you can rise the loaves on the counter. (Although I have used the fridge and the cold loaves do tend to have a better oven spring.)
– put the loaf pan into your hot dutch oven after scoring the loaves deeply (about an inch deep to give the dough good rise).
-Bake as directed. Make SURE you check the internal temperature of the loaves. They should be about 200 degrees F in the middle of the loaf.
When you remove the loaf from the dutch oven remove it immediately from the loaf pan onto a cooling rack (within five minutes of baking). Thump the loaf-It should sound hollow.
Turn it over. The bottom of the loaf should be a bit concave (sucked up) in the center of the loaf. This indicates the bread is done correctly.
I hope this helps you get a better result with your bread. 🙂
ALSO we do have two very good sourdough sandwich bread recipes on the blog for you. For a soft dense crumb with a thin crust try our soft sourdough Sandwich loaf.
For a bit more artisan sandwich bread that is enriched with milk and honey and eggs try our Milk and Honey sourdough Sandwich bread. Both make great sandwiches. all the best. Happy Baking!
I tried this recipe last weekend. Instead of 2 rounds of bread, I split the dough into 3 sections for tinfoil loaf pans (so they would fit in my Dutch Oven) and it worked great! My starter is only about a month old, and this is the first time I was truly successful in making sourdough bread. It was light & fluffy inside, but had a nice crust, and a great sourdough tangy taste. Thanks for the terrific recipe!!!
Hi Terri, I’m so happy it worked well for you. Thanks for the great review. Happy Baking!
If you don’t have Dutch oven for sour dough bread, where else can you bake it in.
Thanks
Hi Mary, You can bake this bread on a baking sheet covered with a roaster lid or (if you have nothing else) make a foil tent. CAUTION: You may want to double the baking sheet or put something under your sheet on the next rack down to avoid burning the bottom of the loaf. A shallow dish with water in it will help here. Also spray the dough with water prior to baking to create steam in the tent you make. Hope that helps!
I would like to freeze the dough to have some on hand for pizza. At what stage should I freeze the dough?
By the way I have made the bread. Best bread ever.
Hi Mary-Ann, Lol. I just made this bread again yesterday and have for years. It’s a favorite all round. I’m so happy to hear you love it too.
To Freeze the dough for pizza: Take it through the stretch and fold stage to develop the dough some. Divide the dough into two to four equal dough balls depending on how large a the crusts are you want to make. I tightly wrap my dough balls in plastic wrap and then place them in freezer bags. You can use old grocery bags if you just want to freeze a few weeks. This dough should last a month or more the in the freezer if wrapped well and protected from freezer burn. NOTE: The dough may expand a bit even with freezing. This is normal just allow some room in the bag. 🙂
Please let us know what you think of this dough as pizza. Happy Baking!