Recipe For How To Make A Beginner’s Sourdough Bread

Are you looking for a beginners recipe for sourdough bread? With a lower hydration, this beginner’s sourdough bread recipe will be easy enough for someone who has never baked sourdough to master the skills and gain the confidence they need to incorporate sourdough into their everyday routine!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no cost to you.

Why Should I Eat Sourdough?

Sourdough is a method of leavening that works by capturing bacteria in your environment and fermenting that and the wild yeast found in the flour and water you combine to create carbon dioxide and lactic acid. This process allows gluten to break down and thus, makes it easier for humans to digest.

In fact, some people who find they cannot tolerate gluten may find they thrive on sourdough bread.

Note: This is not true for Celiacs. Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease that cannot be reversed and affects about 1% of the population. For more information click here.

If you can tolerate gluten, sourdough is a wonderful addition to the diet. There are so many ways to enjoy sourdough, from an artisan boule to muffins, biscuits, crackers, pizza crusts and even croutons! One of my personal favorites is a sourdough grilled cheese sandwich. Yum.

This beginner’s sourdough bread recipe will be easy enough to incorporate into your weekly baking routine!

Is It Hard To Bake Sourdough?

Like with any skill, it takes time, practice and above all else, patience, to acquire. Sourdough bread is a bit different than yeasted breads in the sense that it doesn’t like to be handled roughly. Gentle handling will be a skill that you certainly gain when working with sourdough.

Additionally, sourdough, because it is naturally leavened, takes much more time to develop gluten and strength than does instant yeast breads. Thus, it is important to make sure you aren’t in a rush when trying to bake sourdough. It also doesn’t necessarily need to double in size like your typical yeasted breads. I usually let mine ‘about’ double or 1.5x it’s original size.

Many times, when beginning their sourdough journey, people feel overwhelmed and intimidated by all of the steps in what claims to be a “simple” recipe. However, I would encourage you to understand that sourdough, contrary to what you may think, is a lot more forgiving than what people chalk it up to be.

If you take things step by step, as in this beginner’s sourdough bread recipe, with repetition and patience you’ll begin to get the hang of it.

In conclusion, it is not hard to bake sourdough. It just takes time to learn and patience to master. Trust the process.

Why You Will Love This Beginner’s Sourdough Bread Recipe

• Lower hydration of 70% means the dough is easier to work with and easier to shape
• It makes a larger loaf which means it will last longer and there is more to enjoy!
• Baking at a higher temperature with steam allows for a thinner, crispier crust. Perfect for sandwiches or warm with fresh butter on top.

Equipment You May Need For This Beginner’s Sourdough Bread Recipe

• Large bowl
• Dutch Oven (or you can try an open bake – check my FAQ’s at the bottom of this page)
• Parchment Paper or Sourdough Bread Sling (this is the one I have and love)
• Sourdough Kit
• Shower Cap or Saran wrap

Note: These items are not a requirement to bake a successful loaf of sourdough. You can certainly make do with makeshift items you already have in your kitchen. For example, instead of a banneton basket, use a small bowl with a flour laden towl over the top. These things just make baking that much more convenient.

Ingredients You Will Need For This Beginner’s Sourdough Bread Recipe

• Mature and well-maintained sourdough starter. For help with your starter see this post.
• Bread Flour (We love Bob’s Red Mill)
• Quality Salt (Redmond’s Real Salt is what we have been using for years without fail).
• 6 ice cubes (I have an affiliate link for that, too, just sec – just kidding)

Recipe For Beginner’s Sourdough Bread Recipe

Feed Your Starter

The first thing you’ll need to do is for this beginner’s sourdough bread recipe is make sure your starter is active and bubbly. To do this, simply feed your starter an equal amount of water and flour around 12 hours before you plan to bake with it. You want your starter to be around doubled in size and at its “peak”.

This may be longer or shorter than 12 hours based on several factors. Every starter is different. To learn more about starters and feed ratios, see this article about how to maintain a sourdough starter.

Add Your Ingredients

Once your starter is bubbly and around doubled in size, take a bowl and fill it up with 350 grams of water (or 1.5 cups) of water. Next, take 75 grams (or 1/3 cup) of starter and pour into your bowl and perform the “float test”.

The float test is performed to see whether or not your starter is ready to be used. If it is mature and full of gas, it will float, but if it is not, it will sink to the bottom. However, if some floats and some of it drops to the bottom, you’ve probably gone past the peak of where you want to use it or you may need to wait a bit longer. Here is a short demonstrational video on how to perform the float test.

Next, use your danish dough whisk to stir the water and starter together. Stir thoroughly and then add your 500 grams (or about 4 cups) of bread flour and stir, scraping the sides of the bowl, until you have a shaggy dough.

Fermentolyse

Cover the bowl with a shower cap or saran wrap for 20 minutes for fermentolyse. This simply allows your dough to fully hydrate before adding in salt, which slows down fermentation. This also helps your gluten structure, allowing for an easier time working with your dough.

Add Salt

After the 20 minutes are up, add in 10 grams of salt. I like to do this by wetting my fingers and pinching in my salt.

Perform Stretch And Folds

Immediately after this, go ahead and perform your first set of stretch and folds. Do this by pulling your dough up at one side, gently stretching it out and down and then tucking it toward the center or outer corner of your dough. Turn your bowl counter clockwise until you have stretched and folded at least four corners. Stretch and folds are my favorite technique to teach beginner’s sourdough bread as they require no experience and are easy enough to master.

If needed, watch a simple video demonstration of this method here.

Cover your bowl with a shower cap or saran wrap and repeat this process two more times, waiting 30 minutes in between each stretch and fold.

Bulk Fermentation

When you’ve reached the third stretch and fold, lift your dough and spray your bowl with a light coating of olive oil and set your dough inside your bowl. Next, cover your bowl again and let your dough bulk ferment for 12-18 hours, depending on the temperature of your environment. If it’s summer, I find my dough to bulk ferment much quicker than if it’s winter time. This bulk fermentation is the first rise of your dough.

You’ll know when your dough is ready when it has risen around 75%. It can be hard to tell when you’re a beginner, but the more you bake sourdough, the more experienced you’ll become. Remember, it is always better to overproof rather than underproof.

The best way to determine when your dough has sufficiently risen is to observe when it has rounded edges, is slightly domed in the center and has formed small bubbles along the surface. These will be at the top and around the edges. Additionally, your dough will be nice and jiggly. When it has reached they indicators, it is ready to be pre-shaped.

Pre- Shape

Use your fingers to tug at the edges of your dough, if needed, to encourage your dough onto a bare surface. Wet your bench knife and wet your non-dominant hand.

Use your bench knife to scrape under your dough at one side and pull gently toward the center, using your non-dominant hand to press and hold the dough while you pull another side up and toward the center.

Then, rotate your dough counter-clockwise as you pull in the sides gently and toward the center to form a round shape. Move your dough across your surface to build up tension. Don’t push out the gas bubbles like you would with a typical yeasted bread. Remember, sourdough likes to be handled gently.

It should also be noted that whatever shape you decide to form your dough into for the final shaping, the pre shaping will always be a round (boule) shape.

Bench Rest

Once your dough is in a nice, rounded shape, go ahead and let is sit on the counter, covered with either a lightly damp towel or a shower cap for 20-30 minutes. This is called the “bench rest”. The bench rest is helpful for your dough to relax and expand a bit, allowing your final shaping to be more effective at creating the tension that your dough needs for “oven spring,” or the initial rise in the oven.

Final Shaping

Now it’s time for the final shaping. On a lightly floured surface, carefully spread your dough into a triangle, making sure not to push the gas bubbles out. Handle gently and don’t stretch out too thin as this will cause your dough to tear. Gently tug the top of your triangle up and tuck down into the center. Next, take the left corner of the triangle and pull inward toward the center. Do the same with the right corner.

Now, pull up your dough on two more sides and then use your fingers to tuck and roll your dough up into a short elongated loaf. Pinch in the seams at either end when it’s completely rolled up. Use a bench knife or your hands to push and pull in rounded motions to build tension in your loaf.

The final shaped loaf will be a batard shape (oval), but if you wish to have a rounded boule (circle) shape, go ahead and tuck in the long sides of your batard and tuck with your fingers as you push and pull in round motions. Use your bench knife if desired.

Cold Retard

Prepare your banneton basket by flouring it liberally with rice flour. Using your bench knife, transfer your loaf seam side up into the basket and cover with a shower cap. Wrap inside a produce bag to keep out moisture and place in the fridge for 2-4 hours for a cold retard.

The cold retard slows down or “retards” the fermentation process and allows your dough to develop more flavor from the lactic acid that is rapidly produced toward the end of your bulk fermentation. This is considered the second rise of your dough or “final proof”. Once your dough springs back slowly and about half way when you poke it with a floured finger, it is ready to be baked.

Prepare To Bake

Preheat your dutch oven to 500 degrees F with the lid on. Now, place your loaf directly from the fridge to inside the freezer, not removing it from the banneton basket, for 10 minutes to make scoring easier. This is optional, but something I like to do from time to time.

Next, carefully transfer your loaf of sourdough onto a piece of parchment paper by flipping your banneton basket upside down onto the center of the parchment paper. Your loaf should fall out neatly.

Score Your Loaf

Score a simple design on your loaf, cutting about 1/2 inch deep down the center and at an angle to try and achieve an “ear”. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get the ear you want. It’s not totally necessary and in all honesty, makes the bread a bit harder to slice anyway in my opinion.

However, scoring is necessary. This is because as the gas bubbles in your dough expand and rise in the oven, they want to escape somewhere and when you score, you are controlling where they escape. If you fail to score, you most likely will experience unwanted bulges and blowouts in your loaf. Scoring also helps your loaf to maintain its shape and give it the oven spring you want for a nice airy loaf of sourdough.

Bake Your Loaf

Once your dutch oven is preheated, use oven mitts to take the lid off and place 4 ice cubes as evenly as possible on the bottom. Next, transfer your loaf of sourdough into the dutch oven, taking care not to burn yourself. I usually do this part without oven mitts, but use your discretion.

Quickly, place the lid back on and set a timer for 20 minutes.

After the 20 minutes are up, take the lid off of your dutch oven and lower the oven temperature to 475 F. Bake for another 20 minutes.

Slicing

I know it’s tempting to slice into your bread right away, but don’t do it! Wait at least 30 minutes to cut with a serrated bread knife. The reason is because your bread is still technically baking as it comes out to cool.

When you cut into it, be sure to cut slowly so as not to crush the bread. Slice a few pieces, top with raw butter and honey and enjoy!

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Pinterest

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of flour should I use for this beginner’s sourdough bread recipe?

I recommend using bread flour for this beginner’s sourdough bread recipe because of the higher protein content. The higher protein will help gluten structure. You can use all-purpose, however you may not get quite the rise you’re looking for.

Can I eat this if I’m sensitive to gluten?

I go into more detail on this above, but the simple answer is most likely. Many people who cannot tolerate gluten or have gluten sensitivities can tolerate sourdough, especially long-fermented.

Can I cold-proof this in the fridge for longer than the 2-4 hours recommended?

Yes! I sometimes let my dough ferment in the fridge for up to 3 days. However, I wouldn’t go past this as you’ll risk your dough overproofing and having less rise in your bake.