Sourdough - How I Do
I originally wrote this in 2020. Six years later I’m editing for how I actually do what I do now, with loads more experience.
(Not much has changed, but enough for me to want this to be accurate to HOW I DO today in February 2026.)
I’ve played around with Sourdough Bread off and on for a while now. Only with the pandemic have I really had the time to dig deeply. And honestly if it weren’t for the bread hoarders I’d probably not have gotten into it. But I have starter I maintain, I have loads of flour, and salt. I wasn’t going to sweat the lack of bread on the shelves.
I’m going to bare bones information here on how I do it. I’ll give you links at the bottom for more information.
Starter- you can start from scratch, but I asked around for mine. Ask around for yours. You know somebody who knows somebody with some in their fridge.
Feeding the Starter:
Into a 50 grams of starter add flour and water. My general ratio is 1:1:1. Which means I do equal parts of flour, water and starter. The total amount depends on how much bread your want to make eventually. This is feeding the starter. Remove some of the starter to decrease volume, weigh it out then add flour and water in equal parts. Stir. I use a chopstick. I also use a plastic 1 quart food container with a rubber band around it. There are expensive jars and fancy equipment for holding your starter. I haven’t bought anything fancy yet. If you are not going to make bread in the next 24 hours, refrigerate. Do this every 7-10 days to keep your starter alive. If you are going to make bread in the next 24 hours, feed your starter twice, leave the starter on the counter, give it its last feed 6-12 hours before you get to making your bread. You want it to peak before you mix it into the bread. The time varies depending on how active your starter is to begin with. If you over or undershoot the readiness of your starter, no problem. It can recover in future steps.
I assume you’re baking one or two times a week. If you’re making bread everyday, you know more than me.
Other notes about starter. Say you think you yours is too sour. To make it less sour/acidic, add more flour and less starter. If you think it’s too mild add less flour. Do this as many times as you think necessary. Allow the starter to peak between rounds of feeding and adjusting. I like mine to be tangy. If you have my starter you’ve got a pretty sour one to work with.
The first step 24 hours ish before you want to have bread to eat:
Make the Autolyse-In a large bowl that is wider than it is deep, mix the flour and water together to hydrate and let it sit. This step makes a softer crumb, taller bread, so do it. Some people poo poo this step. Mix 1000g flour to 800g water. I used to say the flour should be at least 50% all purpose flour and 10% bread or high gluten flour, the rest can be made up of whole wheat or more all purpose or any kind of flour you like. Nowadays I generally make 100% High Gluten flour bread. I don’t mess around with all purpose or other grains because I’m going for ease and it works well. I use tap water. Let it sit on the counter covered with plastic or a clean towel for 30 minutes to 2 hours.
It's going to look like a shaggy mess and like you don’t have enough water. You do have enough water. Promise. My recipe is actually for a “high hydration” dough. When the water to flour ratio is higher than 70% it’s considered high hydration. With 1000g of flour and 800g of water that's 80% hydration. Lower hydration can be easier to manage, they say, but this is what I learned on so this is what I recommend.
You need to be attentive ish for the next 2 to 3 hours.
Into the autolyse mix 150g active starter and 20g salt. It’s going to be goopy and weird. Don’t add more flour but keep mixing until it is cohesive. This is why you want a wide bowl, so you can get in there and stir. Squish it between your fingers, break it apart. We are not building the gluten strands yet. You don’t want to dump this on the counter as it will ooze all over. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes.
Stretch and folds! This is my favorite part of the process:
You can “stretch and fold” or “coil fold”. I’m a stretch and fold girly.
After 30 minutes, start by wetting your hands. then pull an edge up to stretch it and then over and tuck it in. Like pull a handful of dough at 12 on a clock and tuck it in at 6, 3 to 9. Do this 6 ish times. Be assertive but conscious you are creating air bubbles, so don’t slam it around, don’t tear the dough. After the last pull and tuck, flip the dough over in the bowl. Then cover and let rest for 30 to 40 minutes. . Repeat this action 3 more times. Hence why you need be around for a few hours. The last time you do this there should be enough tension in the dough that it sits slightly rounded at its edges in the bowl.
Bulk Fermentation:
In a container fitted with a lid, put the dough to rest for 8-12 hours in the refrigerator. This is when much of the flavor develops. Your dough ball will mellow into a smooth mass and grow a little like 25%.
Forming the Dough:
When it’s time to form the dough, tip the container on to the counter and gently help the dough roll onto the surface. During the last many hours the dough has developed structure/air and you don’t want to lose that texture so don’t pick it up out of the container, don’t slam it around. Be gentle. Pre form the dough into two balls. Put a little light tension on them by scooting them on the counter. Let sit for 20 minutes, covered with a tea towel.
Form the dough but before you do that get a colander or a basket or a banneton basket and line it with a tea towel. Make sure the towel wasn’t dried with fabric softener; it will transfer to the flavor of the bread. Do not use a bowl as the bread needs to be in a breathable container. Dust the fabric with rice flour really well. If you don’t have rice flour, use wheat flour, but it can burn later. -really watch a video for this to see how to form the dough. Spread it out into a rectangle on a floured surface. It will be sticky, don’t flour it too much. Fold the sides in so it’s skinny, then roll it from the bottom, stretching as you go, trying to create tension. Pace it seam side up basket. Don’t worry if it looks too round for loaf or too wonky, it will puddle a bit in the batnneton. Loosely cover it with plastic wrap. Let sit for 6-14 hours in the fridge.
Baking:
Set two Dutch ovens with their lids in the oven and preheat to 500 degrees. Only after it’s preheated, remove the dough from the fridge for the next steps.
Use parchment paper, set it against the dough and gently flip the banneton over then gently set the dough on the counter. Remove the towel or basket and brush off some of the flour. Score the bread with a razor, or a lame, or a sharp knife at least once or be decorative. Do try to put at least one big slash down the length of the bread so it can expand and not tear. You’ll go back and slash that place again 7 minutes in.
Carefully remove the scorching hot Dutch oven from the oven, pick up the bread using the parchment as handles and place in the hot pot tenderly. Cover and bake for 7 minutes then go back, quickly remove the lid, and rescore the big slash. You don’t want to rescore the little decorative slashes. Continue to bake for 13 additional minutes. Reduce the heat to 450 and bake 10 additional minutes with the lids still on. After that remove the lids and bake for 15-20 minutes to brown the bread. Go a dark as you dare.
Remove pot from the oven and bread from the pot. Admire your creation and cool before cutting.
Bread for two loaves:
1000g flour
800 g water
150 g starter
20 g salt
500 degrees 20 minutes, covered total.
450 degrees 10 minutes, covered,
450 degrees 15-20 minutes uncovered
Notes about timing: The four folds, 30 minutes apart are the most time restrictive part of this, and even that, you can go 60 minutes between folds. When the dough is resting at room temp there is a lot of variation in time.
If I do inclusions I add them at my 2 stretch and fold. I make onion bread, seeded bread, olive bread and recently cheddar and jalapeno bread.
My most typical timing is when I start the autolysis in the morning. I’ll do my 4 folds over the next few hours, and have it done by noon. I’ll then put the mass into a container in the refrigerator until 8 or 9pm. I’ll form the loaves and put them in the bannetons to refrigerate overnight. The next morning I’ll preheat my oven to 500 or 475 in the convection, with the Dutch ovens inside and bake off the bread. It’s a solid 24 hours, but I could extend the times on the counter or in the fridge if I need to.
Equipment:
Large wide mixing bowl
2 bannetons-colanders with tea towels work too
bench scraper
Dough whisk
8 quart container with lid
lame- or sharp knife
parchment paper
Dutch oven
