A Simple Sourdough Loaf: For Beginners (Step By Step Guide)

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“A Simple Sourdough Loaf” may seem like an understatement to some as they work through the steps necessary to create a successful loaf. Maybe you identify with one of these scenarios:

You’ve finally gone through the long and tedious process of making a sourdough start, and you’re ready to face your first sourdough loaf.

or

A sourdough obsessed friend of yours has graciously given you some of their well cared for starter so that you can try your hand at making some bread yourself, but you have no idea what to do next.

or

It’s just been a while since you’ve made a beautifully textured, yummy sourdough loaf, and you just want a refresher

Either way, you have come to the right place. Happy to have you here, and I hope this simple step by step guide to baking an artisan sourdough loaf will get you on your feet and well on your way to making the yummiest sourdough loaves ever!

What is Sourdough?

Sourdough is amazing. It is the process of taking flour and water to create a leaven, then fermenting it over time to create a beautiful bubbly dough. That dough is then baked at a high temperature to create the fluffy artisan breads you see on social media and at every farmers market.

The starter itself is cultivated from a long process of adding flour and water over and over again until you have created an amazing culture of happy and healthy microbes. The most important categories of these microbes are a variety of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts.

Benefits of Using Sourdough!

The process of creating sourdough recipes is not only an amazing science experiment, but sourdough also benefits you physically! When correctly fermented…. sourdough tends to have a lower glycemic index, digest easier in your gut, and improve gut health in general.

An added plus, you don’t have to always rely on store bought yeast in order to get a fluffy bread. Granted, some sourdough discard recipes will utilize store bought yeasts to make the process a little faster, but you lose some of the health benefits when done this way.

Sourdough Terminology

Here’s a quick little list of common sourdough terms to help you feel like a pro going into this process:

Starter:

Sourdough starter is the little bit of sourdough that you leave in the jar so you have something to make your next loaf with.

You may hear people say they “feed” their sourdough start. That is a whole process in and of itself. Here’s a quick guide to feeding sourdough start if you don’t quite know what I’m talking about.

Discard:

Discard is what is left over from after your feed and what you don’t use in your loaf or set aside as start. Hence why it is called discard….it is discarded.

I typically will keep a little bit of discard to feed again right there (if I’m making another loaf the next day), or place in the fridge to feed the next week (if I’m not trying to make a ton of bread).

You may still have discard left over even setting some aside to feed later, and you don’t have to necessarily discard the leftovers as the term implies. This can go in a separate jar to use in other recipes that don’t need the bubbly start. Like sourdough discard biscuits or sourdough naan bread

Levain:

After you feed your starter and leave it on the counter for 8-10 hours (typically), it turns into this lovely bubbly mixture. This is your Levain or leaven. You can add the levain to the water and flour you are using to create your bread loaf. Sometimes people will term this the start as well. That’s okay, in the end….if used properly….you get the same result no matter what you term this mixture.

Autolyse:

This is simply the process of mixing the flour, water and starter together followed by a period of rest. (Typically 20 minutes).

Stretch and Folds:

Most sourdough artisan loaves don’t use your “traditional” kneading technique where you push the dough away with your palm. Rather, it uses a series of stretching and folding to build strength in the dough and prepare it for bulk fermentation. (There are other techniques than just this, but stretch and folds are a great place to start).

Bulk Ferment:

This is that really long phase after stretch and folds where you have to wait 6-12 hours depending on environmental temperatures and pressures. You will want to make sure and time this right as over proofing your dough or under proofing your dough will leave your with a less than ideal loaf.

Shaping:

The process of working your dough into a ball. (Or other shape depending on what your desired end result is).

Scoring:

Making careful cuts in a sourdough loaf using a scoring blade or sharp knife right before baking. Some people also score their bread after a short time baking in the oven.

A Typical Sourdough Schedule

(As a note I live at a higher altitude and we experience all four seasons, so my schedule does change slightly from winter to summer, but it’s still pretty much follows this process)

For a Morning Bake

8am: Feed Sourdough Starter

7pm: Create the Dough

7:10-7:30pm: Autolyse (or rest the dough)

7:30-9pm: Intermittent Stretch and Folds (this sounds intense but it doesn’t require a ton of attention)

7am or 8am: Shape dough

9am: Bake

For an Evening Bake

(I like this one because I have more control of the proofing)

9pm: Feed Sourdough Starter

7 or 8am: Create the Dough

8:10-8:30: Autolyse (or rest the dough)

8:30-10am: Series of Stretch and Folds (this sounds intense but it doesn’t require a ton of attention)

6pm or 7pm: Shape Dough

8pm: Bake

Here We Go! Step by Step Instructions

Materials Needed

• 2 Mixing Bowls
• Mixing Spoon
• Food Scale
• Parchment Paper
• Dutch Oven
• Banneton (If Desired, I personally would use something like this where you don’t have the towel if I were to invest in a banneton now. I’ve tried the linen one and got frustrated with the sticking)
• Bread Scorer

Ingredients Needed

• 520 g Flour
• 365 g Warm Water
• 8 g Salt
• 90g Bubbly Sourdough Starter

Instructions (Following Night Baking Schedule)

9pm: Feed Starter

Right Before you go to bed, feed your sourdough start. I like to use the 1:5:5 method.

8am:Create Your Dough

Your sourdough start should be doubled and ready to use.

Add 90g active sourdough starter to 365 g of warm water. Mix together to create a cloudy water mixture.

You’ll know your start is happy and really ready to be used when it floats when placed in water like this (See Image Below).

In a separate bowl mix 520g of flour with 8g of salt.

Combine water/starter mixture with flour mixture. Mix until well combined.

Place a warm, damp towel over your bowl. (I’m preparing two loaves in this picture)

8:10am: Begin Autolyse

Rest your dough for a good 20-30 minutes before starting stretch and folds.

8:30-10ish: Stretch and Folds

This may seem like an intimidating amount of time to devote to stretching and folding dough, but it really isn’t. The actual stretching and folding only takes a minute or two…it just has to be done a few times with rest between. Here’s what it may look like.

8:30am– First stretch and fold. Cover the bowl with your damp cloth, and come back in 30 minutes.

9am– Second stretch and fold. Cover the bowl with your damp cloth, and come back in 30 minutes.

9:30am– Third stretch and fold. Cover the bowl with your damp cloth, and come back in 30 minutes.

10am– Final Stretch and fold. Cover the bowl with your damp cloth (to keep the dough from crusting), and let it sit for the bulk ferment.

If you are a visual learner, this video does a great job at showing what a stretch and fold looks like for a sourdough loaf.

10am-5pm: Bulk Ferment

Place your now covered bowl somewhere warm, and let it sit for 7-10 hours (I try to check mine at the 7 mark and then wait if it still doesn’t look ready).

This is where are the magic happens. There isn’t much to a bulk ferment other than patience. It really does take 7-10 hours (sometimes a little more sometimes a little less depending on seasons) to get the bread to reach its sweet spot for cooking.

Tip: If you are unsure if your dough is ready, try the poke test. Flour your finger, and poke an indentation into your dough. If the poke springs right back up, it is not ready yet. If the poke slowly rises about halfway back up….it’s ready for the next step!

5pm: Shape Dough

Wet your fingers with some water and go around your bowl, scraping the edges of the dough stuck to the sides away.

Plop this beautiful and soon to be tasty science experiment on an unfloured surface.

Run your hands through some water, and start to work with your dough.

Pick up your dough and sort of turn the dough in on itself. (I can’t explain it, but every time I use this technique it really helps shape my dough better).

Now place it back on the counter and start to roll the dough into a ball. I’ll place a video below to help you out.

Here’s the video by TheCleverCarrot’s Youtube Channel

Place the now shape loaf into a prepared banneton or back in it’s bowl. Cover with a lid or wrap and place in the fridge. Cooling the dough helps give it more spring when you place it in the oven.

6 pm: Score and Bake

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Place your Dutch oven inside to warm up with the oven.

Wait at least 45 minutes in order for the oven and Dutch oven to properly heat. Again, a really hot Dutch oven will help with the spring in combination with your dough chilling in the fridge. This will help create that fluffy yummy famous sourdough loaf texture.

Once the 45 minutes is up, get your dough and place it on some parchment paper.

If you wish to make your loaf look pretty, this is where your can dust the top with semolina or rice flour and make cuts into the top of the bread in whatever way your creative side needs that day.

Pull your Dutch oven out of the oven. Remove the lid. Place your loaf, on the parchment paper into the Dutch oven, replace the lid and place the whole thing back into your oven. (You’ll want to be quick here to ensure your Dutch oven stays hot).

Cook the loaf for 25 minutes with the lid on. Then 25 minutes with the lid off. You want to make sure it has enough time to really cook. Every oven is a little different. For instance, one oven I worked with cooked my loaves at 20 minutes with the lid on, and 16 minutes with the lid off. It was strange, but it worked. Find what works for you.

If the loaf looks a little dark, I’ve learned unless it looks majorly burned, the dark brown on the crust actually is a great sign of the crust being done. Too light of a crust could indicate that the middle isn’t quite finished or that it won’t give you that satisfying crunch after cooling.

Allow the loaf to cool fully before cutting. The loaf will continue to cook during the cooling off process. Allow it this opportunity to finish its process.

Voila! You’ve just made an INCREDIBLY delicious sourdough bread to share with those around you (or to eat all to yourself….no judgement here).