How To Make Sourdough Bread, And Our Favorite Beginner-Friendly Recipe

Beginner-Friendly Sourdough Bread

Kitchen Tools:

• Food scale
• Mixing bowl
• Baking sheet
• Metal dough scraper
• Bread lame
• Serrated bread knife

Why Grams?

You might notice that our ingredients are notated in grams, rather than tablespoons and cups. This is because measurements for sourdough need to be quite exact, so it makes more sense to measure them at a gram level. Just whip out your food scale to do so! We've included standard US measurements as an alternative, just in case.

Ingredients:

• 50 grams mature sourdough starter (roughly 1/3 cup)
• 150 grams unbleached all-purpose flour (roughly 1 1/4 cups)
• 150 grams room temperature water (roughly 2/3 cup)
• 476 grams room temperature water (roughly 2 cups)
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast
• 840 grams unbleached all-purpose flour (roughly 6 3/4 cups)
• 20 grams pink or sea salt (roughly 3 1/2 teaspoons)

Directions:

1. Prepare the sourdough starter by mixing it the night before you plan to bake it. In a large mixing bowl, mix together sourdough starter with 150 grams of flour and 150 grams of water until thoroughly combined. Leave on the counter overnight covered loosely with a lid. It should double in volume, so make sure the bowl is large enough.
2. The next morning or after 12 hours, add in the remaining 476 grams of water and instant yeast, swishing the yeast lightly to make sure it is bubbly and ready to work.
3. Add in remaining amount of flour and salt and mix together thoroughly using your hands. It will initially be sticky but come together as a firm dough.
4. Let dough rest for 30 minutes for the flour to absorb all the liquid and flavors.
5. On a well floured surface, knead dough by stretching one end up and then pulling it over back to the bottom end, making a half turn and repeating until you have a smooth dough, roughly 10 minutes.
6. Place back in the mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a floured kitchen towel and let rise until the dough has doubled in size, 90 minutes to 2 hours (depends on the temperature of your house!)
7. Remove dough onto the floured surface or large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Divide the dough in half using a metal dough scraper. Pre-shape each piece of dough by pulling the edges toward the seam and turning over so the seam is on the bottom. Twist each piece of dough with your hands on the bottom of the dough to make a tight ball. Cover both pieces of dough with plastic or floured towel and let rest for 15 minutes.
8. To make wide loaves, gently roll each piece of dough back and forth to elongate it.
9. Place loaves onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, if not already on there.
10. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
11. Cover loaves again and let rise for 1 hour.
12. Remove plastic wrap or kitchen towels and brush water over the top of each loaf and dust generously with flour.
13. Make two deep diagonal slashes in each loaf using a bread lame or razor blade to allow for more rising in the oven.
14. Bake the loaves for 35-40 minutes, until they are a deep golden brown.
15. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes to set the crumb inside. Cut loaves with a sharp serrated bread knife and serve.