# The Best Sourdough Bread Recipe for Beginners Source: https://trevorfarias.com/recipes/sourdough-bread Author: Trevor (Sunny Side Kitchen) Published: 2026-09-05 · Updated: 2026-09-05 Category: Bread · Cuisine: American > The best sourdough bread for a home kitchen uses 500 grams of bread flour, 350 grams of water, 100 grams of active starter and 10 grams of salt. Mix, do four gentle stretch-and-folds during a 4 to 6 hour rise, shape, refrigerate overnight, and bake in a covered Dutch oven at 450°F for 20 minutes, then uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes. That is the whole recipe; the rest is timing and patience. ## At a glance - Prep time: 30 minutes (hands-on) - Cook time: 45 minutes - Total time: About 24 hours (Includes a 4 to 6 hour rise and an overnight cold proof) - Yield: 1 round loaf (12 slices) - Servings: 12 - Calories per serving: 155 ## Ingredients - 500 g bread flour, about 4 cups; all-purpose works in a pinch - 350 g water, about 1 1/2 cups, lukewarm (80 to 85°F) - 100 g active sourdough starter, about 1/2 cup, bubbly and recently fed - 10 g fine sea salt, about 1 3/4 teaspoons - rice flour or extra bread flour, for dusting the proofing bowl ## Instructions 1. **Mix the dough.** In a large bowl, stir together the water and starter until the starter is mostly dissolved. Add the flour and salt and mix with a spatula or your hand until no dry flour remains. The dough will be shaggy and sticky; that is correct. Cover the bowl with a damp towel or plate and let it rest for 30 minutes. 2. **Stretch and fold, four times.** Wet one hand, grab the far edge of the dough, stretch it up and fold it over the center. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat until you have folded all four sides. Cover and rest for 30 minutes. Repeat this stretch-and-fold three more times, 30 minutes apart, for a total of four sets. The dough will become smoother and stronger with each set. _Tip: Wet hands keep the dough from sticking. No extra flour is needed at this stage._ 3. **Finish the bulk rise.** After the last fold, cover the bowl and leave it alone for another 2 to 4 hours, until the dough has grown by about half to three-quarters, looks domed and airy, and jiggles when you shake the bowl. In a cool kitchen this can take longer. 4. **Shape the loaf.** Lightly flour the counter and turn the dough out. With floured hands, fold the edges into the center to form a rough ball, then flip it seam-side down. Cup your hands around the dough and drag it toward you a few times, rotating as you go, to tighten the surface into a taut ball. Let it rest for 15 minutes. 5. **Cold proof overnight.** Generously dust a banneton or a medium bowl lined with a clean tea towel with rice flour. Place the dough in it seam-side up. Cover with a plastic bag or plate and refrigerate for 12 to 16 hours. _Tip: Rice flour does not absorb moisture the way wheat flour does, so the loaf releases cleanly._ 6. **Preheat the oven and Dutch oven.** Place a Dutch oven with its lid on the middle rack and preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C) for 45 minutes. The pot must be fully heated to get a good rise. 7. **Score and bake covered.** Cut a piece of parchment paper slightly larger than the loaf. Turn the cold dough out onto the parchment, seam-side down. Using a razor or very sharp knife, make one confident slash about 1/2 inch deep across the top at a shallow angle. Carefully lower the loaf on its parchment into the hot pot, cover, and bake for 20 minutes. 8. **Uncover and finish baking.** Remove the lid and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is a deep golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. An instant-read thermometer should read 205 to 210°F in the center. 9. **Cool completely.** Transfer the loaf to a wire rack and let it cool for at least 1 hour before slicing. The inside is still cooking as it cools; cutting early gives a gummy crumb. ## Equipment - Kitchen scale - Large mixing bowl - Dutch oven with lid (5 to 7 quart) - Banneton or medium bowl and tea towel - Parchment paper - Razor blade or sharp knife for scoring - Wire cooling rack ## Notes - Times are for a kitchen around 72 to 75°F. Cooler kitchens need more time at every stage. - Your starter must be active and float in water before you mix. This matters more than any other step. - For a milder flavor, shorten the cold proof to 8 hours. For more tang, go up to 24 hours. ## Why this recipe works - 70% hydration is wet enough for an open crumb but dry enough to shape easily, which is the sweet spot for beginners. - Stretch-and-folds replace kneading entirely. Four sets, spaced 30 minutes apart, build all the strength the dough needs. - An overnight cold proof develops flavor, makes scoring easy, and lets you bake whenever it suits you the next day. - A preheated Dutch oven traps steam so the crust stays soft while the loaf springs up, then crisps once the lid comes off. ## What you need to know before you start Sourdough is leavened by a starter, a simple mix of flour and water that has collected wild yeast and friendly bacteria. Your starter must be active before you bake. Feed it 4 to 12 hours ahead (depending on how warm your kitchen is) and use it when it has at least doubled in size, looks bubbly and domed, and smells pleasantly sour rather than like nail polish. A quick test: drop a teaspoon of starter into a glass of room-temperature water. If it floats, it is ready. If it sinks, give it another hour or two. The timeline below assumes a kitchen around 72 to 75°F. If your kitchen is cooler, every rise will take longer; if it is warmer, things will move faster. Watch the dough, not the clock. ## Ingredient notes and substitutions Bread flour gives the best rise and chew because of its higher protein content. All-purpose flour works, but the loaf will be a little softer and may spread slightly more. You can swap up to 100 grams of the bread flour for whole wheat flour for a nuttier loaf; add an extra tablespoon of water if you do. Use filtered or bottled water if your tap water is heavily chlorinated, since chlorine can slow the starter down. Any fine salt works. If you only have coarse kosher salt, use 12 grams instead of 10. ## A sample baking timeline Here is the schedule I use most weeks. Shift every time by the same amount to fit your day. - 8:00 AM — Feed the starter. - 1:00 PM — Mix the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes. - 1:30 to 3:00 PM — Four sets of stretch-and-folds, 30 minutes apart. - 3:00 to 6:00 PM — Leave the dough alone to finish rising until it has grown about 50 to 75%. - 6:00 PM — Shape the loaf, place it in a floured bowl or banneton, cover, and refrigerate. - Next morning — Preheat the Dutch oven for 45 minutes, score, and bake. ## How to tell when the dough has risen enough This is the step most beginners worry about, and it is easier than it sounds. At the end of the bulk rise the dough should have grown by about half to three-quarters, feel airy and jiggly when you shake the bowl, show a few bubbles on the surface and sides, and dome slightly rather than sit flat. If you poke it gently with a floured finger, the dent should spring back slowly. Under-risen dough bakes into a dense, gummy loaf. Over-risen dough spreads flat and the crust may tear instead of opening at the score. If you are unsure, err on the side of a little longer; sourdough is forgiving in the refrigerator. ## Troubleshooting common problems - Dense, tight crumb: the starter was not active enough, or the bulk rise was cut short. Make sure the starter floats, and give the dough more time. - Flat loaf that spreads in the oven: the dough was over-proofed, or it was shaped too loosely. Shape with more tension next time and chill it promptly. - Pale crust: the oven was not hot enough or the loaf came out too early. Bake until it is a deep brown; color is flavor. - Gummy interior: the loaf was sliced while warm. Let it cool for at least one hour, ideally two. - Too sour: shorten the cold proof to 8 to 10 hours, or use a starter that was fed more recently. ## Storage - Store cut-side down on a cutting board, uncovered, for up to 2 days. The crust stays crisp. - For longer storage, keep in a paper bag or bread box for up to 4 days. Avoid plastic, which softens the crust. - Freeze whole or sliced, wrapped tightly, for up to 3 months. Toast slices straight from the freezer. ## Variations - Seeded loaf: press a mix of sesame, sunflower and flax seeds onto the shaped loaf before the cold proof. - Rosemary and olive oil: fold 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary and 1 tablespoon olive oil in during the second stretch-and-fold. - Half whole wheat: replace 250 g of bread flour with whole wheat flour and add 25 g more water. ## Frequently asked questions **Do I need a Dutch oven to make sourdough bread?** A Dutch oven gives the best crust because it traps steam, but you can bake on a preheated baking stone or heavy sheet pan instead. Place a metal pan on the bottom rack, and pour a cup of hot water into it when you put the bread in to create steam. Remove the pan after 20 minutes. **How do I know my starter is ready to bake with?** Feed it and wait until it has at least doubled, looks bubbly and domed, and a spoonful floats in a glass of water. This usually takes 4 to 8 hours after feeding at room temperature. **Can I skip the overnight cold proof?** Yes. After shaping, let the loaf rise at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours until it is puffy and springs back slowly when poked, then bake. The flavor will be milder and scoring is a little harder because the dough is softer. **Why is my sourdough so dense?** Nearly always it is an underactive starter or a bulk rise that ended too early. Make sure the starter passes the float test, and let the dough grow by at least half before shaping. Weighing the flour instead of measuring by cups also prevents accidentally dry, dense dough. **Can I make this recipe with all-purpose flour?** Yes. The loaf will be slightly softer and a bit less tall, but still delicious. Reduce the water by about 15 grams (1 tablespoon) since all-purpose flour absorbs a little less. **How many calories are in a slice of homemade sourdough?** One slice (1/12 of this loaf) has roughly 155 calories, mostly from the flour, with about 5 grams of protein and under 1 gram of fat. ## Nutrition (per serving, estimated) - Calories: 155 - Fat: 0.6 g - Saturated fat: 0.1 g - Carbohydrates: 31 g - Fiber: 1.2 g - Sugar: 0.2 g - Protein: 5.4 g - Sodium: 325 mg - Cholesterol: 0 mg --- Recipe by Trevor. Full page with photos: https://trevorfarias.com/recipes/sourdough-bread Structured data (JSON): https://trevorfarias.com/recipes/sourdough-bread/recipe.json