The Perfect Sourdough Bread Recipe for Beginners

The Master Loaf at a Glance

This single-loaf formula runs at 70% hydration, a ratio that stays workable by hand yet opens into an airy crumb once fermentation is dialed in. Everything below is measured by weight in grams, because volume cups vary by up to 20% and wreck reproducibility. Weigh every ingredient on a digital scale to 1 gram, including the salt.

Baker's percentages express every ingredient relative to total flour, which here is the 500 g of bread flour. The starter adds another 50 g flour and 50 g water, so the true dough hydration lands near 71.8%. If you want to push toward a wetter 75-80% crumb or scale the batch to two or three loaves, run the numbers through the hydration calculator before you mix.

Baker's tip: Feed your starter at a 1:5:5 ratio (10 g starter, 50 g flour, 50 g water) 4-8 hours before mixing. It is ripe when it has at least doubled, domes on top, and floats in water. A starter fed the night before and already collapsed will ferment sluggishly and give a dense loaf.

Flour and Starter Selection

Use bread flour with 11-13% protein for reliable gluten structure. King Arthur bread flour sits at 12.7% and is the common U.S. reference point; European bakers reach for a strong T65 or Manitoba blend. All-purpose flour at 10-11% protein works but yields a slacker dough and a tighter crumb, so drop hydration to 65% if that is all you have.

The starter must be at 100% hydration (equal weights flour and water) for the table above to hold. A stiff starter changes the math and the dough feel. If yours smells sharply of acetone or refuses to rise, fix the starter first rather than fighting a doomed dough.

Autolyse and Mixing

Combine the 500 g flour and 350 g water only, mixing until no dry streaks remain. Rest this shaggy mass covered for 30-60 minutes. This autolyse hydrates the flour and lets enzymes and gluten begin organizing before salt and starter enter, which shortens kneading and improves extensibility.

After the rest, add the 100 g starter and 10 g salt. Pinch, fold, and squeeze the dough through your fingers for 2-3 minutes until fully incorporated and slightly tacky. The salt will make the dough tighten noticeably; that is the gluten responding, not a problem.

Bulk Fermentation

Bulk ferment 4-6 hours at 24-25 °C (75-78 °F). Temperature drives the clock: at 21 °C (70 °F) expect closer to 7-8 hours, at 27 °C (80 °F) as little as 3.5 hours. During the first two hours perform four sets of stretch-and-folds spaced 30 minutes apart, building strength without a mixer.

Judge doneness by the dough, not the clock. It should rise 50-75% (not fully double, that overshoots for a young starter), feel airy and domed, show bubbles at the surface and edges, and jiggle when the bowl is nudged. Underproofed dough bakes dense and gummy; overproofed dough spreads flat and tears when scored.

Pre-Shape, Bench Rest, and Final Shape

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pull it into a loose round using a bench knife, building surface tension without deflating all the gas. Let it bench rest uncovered 20 minutes so the gluten relaxes and the round is easier to shape tightly.

For the final shape, flip the round, fold the edges into the center, then roll it toward you to drag it across the counter and build a taut skin. Place it seam-side up in a floured banneton or a bowl lined with a floured towel.

Cold Proof

Cover and refrigerate 12-16 hours at 4 °C (39 °F). This cold retard slows fermentation to a crawl, deepens the sour flavor through slow acid production, firms the dough so it scores cleanly, and lets you bake on your own schedule. Bake straight from the fridge; cold dough holds its blade cuts far better than room-temperature dough.

Baking in a Dutch Oven

Preheat the oven with a cast-iron Dutch oven inside to 260 °C (500 °F) for at least 45 minutes. The preheated pot traps the loaf's own steam, which keeps the crust soft long enough for a full oven spring before it sets. No steam means a pale, cracked crust and a shallow rise.

Turn the cold loaf onto parchment, dust lightly with flour, and score once, 6-8 mm deep at roughly a 45-degree angle, to control where it expands. Lower it into the pot, cover, and bake 20 minutes at 230 °C (450 °F). Remove the lid and bake another 20-25 minutes at 220 °C (425 °F) until deep mahogany. Internal temperature should read 96-99 °C (205-210 °F).

Crumb and Crust Targets

A well-run 70% loaf shows an even, moderately open crumb: irregular holes 5-15 mm across, a translucent glossy interior, and no dense gum line at the base. The crust should shatter and sing (audible crackling) as it cools, colored deep brown from Maillard and caramelization at that 230 °C bake.

Weigh the finished loaf if you want a hard metric. From 960 g of raw dough you should land around 860-880 g baked, an 8-10% water loss during the 40-45 minute bake. A loaf far lighter than that either overbaked or overproofed and lost gas; a heavier, wetter loaf came out short of the target 96-99 °C core and needs another 5 minutes with the lid off next time. Slice into the cross-section: an even wall of open cells from top edge to bottom crust means the fermentation and shaping both landed. A tight, pasty seam along the base is the classic signature of underfermented dough or a loaf cut before it finished cooling.

Troubleshooting

Dialing In Your Own Loaf

Change one variable per bake and log it: hydration, bulk temperature, bulk duration, cold-proof length. Two or three tracked bakes will teach you more about your kitchen and your starter than a dozen random ones. Once the 70% formula is consistent, scale it up or shift hydration through the calculator and repeat the same disciplined process.