Sourdough Glossary for Beginners: 20 Essential Baking Terms (2026)

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How to Use This Glossary

Sourdough recipes assume a vocabulary that no one is born knowing. A single instruction like "autolyse for 45 minutes, then do three coil folds during bulk at 78 °F" packs four technical terms into one sentence. This reference defines the 30 terms that appear most often in sourdough recipes and troubleshooting, each with the concrete numbers you actually need at the bench. The list is alphabetical, so scan for the word that tripped you up. Where a term involves math, such as hydration or baker's percentage, the hydration calculator handles the arithmetic for you.

Baker's tip: You do not need to memorize these. After 4 or 5 bakes the core dozen (starter, levain, hydration, bulk fermentation, proof, oven spring, crumb, score) become second nature. Bookmark the page and return to it whenever a recipe uses a word cold.

Terms A to C

Term	Definition
Autolyse	A rest of 30 to 60 minutes after mixing just flour and water, before adding starter and salt. It hydrates the flour and lets gluten develop passively, cutting kneading time.
Baker's Percentage	A scaling system where every ingredient is expressed relative to flour weight: ingredient divided by flour, times 100. Flour is always 100%, salt is typically 2%. Run the numbers with the hydration calculator.
Banneton	A proofing basket of cane or wood pulp that supports shaped dough during the final rise and leaves the classic spiral ring on the crust.
Batard	An oval, torpedo shaped loaf, as opposed to a round boule. Slices give long oval pieces well suited to sandwiches.
Boule	A round loaf, from the French for ball. The most common shape for home bakers and the easiest to shape well.
Bulk Fermentation	The first rise, where dough ferments as one mass after mixing. Typically 4 to 8 hours at 24 to 26 °C (75 to 78 °F), ending near 50% volume increase. Most flavor and structure develop here.
Coil Fold	A gentle strengthening move during bulk: lift the dough center, let the ends tuck under, rotate 90 degrees and repeat. Kinder to high hydration dough than stretch and folds.
Crumb	The interior texture of the baked loaf. An open crumb has large irregular holes; a tight crumb has small uniform ones. Neither is objectively better, it depends on the bread.

Terms D to L

Term	Definition
DDT (Desired Dough Temperature)	The target dough temperature after mixing, usually 24 to 26 °C (75 to 78 °F). Adjust water temperature to hit it, since dough temp drives fermentation speed more than clock time.
Discard	The portion of starter removed before feeding to keep the culture manageable. Still usable in pancakes, crackers and waffles rather than thrown away.
Ear	The raised, lifted flap of crust that forms along a score line when oven spring pushes the dough up through the cut. A marker of good scoring and a well timed proof.
Float Test	Dropping a spoon of starter into water: if it floats, it is aerated and likely ready to bake. A rough guide, not infallible, since stiff or high hydration starters can fool it.
Gluten	The protein network formed when glutenin and gliadin in wheat flour hydrate and link. It traps fermentation gas and gives dough its stretch and the loaf its structure.
Gum Line	A dense, gummy streak just under the top crust, usually from slicing before the loaf has fully cooled or from underbaking. Wait at least 1 to 2 hours before cutting.
Hooch	The grey or brown liquid that pools on a hungry starter. It is alcohol produced by the yeast and signals the culture needs feeding. Pour it off or stir it in for tang.
Hydration	Water weight as a percentage of flour weight. 75% hydration means 750 g water per 1000 g flour. Home loaves usually run 65 to 85%; higher means a more open, harder to handle crumb. The hydration calculator does the conversion.
Lame	A handled razor blade used to score dough. The thin, sharp edge cuts cleanly without dragging, which a knife tends to do on wet dough.
Levain	A portion of starter built up specifically for one bake, often at a set ratio such as 1:5:5 (starter to flour to water) and sometimes with a different flour than the maintenance starter.

Terms O to Z

Term	Definition
Open Crumb	A crumb with large, glossy, irregular holes, prized in high hydration country loaves. It needs strong gluten, adequate fermentation and gentle shaping to preserve the gas.
Oven Spring	The rapid rise in the first 10 to 15 minutes of baking as trapped gas expands and water flashes to steam. Steam and a preheated oven at 230 to 260 °C (450 to 500 °F) maximize it.
Overproof	Dough fermented too long, so the gluten weakens and the gas escapes. It spreads flat, tears easily and bakes into a dense, sour, holeless loaf with little oven spring.
Preferment	Any portion of dough fermented ahead of the final mix, including levain, poolish and biga. It builds flavor and leavening power before the main dough is made.
Proof	The final rise of the shaped loaf before baking. At room temperature it runs 1 to 4 hours; a cold retard in the fridge stretches it to 8 to 16 hours for deeper flavor.
Retard	Slowing fermentation by refrigerating the shaped dough at 3 to 5 °C (37 to 41 °F), usually overnight. It develops acetic tang and lets you bake on your own schedule.
Scald	Pouring boiling water over flour (often rye or whole grain) to pre gelatinize the starch. It boosts moisture retention and softness, related to the tangzhong method.
Score	A cut made in the dough surface with a lame just before baking to control where the loaf expands. Unscored loaves burst randomly at their weakest point.
Starter	A living culture of wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria kept alive by regular feeding of flour and water. It leavens the bread in place of commercial yeast.
Stretch and Fold	A no knead strengthening move during bulk: grab one side of the dough, stretch it up and fold it over the center, rotate and repeat. Usually done in sets of 4 every 30 minutes.
Tangzhong	A cooked flour and water paste (roughly 1 part flour to 5 parts liquid heated to 65 °C / 149 °F) folded into dough to lock in moisture for a softer, longer keeping crumb.
Underproof	Dough baked before it fermented enough. It springs violently but bakes dense with a tight crumb and often a gum line, because the gluten never fully aerated.
Windowpane	A gluten check: stretch a small piece thin enough to see light through without tearing. If it holds, the gluten is developed enough to trap gas.

Common mistake: Confusing bulk fermentation with proof. Bulk is the first rise of the whole dough mass (4 to 8 hours), while proof is the final rise of the already shaped loaf (1 to 4 hours at room temperature). Cutting bulk short to reach the proof stage faster is the single most common cause of a dense, underproofed crumb.

Putting the Vocabulary to Work

These 30 terms cover the language of nearly every sourdough recipe from a basic boule to a laminated country loaf. The pattern behind them is simple: fermentation terms (starter, levain, bulk, proof, retard) describe time and biology, structure terms (gluten, hydration, stretch and fold, windowpane) describe dough strength, and finishing terms (score, ear, oven spring, crumb) describe the bake. Once a term stops slowing you down mid recipe, the recipe reads as a plan rather than a puzzle. For the two terms that carry real math, hydration and baker's percentage, keep the hydration calculator open so the numbers are never the thing standing between you and the next loaf.

Sourdough Glossary: 20 Terms Every Beginner Should Know

How to Use This Glossary

Terms A to C

Terms D to L

Terms O to Z

Putting the Vocabulary to Work

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