Sourdough Glossary: 20 Terms Every Beginner Should Know

When I first started baking sourdough, I spent half my time looking up words I had never heard before. Autolyse? Banneton? Crumb? Every recipe assumed I already spoke the language. If you are in that same boat right now, this glossary is for you. Bookmark this page and come back whenever a term trips you up.

The Essential 20

Autolyse — A rest period where flour and water are mixed and left to sit (usually 30-60 minutes) before adding starter and salt. This hydrates the flour and begins gluten development passively. I cover this in detail in my autolyse guide.

Baker's Percentages — A system where every ingredient is expressed as a percentage of the total flour weight. Flour is always 100%. This makes recipes scalable. My baker's percentages guide explains the math.

Banneton — A proofing basket (usually cane or wood pulp) that holds shaped dough during its final rise. It gives bread its characteristic ring pattern. See my banneton guide.

Batard — An oval-shaped loaf, as opposed to a round boule. Covered in my shaping guide.

Boule — A round loaf shape. The most common shape for home sourdough bakers.

Bulk Fermentation — The first rise after mixing, where the dough ferments as one large mass. This is where most flavor and structure develop. I call it the most important step in sourdough.

Cold Retard — Placing dough in the refrigerator to slow fermentation. This develops flavor and lets you bake on your own schedule. Full details in my cold retard guide.

Crumb — The interior texture of baked bread. An "open crumb" has large, irregular holes. A "tight crumb" has small, uniform holes.

Discard — The portion of starter removed during feeding. It is still usable in recipes like pancakes and crackers.

Dutch Oven — A heavy, lidded pot used to trap steam during baking, creating a crispy crust. My buying guide covers the best options.

Ear — The raised flap of crust that forms along a score line when oven spring pushes the dough upward. A sign of good scoring and spring.

Hydration — The ratio of water to flour in a recipe, expressed as a percentage. A 75% hydration dough has 750g water per 1000g flour. My hydration guide breaks this down.

Lamination — A technique where dough is stretched thin on a wet surface and folded back on itself, useful for incorporating mix-ins or building strength.

Levain — A portion of starter built up specifically for a bake, sometimes with a different flour ratio than your maintenance starter.

Oven Spring — The rapid rise that occurs in the first 10-15 minutes of baking, caused by expanding gases and steam.

Poke Test — A method to check if dough is properly proofed by pressing it with a floured finger. Detailed in my testing guide.

Scoring — Cutting the surface of dough before baking to control where it expands. My scoring guide covers patterns and technique.

Stretch and Fold — A gentle dough manipulation technique used during bulk fermentation to build gluten strength without kneading.

Windowpane Test — Stretching a small piece of dough thin enough to see light through it, which indicates sufficient gluten development.

Wild Yeast — The naturally occurring yeast captured in a sourdough starter, as opposed to commercial baker's yeast.