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I’ve been sucked in. It’s taken over everything. My kitchen. My time. My thoughts. My plans. Once you’re on the sourdough train it’s a slippery slope to as many homemade items as you can get. I think it just makes you a better baker!

That was definitely exaggerated. I don’t want anyone to be super intimidated by the amount of time it takes. If you are going to be home for a 4-6 hour chunk you’ll have enough time to get your dough ready and then you leave it (hands free!) for another 4-6+ hours, then bake it for an hour. 

So does it take planning? Yes. 

Is it hard to make sourdough? 

NOT EVEN A LITTLE. 

Although it’s a process, you feel like a professional baker when your loaves come out beautiful and crusty! 

I have experimented with a few different recipes and have combined, changed amounts, shifted times, and really crafted a recipe that’s not super tangy, but crusty, fluffy, and so so so delicious. 

I’m going to give you all the details in the post of all the nuances of the recipe. I want you to pay attention to your dough! I want you to know by the feel of your dough if your bread is going to taste good. It’s real! The more you spend time with your dough, the more familiar you will be with how it feels right before it’s ready to be baked. 

The best part of sourdough is that even though it takes a time commitment, each step only takes a few minutes of effort!

The Process Starts With Feeding Your Sourdough Starter

I go into detail in about how to feed your sourdough in >>> this post!

Pull your starter out that morning and I typically do 1 part starter:1 part filtered water:1 part all purpose flour. Can you use fancy flour? Yep. I just stick with the basics because my belly and my tastes prefer that! 

Now let your starter rise for 4-6 hours, until it has doubled in size. (Can we just talk about how cool it is to be watching something visibly grow right in front of you?! I really do love watching it.)

Mix the Ingredients.

It’s so simple. Honestly. You can use measuring cups but your ratios will be slightly off. That’s ok! Usually sourdough is very forgiving. I just found what works best for a consistent dough for me, and it works the best when you weigh the ingredients. 

Add 375g filtered water (1 ¾ c water), 130g active starter (¾ c starter), and 13g salt (2 tsp salt) to a kitchen aid mixer. Mix until the starter and salt are dissolved in the water. 

Add in the 500g flour (4 c flour). It will make a shaggy dough… 

What is Shaggy Dough?

Shaggy sourdough dough is pretty wet. It’s still a little shiny and mixes fairly well. Once the flour has been totally incorporated, leave it. Don’t overthink it and don’t overwork it! The dough will pretty much do its own thing. You don’t want your dough to be super wet, then it won’t form all the way, but sourdough is more wet than dry! Make sure there is a lot of moisture in your dough, especially at the beginning stages. 

Leave it covered on the counter for an hour. 

Stretch and Folds

Now that your dough has rested. Uncover it. Wet your hands in the sink. Pull up one side of the dough as high as you can pull it without tearing and put it onto the middle. Pretend your dough ball is a square, pull up the other three sides, one after the other until you have gone all around the dough 4 times. Cover and leave on the counter. You don’t need to do any more than that! 

Leave the dough to rest for 30 minutes and repeat. 

Leave the dough to rest 30 minutes and repeat. 

Leave the dough to rest 30 minutes and repeat. 

Stretch and folds are the best because they literally take 30 seconds and you cover them and let them do their thing!

Stretch and Fold Tips

If your dough is really wet do another round or two of stretch and folds. If your dough is dry add some water into the stretch and folds. The dough should be wet enough that the moisture from your hands being wet with water won’t stick to the dough! 

If your dough is not stretching, let it rest longer in between. Maybe it’s too cold in your house and you need to give it some time to really develop. You can do anywhere from 4-6 rounds of stretch and folds before you let it rise for the final time. 

Proofing Sourdough 

After the last stretch and fold, allow your dough to rise for 3 hours minimum. Here’s where I do something a little different. I usually time this to where my dough is ready to go in the fridge at night. 

Finish the stretch and folds and plop the whole thing onto the counter that has been sprayed with water. (I wet my hands and flick it onto the counter or wipe it with wet hands.) Lay the sourdough out into a rough rectangle. Fold the sourdough onto itself in thirds. Then flip the open side onto the counter so you have no seams on top. 

Grab the open end of the sourdough with your right hand and twist it all the way around to the right side like you’re trying to spin it on the counter. This will pull the dough into a tight ball. Repeat this process until you have a nice looking round ball!

So you let it rise for 3 hours on the counter, THEN stick it in the fridge for one hour. OR you made your dough the night before and refrigerate it overnight and you can bake in the morning.

Fridge Loaves of Sourdough Make Prettier Bread

Did you read that??? Let your sourdough rise in the fridge for a while if you want to try and keep a design on it. I have done a few loaves where they turned out perfect, just the way I expected. Sometimes the sourdough has a mind of its own and it splits wherever the heck it wants to! 

The prettier bread does consistently come from the loaves that I let rise in the fridge as well as the counter. Do I know why??? Absolutely not.

The final rise is complete! Congratulations, you can almost eat this thing! After it has risen in the fridge for at least an hour, you score the top. It’s not 100% necessary but it will split down the side somewhere if you don’t give it a place to split. 

If you have a fancy scoring tool (not really fancy, they’re like $7!), it’s time to add whatever design you want to your bread. This is probably my favorite part… because I’m just a little extra, all the time. Oh my poor husband. 😂

Take it out one final time onto the counter and pull it into a ball again. I usually use a dough scraper to pick it up and put the whole ball onto a piece of parchment paper. After it’s on parchment paper you can put flour on the top to really make your designs pop! Rice flour is the best option for designs but all purpose does work if you don’t have any. All purpose flour sometimes disappears into my loaves instead of staying on the outside.

Baking

It’s time to bake your bread! Preheat your oven and dutch oven to 460 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature WITHOUT opening the oven or checking the bread to 425. Let it bake for another 10 minutes. Check if it is done. The top should be a nice golden brown. If it’s not, put it back in the oven for another 5 minutes. 

The good thing about sourdough is that it doesn’t burn easily. When in doubt, leave it in. Even if you burn the bottom, you can cut it off and it will still taste amazing. I know that sounds crazy but I’ve done it multiple times. 😬

So… it’s a process. But you’ve got this! You’re going to have an amazing fresh, fancy loaf of bread that took 75 hours of wait time and only 5 minutes of prep time to make. Haha