From scratch · Sourdough
Sourdough bread
A crusty round loaf raised only with sourdough starter, shaped one day and baked the next.
✋ 35 min hands-on
⏱ 1 day 4 hr start to finish
🍽 One round loaf, about 1¾ lb.
ContainsWheat.
Ingredients
- 500 g bread flour, 50 g of it to feed the starter
- 0.6329113924050633 cup water, 50 g of it to feed the starter
- 10 g table salt
Time
Hands-on time is when you’re busy; the rest is rising, simmering, chilling or cooling, when you can do something else.
| Step | Hands-on | Waiting |
|---|---|---|
| Feed the starter in the morning (the day before) | 5 min | 8 hr |
| Mix the dough and rest (the day before) | 10 min | 1 hr |
| Add the salt, then stretch and fold 4 times (the day before) | 10 min | 2 hr |
| Let it rise until it grows by half (the day before) | – | 3 hr |
| Shape it and chill it overnight (the day before) | 10 min | 10 hr |
| Heat the oven with the pot inside | – | 45 min |
| Bake at 475°F | – | 45 min |
| Cool | – | 2 hr |
| In all | 35 min | 1 day 4 hr |
How long it keeps
- Counter: cut side down on a board or in a paper bag, about 3 days (NDSU’s figure for bread).
- Freezer: cool completely, wrap in plastic and then foil or a freezer bag, up to 3 months (University of Missouri). Slice first so you can take out what you need; a whole loaf thaws in its wrapping on the counter in about 3 hours (Cornell).
Nutrition
Estimated from the ingredients’ USDA FoodData Central numbers.
Steps
You’ll need: kitchen scale, large bowl, bowl or basket lined with a well-floured towel, Dutch oven (5 to 6 quart) with lid, parchment paper, razor blade or sharp knife.
- The day before baking, in the morning (6 to 12 hours ahead), feed your starter: 20 g of starter from the jar, 50 g of the flour and 50 g of the water. It’s ready when it has doubled and is bubbly.
- Mix all of the risen starter (about 120 g) with the remaining water (about 325 g) and flour (450 g) until no dry flour is left. Cover and rest 1 hour.
- Add the salt with a splash of water and squeeze it in. Over the next 2 hours, every 30 minutes, stretch one side of the dough up and fold it over; turn the bowl and repeat 4 times.
- Let it rise, covered, until it has grown by about half and has bubbles on the sides, 2 to 4 more hours (longer in a cool kitchen).
- In the evening, turn it out, shape it into a tight ball, and set it seam side up in the floured, towel-lined bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight, 8 to 16 hours.
- Next morning, heat the oven to 475°F with the Dutch oven inside for 45 minutes. Turn the cold dough onto parchment, slash the top, and lower it into the pot.
- Bake covered 20 minutes, then uncovered 20 to 25 minutes, until very dark brown and about 205°F inside. Cool at least 2 hours before cutting.
⚖️ Scaling75% water, 2% salt and about 20% starter by the flour’s weight. Times depend on your starter and your kitchen: go by how the dough looks.
🛡 SafetyDon’t taste raw dough or batter, and wash your hands and the counter after handling flour: raw flour can carry germs that only baking kills (FDA).
🛡 SafetyUse oven mitts that cover your wrists for the 475°F pot.
Good to knowYou need an active starter first: see the sourdough starter recipe.
📜 The old wayBefore factory-made yeast went on sale in the United States in the late 1860s, home bakers raised their bread with starters like this one or with yeast from brewing.
Sources
- Food Storage Guide (FN579), NDSU Extension, reviewed January 2023. Accessed 2026-10-25.
- Tips for Storing Bread, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Herkimer County, 2020. Accessed 2026-10-25.
- How to Freeze Home-Prepared Foods (GH1505), University of Missouri Extension. Accessed 2026-10-25.
- Handling Flour Safely: What You Need to Know, U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Accessed 2026-10-25.
- Charles Louis Fleischmann, Wikipedia. Accessed 2026-10-25.
- How to Make, Feed, and Bake With a Sourdough Starter: Sourdough 101 Guide, Clemson Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center, 2025. Accessed 2026-10-25.