How to make sourdough
- Published: 8 Mar 16
- Updated: 9 Jun 25
Learn how to make sourdough at home with our easy step-by-step recipe by Lottie Covell. It’ll take you through making your own starter and pre-ferment before using them to bake a loaf of white sourdough bread – with lots of tips and tricks along the way.
“It was only once I’d baked my first loaf that I fully appreciated the magic of sourdough,” says Lottie. “There’s a sense of satisfaction that comes from turning a few simple ingredients into a beautifully risen hunk of rustic moreishness, and once you’ve cracked it you can bake great loaves as often as you want to.”
“The knack for baking sourdough develops over time – and I should add a warning here that the process is seriously addictive! To get myself up to speed, I went to a masterclass run by baking expert Emmanuel Hadjiandreou, where I learned so much in just a few hours. Although the recipe looks complicated,
I promise you it’s easy once you’ve developed a feel for the process and for the dough.”
- How do you make sourdough? Sourdough is usually made of three components: the starter, the pre-ferment and the making of the bread itself. Our sourdough recipe is made with a two-stage process using a pre-ferment and will take 2 days. If you’re making a starter from scratch too, you’ll need to allow an extra 8 days before you start baking, but once your starter looks lively and strong (bubbling steadily) you’re good to go.
- What’s a pre-ferment? The sourdough recipe in this guide uses a pre-ferment (also called sponge, poolish or biga). The idea is that you mix a little yeast, either commercial or in this case from your starter, with a little flour and water and allow it to develop and grow before using it in your bread dough. Using a pre-ferment gives the natural yeasts a bit of a boost, and also improves the flavour of the loaf.
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Makes 1 large loaf (about 20 slices) -
Hands-on time 50 min, oven time 30 min, plus rising, resting and 2½-6 hours (or overnight) proving (not including the starter and pre-ferment)
Before you start
You need to begin making the starter a week before you want to make your first loaf. As with all recipes, read it all the way through, including the tips, before you begin.
Nutrition
Per slice
- Calories
- 106kcals
- Fat
- 0.4g fat (0.1g saturated)
- Protein
- 2.9g protein
- Carbohydrates
- 22.2g carbs (0.2g sugars)
- Fibre
- 1.1g fibre
- Salt
- 0.7g salt
delicious. tips
Organic flour doesn’t contain pesticide residues, which can prevent the growth of natural yeast. If you don’t want to use organic, buy top-quality strong plain flour such as Doves or Shipton Mill.
Thoroughly rinse all your equipment in hot water before you start, as residues from some anti-bacterial washing-up liquids can kill the sourdough starter.
When bringing the dough together (step 1), the texture should initially be shaggy. After the kneading, stretching and folding, the dough will form a smooth and soft texture.
It’s important to rest the dough between folding to allow the gluten to relax, otherwise the bread will be too chewy. Rest it for about 10 minutes between each stretch and fold. Only leave it longer if it’s too firm.
If your oven has a proving setting, save time by proving the dough inside (it may be ready to bake after just 11⁄2 hours). If you don’t have the specific setting and you’re in a hurry, heat the oven to 50°C, then turn it off and put in the dough.
To fit baking into your daily routine, when you get to day 6, make up the pre-ferment as soon as you wake up. Then in the evening, prepare the dough for proving, leaving it covered with an upturned bowl or unused shower cap in the fridge. The next morning, bake the dough as per instructions (there’s no need to bring to room temperature if the dough has fully proved).
When scoring the dough, don’t press the knife down – gently pull it through the dough. The blade must be very sharp – bread razors are best (from Bakery Bits or The Bertinet Kitchen, where you’ll also find proving baskets, linen and dough scrapers). Using a clean, elasticated shower cap is an easy way to cover bowls.
Freeze the baked loaf for up to 1 month, wrapped in cling film. Defrost, then warm in a low oven. Or slice before freezing, then toast frozen slices when needed.