Photograph of my Sourdough, from my most recent book Food For Thought, taken by Laura Edwards reproduced with Kind permission from Kyle Books.
I am often asked for a basic sourdough recipe, and for a cost of making sourdough a boule can cost as little as 20p, but, in so many ways I am somehow reluctant to give a sourdough recipe because a recipe in itself really does not guarantee a good loaf.
There are many variables that affect a good sourdough bread, from the kind of flour, to the amount it is handled, to the weather on the day. These are things that I cannot account for in a recipe.
Learn to bake this sourdough on our online course
There are many basic sourdough recipe posts online, some good and some not so good, but baking a beautiful loaf is about more than just the practical external factors. To make a really great sourdough you need the ability to judge the dough; to know it, understand it, feel it and instinctively correct or modify your technique on any given day. This takes practice, time, understanding and patience. The ability to judge these factors and allow for them is one of the things we teach on our sourdough courses. But more than that I teach people to understand sourdough. Once you understand sourdough then you will always bake a great loaf.
That said, nothing gets you off to a better start at the weekend that a warm crusty sourdough loaf fresh from the oven and there are many bakers who read this site too far away to attend a course. So this is my basic sourdough recipe; it is based on the French country Pain de Levain that I grew up baking in the village bakery in the South of France, and is timed so as to be ready to take out of the oven on a Saturday morning to bake.
A traditionally French shaped sourdough boule. Allow yourself about 4 hours for the dough to be mixed, folded and shaped ready to place in the coldest part of the fridge to prove overnight. (If you are new to bread making, you can, instead of shaping the dough and putting it into a banneton, grease a 2lb bread tin liberally with butter, let the dough rise in it overnight in the fridge and then bake as per the recipe instructions below.)
A large mixing bowl
A round cane banneton
2 clean tea towels
A Dutch oven or La Cloche
A large heatproof pan, a sharp knife or ‘lame’ to slash the dough with
Ingredients:
300g water
100g sourdough leaven* (made with your starter)
100g of stoneground organic wholemeal flour
400g organic strong white flour
10g fine sea salt mixed with 15g of cold water
25g rice flour mixed with 25g of stone-ground white flour (for dusting your banneton)
Semolina to dust the bottom of the baking surface
Makes 1 loaf
Directions:
Late afternoon
Mix
In a large bowl whisk your water and starter and mix well. Add all the flour and mix until all the ingredients come together into a large ball.
Cover with a clean damp cloth and let the dough rest on the side in the kitchen for between 30 minutes and 2 hours – this what bakers call Autolyse
Fold
Add the salt mixed with the water and dimple your fingers into the dough to allow the salty water and salt to distribute evenly throughout the dough. Leave for 10 minutes.
Next, lift and fold your dough over, do a quarter turn of your bowl and repeat three more times. Repeat 3 times at 30 minute intervals with a final 15 minute rest at the end.
Shape
Shape the dough lightly into a ball then place into a round banneton dusted with flour (If you don’t have a banneton then use a clean tea towel dusted with flour inside a colander). Dust the top with flour, then cover with a damp tea-towel
Prove
Leave your dough to one side until it is 50% bigger then transfer to the fridge, and leave to prove there for 8 – 12 hours.
Bake the following morning
The next morning preheat your oven to 220°C for at least 30 minutes before you are ready to bake. Place your cloche or baking stone in the oven and a large pan of boiling water underneath (or use a Dutch oven). The hydration helps form a beautiful crust.
Once the oven is up to full heat, carefully remove the baking stone from the oven, taking care not to burn yourself dust with a fine layer of semolina, which stops the bread sticking, then put your dough onto the baking stone and slash the top with your blade. This decides where the bread will tear as it rises. Bake for an hour.
Turn the heat down to 180°C (and remove the lid if you are using a Dutch oven) and bake for another 10 -15 minutes. You need to choose just how dark you like your crust but I suggest that you bake until it is a dark brown – it tastes much better.
Storage
Sourdough is really best left to cool completely before slicing and is even better if left for a day to let the full flavour develop.
Once your sourdough has cooled, store in a linen or cotton bread bag, or wrapped in a clean tea towel.
Note: if you don’t like a crunchy crust on your sourdough bread, simply wrap your bread in a clean tea towel whilst it is still warm.
- * To make 100g of leaven, use 1 tablespoon of sourdough starter, 40g of water and 40g of strong white flour, mix well and leave, covered on the side in the kitchen in the morning. It will be lively and bubbly and ready to bake with in the evening.
- More advanced recipes and tips are available to members of the sourdough club.
Seems like a very accessible recipe. One question, after proving overnight, how long do you need to leave the dough outside of the fridge before baking, assuming pre-heated oven? Or can it go in straight away?
I bake it straight from the fridge.
Very helpful…thanks indeed Vanessa
I have made this once and am making it again tonight. I found the dough did not rise in the fridge and I kept it at room temp for several hours after that when it did rise. How much should it rise before baking? Thanks
It needs to rise by about 50% – try starting a but earlier in the day if you are not having the time to let it rise.
Thank you
Hi, a question from a completely new baker. When you say place a large bowl of boiling water underneath I assumed this to mean stand the baking tin in the water. But someone else says it should have been on a lower shelf… Please clarify . oh and when it’s left to cool down, do I just turn it out of the tin onto a wooden board?
I’m new to bread baking, encouraged by and recommended to your website by a friend. I was going to buy a bread making machine! Let’s hope I succeed.
Hi Richard. I turn my breads out onto a wire rack.
No – the tin is just under the bake. All Boules though need to go in a cloche. In which case you don’t need the water as it is self steaming.
Let me know how you get on.
best Vanessa
Why don’t you knead the bread at the beginning?
I mix really well and gluten forms overtime anyway so kneading is a bit pointless.
Does it make any difference autolysing just the flour and water before adding the starter?
Hi Graham, Sometimes if I have a heavy flour, such as a whole rye or wholegrain stoneground one then I find this is a useful technique.
Im gearing up to try my first Sourdough loaf using your recipe, tips etc. I would like to know if the final prove in the fridge 8-12 hours can be extended. I’m a shift worker and having a looser timing schedule would really help
Thank You
Annie
Hi Annie,
Many people prove their sourdough for much longer. Generally the longer the prove the more sour. In fact I visited a bakery just last week who prove for 17 hours in the fridge. Just check the temperature of your fridge is between 3-5 degrees as a warmer fridge temperature might result in over proving.
Vanessa
Do you put the stone in when you turn on the oven, or do you put it in after the oven is heated, and put the dough to bake on the stone that will then heat up as the bread bakes?
Yes pre heat the stone.
Always love a new sourdough recipe, as they all are different and it can take a while to perfect making a loaf. A question I have is about the wetness of the starter, some recipes I have tried end up too wet, as I think they are intended for a dryer starter. I am now experimenting with less water to flour ratio in my starter but was wondering what you would suggest..
I have just made a loaf from you basic recipe and it has to be the best one I’ve ever made!
It has the most delicious flavour and the crust is to die for. I found it hard to slice, so I’m wrapping it in a tea towel and will try again tomorrow.
Thank you for for the recipe. I live in Australia so cannot get to any of your courses unfortunately.
Janet – what a wonderful message. I’d love to see a photo .. and I have the Sourdough club pages if you are on Facebook.
Vanessa
x
That’s great news that there’s a FB page. I too am in Australia and beginning my sourdough journey. My first 2 rounds didn’t work…one didn’t rise, the other stuck dreadfully to my floured tea towel in the colander, so I’m about to go for a third try. I’ve been told the mother gets better with age, so fingers crossed. Thankyou for sharing difficult insights across the globe.
Hi Vanessa! Many thanks for this recipe which I’ve used with good results. Just for clarification, do you mean to bake for an hour at 220 degrees and then a further 10-15 minutes at 180 degrees, 85-90 minutes in total?
Sorry it is basically an hour in the cloche and then the last 10 – 15 minutes is really about getting the crust to the level of darkness you like.
The initial high temperature is about getting the maximum oven spring. The lower 180 is time to cook the inside of the loaf and the last 10 – 15 is about the final crumb colour.
Does that help?
Vx
Just the business – many thanks!
Thanks for the clarification as I also thought the baking temperature was 220 and I ended up with a very thick crust and overbeaked loaf. I’m making one again, so I’m so glad that I went through these comments to find this one. Let’s hope this time it turns out beautiful!
Hi
I’m just doing my first one and I don’t find the clarification here clear. Is it 1hr 15 in total with 1 hr at 220 and 15mins at 180? That’s how I’m reading the instructions but the comments and your answer suggest that that might not be the case.
Thanks for your help!
P
yes . but every one has different ovens so use your judgement too.
Hello! If i am baking in a tin, should I also bake at 220 for an hour? This will be my third go at this recipe, I’m loving it but finding the crust ends up very dense.
Thanks,
Sam
Reduce baking time to suit you .. and wrap in a tea towel whilst warm to soften crusts.
I am a sourdough newbie but managed to produce a very acceptable boule using your recipe. My 17-year-old daughter said it tasted like the artisan bread we enjoyed on Gozo earlier this year.
I made my own starter from organic stone-milled flour and used 200g, but adjusted the dry flour and water to compensate. I was very dubious about proving the dough in the fridge but you obviously know what you are talking about! Many thanks for a simple and easy-to-follow recipe with a delicious result!
I live in a small NZ town with no decent bakery, so have been baking my own sourdough for the last eight odd years. Stumbled across this recipe and gave it a go.
Remarkably easy to follow, and stupendously good results (baked in dutch oven). The following times I have paid less attention to the timings except for baking times, and the result is always what I’d call the perfect loaf; crusty, fragrant, great crumb and delicious.
Thanks so much
Hi Steve,
What a lovely message. Thank you. I’d love to see a photo if you fancy sending one?
Best Vanessa
So using the Dutch oven did you bake for an hour fifteen still ?
Thanks in advance
Just got into making bread at home and have now discovered sourdough and was wondering if instead of baking in an oven if it can be made in a breadmaker?
You can make sourdough in the bread maker. I used to use a bread maker about 8 years ago when I have three children under the age of 4!
Pop all the ingredients in the maker and mix. Put the timer on and delay of 5 hours.. you should find your bread maker will do the rest.
Hope that helps.
Hello, can I prove for 4 hours in a warm room instead of the fridge. Am I right in saying that you don’t really knead this bread very much? Thanks.
Yes it is a no knead technique, and yes a normal room temperature is fine.
Hello! I tried this recipe a while ago and it turned out really good. I’ll do it again tomorrow — this time I’ll use my cloche (first time it was on a baking stone) — but the question I have is, do I still need a pan of boiling water if I use a cloche? Wouldn’t the cloche lid prevent the steam from entering in?
I know that in this recipe it says I still need that, but on BakeryBits.co.uk I found another of your recipes (the Friday night sourdough) where there is no mention of using boiling water or ice cubes to create steam — hence my question.
Hi Louise,
Gosh no .. the steam is only if you use a baking stone. The cloche teams the steam from the bread as it bakes, so no need for a pan of water.
Happy baking.
Vanessa
x
My way of getting a really good crust is to spray the loaf all over with water using a fine plant spray – after slashing. It never fails.
Hello again,
Just received my starter and wondering if I use 100g of the actual starter (after the 3 feeds) or do I need to make a leaven with it for the basic recipe please? Thanks very much
Leaven basically is a 100% hydration starter. Provided your starter has approximately the same proportions of flour as the leaven, it won’t make any difference.
After battling to get an open crumb this method was a god send ! Simple and easy but gives a wonderful light open crumb . Thank you !
Hi Naomi,
Lovely to hear!
Vanessa
x
Can’t wait to try this. Although I’m confused – with every other recipe I’ve read says during the autolyse stage you aren’t supposed to add the salt, as it dries all the moisture out of the dough and makes it stiff. Is this true or false?
Hi Jenna,
You are correct. A true Autolyse adds the salt in just after the Bulk fermentation.
Kind regards
Vanessa
Thanks! One more question. Is it okay to let the bread proof in the fridge longer than 12 hours? Maybe 15-16?
I have to say that this is one easy-to-follow and foolproof recipe. I have been trying to make proper sourdough for ages, and this (combined with La Cloche) have given me *exactly* what I was looking for in a loaf. I was worried that it was looking a little wet, but it turned out perfectly. Thank you so much!
Hi Paul,
That is great to hear. There is also a Facebook page called The Sourdough Club where lots of people swap photos and information .. so if you have got any pictures to share we’d love to see them.
Best
Vanessa
The recipe looked correct and it turned out perfect. Thanks
Bake for 1 hour at 220?C the an extra 15 mins at 180?C?
Just checking: Most other recipes I’ve used have timings around 35/45mins. My attempts have always passed the ‘Tap’ test at these timings so your’s caught my eye. Does the crust just get thicker and thicker the longer the baking time?
I’ll give it ago but just wanted some newbie reassurance.
Bake for 1 hour at 220?C then an extra 15 mins at 180?C?
Just checking: most other recipes I’ve used have timings around 35/45mins. My attempts have always passed the ‘Tap’ test at these timings so your’s caught my eye. Does the crust just get thicker and thicker the longer the baking time?
I’ll give it a go but just wanted some newbie reassurance.
Hi Ian, yes the instructions are correct.. but please use a cloche or a Dutch oven. You can of course bake it for slightly less time, and this is fine, but I like my crusts and I was brought up on bread that came out of a wood fired oven, so I love dark thick crusts and a soft moist bouncy crumb… but it’s personal preference.
Happy baking.
Vanessa
Just used this recipe after 2 previous failed attempts with others, it worked perfectly thank you!
As Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall might himself say… https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/may/10/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall-recipes-sourdough
I just made this with my three-week-old sourdough starter and it’s probably the best bread I’ve ever made. Previous problems — crust too light, crust too tough, crumb too cakey, crumb too wet — all gone away. The crust was perfect, crusty and crackly. I cooked it (and mixed it and proved it) in my Lekue silicone bread maker and after just 45 minutes @ 220°C it was deep brown so I didn’t bake any further. This is definitely one I will do again.
What a lovely comment! Thank you for sharing .. happy baking.
Hi
Your sourdough starter was a 1:1 mix of All purpose flour and water or it had any portion of whole wheat flour. I want to try this recipe nut I have a 100% hydration starter with equal. Quantities pf dloir and water.
Can you please suggest me.
any 100% hydrated starter will be fine. IN fact any starter .. just make sure you make a leaven!
Afternoon Vanessa. I had a go at your basic recipe and produced a good looking loaf. I was trying your recipe before investing in a Cloche. The dough was proved over night in a colander as I don’t have a round banneton. Once baking was finished the crust was very brown and difficult to slice and more worrying the crumb was ‘rubbery’. As far as I know I followed your instructions to the letter. I should tell you I bake on a non-stick heated flat baking tray. Any idea what caused the crumb so rubbery?
Regards
Chris
I imagine you used a high protein flour, or that you underpriced your loaf. Try to use a 12 – 13 % protein flour, and make sure you give your loaf time to prove.
Thanks Vanessa for the advice. Purchased the lower protein flour you suggested and the next bake was certainly better.
Hello Vanessa
I’m new to all this and have just begun making my first starter! I would like to find a fairly simple recipe, like the one above, as I hope to make sourdough bread a regular part of my life.
In this recipe, the dough is mixed straight from the fridge, but on another site (cultures for health.com) it says that once starter has been put in the fridge it goes in to ‘hibernation’ and needs to be fed again and used about 4 hours after feeding when it’s at its most active. Does that not really matter?
By the way, I am venturing in to sourdough as I have IBS and am told that the sourdough bread is much easier to digestion. So, would it be ok if I use spelt flour instead of wholemeal?
Kind Regards
Lucy
Hi Lucy,
Lovely that you have found the site and sourdough. If you read the recipe the dough is not mixed straight form the fridge. It does finish proving in the fridge, and it is fine to bake it straight from the fridge, once it is fully proved.
You will also find that longer slower overnight fermentation will help make your sourdough more digestible. There are several articles on the website, including a recent one about spelt and another about sourdough digestibility in relation to IBS.
Hope that helps.
Happy baking.
Vanessa
Made this with my month old starter, which I feed on stoneground rye and plain white flour, and it turned out fantastically! Previously I made the mistake of starting off trying to make really high hydration sourdough breads but decided to try something easier in the end. I let this rise in parchment paper in a tea towel lined colander and then baked it in a preheated Lodge cast iron combo cooker for just under 25 minutes wuth the lid on and then at a lower temp for around another half an hour. To avoid scorching the bottom I put a layer of dried chickpeas on the bottom of the Dutch oven for the bread to rest on. For the last 5 minutes of baking I took the bread out of the Dutch oven and let it go the rest of the way on the oven rack. The oven spring was perfect, and the crust turned out just how I like it – fairly tough, but not too thick and with a nice chewy texture biting into it. This is definitely a keeper! Thank you! 🙂
Lovely to hear!
Happy baking.
Vanessa
x
If I was out and about and wanted to use my breadmaker to knead the dough, can I add ALL the ingredients including the salt solution and then leave it to rise while out. Then I would shape it for the banneton when I get back and leave to rise over night?
Hi Cathy,
It’s been a long time since I baked sourdough in a bread maker .. but I used to work long hours in the city .. in another life .. so as I recall all I did was stir all the ingredients together and transferred to a bread maker. I then set the bread maker on an 8 hour delay. My bread maker has a 5 hour wholemeal setting. I seem to remember that it produced a great family sourdough loaf. I’d mix at 6pm and the bread would be ready at 7am the following morning filling her house with freshly baked sourdough bread smell – just in time for breakfast. You would, however have to check the size of your bread maker and adjust accordingly. Do let me know how you get on!
Vanessa
Hi Vanessa,
I’ve just started a total white flour “starter” as my son is not keen on rye and wholemeal flours. What a pity!
For your basic sourdough recipe can I make the loaf with 500g white flour rather than 100g wholemeal and 400g white?
Thank you.
What a lovely site!
yes you can .. but it might change the feel if the dough which is designed to allow beginner to have a dough that is relatively easy to handle. .. as the hydration is tempered by the wholemeal. which absorbs more of the water .. so if you find the dough hard to handle then just reduce the water by 15 grams.
Hi Venessa,
I attempted the recipe and when I left it to autolyse for 2 hours, it turned into a slightly gooey batter slightly thicker than fish and chips batter. I’m trying to figure out what I did wrong.
About the leaven… I keep my starter in the fridge. Do I feed it, leave it out for a few hours to bubble then scoop 2 tablespoons out, to be combined with the 50g of flour and 50g water for the leaven? or can I use 2 tablespoons of the starter straight from the fridge for the leaven?
I live in Singapore and it’s pretty warm in the kitchen, could I have left the dough to autolyse too long?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Looking forward to making some of your awesome looking breads!
Hi – I am guessing it might be a number of factors. Yes temperature is one reason, flour type is another. Try and make sure your scales are accurate too. It think it is more likely to be your flour .. but it is hard to tell from here… I do have a few Students I can ask in Asia, so let me know and I will put you in touch to find out what they are using.
I think you’re right! Tried a different brand of bread flour and it worked great!
Fuss free recipe with dope results. Definitely recommend it! Thank you
Happy baking Juan. x
Hey, I’ve tried this recipe three times. The bread comes out very tasty but its always rather dense and the crust is very hard. Do you know where i might be going wrong?
Thanks so much, you’re a great resource ?
I suspect it might be the flour you are using. Are you in the UK?
Try using a roller milled flour to begin with as your main flour. Mulino Marino ( see shop on my website) 00 is wonderful. Also Doves Farm flour – it the green bag of strong bread four .. all about 13% protein. I mis that with some local organic stoneground flour for best flavour and added nutritional benefit.
I understand your recipe but I have arthritic hands and cannot knead by hand but have a machine with a dough hook, can you give me any hints, tips please.
Please don’t mix or knead .. at all. A long slow fermentation will take care of this. If you email me I will send you a no knead technique ..the gluten will develop anyway. I promise.
Foolproof recipe that I use as the base for all my sourdough baking. I made another loaf using your recipe ( subbed out some white for spelt flour and added pumpkin seeds) this morning and it’s sat on the side now cooling and cracking away. I’m impatiently waiting to be able to cut it. Thanks Vanessa!
Thank you .. I am smiling .. what a lovely comment. Nothing I love more than to hear that someone has been inspired to bake sourdough. welcome to a whole new world.
Vanessa
x
Well you made it so simple! I just wish I could post a photo. I have another I’ve just taken out of the oven, it’s a little lighter on the crust than I would like but sadly my bread knife just isn’t up to the task of the deep brown extra crunchy crusts. Do you have any knife recommendations?
Thanks again
X
Hi, I made my first sourdough today, the basic recipe, but I found it hard to shape as it was a little wet, as in, sticky. It cooked fine and looked really good when it was baked. Very rustic looking which is appealing but I was wondering if the dough is supposed to be so wet? My local shop is a coop and I just used their branded flour as I didn’t have another choice. I wondered if the flour was an issue.
Sounds like a flour issue to me. Did you use any wholemeal?
Yes, I made it to the recipe. Since posting I have made this a few times and I reduced the water by 20ml and that helped. Either way, it turned out beautiful and I haven’t bought bread since. My family really love it too. Thanks for the great resource. I want to start experimenting with other recipes but I have been a bit afraid, I know silly, but I’m starting to get a little bit more confident. Thanks again!
Hi Vanessa
I’m so excited about giving this sourdough in the next few days, once my starter is ready to use. I’m just wondering what you would advise if I haven’t got a Dutch oven or La Cloche? Would I need to adjust the timing?
Thank you.
I use a big, lidded, ceramic-type casserole dish and it works great.
Hi Vanessa – recipe looks delicious. What is the recipe for the sourdough starter?! Thanks, Victoria
Hi Vanessa, how important is the oven temperature for sourdough to rise? Or is it all about the dough? My oven is quite old and I suspect might be losing heat and my bread comes our flat which makes me wonder if the two are related.
Su do use a cloche .. it really makes difference. It will even out the heat and make the most of the heat you have.
Hi,
This may be a really silly questions but, does this recipe need a 500g or 1kg banneton to prove in?
Thanks!
Dani
SOrry – not sure if my previous comments posted or not.
I was wondering if the 500g or 1kg bannetons are better for this recipe?
Thanks
I use 1kg ones. It is the weight of the dough that counts.
Hello,
Thank you for the lovely – easy to follow recipe. Only question I have is when you say “cover with a damp tea-towel” do you mean that the damp cloth is actually touching the dough or is only covering the proving basket/bowl? From my experience the towel sticks a little to the dough if in contact (even when dusted with the flour)… Thanks!
Hi Mary – your bowl needs to be big enough so the towel does not touch the dough. It is there to stop a kin for forming, especially on a dry day or centrally heated house.
Vanessa
Hi Vanessa, after stumbling upon your website a while back I have been wanting to try to make my own sourdough. I finally ordered a fresh starter from Bakery Bits which I revived and then this weekend I tried to make my first breads using your basic sourdough recipe. I used Gilchester flour (wholemeal wheat and organic white) and a La Cloche but although my starter was very active the bread ended up being quite flat each time (no oven spring it seems like). The taste and the crust were really great though! I would love to be able to get more of boule shape but have no idea what I’m doing wrong. Do you know what the issue could be?
Many thanks! Floor
Hi Floor – you sound like you are most definitely over proving your bread. Gilchesters is very active and flavoursome and full on as it is full of nutrition and enzymes .. please speed up fermentation times.
Vanessa
Thank you for such a simple and yet fabulous recipe….cannot fault it. 1st time I have tried a sourdough and so pleased with the end result. Wish I could post a pic
Dee, what a lovey comment. Hope you enjoyed your loaf and are now hooked!
Best Vanessa
Hi, thanks for this recipe, it’s my first sourdough and going well. I am confused by the baking timings however. I am using a thick metal ‘baking stone’ and I am sure the hour at 220 + 15 mins at 180 is far too long (fan oven on bread setting with max steam being used). I have tried 220 for about 25 min and then 15 – 20 mins at 180. The bread is pretty good, but with a very thick and chewy crust. Can you give your thoughts. How would I get the same loaf, but with thinner crust and slightly less chewy crust?
Hi Stuart,
My recipe uses a cloche. This is so you get the curst as you describe above.
Hope that helps.
Vanessa
Made a sourdough starter and fed it over the last two weeks. Followed your recipe this weekend. It’s probably the best bread I’ve ever made. Thank you x
I’m going to try this recipe as my first attempt at sourdough. I’ve bought a 2lb capacity banneton so should I increase the measurements by 50% or will the 1lb dough be ok in the banneton?
Thanks
Brenda
It will be fine.
Hi Vanessa, I make a loaf of bread every day using your recipe on the internet – it is foolproof and delicious. I now have your book and I can honestly say it is the best cookbook I have ever had – thank you. I have one query though. With reference to the excess starter that accumulates every day, should I keep this in the fridge or leave it on the counter with the starter? By the way, the digestive biscuits (recipe in your book) using the excess sourdough are delicious!
Hi Diana, What a lovely comment. Thank you.
Keep your starter in the fridge. When you refresh you just use a spoon, the rest is discard, so perhaps keep this in another opt unit you are ready to use it. Your refreshed pot sits on the side for 8 hours to really get going — then you use it to make a leaven .. then like cinderella the party is over and it’s back in the fridge.
Happy baking.
Vanessa x
Thanks for your reply. I have been keeping my starter out of the fridge as I tend to bake every day. In the morning I use 40g of it to build the levain; refresh the starter with 40g starter, 40g white/rye flour and 40g water and any starter that is left I put in a separate “excess” pot. This excess I have started to use in your recipes where you refer to “unrefreshed 1 week old” starter. Is it OK to add to it every day and should I keep this excess pot in the fridge until needed? As a matter of interest to other readers, I also add about 5g of diastatic malt to your recipe above and tweaked the flour to 350g white, 100 wholewheat and 45g rye – all organic stoneground. The bread is perfect and has a wonderful flavour. By the way, your article on gut microbes is so interesting and informative – thank you. Diana x
I’m trying out ur recipe….am taking it out from the fridge & into the hot oven..
So anxious of the outcome…
Have made sourdough quite a few times with very variable results, this recipe worked first time and gave truly excellent results. It was easy to follow, the crust was crispy but not like a tortoise shell (as I have made all too often!). The texture was wonderful and even. Having made “normal” bread many times I found it hard to believe there was no kneading required, but hey it works. In contrast to many recipes I have seen this one shows a clear understanding of the sourdough process, I learned a lot from it – thanks.
I have been trying, on and off, to make a good sourdough loaf for a long time and must have made enough artisan bricks to build a house. Your recipe seemed nice and clear, so I thought it was time to try again. I mixed up the leaven after your instructions and last week I made a loaf. I was delighted with the result, although I didn’t make the slashes deep enough and it burst (no problem it tasted fine). This weeks loaf was a success and I think I might be hooked on this now!
The recipe is easy to follow and inspires confidence in hopeless cases like myself. It also makes gorgeous bread.
Thank you so much Vanessa!
Vanessa, THANK YOU for sharing this wonderful receipe. I am a total beginner and was blown away by the texture, taste and crunchiness of the sourdough. Your easy to follow receipe made the whole process very easy. I look forward to more sour dough adventures and thank you once again for your web site and enthusiasm. You are a joy.
Hi,
I’m new to sourdough, after previously giving up on a white flour starter after very little activity after 10 days, I’ve now got a rye flour starter on day 4, yesterday it fre by 50% in 24 hours, so I think I’m getting somewhere! Can I make the recipe listed above with my rye starter and use white strong flour for the rest of the recipe? I’d rather not make a full rye flour sourdough ideally. If so do I need to adjust anything to work with a rye starter? Thanks.
yes it should be fine, but refresh your starter 3 hours before you make your leaven. Then make your leaven. Rye get acidic fast.
Thank you for this lovely write-up! My wife and I are enjoy my sourdough practice rounds. Each one is getting better 🙂 .
I made a starter a few weeks ago and decided to try this recipe after having a disastrous experience with another recipe I found online. It was AMAZING! I was a bit skeptical about leaving the dough in the fridge overnight rather than letting it rise somewhere warm (which is what the other recipe told me to do) but the loaf turned out absolutely perfectly first time! Great trick to wrap it in a tea towel after taking it out of the oven too – it meant the crust was still crunchy but not so solid it would break out teeth! Such an easy recipe to follow and the loaf was gone within a day. This has now become my go-to recipe for an easy loaf
Thank you so much for sharing this! Happy baking. x
Hi Vanessa,
I live in Hong Kong and only have a tiny oven! Do you think it would be possible to make this bread and halve the mixture before the overnight prove? Then bake it as two loaves?
Thank you.
yes I am sure this is fine. Although you might want to reduce the baking time.
Hello,
Silly question, but should this be strong wholemeal flour or just regular wholemeal?
Thanks!
Craig
not silly – to is bread making flour so yes strong flour
Hi Vanessa, thank you for creating a fantastic website, I have been inspired! and am in the process of making my very first sourdough using your recipe for both the starter and bread, my fingers and toes are crossed for the end result! I live in New Zealand and wonder is there a way to become a member without attending your courses as I would love to learn much more.
Hi Megan you candy the courses online – look under courses and find the online membership.
Kind regards
Vanessa
Hi there,
Sorry if this is a stupid question – i assume when you say mix the bread that you don’t mean kneading it, just bringing it together. Is that right?
Many thanks.
Yes just bring it together very well so all the flour has met with water.
Vanessa, I’ve been baking Sourdough since last Summer and your two recipes, this one and the Friday Night one on the Bakery Bits website are the only two recipes which I’ve had favourable results with! So thank you for that 🙂 Just a couple of questions please: I’m trying the Marino Soffiata Type 00 flour next as I’d like a lighter, less dense loaf for sandwich type bread but worried about lack of flavour. Is it ok to go half/half with this and FWP Mathews Strong White stoneground flour so that I get the best of both worlds or do you recommend going all Soffiata? Also, with your Friday night recipe, is the salt correct? Its 10g but should it not be at least 20g, I find the loaf lacking in flavour because of it? I am tempted to add more however just want to check if its that little for a reason! Thank you!
Hi, Last week I received my sourdough starter and cloche from Bakery Bits, made my first loaf using your recipe which was included. Have to say the loaf looked wonderful and tasted pretty good, however, I would prefer a more irregular open crumb. Can you tell me please how I could achieve this.
It depends on the flour you use and the amount of water you use. What flour are you using?
Love this recipe, have baked about a dozen loaves using it and always delicious. Question: even with making large slashes before baking, the loaf expands so much that it “bursts” beyond the slashes. Any tips on what could be the cause?
It sounds a little over proofed .. so perhaps bake an hour earlier?
Vanessa, I will be coming on one of your courses very soon. I have been using Mr H’s overnight sourdough recipe. I am going to have a go with this one. I have a cloche but my problem is oven temperatures. I have an Everhot range oven (storage heat) so it is not possible to turn down the temperature easily. Do you have any suggestions. I am baking at a far higher temperature than you recommend. Results are reasonable but I think there is definitely room for improvement.
Well perhaps try baking for less time .. I often bake at 240 and drop to 200 ..
I love, and am inspired by, your Instagram posts. I’ve been sourdough bread baking for a couple of years, and have had some good successes. I’m exited to try your basic sourdough recipe this weekend. I have one concern: the bake times. All my experience to date has had bake times of 20 minutes covered, then 20–25 minutes uncovered. Your formula calls for 70 to 75 minutes. Your oven temperatures are a little lower, but not by that much. Can you reassure me that I won’t end up with burnt or dried-out bread? I converted your celsius temperatures to fahrenheit, and arrived at 430 degrees covered for one hour, then uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes at 355 degrees. Did I miscalculate anything? Thanks!
Hi,
I have been baking for years but only have done sourdough for a few months. I was getting good results with a recipe I kind of made up and suddenly everything would go wrong. I decided to start from scratch and found this recipe. Made it last night and just took the lid off of my bread in the DO but it’s still baking but I can tell it’s turned out great! I wasn’t sure whether the fridge proving needed to be covered so I went with covered. I got good oven spring. Obviously haven’t seen the crumb yet but I’m not fussed about it. I just want nice tasty bread for my family as I can’t get anything decent where I live. The bread rose beautifully and even if I didn’t get holes, I know the bread will taste awesome. The whole house smells like a bread shop. Thank you. Oh, I found I needed to add a bit more water to make the dough workable but as you said that comes down to feel and flour and temperature. Thanks again!!!
Why do you prepare and use a leaven?
Cant you just use the starter that you have made
Thanks Joe
you need to build the strength of the microbes.
Thanks to your recipe I am now making very nice sourdough bread, which both looks and tastes good. However, I do find that it goes stale very quickly. I quarter the loaf and store three of the quarters in the freezer as it goes stale overnight. I store the fresh bread in a polythene bag in the bread bin. Also find that it is absolutely at it’s best on the day of baking or removal from the freezer by the next day it is dry. I always understood that sourdough was a better keeper than yeast breads. Am I doing something wrong.
Made this today and it is a great ‘go to’, no fuss reliable recipe. I put dough into fridge overnight then shaped and into banneton in morning for proving. Thanks! pic IG @simply_sourdough
Hi, I’m poor and can’t afford a cloche or a dutch oven at this point. Would it work ok in the big cast iron casserole dish we got for our wedding? Also, I prefer the taste of rye and spelt flours, would I need to adjust anything for those?
Hi Vanessa – what a lot of information you were able to relate in such a short time on this am’s Womans Hour – wow – I now understand my body in such a different way – so informative, thank you!
I cannot find where the recipe is for the “starter” – have found some online but not sure I trust them!
Can you point me in the direction of yours please?
Hi Vanessa,
what is the difference between this basic recipe and the chart for The classic white sourdough boule in your book ?
Many thanks …
Hi Vanessa
Great website!
I am about to bake my first loaf after having bought a starter on the internet. It’s been going now for 3 days with the flour and water that I have added after discarding some and is bubbling away nicely and smells good!
I’m confused… is this what you call the leaven or is this still called a starter?
Apologies if this is a really stupid question.
Jane
Please refer to the glossary.. it in the tabs in the menu..
Thanks , I have just been looking for information approximately
this subject for ages and yours is the greatest I have came upon till now.
But, what about the conclusion? Are you certain concerning the supply?
Hi, how would you adjust this for a Spelt Sourdough loaf.
Thanks,
Nige
Spelt really doesn’t have the strength to stand up as a boule unless you really are an advanced Baker I suggest putting it in a tin
I’m working my way through your brilliant book. In that, you suggest preheating the oven to 250C if it will go that high, reducing to 180 when the bread is in the oven. Your basic recipe on the website suggests 220C initially. Is the difference important?
Hi Martyn,
The Basic recipe is a domestic version. Most domestic ovens don’t go much above that. The book had to accommodate the fact that many professional bakers use it. So it is a bit more advanced than my basic. Here I load hot then drop the oven, but I use a Rofco. You will have experiment to find what works for you in your oven.
Best
Vanessa
After 1 failed attempt with another recipe I tried this one with a hesitancy but a positive attitude. I followed the recipe to the letter and the loaf came out great and restored my hope in sourdough baking. Thank you..
Hello! I’m just about to make this but only have a trusty rye starter. It’s been going strong for one year. Can I use this? In your opinion, is it OK to use rye starter for white and wholewheat breads. I love these recipes! Thank you.
Yes. Totally fine.
Vx
My oven has a proofing function. How would I use that with the recipes? I love your book by the way!!! Super educational!
I have no idea. everyone has different ovens and unless I come to your house and bake who knows? I am locked down so your best bet is to try it .. if it fails to look good then use a cloche.
Vx
Can we bake sourdough without proving overnight?
Yes, just switch the timings over.
Refresh your starter twice the day before. Mix about 8am .. leave to prove during the day and bake in the evening.
I tried my first one – instructions were too complex and it came out looking like the inside of an ice cave! All big and hollow with spiky bits at the top. But then I tried your recipe – i went to bed beaming coz it was great (though it took long to get a 50% rise (warmed the bowl up on my lap in the end 🙂 ). I am so pleased with the results – itching to make my next one.
I can only get my hands on whole-meal flour now, I have a little strong white flour left, and quite a lot of self-raising flour, what adjustments would you suggest to the basic recipe itself?
Hi Vanessa, I have just received my new Mockmill! My farmer friend has provided me with milling wheat of 12.6% protein and a hagberg of over 300 – can you explain what effect the hagberg has (if any ) on Sourdough bread?
Thank you
John
Hi, we’re in isolation and can’t buy strong white bread flour for love nor money! We have plain white flour and spelt flour. Will this be ok? Thanks.
Yes. You could try cereal & use milled porridge oats in place of whole grain flour. .. it will be a bit denser but far more delicious and nutritious.
V
On Womsns Hour this morning you mentioned you killed off your starter with moving house – what/how did you make your new “starter” ?
Hi Roger it was the person that phoned me not me ..
See LEARN in the menu for details on how to create a starter..
best Vanessa
Om Womans Hour this morning you mentioned you ‘killed off’ your starter when moving house. How did you start/make your new starter to your old recipe ?
Hi Roger it was the person that wrote in that killed their starter. I am not guilty of such a crime of neglect!
Best Vanessa
This recipe is brilliant!! After many failed attempts at sourdough, by following these instructions I managed to produce a delicious loaf, and the timings fit perfectly with my life – thank you so much for sharing! I would love to attach a picture, but don’t know how to! One question – I am struggling to purchase the correct round banneton for this size loaf – are you able to advise please?
Hi Vanessa.
How long roughly does it take for the sourdough to get 50% bigger before putting it into the fridge? Are you talking hours? I can’t start the process in late afternoon, the earliest probably 7pm ealiest, but don’t really want to be waiting up till the wee hours waiting for it to rise enough to refrigerate.
Thank you.
It will usually take about three hours at a DDT of 26C.
Thanks so much for this recipe!!! I made sourdough starter a while ago but always stuck to simple recipes — pancakes, tortillas, flatbread — because I was too intimidated by “real” bread. In the swarms of this pandemic, I figured I’d give this a go just to see and it turned out great! After having a slice, my husband just said, “if we bought this at the farmers market, we’d be really happy with it”…so that’s a vote of confidence! Thanks for sharing such an accessible sourdough recipe with us beginners. Can’t wait to make again!
I tried several recipes, and this one came out very nicely. The levee based on my starter (just 2-3 weeks old) was quite active (2-3 times in two hours), and the only thing I was forced to change was that I baked directly from the Dutch oven that I put in the fridge for 8h. Great oven spring, crusty sound. I baked quite a few sourdough breads lately, but this one was the best so far.
Dad baker.
Thank you Mikael, so pleased 🙂
Hi Vanessa,
After several failed attempts I came across your recipe and gave it ago. My loaf had just come out of the oven and I can’t believe how perfect it is! I followed your very easy to understand recipe to the letter. The only thing I did different was to grease a mixing bowl with flavourless oil for proving as I didn’t have semolina or rice flour. Such a fantastic recipe that really does break down the process. Can’t wait for loaf #2! Thank you so much, James.
James that is lovely – thank you for telling us. Happy baking.
Vanessa
Thank you for sharing.
Leaven – how many tablespoons of starter?
HI Donna – To make 100g of leaven, use 1 tablespoon of sourdough starter, 40g of water and 40g of strong white flour, mix well and leave, covered on the side in the kitchen in the morning. It will be lively and bubbly and ready to bake with in the evening.
Best
Lucy
Hi Vanessa thanks for your great recipe and instructions – I had a failed loaf yesterday with another recipe and today success with yours. I have a great rise and the loaf looks fantastic. The dough is slightly damp – have I cut it too soon? Also, how can I stop the crust on the bottom being so tough?
Thanks again.
10g of olive oil in the dough & wrap in a tea towel as it comes out of the oven.
Vx
After some inconsistent results with other recipes, I tried this one. Spectacular results first try
Hi Vanessa !
Today I’ve received my first Dutch Oven, so I want immediately to test it with this recipe.
I’m new to sourdough, so I’ve a question in order to establish my schedule… How many time is more less needed to make the dough rise about the 50% before putting it into the fridge?
Hi Greta. Timings will vary slightly but we usually allow three hours at a DDT of about 26C before putting the dough in the fridge. Hope this helps.
hello, I’m waiting for your sourdough to arrive. I’m so excited. I live in Italy and I’m a bit confused regarding strong bread flour. Is it tipo 1 or Manitoba or 0? can you help me? any recommendation? thank you very much.
Use tipo 1
Hello Vanessa
Although I’ve been baking bread for over 40 years this is my first sour dough attempt. I have not got a bakers stone or cloche, but I do have a very large Le creuset cast iron casserole. Could I use this to bake the bread in if I preheat it?
yes
I’ve an experienced sourdough baker but recently has a few failures. I thought I’d try this Basic recipe and it worked out perfectly. My bread has an amazing rise and shaping was super easy. Thanks Vanessa!
Great to hear that the recipe worked well for you Susan. Thank you for letting us know!
I may have missed it somewhere but do the temperature settings 220 and 180 apply to fan or non fan ovens.
Hi Gary – non-fan ovens
After attempting various sourdough recipes throughout lockdown, I’ve finally had success with your recipe! Put a smile on my face all day ?
Great news Joe, well done! V
Hello Vanessa, I have been making this boule now since the beginning of lockdown and it has never failed me – thank you so much and I’m a novice baker too:) I wanted to ask you your advice about making two boules; could I just double the ingredients for the leaven? So 1 tablespoon – 25g would be approx 50g? And then double the other amounts. The same for the boule itself etc? Thanks. S
Hi Sophie and yes that is right, just double up. Glad you have been making wonderful bread! Vx
So, I am making your classic loaf (from your Sourdough School cookbook), and I just made the leaven (well actually three of them) with rye flour. With the first one, I followed the recipe to a T. For the second, I added an additional 50g water to make it closer to the consistency of the picture. For the third, I mixed 120g starter, 60g rye flour, 60g water. This was the thinnest one.
Should I go by picture (thinnest) or by the recipe (thickest)? Help!!
Hi Kaitlyn, I would use the recipe amount: 25g sourdough starter, 100g rye flour and 100g water. If you increase the water the starter will grow even faster if you add more starter the nutrients will be used up more quickly. Most important is that you use a starter when it is at it’s peak and that you use the leaven when that is at it’s peak. All flours are different and your water and room temperature will also make a difference. Vx
Use some potato flour to dust you banneton with. It also sounds like you are over prooving.
Did you refresh your starter and the make leaven?
Yes, I refresh it every day. And I mixed a table spoon of it with 50g flour and 50g water. After mixing with flour I leave it for about 2.5 hours before I add salt mixture. After folding this 3 times I prove in the fridge over night or about 12 hours at about 4degrees.
Yes the leaven was refreshed as per the instructions three times, and was quite lively. I dusted the bannaton very well with the Soffiat 00 flour and the dough dropped out quite easily. I put the dough in the fridge at 9.30 the previous night and removed it at 8am and put it into the hot oven at 9am when it had reached temperature. I would say that I did find the dough quite heavy to work and wonder whether it needed more liquid in the mix although I followed the recipe to the letter. Many thanks for you very prompt reply. Wendy.
It really is dependent on your flour .. it like saying I’m driving a car how fast does it go? Just make minor adjustments to the hydration to find what suits your flour …
Hi Vanessa,
I tried a number of different recipes but this one was the first that truly worked for me. I am using a terra cotta Roemertopf and it seems to help to keep the dough in shape and I get nice oven spring but can only make smaller loaves due to size of the Roemertopf. However, when I used today a MasonCash terracotta base with a dome to create a bigger loaf, the dough seems to loose it’s shape when transfering out of the proofing basket. The crust is till very crunchy and the bread still edible with sourdough type holes in it but it just is on the flat side. Is this due to overproofing or what could be the reason? I try to create enough tension when I shape the dough or do you think this is the problem?
It sounds like your starter needs ramping up a bit ..
refresh your starter before baking
Hi Vanessa,
Love French, Italian and Greek breads. Your recipe sounds very simple and comments/tips are very helpful indeed. As I am trying to learn the soughdough technique, was wondering whether I could leave the dough at room temperature (atound 17-18C) for 8 hours instead of keeping it in a fridge? Furthermore, for a month now, I have been feeding my starter with rye and whole meal flour every 12 hours (50gr water + 50gr flour+ 50gr remaining starter) . Hence I want to know whether instead of making leaven I could add 100gr of my starter? I. e. 8hours after last fed? Many thanks. P. S. Btw it would be amazing idea to publish a book with recipes and techniques for soughdough bread in bread makers.
Hi Greg that book is out next week.
Hard to tell about your questions as I am nit in your kitchen and have no idea of your ambient temperature of flour .. but have a go!
Best Vanessa