Beginner's Sourdough Guide: From Starter to Freshly Baked Bread

Welcome to the Beginner's Sourdough Guide. If you are new to sourdough baking or want to improve your skills, this is the perfect place to start.

In this guide, I will walk you through the nine important steps for making delicious sourdough bread. I will also help you create a sourdough starter from scratch if needed.

Ready to bake your first loaf or try a new one? Check out my Beginner Sourdough Bread Recipe.

Beginner's guide to sourdough bread

Here is a simple breakdown of the sourdough bread-making process that includes nine steps, with autolyse or fermentolyse optional.

Let's go through each step together and learn more about mastering it and what your dough should look like during each stage.

Levain building

The first step involves creating a lively and active offshoot of your starter. You will mix flour and water with your "mother" starter and let it ferment. This creates levain, the natural leavening agent that helps sourdough rise and gives it its tangy flavor. A healthy levain is key to a great loaf.

Read more: How to Make Levain

Mixing

Next, you will mix all the ingredients. Sometimes, you might let the flour and water sit first (autolyse) to give the enzymes time to hydrate the flour. Other times, you mix the flour, water, and levain and allow your dough to fermentolyse. These steps are optional, but they help develop the gluten and create a strong and stretchy dough.

Read more: How to Mix Bread Dough

Bulk fermentation

This step is where the magic happens. When you add levain to the dough, it starts to ferment. This step involves a series of folds to strengthen the dough and allow it to rise. The yeast and bacteria from the levain help the dough grow, making it light and airy when baked.

Read more: How to Bulk Ferment Bread Dough and When Bulk Fermentation Is Done

Preshaping

After the bulk fermentation, you divide and preshape the dough into rough rounds. This helps the dough redistribute the gas inside and gives it a more even texture, making it easier to shape in the next step.

Read more: How to Divide and Preshape Bread Dough

Bench rest

Let the dough rest for 15-30 minutes. This helps the gluten relax, making it easier to handle in the next step when you finalize the shape.

Read more: How to Bench Rest Bread Dough

Final shaping

Now, it is time to shape your dough into its final form: a boule, batard, or other desired shape. This process gives your loaf its final structure and surface tension, which helps it rise nicely in the oven.

Read more: How to Shape Bread Dough

Final proofing

After shaping, let the dough rest again, usually in the fridge. This final proofing time allows the dough to finish fermentation and develop even better flavor. The timing is important for the texture and sourness of true sourdough bread.

Read more: How to Proof Bread Dough

Scoring

Before baking, you will score your dough with a sharp knife or blade. This allows steam to escape and helps the bread expand in the oven, creating a beautiful crust pattern.

Read more: How to Score Sourdough

Baking

The final step is baking. The dough goes into a preheated oven to create a great oven spring and crisp crust. The heat transforms the dough into a golden-brown loaf with rich flavors and a soft, chewy inside.

Read more: How to Bake Sourdough Bread

Once your sourdough is out of the oven, let it cool for at least 2 hours before slicing. When it is time to slice, grab a bread knife and cut it like a pro.

Now, enjoy your fresh sourdough with some butter, and remember to check out how to store sourdough bread to keep it fresh.

Ready to keep learning?

Now you can choose how you want to learn the magic of sourdough: guided or self-taught.

If you would like me to guide you step by step, sign up for my newsletter. You'll receive easy-to-follow daily emails, perfect for your morning coffee, that guide you through sourdough basics and, later, advanced techniques.

My emails are designed logically, so you can learn sourdough baking without missing a step or jumping around.

If you go the self-taught route, start by reading about what perfect sourdough bread looks and tastes like.

And remember, if you ever need help, I'm just a comment away!