Sourdough Bread at Home: Simple Steps to Your First Loaf

Sourdough bread gets a reputation for being complicated. It has to be complicated, right? You need a starter that's weeks old, precise temperatures, special equipment, and probably a degree in microbiology.

It doesn't have to be.

You can make sourdough bread at home with a starter you make yourself from flour and water, and the basic kitchen tools you already have. Yes, there's waiting involved. No, it's not that mysterious.

This guide walks you through starting your own sourdough culture, feeding it until it's ready, and baking your first loaf of bread. No special equipment needed.

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What Sourdough Actually Is

Sourdough bread is just bread made with wild yeast and bacteria instead of commercial yeast. Those wild microbes live on grain surfaces and in your kitchen environment. When you mix flour and water and let it sit, they show up and do their work.

The result: bread with a tangy flavor, chewy texture, and better shelf life than standard yeast bread. It also digests more easily for many people because the fermentation breaks down some of the compounds that cause digestive issues.

You don't need to capture specific microbes or create the perfect environment. You just need flour, water, time, and consistency.

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Making Your Sourdough Starter

A sourdough starter is a living culture of yeast and bacteria. Once it's established and active, you use a bit of it to leaven your bread. The rest you feed regularly to keep it alive.

Ingredients and Equipment

• All-purpose or bread flour
• Water (filtered if your tap water is heavily chlorinated)
• A jar with a loose lid or cloth cover
• A kitchen scale (optional but helpful)
• A spoon for stirring

The Process

Day 1: Mix 50 grams flour and 50 grams water in your jar. Stir until no dry flour remains. Cover loosely and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours.

Day 2: You might see a few bubbles. That's good. Discard half the mixture. Add 50 grams flour and 50 grams water. Stir, cover, and let sit for 24 hours.

Days 3-5: Repeat the discard-and-feed process daily. By day 3 or 4, you should see more activity. The starter should double in volume within a few hours of feeding.

When it's ready: Your starter is active when a spoonful floated in water would float (the "float test"), and it peaks in volume about 4-6 hours after feeding. It should smell pleasantly tangy, not like vinegar or rot.

This usually takes 5-7 days, sometimes longer depending on your kitchen temperature.

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Feeding Your Starter

Once your starter is active, you feed it regularly. How often depends on how you use it.

If you bake weekly

Feed your starter once a week and keep it in the refrigerator. Take it out, feed it, and let it come to room temperature the day before you plan to bake.

If you bake more often

Feed it every 1-2 days at room temperature. The warmer your kitchen, the more frequently it will need feeding.

How to feed

1. Remove half your starter and discard it (or save it for pancakes, crackers, or other recipes)
2. Add equal parts flour and water by weight (for example, if you have 50 grams of starter, add 50 grams flour and 50 grams water)
3. Mix thoroughly and let sit at room temperature

A good rule of thumb: a starter fed in the morning should be at its peak by evening, then gradually collapse over the next 12 hours. Use it during that peak window.

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Your First Sourdough Loaf

Here's a simple recipe for one loaf. It uses a stiff enough dough that you can knead it by hand, and it needs minimal equipment.

Ingredients

• 350 grams bread flour (plus extra for shaping)
• 120 grams active sourdough starter
• 250 grams water (room temperature)
• 10 grams salt

Equipment

• Large mixing bowl
• Kitchen scale
• Durable container for fermentation (a bowl or large jar works)
• Baking sheet, baking stone, or heavy pot
• Oven

The Process

Step 1: Mix the dough

In your mixing bowl, combine the flour, water, and starter. Use a spoon or your hand to mix until no dry flour remains. This is autolyse—let it sit for 30 minutes while you prepare your workspace.

After 30 minutes, add the salt and mix it in. This is called a "slip and pinch" technique: grab a handful of dough, stretch it, fold it back in, and move around the bowl doing this 10-15 times. The dough will feel sticky and shaggy at first.

Step 2: First fermentation

Let the dough rest for 2 hours. During this time, you'll do a series of "stretch and folds."

Every 30 minutes, wet your hand slightly, grab one side of the dough, stretch it upward, and fold it over the center. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat 3-4 times around the bowl.

Do this 3-4 times total, then let the dough rest. It should feel smoother and more elastic after each round.

Step 3: Shape the loaf

After the final rest (about 2-3 hours total fermentation), turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently shape it into a round or oval, tucking the edges underneath to create surface tension.

If you have a proofing basket, place the shaped dough in it, seam-side up, and cover with a cloth. If not, flip a bowl upside down, line it with a cloth dusted with flour, and place the dough inside, seam-side up.

Let it rest for 1-2 hours while your oven heats.

Step 4: Bake

Preheat your oven to 450°F (230°C) with your baking vessel inside for at least 30 minutes. If using a Dutch oven, this means putting the empty pot and lid in the oven as it heats.

Carefully remove the hot vessel, turn the dough out into it (seam-side down if you used a proofing basket, or seam-side up if you didn't), and score the top with a sharp knife or razor blade. Make one swift cut down the center at a 45-degree angle.

Cover with the lid and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the lid and bake another 20-25 minutes until the crust is deep golden brown.

Step 5: Cool

Remove the loaf from the pot and let it cool completely on a wire rack before slicing. This can be hard to resist, but cutting into hot bread gives you a gummy texture because the crumb hasn't set yet.

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Troubleshooting

My starter isn't rising

It might not be active enough yet, or your kitchen is too cool. Try moving it to a warmer spot (an oven with just the light on can work). If you've been at it for a week or more with no progress, start over.

My bread is dense or gummy

Your starter may have been too weak when you baked, or the dough didn't ferment long enough. Make sure you're using starter at its peak (when it's doubled and bubbly). Also check that you're cooling the bread properly before slicing.

My bread won't rise well

This is usually a starter strength issue or a fermentation time issue. Your starter should pass the float test and clearly double in volume within 4-6 hours of feeding. Adjust your feeding schedule until it's reliably active.

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Making It Work in Your Life

Sourdough isn't a hobby that demands your attention every day. With practice, you can bake on your own schedule.

Once you have an active starter, you can:

• Keep it refrigerated and feed once a week, bringing it to room temperature and feeding it the day before baking
• Feed it more frequently if you bake often
• Use the discard from feedings in other recipes (pancakes, crackers, flatbreads)

The key is consistency. Feed it regularly, observe how it responds, and adjust to your routine.

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The First Loaf

Your first loaf might not be perfect. That's expected. Bread making is a skill that improves with practice. The important part is that you made it yourself, with ingredients you controlled, and that you have a starter you can keep going for as long as you want.

Next time, you'll know what your starter does, what temperature affects, and how to adjust based on what you see. That knowledge matters more than any single loaf.

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— C. Steward 🥖