So you want to bake bread but you dont know where to start?
No worries, friend! I am going to show you how to do it.
Each day this week, I will be breaking down the steps to how I make bread.
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.
Before we get started
I need you to know a few things. I am not a professional baker. I am self taught and learned from those who passed their skills on to me. I would rather have a technically imperfect loaf that tastes amazing rather than a perfect loaf and it is bland and tasteless. I am a homebaker. I bake for my family and how my family likes bread.
I believe sourdough should be fermented and that we harness its true power. You will not find “quick” recipes here. Rather I will teach you how to plan and make bread so that you can enjoy sourdough, so that sourdough can fit into your life, but that sourdough doesn’t make your life revolve around it.
Supplies needed
- Established sourdough starter
- All Purpose Flour, I use Central Milling from costco (its the green and white bag)
- water
- salt (taste the difference with REDMOND REAL SALT, discount code FLOURING)
If you need a starter, you will need to make a starter or buy a starter.
For a step by step guide, I refer to my friend Meg as I don’t have a guide written yet. HEAD HERE to learn how to make a starter
You see my starter has been passed down from my great grandfather to my dad and now to me. I do offer the ability to purchase my starter if that’s something you are interested in. If so, you can PURCHASE A STARTER in my shop.
Additionally, you may choose to invest in some other useful sourdough tools and equipment. Read my blog post pertaining to these essential items.
Daily Breakdown and Examples
Starting 13 January 2025, I will be sharing daily on my instagram and once this series is completed, I will link the corresponding day and video so that the list below is clickable.
- How to feed your starter in preparation for bread making
- replacing your starter and reserving it
- Mixing the dough
- Stretch & Folds
- Bulk Fermentation on the counter
- Shaping and Cold Fermenting
- Baking Tips and Tricks
- Packaging up your loaves
- Crust Control
- But What if I don’t Have XXX Sourdough Tools
bonus videos:
- reading your dough
- why doesn’t my dough look like yours
- bulk fermentation
- what happens if you don’t do anything aside from mixing your dough
Remember, I do the Cowboy Way Method of maintaining my sourdough starter, which means I do not feed & discard daily. This is how my great grandfather taught us to make and maintain our sourdough starter. READ MORE HERE
I will also share these videos to youtube and create a playlist too.
the recipe
MAKES 2 LOAVES
1000g all purpose flour
25 g salt
750g water
250 g ACTIVE starter
To make an active starter, the night before you mix your dough, feed your quarter cup of starter that has been in the fridge, 125g each water and flour. Lid and let rest over night. I practice the CowboyWay method for sourdough, which means I do not discard and my starter lives in the fridge unless I am actively baking. READ MORE HERE
This dough is a bit messy but beautiful at the same time. Also a quick note…why grams versus cups. Grams is more accurate. When I weigh I try to be within 5-10grams. Cups is a bit subjective and wont always yield the same results time after time.
- Before you begin, remove a quarter cup of starter from your active mixture and place into a clean jar. Lid and place into the fridge. Now, mix your water and starter until it looks milky. Add your flour and start to mix, then add Redmond salt.
I always add salt last as it can inhibit growth.
2. Let rest at least 15 minutes
3. Perform a series of stretches and folds every 15-30 minutes 3-4 times.
4. Then allow to bulk ferment for 4-6 hours on the counter, covered.
5. you can either shape loaves and place into bannetons OR place the whole bowl (covered) into the fridge overnight. You can cold proof this for 12-48 hours depending upon your schedule. If you chose to place the whole bowl into the fridge, at least 6 hours before baking you will need to shape your loaves and place them into bannetons.
6. About an hour before baking, place your dutch oven(s) in the oven in the center of your oven and preheat to 450. When your oven is done preheating, remove your dough from the fridge, gently flip onto parchment or silicone slings. SCORE your loaves and place into your HOT dutch ovens. Bake your loaves at 450 for 30 minutes with lid ON, then 25 minutes with lid OFF.
PROTIP: if the bottom of your loaf is getting TOO thick, while baking add a cookie sheet halfway through. This will act as a buffer still allowing heat to bake but not give direct heat to give you a thick bottom crust.
Jump to printable recipe
High Hydration Sourdough Loaves
Ingredients
- 1000g all purpose flour
- 25 g salt
- 750g water
- 250 g ACTIVE starter
Instructions
1. Before you begin, remove a quarter cup of starter from your active mixture and place into a clean jar. Lid and place into the fridge. Now, mix your water and starter until it looks milky. Add your flour and start to mix, then add Redmond salt.
I always add salt last as it can inhibit growth.
2. Let rest at least 15 minutes
3. Perform a series of stretches and folds every 15-30 minutes 3-4 times. (this is flexible! if its once every hour thats ok!
4. Then allow to bulk ferment for 4-6 hours on the counter, covered. You're looking for your dough to just about double in size and show some bubbles on top;
5. you can either shape loaves and place into bannetons OR place the whole bowl (covered) into the fridge overnight. You can cold proof this for 12-48 hours depending upon your schedule. If you chose to place the whole bowl into the fridge, at least 6 hours before baking you will need to shape your loaves and place them into bannetons.
6. About an hour before baking, place your dutch oven(s) in the oven in the center of your oven and preheat to 450. When your oven is done preheating, remove your dough from the fridge, gently flip onto parchment or silicone slings. SCORE your loaves and place into your HOT dutch ovens. Bake your loaves at 450 for 30 minutes with lid ON, then 25 minutes with lid OFF.
Notes
PROTIP: if the bottom of your loaf is getting TOO thick, while baking add a cookie sheet halfway through. This will act as a buffer still allowing heat to bake but not give direct heat to give you a thick bottom crust.
Recommended Products
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Finishing up
If you want even more sourdough recipes, add your email to my newsletter!! I am in the process of writing my sourdough ebook and am aiming for a launch date of 1 February 2025.
Thank you for being here and making bread with me.
I hope to bring you more posts like this in 2025 and bring you more milling content!
Happy Baking! ~Boots
Other content you might like
- how to jumpstart your lagging sourdough starter
- Frequently Asked Sourdough Questions
- How to Calculate Macros for Sourdough Bread
- 7 Signs your Sourdough Starter is Happy
- Year Round Sourdough Baking Strategy
- Long Fermented Whole Wheat Sourdough Tortillas
- Sourdough Honey Oat Loaf Recipe Card
- The Beginners Guide to Home Milling
- Milling Grains: Frequently Asked Questions
Is it OK to have less starter in this recipe? I realized I only have 150g to use and I don’t want to wait to feed it again to double it.
I’ve not tested it with a lesser amount. It will take longer to ferment, so if you do decide to bake this recipe with less starter just know your timeline will be impacted.
If I understand correctly , when my Dutch oven and oven is preheated I’m taking shaped loafs from the fridge and putting them to the oven ( inside the Dutch oven of course ), straight from the fridge to the oven right ? No warming dough on the counter ? Please clarify this first me , thank you
That’s correct! With this style of loaf, the dough needs to be cold when baked.
Hi, so happy I found you. The amount of flour I’ve been wasting and it just seemed stressful. Excited to try cowboy method. My kitchen is cold. 60ish degrees. The 4-6 hours to double? Do I need to invest in proofing box? Or will it just take longer? Thanks!
My house is cold too so I would think you’re going to be more along the lines of 6 hours but don’t just go by time, go by what I share about what I’m looking for to know when I like to stop my bulk fermentation time. I don’t think you need a proofing box. I personally think it’s an unnecessary piece of equipment, but that’s my opinion.
I am an experienced baker….but with yeasted breads. This transition is proving to be difficult.
I tried a recipe yesterday with an established starter I purchased. I failed. So I got back on your page, read everything, and watched your tutorial videos. I prefer not feeding a starter daily, so I like your method.
I got better flour and tried again today following your exact recipe. The same thing happened! I did 4 sets of stretch-and-folds (though admittedly at the end I thought there should be more shape to the dough). The dough rose until a bit over doubled in a warm place. It looked good. Then I went to pour it out to shape it, and it just spread out everywhere like a giant blob. There was no way to shape it, build tension, nothing. It was a gloopy mess. I must be doing something wrong.
Any troubleshooting ideas that you have would be greatly appreciated before I quit and decide this just isn’t for me.
I stop my bulk fermentation time just before it’s doubled so more like 1.25-1.5 in size. But the texture change is one of the biggest factors I watch for. The other thing to note is that your house humidity and temperature will impact your dough. If when you mixed and your dough didn’t look shaggy like mine but rather more wet, that’s a key indicator that you’ll need more flour. I live in a dry and cold climate so this recipe is fried and true for the environment. More humidity means less water or more flour for the recipe.
If I’m halving the recipe, when should I halve mt starter? At feeding, or the next morning?
You would halve the amount you’re feeding your starter
Boots, I have two shaped loaves fermenting in my fridge and there has been very little action since I started them – I’m quite sure it’s my starter. Can I warm the two loaves to room temp, fold together with additional hoppin’ starter and go back to the bulk ferment stage? I’ve baked loaves that looked like these before and there was no rise and they became a lot of breadcrumbs.
Oh no! This makes me so sad to hear!! Unfortunately, it won’t work to add in more starter right now. Tell me more about your starter. Let’s try to get that starter fixed so you can make some great bread.
I was about to treat it with some potato water but I fed it and left it for two and a half days (!!!) in a different location and it bubbled up beautifully. Compared to what it was looking like before, this is a huge improvement. I made enough for two more loaves and a batch of cinnies – fingers crossed!