The Best Sourdough Tips: Basic Recipe + Beginner’s Guide

One simple sourdough recipe – endless ways to make it your own. Try my basic method and learn how I customize flavors with different grains.

Last Christmas, I started baking sourdough at home. I’ve had my share of trial and error with it, and now I’d like to share my basic sourdough bread recipe.

Things to Use:

• Bowl
• Measuring cup
• Tablespoon
• Teaspoon
• Baking sheet
• Sharp knife or a razor
• Dutch oven

Ingredients:

• Flour – 4 cups
• Lecithin – 2 tablespoons
• Salt – 1 teaspoon
• Sourdough starter – 1/2 cup
• Water – 1 1/2 cups

Instructions:

1. Put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix with your hands.
2. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
3. Every 30 minutes, begin stretching and folding the dough. Do 3–6 rounds of stretching and folding over 2–4 hours.
4. Shape the bread and place it on a baking sheet. Dust it with flour and make a few cuts on top using a sharp knife or a razor.
5. Bake in a preheated Dutch oven at 400°F — 25 minutes with the lid on, then 20 minutes with the lid off.
6. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely.

Tips:

• You can use a mixer, but I prefer mixing by hand.
• Stretching and folding helps develop flaky bubbles in the dough.
• The longer the dough sits at room temperature, the more sour it becomes.
• A warmer room temperature speeds up the rising process.
• After shaping the dough, you can place it in a banneton basket and refrigerate it for up to a week. That’s why I like to double the recipe — so I always have a loaf ready to bake.

My Experience:

I enjoy experimenting with different grains and flours. I have a grain mill and typically use 80% freshly milled flour in my bread. I like adding various grains such as spelt, barley, rye, white wheat, or red wheat. Each brings a unique texture and flavor to the dough.

When baking, I combine all the dry ingredients and the starter first. I don’t add all the water at once — I hold back about half and add it gradually while watching the dough’s texture. I may or may not need all of it. I aim for a dough that’s not too sloppy or too stiff, so it can be shaped properly.

Finding the right consistency was always a challenge for me, and slowly adding water has turned out to be the easiest and most reliable method.

This technique also works well when I want to add oil, honey, eggs, or other ingredients to enhance the bread’s flavor. In general, I need about 1 1/2 cups of liquid per loaf. Since eggs and oil are considered liquids, I account for them before gradually adding the remaining water until I reach the desired consistency.

Using this method, I’ve been able to experiment with many flavors and variations, all based on this one basic recipe.