Sourdough Bread for Beginners: Your First Loaf From Start to Finish

You've got your sourdough starter bubbling away on the counter. It's rising and falling like clockwork. Now comes the exciting part: baking your very first loaf of sourdough bread.

I won't sugarcoat it. Your first loaf probably won't look like the ones on Instagram. It might be a little flat, a little dense, or a little lopsided. That's completely normal and honestly part of the fun. The flavor will still be incredible, and each loaf after that first one will get better and better as you learn how your starter, your oven, and your kitchen work together.

I've been baking with sourdough starters for many years and helping customers bake their first loaves for just as long. This guide walks you through the entire process from start to finish in plain language, with no unnecessary jargon. If you can stir, fold, and set a timer, you can make sourdough bread.

What You'll Need

Before you start, make sure you have the following on hand:

• Active sourdough starter. It should have been fed within the last 4 to 8 hours and be at or near its peak (bubbly, doubled in volume, airy texture). If you're not sure whether your starter is ready, check out our feeding schedule guide.
• Unbleached bread flour. 500 grams (about 4 cups). Bread flour gives the best structure and rise for a beginner loaf. All-purpose works too, but expect a slightly flatter result.
• Water. 350 grams (about 1.5 cups). Filtered tap water at room temperature or slightly warm.
• Salt. 10 grams (about 2 teaspoons). Use fine sea salt or kosher salt. Avoid iodized table salt, which can leave a slightly bitter taste.
• A kitchen scale. Seriously, this matters. Measuring by weight is so much more accurate than cups, and consistency is everything in bread baking. A basic digital scale costs about $10 and will change your results overnight.
• A Dutch oven (or any heavy, oven-safe pot with a lid). This traps steam around the bread as it bakes, which is what gives sourdough its signature crispy crust and dramatic rise in the oven.
• A banneton basket or a bowl lined with a floured towel. This holds the dough's shape while it rises overnight in the fridge.
• Parchment paper. For transferring the dough into the hot Dutch oven without burning yourself.
• A sharp knife or razor blade (lame). For scoring the top of the loaf before baking.

The Recipe

This is a straightforward, beginner-friendly formula. It makes one round loaf (a boule).

• 500g bread flour
• 350g water (70% hydration)
• 100g active sourdough starter
• 10g salt

That's it. Four ingredients. Let's walk through each step.

Step 1: Mix the Dough (10 minutes hands-on)

In a large bowl, combine the water and the active sourdough starter. Stir or whisk until the starter is mostly dissolved into the water. It doesn't have to be perfectly smooth.

Add the bread flour and salt. Mix everything together with a fork or your hands until all the flour is hydrated and you have a shaggy, rough dough. There will be dry-looking bits and it won't look pretty. That's fine.

Cover the bowl with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let it sit for 30 minutes. This resting period is called autolyse, and it lets the flour fully absorb the water and starts developing gluten without any effort on your part. When you come back, the dough will already feel smoother and more cohesive.

Step 2: Stretch and Fold (2 hours, mostly hands-off)

This is how you build strength in the dough without traditional kneading. It's much easier and gentler on the dough.

With wet hands (to prevent sticking), grab one side of the dough, stretch it up as far as it will go without tearing, and fold it over to the other side. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat. Do this four times (one full rotation around the bowl). That's one set.

You're going to do 4 sets of stretch and folds, spaced 30 minutes apart. So you'll stretch and fold at 0 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes, and 90 minutes. Each set takes about 30 seconds. Between sets, cover the bowl and walk away.

With each set, you'll notice the dough getting smoother, stronger, and more elastic. By the fourth set, it should feel noticeably tighter and hold its shape better.

Step 3: Bulk Fermentation (4 to 6 hours)

After your last stretch and fold, cover the bowl and leave the dough at room temperature. This is the bulk fermentation stage, where the starter does its work. The yeast is producing gas, the dough is slowly rising, and flavor is developing.

How long this takes depends entirely on your kitchen temperature. In a warm kitchen (75 to 80°F), it might take 4 hours. In a cooler kitchen (68 to 72°F), it could take 6 hours or more. What you're looking for is a dough that has increased in volume by roughly 50% (not necessarily doubled). It should look puffy and slightly domed on top, with some visible bubbles on the surface and along the sides of the bowl.

Don't rush this step. Under-fermented dough is the number one reason beginner loaves come out dense and flat. If you're not sure whether it's ready, give it another 30 minutes. It's almost always better to go a little longer than to cut it short.

Step 4: Shape the Loaf (10 minutes hands-on)

Lightly flour your countertop and gently turn the dough out of the bowl onto the surface. Try not to deflate it too aggressively.

Preshape: Using a bench scraper or your hands, gently pull the edges of the dough toward the center to form a rough round shape. Flip it over so the smooth side is facing up. Let it rest on the counter, uncovered, for 20 to 30 minutes. This relaxes the gluten and makes the final shaping easier.

Final shape: Lightly flour the top of the dough and flip it over (smooth side down). Pull the bottom edge up to the center. Pull the left side over to the center. Pull the right side over to the center. Then roll the whole thing toward you, tucking it into a tight ball. You want the surface to feel taut, like the dough has good tension across the top.

Place the shaped dough seam-side up into a banneton basket that's been dusted with flour (or into a bowl lined with a well-floured kitchen towel). The seam side goes up because when you flip it out onto the parchment for baking, the smooth side will be on top.

Step 5: Cold Ferment Overnight (8 to 14 hours, completely hands-off)

Cover the banneton with plastic wrap or a shower cap and put it in the refrigerator. Leave it there overnight, or for at least 8 hours and up to about 14 hours.

This cold fermentation does two important things. First, it slows down the yeast activity, which gives the acids more time to develop flavor. This is where that deep, complex sourdough tang comes from. Second, cold dough is much easier to score and handle when it's time to bake. Trying to score warm, sticky dough is a frustrating experience that nobody needs.

This is also what makes the timing so convenient. Mix your dough in the morning or afternoon, shape it in the evening, put it in the fridge before bed, and bake it first thing the next morning. The bread practically makes itself while you sleep.

Step 6: Bake (45 to 50 minutes)

About 30 minutes before you're ready to bake, put your Dutch oven (with the lid on) in the oven and preheat to 500°F (260°C). You want the pot screaming hot when the bread goes in.

While the oven preheats, take the banneton out of the fridge. Cut a piece of parchment paper and place it on the counter. Flip the banneton upside down onto the parchment so the dough releases seam-side down (smooth side up).

Using a sharp knife or razor blade, score the top of the loaf. The simplest score for beginners is a single straight line down the center, about half an inch deep, at a slight angle. This cut allows the bread to expand in a controlled way as it bakes, and it's what creates that beautiful "ear" you see on artisan loaves. Don't overthink it. A confident, quick slash works better than a timid one.

Carefully remove the hot Dutch oven from the oven. Lift the dough by the parchment paper edges and lower it into the pot. Put the lid on.

Bake covered at 500°F for 20 minutes. The lid traps steam, which keeps the crust soft and allows the bread to expand fully. This is called "oven spring" and it's the most exciting part of the whole process.

Remove the lid, drop the temperature to 450°F (230°C), and bake uncovered for another 25 to 30 minutes until the crust is deep golden brown. Don't be afraid of color. A darker crust means more flavor. If it looks "done" but is still pale, give it more time.

Remove the bread from the Dutch oven and place it on a wire rack to cool. This is the hardest part of the entire process, because you need to let it cool for at least one hour before slicing. The bread is still cooking internally as it cools, and cutting into it too early will give you a gummy interior. I know it's torture. The smell is unbelievable. But wait. It's worth it.

What to Expect From Your First Loaf

A realistic first loaf for most beginners will have a nice crust (thanks to the Dutch oven), a moderately open crumb (the pattern of holes inside), and a flavor that makes you wonder why you ever bought bread from a store. It probably won't have the dramatic ear or the super open, holey crumb you see on social media. Those things come with practice, and they're more about technique than recipe.

If your loaf came out flatter or denser than you hoped, the most likely culprit is one of three things: the starter wasn't active enough when you mixed the dough, the bulk fermentation was too short (the dough didn't rise enough before shaping), or the dough was too wet and you didn't build enough tension during shaping. All of these are fixable on the next try.

For a deeper dive on starter issues, check out our troubleshooting guide.

Quick Timeline for Your First Bake

Day 1, morning (8:00 AM): Feed your starter so it's active and ready by early afternoon.

Day 1, early afternoon (1:00 PM): Mix the dough. Autolyse for 30 minutes.

Day 1, afternoon (1:30 to 3:30 PM): Stretch and fold, 4 sets over 2 hours.

Day 1, late afternoon/evening (3:30 to 8:00 PM): Bulk fermentation. Let the dough rise until about 50% larger.

Day 1, evening (8:00 PM): Shape the loaf. Place in banneton. Into the fridge.

Day 2, morning (7:00 AM): Preheat oven and Dutch oven to 500°F. Score and bake.

Day 2, morning (8:00 AM): Remove from oven. Cool for 1 hour. Slice. Enjoy.

Don't Have a Starter Yet?

If you're ready to bake but don't have a starter going yet, we can get you there fast. Our heritage sourdough starter collection includes cultures with centuries of history, and most customers have a fully active starter within 3 to 5 days of following our rehydration instructions. Each order comes with recipes, a step-by-step guide, and direct access to me for questions along the way.

For more recipes using your active starter (beyond this basic loaf), visit our active starter recipes page.

If you have any questions about your first bake, or if something didn't go the way you expected, send me a message. I love hearing about people's first loaves, even the ugly ones. Especially the ugly ones.

Happy Baking! ❤️❤️❤️