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Here we are in the midst of a pandemic. The entire world is basically closed with most people on some kind of “shelter-at-home” order. Stores and businesses not deemed essential are closed and shelves in grocery stores are empty or in short supply. Although we are staying home as much as possible we have had to get groceries a few times over the past month. I can’t remember the last time I saw toilet paper available. Now I hear commercial yeast is selling out. At the moment, it looks like it’s available online but shipping is taking much longer than the 2-days for which we’ve become accustomed.

In the meantime, we’re all “stuck” at home and eager to learn new skills. And everyone is trying their hand at sourdough. Right now there are 2.8 million Instagram posted with the hashtag “sourdough”. I’m sure I contributed a few of those. With millions (billions?) of people staying at home combined with commercial yeast shortages and the willingness to forego store-bought bread in order to avoid grocery stores altogether, we have the perfect conditions for a surge in home bakers. To be honest, I feel the ability to create a sourdough starter and turn water, flour, and air into a loaf of bread is a vital skill even without a pandemic looming.

Recently, I created an Instagram series showing how you can make a starter and turn it into bread. I’ve taken those clips and uploaded them to our YouTube channel so it’s easier to follow and reference later. Someone asked for written directions so I’m making this updated sourdough post since the recipe I show is slightly different than the one I wrote about in this post over two years ago.

What makes this tutorial different than most is that I start off the whole process by creating a fruit water ferment. This water is then mixed with flour to kinda kickstart the sourdough starter. For me, this was a game-changer in my own quest for sourdough bread that wasn’t shaped like a giant hockey puck. You know the ones…they taste great but you can’t make a sandwich out of it because it’s as flat as a pancake…and mostly crust. So, I offer you this tutorial in the hopes that it makes your experience positive and gets you on the road to making really good sourdough bread.

A few grievances…I’ve seen a ton of tutorials, listened to podcasts, and read a lot of blogs regarding sourdough. Most will tell you that you HAVE to use reverse osmosis water, or filtered water, or spring water, or some other special water in order to make sourdough. They also say you HAVE to use bread flour or a particular (and expensive) brand of flour that may require ordering online or making yet another trip to the store. I’ve been baking bread for several years now. As a matter of fact, I bake 18-20 loaves for the Farmer’s Market every week and I sell out. All of my sourdough has been made with tap water…shocker, I know. It’s also been made with 100% local flour from our small town’s mill. Yep, my whole wheat and my white, all-purpose flour come from Cortez Milling Co.

Now, that’s not to say that I wouldn’t see differences (good or bad) in taste, texture, or rise if I tried other types of water of flour. But it does mean that you don’t have to wait until the stars align to begin your sourdough journey. JUST START WITH WHAT YOU HAVE!!

Day One: In a quart-size mason jar (or similar non-metallic container) add 1-2 cut up apples (peels and all) OR some apple peels, banana peel, a few raisins or other dried fruit. Top with water leaving about an inch of headspace and place lid on tightly. Place in a warm spot out of the sun. Warm being 68-80 degrees F.

Day 2-4(ish): Gently shake the jar 2-3 times a day. You may also want to “off-gas” the jar by opening the lid and closing it tight again. We are looking for effervescence, or carbonation, like a soda can being opened. The time it takes for the fruit to ferment will depend on the temperatures in your house. Use your sense of smell to ensure your ferment isn’t “off”…it should smell good and might start to get a boozy odor. This is good.

Day 5(ish): Once your ferment is active (fizzes like a soda being opened) it’s time to make your starter. Drain the fruit from the ferment water bring sure to RETAIN the water! In a non-metallic container mix 50g ferment water and 50g whole wheat flour until completely combined (no wet spots). It’s important to measure by weight and NOT volume. Water weighs more than flour!!! Place the lid securely and put back in your warm spot.

Eight to twelve hours later: Add an additional 50g ferment water and 50g whole wheat flour. Mix well so there are no dry spots. Secure lid and put it in a warm spot.

Eight to twelve hours later: Add 150g ferment water and 150g whole wheat flour. Secure lid and place in a warm spot for 4-8 hours. This will once again depend on the temperature in your house.

Is my starter ready??

After the last big feeding and rest, you will know if your starter is ready to use based on one of two methods. One, it will have doubled in size and have significant air pockets or bubbles. It will feel light and airy…kinda marshmallow-like (see video). Second, you can try a “float test”. I don’t usually do this but a lot of bakers swear by the float test. Basically you take a tiny amount of your starter and see if it will float in a little bowl of water. You have to be very gentle in handling the starter and carefully place it on the surface of the water so as not to deflate it. Otherwise, it will always sink.

Making Your Dough

This is a low hydration recipe that is slightly stiff and perfect for learning the basics. It’s easy to handle and makes a tasty loaf.

140g starter
240g water
400g white flour
9g salt

Start by mixing the starter and water until the starter is dissolved. Add flour and mix to combine so there are no wet spots. Cover and let rest 30 minutes. This is called autolyze.

After 30 minutes add salt and begin stretch and folds. Look at your dough as a compass having a North, South, East and West side. With wet hands, grab a section (North) and stretch it as best as possible then fold it on itself. Turn the bowl and grab the south section stretching and folding. Then do the same with the east and west sides. Cover and let sit in a warm, draft-free spot for roughly 45-60 minutes.

Repeat this process 4 more times. So, every 45-60 minutes you complete the stretch and fold cycle and then cover and let rest. After the last stretch and fold allow your dough to rest in a warm, draft-free spot for 1-3 hours (bulk ferment). Total time will depend on your house temperatures and the strength of your starter. With practice, you will get to know when your dough is ready to shape. It will feel very elastic-like and be smooth. You should be able to pick up a small section and stretch it thin before it tears (windowpane). And an indentation will remain after pushing a finger into the dough (if it bounces back it’s not ready).

It’s time to shape your loaf. Refer to the video to see how I shape my sourdough loaves. It will take practice but the main thing is to be gentle with the dough and to try to create a nice tight “skin”. I do not flour my work surface as the dough will absorb the flour and change the hydration. You can dampen your hands if needed (too damp and the dough will be slippery and you’ll have trouble shaping it).

Let the dough rest about 30 minutes, covered. If you’re baking the same day place your dutch oven or clay baker in the cold over and heat to 480 degrees F. Depending on your oven this will take 1-1.5 hours. You want to ensure the pot you’ll be baking in is as hot as your oven so don’t rush it!

Check your dough and gently reshape if needed. Dust with cornmeal or rice flour and place in a banneton or bowl so it holds its shape…smooth “top” side down. Cover and allow to rest while oven heats.

If you’re baking the following morning you can place the bowl in your fridge overnight.

Once the oven is at the proper temperature, fold a piece of high heat parchment paper in half (to hold the dough and act as a sling). Carefully remove the very hot dutch oven. Place the parchment paper over the bowl of dough and invert, gently coaxing the dough out being careful not to deflate it. If needed, use a dedicated brush to remove any extra flour from the dough and then score the top with a razor blade, lame or sharp knife. Using the parchment paper as a sling, carefully lower the dough into the dutch oven. Spray generously with water to create steam. Place lid on top.

This goes into the oven for 25 minutes. When the timer goes off remove the lid and place back in the oven for 20 additional minutes to complete the bake and to brown the top. Once done remove the bread from the dutch oven (I use tongs) and allow to cool for at least an hour. The baking process actually continues outside of the oven…cutting too soon will not give the best results.

Additional tips: 

1- If you’re baking the same day you can pop the shaped loaf in the bowl into the freezer for 30 minutes to make it easier to handle. It can go into the dutch oven cold.

2- If your bread is getting too brown or burning on the bottom you can place a pizza stone or cookie sheet on the rack below the one you place your dutch oven on. It will help redirect the heat. You can also try turning the oven temperature down to 450 degrees during the second half of the bake. If you have a brunt section you can use a cheese grater to remove it if necessary.

3- A scale is the number one thing that improved my bread making. Even a cheap scale will greatly improve your results.

4- I feel that I get better oven spring and nicer looking loaves when I bake the next day. Try it and see for yourself. When doing the next day bake heat the oven and dutch oven exactly as described. Leave your dough in the fridge until your oven is ready. You’ll be baking the dough directly from the fridge…do not let it come to room temp. Score, spray and bake as described above.

5- If your starter just doesn’t seem to be active try using whole wheat instead of white flour (for your starter only).

6- Practice, practice, practice. The more you practice and keep your starter going the better you’ll understand it. The starter will get stronger and will become a reflection of you and your area picking up yeasts and mixing with the air specific to your location.

I’ve mentioned it before…anyone can give you their favorite starter. You might even find someone to send you starter from Alaska or San Francisco. But eventually, it will adapt to your location, your flour, your air, your water, and your DNA. That makes it unique and why I call my bread McElmo Sourdough, since that’s where my starter lives. Your first loaves might not taste as sour as you’d like but the older your starter the more likely it will pick up the sour flavor. The overnight ferment will help too.

7- Get a thermometer for your oven to ensure it’s baking at the temperature you want.

8- Experiment! But first, save your starter. I’ve seen it before, someone is excited to bake bread and make sourdough pancakes. Next thing they know, they used all of their starter. Always be sure to save some starter…even if it’s just half a cup. Set it aside so you don’t accidentally use it up. As long as you save a little you can create more easily and quickly. Then you can divide it up and experiment to your heart’s content. Play around with different recipes, different flours, and different hydration levels. But always save a little of your original starter in case things go wrong. Otherwise, you have to start all over again.

9- Don’t panic. When you need a break from baking you can place your starter in the fridge for about 7 days. Then you’ll need to feed it. Eventually, you’ll have a lot of starter so you’ll need to decide if you want to make something out of it (look up sourdough discard recipes) or dump it. If you refuse to get rid of any starter you’ll soon realize that you need a massive, space-hogging container and a shit ton of flour. You see, the more starter you have the more food it needs. For example, a 102-pound, 5’1″ female doesn’t have the same calorie requirements as a 250-pound, 6’8″ male to maintain their weight and activity level. Right? Likewise, a 1/2 cup of starter doesn’t need to be fed as much as 3 cups of starter to maintain it’s health.

Signs that your starter is starving…grey liquid settling on top (called hooch) and/or it smells like acetone. Feed it ASAP! Sourdough starter is pretty resilient.

10- Baking after a starter hiatus. After being stored in the fridge, I like to feed my starter 3 times before I bake with it. That might look like this…Tuesday night, take out of fridge, feed it, leave in warm spot. Wednesday a.m, feed it and leave in warm spot. Wednesday p.m., feed it and leave in warm spot. Thursday, make dough, perform stretch and folds, shape and put in fridge. Friday a.m. Bake.

Here are all of the YouTube Videos in this Sourdough Tutorial:

I started baking sourdough back when we were still RVing. That presented plenty of challenges, from unstable temperatures for fermenting to baking in a small convection oven. Most of those loaves ended up more like door stops. I don’t enjoy failure…so I bought a bread machine and decided commercial yeast was just fine.

This loaf was made (partially) with locally grown wheat berries I ground in my Vitamix. Our goat, Ewan, approved!

Now that we’re trying our hand at farm life, and eating more local foods, I thought I’d give sourdough another shot. Our town is home to a local mill so I knew if I could actually capture the wild yeast and create a starter, my bread would be almost 100% local (aside from the salt) and I wouldn’t have to buy commercial yeasts.  Unfortunately, my initial attempts at making a starter failed, over and over again. I even tried using homemade kombucha in place of the water but the bread ended up too sour for our tastes.

My first loaves leavened with fruit fermented water.

I persevered. And now my loaves are much, much better. As a matter of fact, people are even buying them at the Farmer’s Market. So, how did I go from making door stops to sellable loaves? Practice. And a lot of copying. After all, lots of people are successfully baking sourdough breads and, with a history dating back to at least 3700 B.C.E. (the naturally leavened loaf was discovered in Switzerland) and commercial yeasts being relatively young (about 150 years old) there are only so many original recipes for a simple loaf. A simple loaf is, after all, simply flour, water and salt. There are blog post, Facebook groups, cook books, in-person and online classes available galore. Even so, sourdough baking presents some challenges so I thought I’d compile a list of things that helped in my bread making journey.

The List:

1- Use a scale. My breads improved immediately by simply measuring my ingredients by weight instead of relying on measuring cups. You’ll read ‘recipes’ that say using equal amounts of water and flour will create a great starter. If you think a half cup of water and a half cup of flour are equal measures you’d be wrong. Seriously, get a scale. Measure by grams. Pretty soon you’ll wish every recipe you follow would use weight measurements. Don’t be intimidated! {The first Amazon pic is my “dream” scale, mainly because it has an available ac adapter and doesn’t need batteries. The second is the scale I currently own. It works great for everything I need to do and is currently less than $10.}. This is seriously the NUMBER ONE TIP that changed my level of success with baking sourdough. 

2- Try fermented water. I was able to get a much more stable starter by fermenting fruit first. Confused? Well, let me explain. Although flour has natural yeast in it (most organic foods do) it can be a slow process to ferment (like weeks). A lot of people get frustrated and it’s a pain to feed your starter all the time without being able to see any results. I learned (through a Facebook group) about fermented water and absolutely love the results. Here’s the basic recipe:

2 apples (chopped into chunks with peels, seeds, core and all)
600 grams of water
2 TBS dried fruit (raisins, cherries, cranberries, etc)

Place all ingredients into a large mason jar and seal with 2 piece lid. Every day you’ll want to shake the jar and off-gas it (meaning unscrew the lid to let any built up gases and then secure it again).
After a few days (depending on your home’s temperatures) your fruit should ferment and you’ll get a nice fizz when you open the jar. Once it’s fizzy, like a can of soda, it’s ready to use. Strain off the fruit and save the liquid.
To make your starter mix 50g of whole wheat flour with 50g of ferment water. Eight hours (or so) later, add another 50g whole wheat flour and 50g ferment water. After another 8 hours add 150g whole wheat flour and 150g ferment water. Your starter should be pretty active in just a few hours. Look for lots of bubbles in the flour.
A few hours after the last feeding your starter is ready to use. Use it in any recipe/formula that calls for 100% hydration starter. If you aren’t using it that day you’ll need to continue to feed it (and also discard some of it or it will get very sour) or put it in the fridge. There is a lot of information out there on how to maintain a starter. Google is your friend.

Note: I use apples and dried cherries since I have these growing on my property. I’ve also used banana peels (instead of apples) and store bought raisins but apples work best for me. In the past I’ve used all of my starter to bake my loaves and simply created a new starter each week. Now I keep my starter going by saving a bit when I bake and simply feeding it whole wheat flour and plain water once I run out of ferment water.

3- Use a Dutch Oven. Okay, it doesn’t have to be a dutch over per se, but baking your bread at higher temperatures and with a cover will help capture the steam and lead to better oven spring and that lovely crust everyone seems to love. I scored a Lodge enamel dutch oven for $15 at a yard sale last year and also bought a new Lodge cast iron dutch oven (non-enameled) so I could bake two loaves at a time. Later, I found an apple baker, which is a clay baker, at the thrift store…and I love it. Alternatives include a baking stone with a roasting pan lid, a Granite Wear roasting pan or even a cast iron frying pan with one of those disposable  aluminum foil trays as a lid. I generally bake my loaves at around 480 F (covered) for the first 25 minutes and then at 450 F (uncovered) for 12-15 additional minutes which allows the bread to brown nicely. Oh, and I allow my dutch oven to preheat in the oven for 1 hour before adding the bread dough. I also douse my dough generously with water (I use an inexpensive spray bottle)…directly on the loaf…before placing it in the oven. The lid helps retain the steam and allows for that beautiful oven-spring (rise) and the blisters on the crust so many people desire.

4- No Need to Knead. Learn the Stretch and Fold instead. Once you learn just a tiny bit about the science behind gluten you’ll find that kneading sourdough isn’t necessary. The Stretch and Fold will help your dough ferment and breakdown the gluten so your bread is light and fluffy.

5- Don’t cut it too soon! I know…it’s pure torture waiting for a fresh new loaf to cool completely before slicing. When I was a kid one of the best things on earth was getting the first piece of bread, fresh from the oven, whenever my mom baked. Those were yeast loaves…not sourdough. Sourdough continues to cook and the flavors keep developing even after you take it out of the oven. Place your ear near your hot loaf (carefully!!)…hear that popping and cracking?? The magic is still happening. Wait until your loaf is completely cool (or at least and hour) to cut into it.

6- Join a Sourdough Group and/or Take a Course. I actually did both. I’m in a Facebook group called Perfect Sourdough which led me to the Udemy Course called Sourdough 101 (this affiliate link costs you nothing extra but helps pay for our web hosting, thanks!). Not only will you gain access to some fabulous recipes but you can get some quick feedback (or troubleshooting help) in the FB group. I recently completed the Sourdough 101 course and have gained a better understanding of the steps involved to make a consistently great loaf of bread.

7- Watch some YouTube videos. Love it or hate it YouTube has it’s value. It has saved us a crap ton of money in repairs of various items on the RV and on the farm. It’s also helped me with everything from gardening and composting to canning and baking bread. Yes, our internet is still crappy, and expensive, and NOT unlimited…so I often get up early so I can utilize our extra gigabytes just so I can watch tutorials. I highly recommend anything by Theresa Greenway and/or NorthWest Sourdough. I also recommend this new video by my friend Amy Hager, of Colorado Mountain Living. She created this video based on the recipe I shared with her. Many of us at higher elevations struggle with baking. I’m at about 5500′ and Amy is above 9000′ and this method has been a proven winner for both of us. But it’s also an excellent method for those at sea level and beginners.

Here’s the recipe I started with which is explained in the above video (this recipe was shared in a FB group by baker Piotr Lesnianski). Note that Amy does hers just slightly different than mine…mostly in the dough mixing sequence.

Basic Sourdough with Fruit Yeast Starter

* Place 500 grams of the starter listed above (which should be all of it) in a large bowl
* Add any remaining fermented water to the starter so it all weighs 1500 grams TOTAL (use regular tap water to make up any difference). To be clear, the starter PLUS the water should be 1500 grams TOTAL.
* Add 1500 grams of flour (I use local white)
* Mix well so there are not longer any dry spots
* Let this autolyze…which simply means place the bowl in a warmish spot, covered for 2 hours to allow the flour to absorb the moisture and the gluten to start to develop

* After 2 hours add 34 grams (about 2 TBS) salt
* Perform your first stretch and fold to incorporate the salt…you will actually stretch and fold with dough 4 times (north to south, south to north, east to west and west to east) for each S&F session. Pro tip: Use wet hands and wet them often. This is not the time for dusting with flour as this will change the consistency of your dough.
* Let the dough rest in a warmish spot again for 45 minutes.
* Perform 3 more S&F series every 45 minutes.
* After the last 45 min rest divide your dough into 3 equal sections (I use a scale) and shape into round loaves (look at YouTube for shaping tutorials). Be sure to dust your shaped loaves with rice flour so they don’t stick to the proofing bowls!
* Place in bannetons or bowls that have been dusted with additional rice flour (top of loaf goes down, seam side is up)
* Cover with a wet linen clothe, wet flour sack or plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight
* In the morning, heat your oven to 480 degrees F being sure to place your dutch oven, clay baker, pizza stone and roasting lid or other baking dish in the oven to preheat as well.
* After an hour carefully remove the baker and gently place your dough inside. I like to use high temperature parchment paper to make a “sling” for my dough. So, carefully invert your cold (straight from the fridge) loaf into your hand and place it on your parchment paper. You can score your loaf now.
* Lower your loaf gently into the baker, spray generously with water and place the lid on top.
* Bake for 25 minutes at 480 degrees F. Then remove lid (hopefully you’ll see a beautiful oven spring and gorgeous loaf developing). Place back in the oven without the lid. Lower the temperature to 425-450 degrees F and bake for an additional 12-15 minutes.
* Once the time is up be sure to remove your loaf from the baker and place on a cooling rack for at least an hour before slicing. The loaf should be completely cool before slicing for best flavor development and for ease of cutting.

I encourage you to start with this basic recipe and follow it as closely as possible. Once you get a nice loaf and see how things work you can then experiment with other flours like whole wheat or rye. You can also add things like walnuts, dates, spices, seeds, cheese, etc to the stretch and folds…but again, I recommend getting a basic loaf down first so you can learn how the dough should feel before changing things too much.

Other helpful tool I use: Note that I always try to find these types of items at the thrift stores first but, when all else fails, Amazon comes through. They aren’t necessary to making a nice loaf but, if you bake often you may find them handy:

These are nice for turning the dough and for scrapping the counter after dusting or shaping. Makes for a quick cleanup.

Obviously any bowls will do but I got this set for Christmas and love them for several reasons. One, they are glass and therefore non-reactive to the many things I ferment (including sourdough). Two, they have lids, perfect for keeping dough moist and protected. Three, the big one is big so when I am mixing a large amount of dough (enough for 3 loaves) it can hold it all.

Okay, so Danish Dough Whisks are a luxury…but I found one at a yard sale for like $2 and I love it so much. Even new they aren’t too expensive. Granted, you can use your hands to mix your dough…and many people love that connection with their bread, but I sometimes make so much that I find my hands dry out…so I use this whisk.

Bannetons are just nice bowls for resting and proofing your dough before baking. You can use any bowl really but these give that nice ribbed texture (if you don’t use the linen liner) that you see at a lot of bakeries. I like using mine simply for the aesthetics.

While you don’t have to score your dough most people do so they can control where it splits when it rises in the oven. These razors are my favorite. You can make a lame by threading a blade (carefully) through a chopstick or wooden kebob or, if you’re comfortable, just hold the blade carefully while you score. Scoring is an art and can be used to make decorative and elaborate designs on your loaves. There are loads of YouTube videos and Instagram posts showing examples of scoring. It takes patience and practice…like all things baking.

Disclosure: Tales From the Mutiny (aka Clark and Lynn Bonelli) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Our aim is to link to products we actually use and recommend.

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