Sourdough for Beginners: Your First Week

If you've never baked sourdough, here's your first week, day by day.

Day 1 — Shopping

Buy:

• 5 lb bread flour (King Arthur, Bob's Red Mill, or any 12% protein)
• 1 lb whole wheat flour
• A digital scale ($15)
• An instant-read thermometer ($20)
• A clear quart container with a lid
• A bench scraper
• A rubber band (you'll see why)

If you don't already have:

• A Dutch oven or covered heavy pot
• A large mixing bowl
• A wire cooling rack

Day 2 — Start your starter

In your quart container, mix 50g whole wheat flour and 50g water (room temperature, filtered or bottled if your tap is chlorinated). Stir with a chopstick or spoon until smooth.

Put on the lid (loose). Mark the level on the outside of the container with the rubber band. Leave at room temperature.

Day 3 — First feed

You may see some bubbles. Smell it — slightly sour or yeasty is normal.

Discard half (about 50g, eyeball is fine). Add 50g bread flour and 50g water. Stir. Reset the rubber band to mark the new level.

Day 4 — Second feed

Discard half. Feed 50g bread flour, 50g water. Mark the level.

By now you should be seeing some doubling between feeds.

Day 5 — Twice-daily feeding

Switch to twice a day, 12 hours apart. Same ratio: discard, feed 50g/50g.

Days 6–7 — Watch for the float

When your starter doubles reliably between feeds, do the float test: drop a tablespoon in water. Floats? You're ready to bake.

If it sinks, give it another day or two. Some starters take 10–14 days to fully mature.

Day 8 — Mix your first dough

In a large bowl:

• 100g active starter (must be fed and at peak)
• 350g water
• 500g bread flour
• 10g salt

1. Mix water and starter.
2. Add flour and salt. Stir until shaggy.
3. Cover. Rest 30 minutes.
4. Wet hands. Stretch and fold: pull one side up and over, rotate, repeat. Four folds = one set.
5. Cover. Rest 30 minutes. Repeat 3 more sets.
6. After the last set, cover and let bulk ferment 4–6 hours at room temperature, or until risen 50–70%.

Day 8 evening — Shape

1. Lightly flour your counter.
2. Tip dough out gently.
3. Fold from each side toward the center to form a rough ball.
4. Flip, smooth side up.
5. Use your bench scraper to drag the ball across the counter, building tension.
6. Place seam-side up in a flour-dusted bowl lined with a flour-dusted clean kitchen towel (your DIY banneton).
7. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Day 9 — Bake

1. Place Dutch oven in cold oven. Preheat to 500°F. Wait 45 minutes.
2. Take dough from fridge. Tip out onto parchment paper.
3. Score with a sharp knife or razor — one confident slash across the top.
4. Lower into the hot Dutch oven (using the parchment as a sling).
5. Cover. Bake 20 minutes.
6. Remove lid. Drop to 450°F. Bake 25 more minutes until deeply browned.
7. Remove. Cool on a wire rack at least 90 minutes before cutting.

What success looks like

• Risen, not flat
• Crisp, golden-to-mahogany crust
• Open crumb (some holes, not too many)
• Slightly tangy flavor

What's normal

Your first loaf will not be perfect. It might be dense. It might be flat. The crust might be pale. That's fine. Bake it again. By loaf 5 or 6, you'll see real progress.