Classic Sourdough Bread Recipe — Step-by-Step for Home Bakers

There are hundreds of sourdough bread recipes online. This is the one we use ourselves, refined over years of baking. It works with either a wheat or rye starter, scales easily between our oval and round bannetons, and fits around a regular daily schedule. Treat it as a guide and adjust to what works for you.

Which banneton size?

We offer two banneton shapes and the amounts in this recipe vary depending on which you're using. The oval produces an elongated bâtard; the round produces a classic boule. Both work the same way — just different amounts.

Step 1 — Prepare the leaven (10pm, night before)

Optional but recommended

Building a leaven from your starter ensures maximum activity when the dough goes in. Mix your starter with baker's flour and lukewarm water at a 1:2:2 ratio, cover, and leave overnight. By morning it should have risen, domed, and be ready to use.

Our leaven mix:

• 40g starter
• 80g baker's flour
• 80g water at room temperature
• Total: 200g leaven

You'll use 110g of this leaven for the oval banneton recipe, or 150g for the round. The remainder can go into a discard recipe or be discarded.

If your starter has been fed recently and is active, you can skip the leaven and use it directly. The leaven step just gives extra insurance that fermentation will be vigorous.

Step 2 — Dough mix and autolyse (8am)

Combine flour, water, and salt in a large bowl. Mix until no dry flour remains — a few lumps are fine at this stage. Our Danish dough whisk makes this much faster than working by hand. Set aside for 30–60 minutes. This resting period — the autolyse — lets the flour fully hydrate and makes the dough far easier to work with afterwards.

Dough quantities:

Oval banneton

• 550g baker's flour (100%)
• 385g water (70%)*
• 14g salt (2.5%)
• 110g leaven or ripe starter (20%)
• Total: 1,059g

Round banneton

• 750g baker's flour (100%)
• 525g water (70%)*
• 19g salt (2.5%)
• 150g leaven or ripe starter (20%)
• Total: 1,444g

* Water amounts vary slightly depending on flour. Start at 70% and adjust up or down by 5% based on how the dough feels after mixing.

After the autolyse, add your leaven or ripe starter and incorporate it using wet hands. The dough will feel sticky at first but becomes easy to handle once the gluten develops. No need to knead — the stretch and fold steps handle that.

Step 3 — Stretch and fold (8.30am, 3 sets over 1.5 hours)

Stretch and fold is what builds gluten strength without kneading. Grab the dough from one side with your silicone bowl scraper, stretch it up until it resists, then fold it over to the opposite side. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat — four sides makes one set. Do three sets total, spaced about 30 minutes apart, keeping the bowl covered between sets.

This is the most important step in the whole process. Each set builds the gluten network that will hold the loaf's shape through the long fermentation and baking. Don't skip it.

Step 4 — Bulk fermentation (9am to 3pm, approximately 6–8 hours)

After your stretch and fold sets, leave the dough covered at room temperature to ferment. It should increase in volume by around 50% and feel soft, airy, and elastic — almost marshmallow-like when you press it gently. Look for bubbles on the surface and at the sides of the bowl.

Temperature matters here. 20–25°C is the sweet spot. A cold kitchen will slow this significantly, so don't watch the clock — watch the dough. Better to wait than to move on too early.

Step 5 — Shape and bench rest (3pm)

Flour the bench lightly and turn the dough out. It should be soft and stretchy. Use your bowl scraper to release it from the bowl cleanly.

Fold it like an envelope: pull the left and right sides toward the centre, then fold the bottom up over them, then fold the top down and tightly over everything. The dough should now look roughly like a small loaf, with a seam on the bottom. Dust lightly with flour and leave uncovered on the bench for 30 minutes. This bench rest firms up the shape.

For shaping technique, a short YouTube search for "sourdough bread shaping" will show you more clearly than words can describe. There are dozens of good tutorials and the technique becomes intuitive quickly.

Step 6 — Proof in the banneton (3.30pm — 2 to 4 hours, or overnight in fridge)

Flour the banneton generously — rice flour is excellent here as it doesn't absorb into the dough and prevents sticking reliably. If using the cloth liner, a light dusting is enough. Place the shaped dough upside down into the banneton (seam up). Transfer it gently using your bench scraper.

For same-day baking, proof at room temperature for 2–4 hours until the dough has puffed slightly and springs back slowly when poked. For the best crust and crumb, cold proof overnight in the fridge: cover the banneton with a plastic bag and refrigerate. Cold proofing slows the yeast but keeps the bacteria active, developing more complex flavour and giving a more open crumb. You can cold proof for up to 48 hours.

Step 7 — Score and bake (5pm, or next morning)

Preheat the oven to 250°C. If using a Dutch oven, place it inside to preheat for at least 30–45 minutes — it needs to be very hot before the dough goes in.

Turn the dough out of the banneton onto a piece of parchment paper. For decoration, dust the surface with flour using a fine sieve — rice flour works best. Score the dough with your bread lame or magnetic lame. Cut decisively and at an angle — hesitant cuts drag rather than slice. One clean score along the centre is all you need, though you can experiment with patterns.

Slide the dough (on the parchment) into the preheated Dutch oven, close the lid, and bake for 20–25 minutes. Don't open the lid during this time — the trapped steam is what creates the crust. Then reduce to 220°C, remove the lid, and bake for another 20–25 minutes until the loaf is deeply golden and sounds hollow when tapped.

If you don't have a Dutch oven, bake directly on an oven rack with a small tray of water in the bottom of the oven to generate steam.

Rest on a wire rack for at least 2 hours before cutting. The crumb continues to set after baking. Cutting too early releases steam and results in a gummy interior, even if everything else went perfectly.

What you need for this recipe

• Oval banneton or round banneton — shapes and supports the dough during proofing
• Danish dough whisk — mixes dough in seconds without a machine
• Silicone bowl scraper — essential for stretch and fold
• Bench scraper — for shaping and transferring dough
• Bread lame — for scoring before baking
• Wheat starter or rye starter — a healthy, active culture

Everything above is available in our Beginner Baker Set, which bundles the starter, banneton, and all key tools together.

Related reading

• Step-by-Step Starter Feeding Guide — get your starter ready before you begin
• Understanding Sourdough Flours — which flour to use and why
• Sourdough Starter Maintenance — keeping your starter in good shape between bakes

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