The Starter Jar

The Complete Beginner's Guide to Sourdough Everything you need to know to bake your first loaf — from building a starter to pulling golden bread from the oven. Building a sourdough starter: combine equal parts whole wheat or rye flour and unchlorinated water (50g each), cover and leave at room temperature. For the next 7–10 days, discard about half and feed with equal parts fresh flour and water. A mature active starter doubles in size within 4–8 hours after feeding, smells slightly sour like yogurt or beer, and is full of bubbles. Don't throw away your discard — use it for pancakes, waffles, crackers. First loaf recipe: 100g active starter, 350g unbleached bread flour, 250g unchlorinated water, 8g salt. Autolyse flour and water 30–60 minutes. Incorporate starter and salt, mix until smooth and elastic (5–10 minutes). Bulk fermentation 4–6 hours with stretch and folds every 30–60 minutes during first 2–3 hours. Shape, refrigerate overnight 8–12 hours. Bake in Dutch oven at 450°F: 20 minutes covered, 25–30 minutes uncovered until internal temperature 205–210°F. Cool completely before slicing. Scoring is not just aesthetic — it controls steam release and prevents unpredictable bursting. Troubleshooting: flat loaf from underactive starter, over-proofing, or weak gluten; dense crumb from under-proofing or insufficient gluten development; gummy crumb from slicing too soon; too sour from very mature starter or long fermentation. Kitchen temperature plays a big role — warmer accelerates fermentation, cooler slows it down. Beginner Guides beginner sourdough, first loaf, sourdough starter, how to bake sourdough