8 Sourdough Tips I Wish I'd Known When I Started

If you're staring at a jar of bubbly starter wondering what on earth you've gotten yourself into — welcome. I've been there. Sourdough has a reputation for being fussy, but the truth is it's one of the most forgiving things you'll ever bake. It just runs on its own schedule, and once you stop fighting that, the rest gets easy.

Here are the things I wish someone had told me when I started — the small stuff that makes a big difference, plus the mistakes I made so you don't have to.

1. Your starter is alive — treat it like a pet, not a project

A starter is just flour, water, and wild yeast doing their thing. It needs to be fed regularly to stay strong. If you bake every week, keep it on the counter and feed it once a day. If you bake less often, pop it in the fridge and feed it once a week. That's it. You don't need a fancy crock or a thermometer or a feeding schedule down to the minute. You just need to remember it's there.

2. The float test isn't perfect, but it's close enough

Drop a small spoonful of starter into a glass of water. If it floats, it's ready to bake with. If it sinks, give it more time. This isn't gospel — sometimes a sunken starter still bakes a beautiful loaf — but for beginners it's a useful gut check.

3. Weigh your ingredients

I know — you came here for bread, not chemistry homework. But trust me on this one: a $15 kitchen scale will save you so many failed loaves. A cup of flour can vary by 30 grams depending on how packed it is, and that's enough to throw the whole loaf off. Weighing takes the guesswork out of every bake. Plus, you wash less measuring cups.

4. Time is a flexible ingredient

Recipes will tell you to bulk ferment for 4 hours. Mine usually takes 6 in winter and 3 in summer because my kitchen is a different temperature than the recipe writer's. Watch the dough, not the clock. You're looking for it to roughly double, get a little jiggly, and show some bubbles around the edges. That's your signal — whenever it shows up.

5. Cold dough is easier to handle

After shaping, let your loaf rest in the fridge overnight before baking. This is called a cold retard, and it does two things: it deepens the flavor, and it makes the dough firm enough to score with a clean blade. If you've ever fought sticky dough at 6am, you'll appreciate this one immediately.

6. Steam is the secret to a good crust

If your crust comes out pale or soft, you need more steam in the oven. The easiest fix is to bake inside a Dutch oven with the lid on for the first 20 minutes — the dough makes its own steam in there, and the crust crackles when it cools. No Dutch oven? A pan of hot water on the bottom rack works too.

7. Wait to slice. Really.

I know how hard this is. The smell alone is going to break you. But sourdough is still cooking on the inside for at least an hour after it comes out of the oven. Slice too soon and the inside will feel gummy — not because you did anything wrong, just because you didn't wait. One hour minimum. Two if you can stand it.

8. Your first loaf will be ugly. Bake it anyway.

Mine looked like a flat little frisbee. The second one was better. The tenth one was actually pretty. Sourdough is a feel — your hands learn what the dough should feel like, and that takes reps. Don't compare your first loaf to someone's hundredth. Just keep going.

Want a head start?

If you don't want to grow a starter from scratch, I sell some of mine at the farm stand. It's the same starter I bake with at home — already happy, already strong, and I'll send you home with a feeding cheat sheet. Stop by and we'll get you set up.