My Everyday Sourdough Recipe

This is the loaf I started with. It's nothing fancy — no fillings, no fresh-milled flour, no 24-hour fermentation. Just a soft, chewy sourdough with a crackly crust that's good for sandwiches, toast, or torn apart at the dinner table. If you're new to sourdough, start here.

The whole thing takes about 24 hours, but only about 30 minutes of that is actual work — the rest is the dough doing its thing while you do yours.

What you'll need

500g bread flour (about 4 cups)

375g warm water (about 1 ½ cups)

100g active starter (about ½ cup, bubbly and ready)

10g salt (about 2 teaspoons)

A kitchen scale, a large bowl, a Dutch oven, and a sharp knife or razor for scoring.

The night before

If your starter has been sleeping in the fridge, take it out the night before and feed it. By morning it should be doubled and bubbly. That's how you know it's ready to bake with.

Morning — mix the dough

In a large bowl, whisk together the warm water and starter until it looks milky. Add the flour and salt, then stir with your hands until there's no dry flour left. The dough will look shaggy and sticky — that's exactly right. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Stretch and folds

Over the next 2 hours, do four sets of stretch and folds, about 30 minutes apart. To do one: wet your hands, grab the edge of the dough, stretch it up, and fold it over the middle. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn and do it again. Four pulls per set, four sets total. This is what builds strength in the dough — way easier than kneading.

Bulk fermentation

After your last fold, leave the dough alone on the counter for 4 to 6 hours. You're waiting for it to roughly double in size and look puffy and bubbly around the edges. In a warm kitchen this can happen fast — in a cold one it takes longer. Watch the dough, not the clock.

Shape and chill

Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured counter. Gently shape it into a round by tucking the edges underneath. Place it seam-side up in a bowl lined with a floured towel, cover it, and slide it into the fridge overnight. This cold rest deepens the flavor and makes scoring much easier in the morning.

Bake day

Put your Dutch oven (with the lid on) into the oven and preheat to 475°F. While it heats, take your dough out of the fridge. Once the oven is ready, carefully turn the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper, score the top with a sharp knife (a single slash works fine), and use the parchment to lower it into the hot Dutch oven. Put the lid back on.

Bake covered for 20 minutes. Remove the lid and bake another 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is deep golden brown. Pull it out, lift the loaf onto a cooling rack, and walk away.

The hardest part

Wait at least an hour before slicing. I know. I'm sorry. The bread is still cooking on the inside, and if you cut into it too soon, the crumb will be gummy.

How to keep it

Store the cooled loaf cut-side down on a cutting board for up to 3 days. Wrap it in a tea towel. After day 3, slice the rest and freeze it. Frozen sourdough toasts up beautifully straight from the freezer.

If something goes wrong

Flat loaf? Probably underproofed (didn't ferment long enough) or your starter wasn't strong. Gummy inside? Sliced too soon, or it needed a few more minutes in the oven. Pale crust? Try more steam, or bake longer with the lid off. Every loaf is information for the next one. Keep going.