7 Must Read Tips For Beginner Sourdough Bakers
If you are a beginner sourdough baker, these essential tips are for you!
Homemade sourdough bread can be intimidating, it’s true. When I started my journey six years ago, I was so nervous that I did not make a loaf of bread for several years!
I stuck to easy recipes like discard cookies, crackers and English muffins.
I wish someone had taken me by the hand at that time and gently showed me how easy sourdough bread baking can be.
You do not have to have fancy equipment (though a scale will come in handy), lots of baking experience, or a complicated recipe.
It really can be simple.
You do need to be bold enough to start, however. Trial and error is the only way to learn, and I hope these tips empower you to get started immediately. (It’s fun and addicting once you get going, I promise).
These tips will help you start baking right away, demystify the process, and encourage confidence.
Learn from my experience and get ready to mix up some dough!
7 Sourdough Bread Baking Tips For Beginners
Sourdough does not have to be overwhelming or complicated. Learn from my experience with these easy tips!
1. You Can Purchase A Starter
If you have trouble establishing a sourdough starter, you can borrow, buy, or beg one!
I was a ball of nerves when getting my sourdough starter going for the first time. I anxiously watched as my starter developed, fearful that it might turn into a creature from the Black Lagoon!
I did not grow up in a fermenting household, so the process felt weird, intimidating, almost dangerous!
If I could go back in time, I might have purchased a starter, followed the feeding instructions, and had one less thing to stress about.
I now know that developing a sourdough starter is easy (I’ve started from scratch at least three times).
However, I love knowing that buying a starter is an option. And if you have a friend or family member with starter ask to use some of theirs to get your process going!
2. You Do Not Have To Discard Everyday
I misunderstood discard when I first launched into sourdough-I honestly thought you had to discard and feed your sourdough starter every single day.
Of course this seemed time consuming and overwhelming.
It took me a while to learn that once established, you can keep your sourdough starter in the fridge until you want to use it.
This is a total game-changer because you do not have to be tied to a daily sourdough feeding routine or risk wasting flour.
I am at the point now where I love to bake and make all our bread from scratch, so my sourdough starter spends most of its time on my counter.
But if I’m traveling or just need to take a break, I’ll stick it in the fridge (be sure to use an air-tight lid). When I’m ready to jump into baking again, I pull out my starter and warm it up with a few feeds.
3. Baking Does Not Have To Be Expensive
Like any hobby, sourdough comes with many tools you can purchase to “improve” your bread.
The truth is, you probably have everything on hand that you need to get started baking bread at home. Remember, bread is simply flour, water, salt, and sourdough!
You’ll need a clean glass jar for your sourdough to grow in, a thin spatula, water, and flour.
Most bakers use a scale for precision, though you can technically get away with standard measuring cups.
Instead of a banneton, you can use the same bowl your dough developed to do the final rise for your bread.
And, many people use cheap turkey roasting pans to bake their bread.
You also do not have to use the best, most expensive flour to get good results. Organic may be higher quality than non, but a homemade loaf of bread will beat out store bought every time, regardless of what brand of flour you use.
Humans have been baking bread for thousands of years, without Amazon Prime on standby to offer them tantalizing (though not always needed) tools.
If you are on a budget, stick to the basics!
4. Temperature Is A Key Ingredient
Temperature is one of the most underrated aspects of bread baking.
Your home’s warmth (or coolness) will dramatically affect your sourdough starter and its ability to act as a rising agent for your bread.
Cooler temperatures will slow down the activity of your starter, and the dough will rise more slowly. Warm temperatures, on the other hand, speed things up and can cause your dough to overproof.
Over time, I have learned to look at temperature as an ingredient, as essential as the flour, starter, or salt. Ideal temperatures for a starter to thrive are around 74-76 degrees.
During the summertime when the temps are higher I will often make my same-day sourdough, and in cooler seasons I enjoy a slower process with an overnight ferment.
5. Bread Does Not Have To Be Perfect
Instagram feeds are curated with perfectly baked bread loaves, but the reality is that most homemade bread is not perfect.
So you over-proofed your bread a bit, or did the score split open? It’s all part of the beautiful learning curve, and I guarantee that most homemade bread is still perfectly edible and delicious.
Unless your bread is wet and doughy in the middle, it is probably still edible. And scoring is a challenging process to learn-give yourself grace!
Bread baking is a creative endeavor, and while we can strive to improve, we do not need to worry about perfection here!
Get beginner bread scoring tips here.
6. No Two Starters Are Alike
Starters are living and active organisms that feed off the environment’s water, flour, and naturally occurring yeast. Each starter will look and act a little different depending on their environment and food.
No two are alike- each has a slightly different smell, activity level, and appearance.
There is a lot of conflicting advice on what a starter should look like and how a person should feed it, but the reality is that no two starters will look or act exactly the same.
That is not to say you can’t strengthen your starter (because you can), but don’t get caught up in having the perfect ferment.
As long as yours can double in size when fed and can make your dough rise, it’s good to go.
7. Sourdough Does Not Have To Be Complicated
One of the hiccups in my own sourdough journey was reading too many different recipes and watching too many baking videos.
My brain was going on overdrive and I wanted to give up!
The sheer amount of conflicting information was overwhelming and defeating. Complicated bread recipes deterred my interest in sourdough for a long time.
I finally bought a few books and dedicated myself to learning the craft of sourdough.
I quickly realized, however, that you can make a soft, mouth-watering loaf of bread without following super complicated routines.
Yes, the bread will benefit from doing a series of stretches and folds.
But there have been many times when I’ve only been able to work the dough a few times before going to bed, and the resultant loaf was still delicious!
Over time, I developed a simple and easy sourdough loaf that is great for beginners and a quick same-day recipe.
While I enjoy experimenting, I stick to these recipes for our daily bread loaves.
When you are first trying to get the hang of bread baking try making the same recipe over and over until you nail it. The process will teach you a lot and quickly build your confidence!