This easy to make sourdough starter bread recipe is a no-knead recipe. You can feed and make this easy sourdough bread recipe in one day.
If you are new to sourdough bread making or maybe just made your very first sourdough starter, then you’ll love this easy sourdough bread recipe. Like I keep saying, learning to make your very own sourdough starter doesn’t have to be confusing or intimidating. Armed with a good understanding of sourdough starters will go a long way towards making your baking experience with sourdough an enjoyable one!
Sourdough Starter Basics
This is the fourth blog post in my sourdough starter basics series. If you are new to sourdough starters or want to learn more, be sure to read the other informative posts in this series:
- How to Make a Sourdough Starter
- Understanding Sourdough Starters
- Sourdough Starter Ratios
- Sourdough Bread Making Tools & Equipment
- Garlic Parmesan Sourdough Starter
Sourdough Starter Bread Recipe
Sourdough Bread Baking Equipment
There are other pieces of equipment that you will or may want to have on hand as you begin making sourdough breads. I’ll talk more about that later, but here are some basics to consider:
- dutch oven – You will want a dutch oven or an oven safe pan with a lid that can be heated to 450 F (230 C).
- banneton basket – A wicker basket that is used to proof bread in. The basket helps the bread hold its shape as it proofs.
- round glass bowl – If you don’t use a banneton basket, you’ll need a round glass bowl for proofing your dough.
- bread lame – A bread lame is a tool that has a razor blade attached to it that is specifically used to score bread. You can simply use a sharp kitchen knife, too.
- bowl scraper and bench scraper – Although not completely necessary. The scrapers do make it easier to handle the dough and a lot less messy.
You’ll also want a tea towel or loose fitting lid, cling wrap and parchment paper.
Choose the Right Ingredients
To get started making your sourdough starter, you’ll need only two ingredients: whole wheat flour and filtered water. Then as you begin baking basic sourdough bread, you’ll also need unbleached white flour, uniodized salt (sea salt) and maybe rice flour.
- whole wheat flour – Whole wheat or whole grain flour has more natural yeast, bacteria and nutrients. Use whole wheat flour to help get your starter off to a healthy start.
- unbleached all-purpose or bread flour – When you start making your bread, you’ll incorporate unbleached flour into your recipe. You do not want to use bleached flour. You can use all-purpose or bread flour – just make sure it’s unbleached.
- filtered water – Because tap water contains chemicals, you will want to use filtered water for best results. You can filter tap water by boiling it and then letting it cool to room temperature or by leaving it sit out overnight uncovered.
- uniodized salt – Use either sea salt or kosher salt in your bread dough. The iodized salt can negatively impact the fermentation process. I prefer to use fine sea salt, but any uniodized or kosher salt will work.
- rice flour – You’ll find that some recipes and sourdough bread bakers use rice flour for dusting the banneton basket. This is a very fine flour and does an excellent job of helping to prevent your bread from sticking. I highly recommend the rice flour if you’re planning to use a banneton basket.
Easy No-Knead Sourdough Starter Bread Recipe
This easy to make sourdough starter bread recipe is a no-knead recipe. You can feed and make this easy sourdough bread recipe in one day.
Ingredients
- 50 – 100 g (1⁄4 – 1/2 cup) bubbly, active starter
- 375 g (1 1/2 cups plus 1 tbsp) warm water
- 500 g (4 cups plus 2 tbsp) bread flour
- 9 to 11 g (1.5 – 2 teaspoons) fine sea salt
Instructions
Whisk the starter and water together in a large bowl with a fork or spatula. Add the flour and salt. Mix to combine to form a rough dough. Cover with a damp towel and let rest for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, grab a corner of the dough and pull it up and into the center. Repeat until you’ve performed this series of folds 4 to 5 times with the dough. Let dough rest for another 30 minutes and repeat the stretching and folding action. Repeat this twice more for a total of 4 times in 2 hours.
First Rise - Cover the bowl with a towel and let rise at room temperature, about 8 to 10 hours at 70°F (21°C) or even less if you live in a warm environment. The dough is ready when it has increased by 50% in volume, has a few bubbles on the surface, and jiggles when you move the bowl from side to side.
Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently shape it into a round: fold the top down to the center, turn the dough, fold the top down to the center, turn the dough; repeat until you’ve come full circle. If you have a bench scraper, use it to push and pull the dough to create tension.
Let the dough rest seam-side up for 30 minutes.
Line an 8-10" bowl with a towel, dust the towel with flour. Place the dough in the lined bowl, seam side up.
Second Rise - Cover the dough and refrigerate for 1 hour or up to 48 hours.
Place Dutch oven in the oven and preheat to 475F.
Place a piece of parchment paper over the dough and flip the bowl over to release the dough onto the parchment paper. Score the top of the bread. Use the parchment paper to transfer the dough to the preheated Dutch oven.
Lower the temperature on the oven to 450F, cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid, lower the temperature to 400F and continue to bake for 10-15 minutes more. Cool on wire rack. For best results, cool completely before slicing.
Recommended Products
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You’ll find my sourdough starter recipe here, which is the first in my sourdough starter basics series. And my garlic parmesan sourdough bread recipe here, if you want to try something a little more challenging.
Helpful Resources
Some of my favorite sourdough resources that I have actually used and learned from are listed below.
- Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish
- Gluten Free Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D.
- Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson
- Starter Sourdough by Carroll Pellegrinelli
- The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum
- The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D. and Zoe Francois
I hope this sourdough starter basics lesson on understanding sourdough starters has proven helpful to you. Be sure to check out my sourdough starter recipe, garlic parmesan sourdough starter recipe and check back often as this is just the second blog post in my sourdough basics series.
Til next time…
