Sourdough the basics!

There is a common myth that baking homemade sourdough bread requires a degree in microbiology and a laboratory-grade kitchen. It is easy to get overwhelmed by talk of hydration percentages, levain temperatures, and "fed" vs. "discard" starters. But at its heart, sourdough is actually very easy. It’s a return to the basics: flour, water, salt, and the magic of natural fermentation. If you’ve been intimidated by the thought of 24-hour schedules and complicated techniques, you’re in the right place. Sourdough basics aren’t actually about complex chemistry—they are about patience. Once you understand that the dough is doing most of the work for you, the process becomes incredibly rewarding and, dare we say, simple.

Why Sourdough?

Beyond the signature tangy flavor and that iconic, blistered crust, sourdough offers benefits that standard store-bought loaves simply can't match:

• Easier Digestion: The long fermentation process breaks down much of the gluten and phytic acid, making it gentler on the gut.

• Natural Preservation: The acidity of the bread acts as a natural preservative, keeping your loaf fresh for longer.

• Unmatched Flavor: Wild yeast and bacteria create a depth of flavor that commercial yeast just can’t replicate.

Sourdough bread might sound like something that takes days of complicated steps, but once you understand the basics, it’s really just about giving the dough time to do its thing. Here’s a simple recipe you can make at home—no starter-making instructions, no unnecessary fuss. Instructions to make the sourdough starter you can find in the link.

Image: beautiful and tasty white sourdough bread with raisins. Full recipe in the link.

Classic Sourdough Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

• 250 g (2 cups) wheat flour

• 250 g (2 cups) whole wheat flour

• 375 g (1 ½ cups) lukewarm water

• 75 g (⅓ cup) active sourdough starter

• 6 g (1 tsp) salt (depending on your taste)

• Optional (65 g or ½ cup) sunflower/pumpkin seeds or (100 g or ⅔ cup) raisins for delicious sourdough raisin bread!

Instructions for the classic way:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the lukewarm water (375g or 1 ½ cups) and sourdough starter (75g or ⅓ cup) until smooth.

2. Add the flour (250g / 2 cups wheat flour + 250g / 2 cups whole wheat) and salt (6g / 1tsp), then stir until the dough comes together. It’ll be shaggy and sticky—that’s exactly right. If you are adding any seeds or raisins, you may add them right away before mixing!

3. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.

4. Over the next 3–4 hours, perform 3–4 sets of stretch-and-folds (every 30–45 minutes). To do this, wet your hands, grab one side of the dough, stretch it up, and fold it over. Rotate the bowl and repeat until you’ve gone all around.

5. Once the dough has roughly doubled in size, transfer it onto a lightly floured surface, shape it into a ball, and place it seam-side down in a parchment-lined pan or banneton.

6. Score the top with a sharp knife, cover with a lid (or an oven-safe pot), and bake for 30 minutes at 230 °C (450 °F) with the lid on. Remove the lid and bake until brown and crispy, that will usually take around 5 to 10 minutes.

7. Let cool completely before slicing—this part is hard, but worth it!

   
   

Quick T65 Sourdough Bread Option

I would highly encourage you to change your all-purpose or white flour to T65 flour. This is a French-style flour with a higher protein content and things get even simpler. The extra protein gives your dough natural strength and better rising power, which means less hands-on work.

Ingredients for the easy T65 process:

• 250 g (2 cups) T75 flour

• 250 g (2 cups) whole wheat flour

• 375 g (1 ½ cups) lukewarm water

• 75 g (⅓ cup) active sourdough starter

•  6 g (1 tsp) salt (depending on your taste)

Instructions:

1. Mix the lukewarm water (375g or 1 ½ cups), sourdough starter (75g or ⅓ cup), flour (250 g T65 and 250 g whole wheat flour / 2 cups each), and salt (6g or 1tsp) in a large bowl until smooth. Best is to prepare it in the late afternoon/early evening.

2. Cover with a damp towel and let it sit at room temperature for a few hours. Just before going to bed, take the sourdough out of the bowl and place it on a wet kitchen counter. Stretch and fould a few times and leave at room temperature overnight.

3. Just before baking (in the next morning or afternoon), Stretch and fold a few times and shape the dough into a ball and place it in a parchment-lined pan. The dough is very sticky. Easiest is to put a thin layer of water on your clean kitchen counter. Then place the dough on it and fold four corners to the inside and flip the "ball".

4. Optionally rest for 30 minutes, or bake straigth away as in the classic method above.

That’s it—no stretch-and-fold marathon needed. If your doigh has rizen nicely, the 30 minutes wait is not needed. It just helps the dough to get a bit bigger in case your fermentation step did not go optimal. You can see this is the dough didn't exactely double in size overnight.

What Makes Sourdough Special?

Sourdough isn’t just “bread with tang.” It’s one of the oldest bread-making traditions, dating back thousands of years. Instead of relying on commercial yeast, sourdough uses a natural starter—just flour and water that’s been allowed to ferment. Wild yeasts and friendly bacteria in the flour and air transform it into a living culture.

That culture is what gives sourdough its signature flavor: mildly tangy, complex, and a little different every time. It also makes the bread easier to digest for many people, since the long fermentation helps break down gluten and phytic acid.

Beyond health, sourdough is about patience and rhythm. The dough ferments slowly, often overnight, which gives the bread a beautiful open crumb (those airy holes) and a crust that crackles when you tear it open. With flours like T65, you can shortcut some of the process without losing the magic. But even with basic flour, the method is simple: mix, fold, rest, bake.

Difference between T65 and normal flour

Well, to be honest the original classic method is the best. It gives a bit better shaped bread and the dough is more firm. But on the other hand, it also has a higher failing rate and it takes so many extra steps. With the T65 method I developed it is quicker and really an every-day option to make your own sourdough, with a high chance on success.

Here are some links that help you navigate to different versions of sourdough and to make the starter:

• How to make a Sourdough starter

• White sourdough bread with raisins

• 50% whole wheat bread with pumpkin- and sunflower seeds

• Dark sourdough bread with roasted malts