From zero experience to your first beautiful loaf — everything you need, in the right order.
Sourdough is bread leavened with a fermented flour-and-water mixture called a starter — instead of commercial yeast. The starter is alive with wild yeast and bacteria that give sourdough its signature tangy flavor, chewy crumb, and thick crust.
Unlike regular bread, sourdough is slower. That slowness is the magic — longer fermentation develops flavor and makes the bread more digestible.
A starter is just flour and water, fermented over several days until wild yeast colonizes it. Here's a day-by-day guide:
Mix 50g flour + 50g water. Cover loosely. Leave at room temp.
Discard half, feed 50g flour + 50g water. You may see small bubbles.
More bubbles, rising between feedings. Keep feeding daily.
Starter should be doubling between feedings. Try the float test.
Drop a spoonful in water — if it floats, you're ready to bake!
All-purpose flour, filtered water, a clean jar, a scale.
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