How to make sourdough bread?

The benchmark recipe from Chad Robertson's Tartine Bakery that serious home bakers aspire to. Produces bread with an open, irregular crumb, deeply blistered crust, and complex flavor from extended fermentation. Higher hydration (75%) and careful temperature control are what separate a good loaf…

The best first sourdough loaf you can bake. Only 4 ingredients, minimal technique, and the Dutch oven does the heavy lifting by trapping steam for a professional-quality crust. Lower hydration (70%) makes the dough forgiving and easy to handle.

A straightforward sourdough sandwich loaf using just five core ingredients: starter, water, olive oil, bread flour, and salt. The stretch-and-fold method replaces kneading, and an overnight cold rise in the fridge develops deep flavor with minimal effort. Bakes in a standard loaf pan for perfect…

A hands-off approach that replaces kneading with time and a few simple stretch-and-folds. The long overnight fermentation develops gluten naturally while building complex flavor. Combined with a Dutch oven for steam, this method produces professional-quality results with minimal skill.

Par-baked sourdough loaves are partially baked at a professional bakery, then frozen or packaged for you to finish in your home oven. You get artisan-quality bread with a hot, crackling crust and just 10-15 minutes of oven time. The best compromise between quality and convenience.

When you want sourdough without any baking at all, several brands deliver genuine quality. The key is knowing which brands use real sourdough fermentation versus those that simply add vinegar or citric acid for flavor.

A true sourdough loaf made entirely in a bread machine with no commercial yeast. This is more challenging because bread machine cycles are timed for fast-acting yeast, not the slow wild yeast in sourdough. The workaround: use the dough cycle for mixing, then let it ferment on its own schedule.

The most reliable bread machine approach to sourdough. Commercial yeast guarantees the rise while the sourdough starter contributes tangy flavor and improved texture. This is the method King Arthur Baking recommends for bread machines.