Sourdough Gets Serious
Our Sourdough Made Simple approach makes great bread easily. But if you’re ready to level up — to bake with more precision and get even better results — this guide is for you. It may look detailed, but don’t be put off! The only tricky part is planning your schedule — the hands-on work is minimal, and there’s no kneading at all.
This method takes a little longer, so the key is to find a baking rhythm that fits your day!
Step 1: Convert Your Starter to a Liquid Starter
Your starter is already strong — we’re just adjusting its hydration.
Goal: 100% hydration (equal parts flour and water).
Mix:
120g dough starter
140ml water
75g white flour
25g wholemeal flour
Cover loosely (cling film with rubber band or jar lid) and leave at room temperature overnight. By morning, it should be bubbly, tangy, and active.
Discard all but 50 g of the liquid starter (This feels scary, but trust us, it works). If you don't want to just tip this down the sink, look up online recipes for discarded sourdough starter- there are lots of great things you can cook with it including sourdough pancakes).
Feed again with:
75g white flour
25g wholemeal flour
100ml water
Cover and leave overnight. By morning, your liquid starter is ready.
You can bake immediately or store it in the fridge. If storing: feed it morning and night the day before baking so it’s strong and active when you need it.
Equipment & Ingredients
Of course, the starter is the most crucial ingredient, and because you already have a perfect starter- this technique is absolutely guaranteed to work.
But there are a few extra items that you will need for this recipe.
Cast-iron style ovenproof dish with lid — creates the steamy, sealed environment essential for great crust.
Large beaker, jar, or tumbler — for converting your dough starter into a liquid starter.
Two airtight plastic bags — to stop your dough drying out during the overnight fridge prove.
Baking parchment.
Flours: white, wholemeal, and a little dark rye (optional but excellent for flavour).
Optional: Digital thermometer — helps with fermentation control, but not essential.
Baker’s Note
At the moment the starter is about 50% hydration. This just means there is a water to flour ratio of 2:1. We want to get the ratio up to 1:1. Get your beaker or tumbler and add a 120g lump of starter. Add 40ml of water to bring the ratio up to 1:1 (currently in 120g of starter there is 80g of flour and 40ml of water, so adding 40ml of water brings it to half of each). Then we want to feed it with some additional fresh flour and water at 1:1 ratio, so we will add 100g of flour and 100ml more of water. For the flour, use 75g white and 25g wholemeal. The order you add these ingredients is not important.
Bake Day
You ideally need to bake on a day where you will be able to give your dough some attention over 5-6 hours (you don't need to be there the whole time, but you want to stick roughly to this schedule.
The cold prove can last up to 48 hours, so there’s no need to bake at a specific time. I often make two loaves—baking one on the first day and leaving the other in the fridge for another 24 hours. This way, I have fresh bread on two consecutive days.
Baking Schedule
10am-11am: autolyse - this is where you combine the flour and water (but not the starter and salt) and simply let it sit for an hour to start breaking down and start some enzymatic reaction ready for fermentation
11am-4pm: first prove - also called bulk fermentation - this is where you add the starter and salt, combine and leave to prove in a large bowl at room temperature. During this phase you will want to do three or four very simple stretch and fold sessions. More on that in a moment.
4pm until the next morning (or whenever you want to cook): second prove -cold fermentation in the fridge - this needs to be overnight, but can actually be for as long as you want. So you are not bound to start baking at any particular time.
A Note on Temperature
Temperature plays a huge role in how well sourdough proves. To reduce variability, it helps to control your water temperature and be mindful of room conditions.For best results, aim for a dough temperature around 23°C. Unless it’s the middle of summer, you’ll likely need to slightly warm your water to reach this.You can use a digital thermometer to check, or simply heat the water in a jug in the microwave for about one minute before use. This method works well most of the year—only skip it during the hottest months.
Baking Two Loaves
Recipe for Two Loaves
Autolyse:
In a large bowl, combine:
775g white flour
115g wholemeal flour
50g dark rye flour
605g water (warmed in the microwave for one minute)
Mix the flours together, then add the warmed water. Check the dough temperature as you go—it should be around 23°C. Use your plastic scraper or wooden spoon to mix until all the water is absorbed and no dry flour remains at the bottom of the bowl. You’re not kneading here—just mixing until everything is evenly combined.
Cover the bowl with a towel and let it rest in a warm spot. If it’s winter or your kitchen is particularly cold, place the bowl near a radiator or other gentle heat source. Otherwise, room temperature is fine.
The autolyse takes about one hour. You don’t need to do anything during this time.
Mixing
After your autolyse, it’s time to add your starter. Don’t worry too much about exact quantities—around 250g in total is fine. You can tip it all in, leaving about 50g in your jar as you would for a discard and feed. Mix it in using a dough scraper or your hands.
Add 16–18g of salt (use 16g if you prefer less salt, 18g for more flavour).
Next, add a little more water—about 50ml of warm tap water (not hot)—to bring the dough to full hydration and fine-tune the temperature.
Add the water a bit at a time, mixing it in with your hands until incorporated. This is the trickiest part of the process, as you’ll need to judge how much water your dough can handle. It should feel wetter than a typical dough—that’s normal—but not so wet that it becomes unworkable. For your first bake, aim to use about 25ml of the extra water (unless the dough clearly needs more). You can add more next time as you get a feel for it.
Make sure everything is well mixed, then cover the dough and leave it at room temperature.
Stretch and Fold
This recipe doesn’t require kneading, but during the first 1½ hours, try to perform a stretch and fold every 30 minutes.
Here’s how:
Imagine the dough divided into four compass points—North, South, East, and West.
Starting from one side, slide your hand under the dough, lift, stretch it up, and fold it back over itself toward the center.
Rotate the bowl and repeat from each direction once.
That’s one full round of stretching and folding.
If you’re short on time or need to step out, don’t worry—consistent fermentation is more important than the full stretch-and-fold routine. Aim for three sets if possible, but your dough will still develop well even with fewer.
Afterward, leave the dough to rest for the remainder of the 3½-hour bulk fermentation.
Pre-Shaping
Once bulk fermentation is complete, it’s time to pre-shape your dough. Lightly flour your work surface, as the dough will be sticky.
Turn the dough out, fold it together gently into a rough round shape, and use your hands or a scraper to create surface tension—essentially tightening it into a neat ball. You can lift it slightly off the board and tuck the edges underneath to help shape it. Don’t worry too much about perfect technique here; the goal is simply to form a smooth, tight round.
If the dough is very sticky, lightly flour your hands or the surface.
Preparing the Baskets
Dust your proving baskets generously with plain flour—or rice flour, if you have it. Make sure to cover all the nooks and corners.
Using your scraper or hands, gently lift the shaped dough and place it into the basket seam-side up.
Take a large plastic bag, place the basket inside, and twist the bag closed to trap some air inside. This prevents the dough from drying out. Repeat with the second loaf.
Baking
Place your Dutch oven on a middle rack and preheat it to 235°C. Allow at least 30 minutes for it to reach full temperature.
When ready, remove one of the baskets from the fridge and take off the plastic bag. Cut a piece of baking parchment roughly the same size as your basket (or slightly larger). Place it on top of the dough, then put a small board or tray over it. Flip the whole thing so the dough ends up sitting on the parchment, seam-side down.
Using a sharp blade or lame, score the dough lengthways from end to end. Aim for a clean, confident cut about ½–1 cm deep—this helps the loaf expand nicely in the oven.
Carefully remove the Dutch oven from the oven. Holding the edges of the parchment, gently lower the dough inside, then replace the lid as quickly as possible. Bake for 25 minutes with the lid on.
After 25 minutes, remove the lid and continue baking for another 25 minutes uncovered. The loaf should rise beautifully, with an open crack and a golden, blistered crust.
Once baked, lift the loaf out using the parchment and place it on a wire rack to cool.
If you’re baking a second loaf, return the Dutch oven to the oven (with the lid on) for about 10 minutes to bring it back up to temperature before baking again.
Let the loaf cool for at least 1½ hours before slicing—cutting too soon can crush the crumb.
Final Notes
If you follow this process, you’ll produce an outstanding loaf with a crisp crust and open crumb. It takes some planning, but once you get used to the rhythm, it becomes second nature.
The only downside? The bread is so good, you might never want to bake it any other way.