After baking sourdough bread For a while, you start to accumulate a track record of mistakes. From the simple one of forgetting to put salt in the dough (every baker has done this), to having overfermented dough. The temperamental nature of the dough, coupled with the number of variables that can go wrong keeps it interesting.

So, if you are looking to improve your sourdough bread, this is for you.

This guide is written with breads such as a Country loaf or a White bread in mind.

Kneading Is For Chumps.

You might know what I mean, you have found a bread recipe, you have measured your flour, water and salt. The next thing the recipe says is to knead for 8 to 10 minutes. It is a lot of labour that will get the lazy gene in you thinking “is this really necessary?”.

There is a better way.

When first mixing your ingredients, you really are looking to just have the dough mixed through. It doesn’t need to be perfect, just get the bulk of the flour mixed. And then: leave it. Come back in 15–20 minutes and you’ll find the water in the dough has done a lot of the work for you. This is known as the Autolyse method, and has been popularised by Bakers such as Ken Forkish. It reduces the effort, and really makes for a great bread. The gluten still needs to be developed with a series of stretches and folds, but the hard grunt work of tirelessly kneading the dough is taken care of.

Bake Hot. Like, Really Hot.

A few people I have spoken to over the years have made this mistake. They go through all the steps to making their dough just right, only to place it in an oven that is nowhere near hot enough. So get it hot, really hot. 230º celsius (446º fahrenheit) would be a good starting point. Hotter can be better depending on your oven. The first 5 minutes is critical in getting that lovely bloom, a cooler oven and you just won’t get the same rise. Preheat for at least 30 minutes, and if you are using a dutch oven to bake your bread, even better. After your bread has been in the oven for 20–30 minutes, the temperature can come down to avoid it burning.

Work Wet, Not Dry.

As a kid I remember mixing dough, and every time too much got stuck on my fingers, I would freak out and add some more flour. You end up with a much drier bread this way, and risk having clumps of unmixed flour through the dough. Well if stickiness is the problem, water works the same way. Wet your hands every time before you mix. The dough will stick far less to your hands, and it allows you to stretch and fold far easier. And if the dough starts sticking again to your hands while mixing? Just wet them again. It might add 1 or 2 percent hydration to your final dough, but the final result will be a smoother and softer bread.

With Hydration, Start Low.

Lower hydration doughs are easier to work with. They stick less and they are less temperamental. The higher amount of water you add, the shorter the time window is to get your dough shaped. They simply ripen faster. For a country loaf or a white loaf, start around 70% water (compared to total flour weight), and slowly work your way up. At our bakery our Country Loaf has about 22% wholemeal wheat and rye flour, the rest baker’s flour. In summer the dough ferments just that extra bit quicker, so we usually keep the hydration at around 72%. In Winter we push it up to 75%. If we would mix 75% hydration in Summer we would end up with a lot more pancake batter than we would know what to do with.

The Flavour Is In The Ferment.

Our breads at Fable Bakery have such a strong flavour and chewy texture, it is hard to compare it to supermarket breads, it’s just too different. The main reason for this is fermentation time. Our bulk ferment (that is, the first fermentation) is a minimum of 8 hours, and together with the time the dough spends shaped and waiting to be baked is around 22 hours. Depending on the temperature of where you live, you might need to strategically use the fridge to achieve this (we live in Perth, Western Australia so this is practically where our dough lives). My preference is for a dough temperature that spends at least a few hours at 21º — 22ºc. At this temperature the dough will not ferment too quickly, allowing time for the flavours to develop. The end result is a bread with a fantastic tanginess and deep flavour.

Choose The Right Flour.

This is a great time to be baking sourdough. We are in the midst of a renaissance from grain to bakery. There is a wide choice of heritage grains to choose from such as Khorasan and Purple Wheat. The flour you typically buy at the supermarket is tried and true, and, admittedly, you might get a better rise out of your bread due to the more precise gluten content that the bigger millers offer. However in my experience they lack taste, often tasting like paper. If you are searching for flavour (and you should be) or nutrition (and you should be), experiment with your flour choice. You won’t regret it.

Experiment. Experiment. Experiment.

The reason baking sourdough is so rewarding is that there is always an improvement to be made, and always something new to be learnt. With each bake, a new idea can be formed and tried, and with each mistake, a new lesson can be learnt. Hopefully these suggestions might spark a rethink in your technique if you are not happy with your breads, or, alternatively affirm some of your own methods as being right for you and your baking style.

So however you like to bake, happy baking.

Clayton, Fable Bakery

@fablebakery