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. 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
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’ll need about 5–6 hours of casual attention, plus an overnight fridge prove.
The cold prove is flexible (12–48 hours). You can bake one loaf after 12 hours and leave another proving for a day or two for fresh bread later!
Baking Schedule
10 am – 11 am: Autolyse — mix flour and water, rest 1 hour.
11 am – 4 pm: First prove (bulk fermentation) — add starter & salt, stretch and fold 3–4 times.
4 pm – next morning: Second prove (cold fermentation) — in fridge overnight.
Temperature Tips
Temperature affects fermentation speed dramatically.
Aim for dough at 23 °C.
In cooler months, use warm water (microwave for 1 min).
In summer, no need to warm water.
A thermometer helps, but experience works fine too.