Artisan Sourdough Bread Recipe: Easy, Everyday High Hydration Loaf

This Artisan Sourdough Bread Recipe calls for simple ingredients, is easy to make, and comes out satisfyingly crusty with a chewy interior thanks to its high hydration ratio of water to flour. It is my “everyday, regular” bread that I make for my family 2-3 times per week, and I’ve dialed in the process of this artisan sourdough bread recipe to be easily sustainable with our busy life of homeschooling and raising small human beings.

So this is a great recipe for beginner sourdough bakers, busy moms who need a bit of flexibility, or anyone who wants to turn out a beautiful, artisan-style loaf.

I started making sourdough bread more than a dozen years ago. At the time, I cultivated my own starter (this was before a worldwide pandemic got everyone on the sourdough train, so I didn’t know anyone with a sourdough starter!) and then made sandwich bread in loaf pans that required a lot of ingredients: eggs, honey, oil, milk, gluten flour, whole meal flour, etc. And although I could make it with just my hands and a mixing bowl, it was way easier to knead in my kitchenaid mixer.

I gave that starter away a few years later when my husband and I left the USA to travel and teach in Thailand, and then re-cultivated a new starter when we settled into a new life in New Zealand.

I’ve been making sourdough bread for our family ever since, but I’ve transitioned to a much simpler recipe: flour, water, salt, and starter.

This makes it more sustainable for me (no need to keep a lot of ingredients on hand), as well as cheaper for our family (all those additional ingredients add up!).

If you’re looking for an easy, artisan sourdough bread recipe that makes a delicious high hydration “boule” loaf that doesn’t require a lot of effort or fancy equipment, I’ve got you covered!

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What is a High Hydration Artisan Sourdough Bread Recipe?

A high hydration loaf simply means that there is more water in the dough than conventional bread dough recipes. Technically, the water weight divided by the flour weight will yield a number of greater value than .75.

A high hydration artisan sourdough bread recipe will provide a “slack” or “sticky” dough (looser, more hydrated) and when baked will develop an “airy crumb,” meaning the interior of the loaf will have larger holes. The crust is typically a bit chewy.

This artisan sourdough bread recipe is just above that “high hydration” line, with the water to flour math formula coming in at .757 before adding in the starter (which does increase the hydration a little).

Personally, I find it to be the “goldilocks” of bread: it’s easy to make, not too difficult to work with, ingredients are cheap, and the result is a loaf that is pretty enough to score a little fancy and serve up for company with soup, and also easy to slice and use with PBJ sandwiches without all the peanut butter and jam falling through giant holes.

Ingredients You’ll Need for this Artisan Sourdough Bread Recipe:

Perhaps my favorite thing about this bread is that the ingredients are so basic. You’ll need:

• Flour
• Water
• Active Sourdough Starter
• Salt

I do prefer to use a whole wheat flour AND an all purpose flour, so technically that ingredient could be two, but still, we’re talking very few ingredients.

Tools You’ll Need for this High Hydration Everyday Sourdough Loaf:

Again, I love how straight forward the process is for this artisan sourdough bread recipe because aside from a dutch oven, the tools needed are really common kitchen tools, which is probably why I continue to make this bread week after week:

• An oven that works (no way around it, you’re going to have to bake this bread somehow!)
• A mixing bowl for mixing and allowing the dough to do its initial rise (I recommend at least a 3 liters or 3 quarts capacity)
• Mixing bowl lid or large plate or cling wrap to cover the top of the mixing bowl
• A large spoon (or, if you want to get fancy, a dough whisk, and if you’re really basic, your hands will work just fine!)
• A smaller mixing bowl for raising the dough (I use a 2 liter mixing bowl – this is traditionally when someone would use a banneton basket, but since I don’t have a banneton basket, I just make do with a smaller mixing bowl)
• Baking paper
• A dutch oven (mine is about 7 quart capacity – you could make this recipe in a slightly smaller one if you don’t have one that large. Alternatively, I’ve also made this recipe in my large stock pot with a metal lid, but it did slightly discolor my stock pot, or you could use a round, ceramic casserole dish of 6-7 quarter capacity with a lid or tin foil over the top to help trap the moisture – results might vary a little, but I’ve gotten creative in the past and it does work!)

A Note on the Starter:

I am an extremely lazy sourdough starter keeper, because I don’t have brain space to stress over complex sourdough maintenance. Here’s what I do, and what I’ve done for more than 10 years:

I have a large glass jar with a lid (about 1.5 liters/quarts) that I keep my starter in. I almost ALWAYS keep my starter in the refrigerator. (I’ll explain when I make an exception to that below).

I only use wholewheat flour in the starter (not necessary, but I figure if the fiber is good for the bacteria in our guts, its probably good for starter bacteria maintenance).

I typically feed my starter when the jar gets low (down to about 1/2 cup of starter remaining) eyeballing whole meal flour and water to a roughly 1:1 ratio, mixing with a butter knife until the consistency is like relatively thick pancake batter and the jar is 2/3 to 3/4 of the way full.

If I have at least 24 hours until I’ll next need to bake with the starter, I just put it back in the fridge right after feeding it, and if it will be less than 24 hours, I leave it out on the counter until it gets bubbly then return it to the fridge.

If I realize I don’t have enough starter to make the dough I plan to make per the recipe’s instructions, I just reduce the starter and keep it the strong, active starter and add a little more time to the process. I find it better to do that then put freshly diluted, un-fermented starter into a recipe.

I do NOT regularly feed the starter 12 hours before baking, although I bake with it often enough it is usually getting fed about every week to 10 days.

I do NOT worry about my starter being at room temperature before adding it to the dough – I just add it straight in cold from the fridge (if you were making something with a lot of butter, like sourdough croissants, you might need to ensure it is at room temp – most of what I make are very basic water-flour-salt-starter type recipes).

I do NOT ever discard starter – when I was first cultivating my starter a long time ago, I did, but once I have an active, established starter, I don’t ever see the need to throw any of it away or come up with something to bake to use up the discard (although I don’t think that would actually ever be a problem for me because I always like to bake things!).

I DO stir the hooch in if I pull it out of the fridge and notice it has a bit of the fermented-smelling juice on top.

And I do reassure everyone I know that sourdough is the oldest form of baking in the world. It doesn’t need to be an exact science – people baked with sourdough before they had scales and before they could measure the temperature of an oven with as much accuracy as we do now. Follow the recipes and directions until you get a “feel” for the sourdough, and then relax.

Sourdough is most enjoyable when it is not rushed and not stressed over!

My Easy, Everyday-Life-Friendly Artisan Sourdough Bread Recipe Baking Schedule:

Sourdough rise time is affected by the temperature of the environment it is rising in. Our house isn’t temperature controlled, so my baking timelines do adjust according to the season. I’ll give you the approximate timelines for warm weather (when the nights are 60°F/15°C or more and days are 70-80°F/21-26°C) but recognize, there is some variability here and colder weather will slow the process down.

7pm: Stir together the flour and water in the 3+ quart capacity bowl. Cover with a lid

7:30pm: Add the salt and starter, using your hands, combine the starter and salt in squishing, squeezing, folding over and pressing down type motions until the dough is uniform and starting to feel a little more resistant than when you added the starter and salt. Cover with a lid.

8:00pm: Perform a round of stretch and folds. Cover with a lid.

8:30pm: Perform another round of stretch and folds. Cover with a lid.

9:00pm (if still awake): Perform a final round of stretch and folds. Cover with a lid.

8:00am the next day: check the dough – if it has doubled in size, you’re ready to move on. If it has not, wait for it to get to the point that it is about doubled in size, and then move on.

30-60 mins before baking: preheat the oven and dutch oven. Place the empty dutch oven inside the oven, turn it on, and let it start heating up to 400°F convection/200°C fan forced.

Immediately before or after preheating the oven:

1. Line the 2 quart mixing bowl with baking paper – you’ll want the whole interior of the bowl covered, so you may need to use two sheets laid out perpendicular to each other.
2. Get your hands wet and gently perform a stretch and fold to release most of the air bubbles from the first rise. Shape the dough into a ball with a smooth, tight top.
3. Place with the smooth side up into the baking-paper-lined mixing bowl.
4. Cover with a lid and let rise in a warm spot. Usually 60 minutes is best, but if it is very warm, a minimum of 30 minutes should be adequate.

30-60 minutes later:

1. Remove the lid from the mixing bowl and sprinkle the dough with a dusting of flour
2. Using a sharp knife, score the dough (and if you want to learn how to sharpen a knife, you can check out my husband’s youtube channel!).
3. Remove the dutch oven from the preheated oven and take off the lid.
4. Carefully, using the baking paper, lift the scored dough out of the mixing bowl and place it into the center of the dutch oven
5. Replace the dutch oven lid, and return the dutch oven to the preheated oven.
6. Set the timer for 65 minutes.

65 minutes later: Remove the dutch oven from the oven, remove the lid from the dutch oven, remove your artisan sourdough bread recipe loaf from the dutch oven (using the baking paper to lift it out). Place the loaf on a cooling rack (baking paper still attached is fine). Allow to cool completely before slicing for optimal slicing results.

Step-by-Step Details to Make This Artisan Sourdough Bread Recipe:

Step 1: Mix the Dough

• The dough will come together a little “shaggy” as you mix it – that’s OK. It’ll get more “dough-like” and come together better after 30 minutes of rest time.
• Don’t skimp the 30 minutes of rest!
• When you add the starter and salt (after the 30 minutes of rest), feel free to really work the dough together with your hands inside the mixing bowl. You want the dough to look and feel like a ball of dough by the time you are done.

Step 2: Stretch and Folds

• The first stretch and fold may need anywhere from 4-8 individual stretches of the dough.
• Grab a side of the dough with two wet hands, gently pull upward 6-8 inches, and then fold it down into the middle of the dough. Rotate the mixing bowl 1/4 of a turn, and repeat.
• As you progress through the stretch and folds, the dough will become more firm and stiff – that’s good.
• By the 3rd round of stretch and folds (if you can stay awake that long!), you’ll probably only get 4 individual stretches of the dough.
• The timing of the stretch and folds doesn’t have to be exact – approximately 30 minutes between stretch and folds is the goal. Mine typically range from 20 minutes to 40 minutes (and sometimes, if I forget about it, even longer!)

Step 3: The First Rise (Bulk Fermentation)

• Watch for the dough to expand – ideally, about doubling in size. In warm weather, sometimes my dough gets almost triple in size overnight. That’s OK – it still works fine for me, although the dough might not rise quite as much when I bake it.
• If your house is particularly cold, there are some tricks I use to maintain a warmer environment for the overnight bulk ferment:
  • You can preheat the oven to about 100°F (40°C), turn off the oven, and place the mixing bowl of dough inside the oven before you go to bed. The oven will cool, but it’ll be a bit more gradual and that warmth may help the yeast start to work a bit more effectively.
  • Alternatively, if you are cooking something on low in your crock pot overnight (bone broth, beans, something for breakfast, etc), place your dough’s mixing bowl near the crock pot and let the dough benefit from the crockpot’s heat
  • If you have a hot water closet or a wood stove, you can also try placing your mixing bowl inside the closet or next to the wood stove when you go to bed so it stays a bit warmer (just don’t forget about it in the hot water closet!)

Step 4: Shaping the Dough into a Loaf

• The key to this step is using gentle touch and gentle movements.
• I do like to perform a gentle, small stretch and fold on the dough to release some of the air bubbles and make the outside of the dough a bit more “tight” to get a slightly more crispy/crunchy crust and a smoother look to eventually score.
• However, I’m not trying to mash ALL of the bubbles out, so don’t be too aggressive! But the dough will need to be tight enough that I can transfer it from the larger mixing bowl into the smaller, baking-paper lined one.

Step 5: Second Rise (Proofing)

• This step is usually shorter than the bulk fermentation – in warm weather, I shoot for 60 minutes, but I sometimes can tighten my timelines to 30 minutes if I’m in a rush (typically with a slightly less-risen loaf)
• However, if you need to ADD time and slow down the process, you can pop the dough into the fridge for a cool proofing. The longer it sits, the more developed the sourdough flavor will be.
• I’ve let my dough (occasionally) cold proof for 12-24 hours. I don’t usually do this, because we usually need bread faster than that, but it is an option if you need some flexibility on the timing!

Step 6: Scoring Your Sourdough Loaf

• Using a very sharp, thin knife (or some people use a straight razor blade) is going to score best
• If you cold proof your dough, it will score more easily
• Don’t stress about a complex scoring pattern – you can work up to being more artisanal. I typically focus on simple geometric patterns

Baking Your Artisan Sourdough Bread Recipe:

Oven Temperature: I bake my bread at 200°C Fan Forced – approximately 400°F. If you aren’t using the convection strategy, you can reduce the temp by a few degrees, or bake it for a few minutes less.

Dutch Oven Method: Getting a dutch oven and beginning to bake bread in it was a definite “level up” for my bread-making. However, you can get creative if you don’t have a dutch oven by making an “imitation” dutch oven using a sturdy stock pot with metal handles and a completely metal lid (no plastic!), or a large ceramic casserole dish with a ceramic lid, OR a sturdy pot/casserole dish with tin foil over the top.

Using a dutch oven with a lid causes the steam to get trapped really effectively around the dough while it is baking, which results in a more consistent rise, however, other lid forms will be more helpful than just leaving the bread to bake in an open oven.

Lid on vs Lid Off: Many artisan recipes seem to call for you to take off the lid for the last few minutes of baking time. You can certainly do that with this recipe if you like a super crispy, crunchy crust.

I find that the crust gets a little TOO crunchy for my kids to enjoy eating the bread if I remove the lid for the last 15-20 minutes, so I don’t. However, the crust is still chewy and golden even baked with the lid on the whole time, and it gets slightly crunchy as it cools and dries out.

How to Know Your Artisan Sourdough Bread Recipe Loaf Is Done: I usually judge the “doneness” of the loaf by two things:

1. The color will be golden in its lighter spots, and slightly browned and toasty on ridges. If any part of the bread is still pale or cream-colored, it needs a bit more time.
2. I also judge the doneness by the sound it makes when I knock on it. It should sound slightly hollow.

Cooling, Slicing, and Storing Your Artisan Sourdough Bread Recipe:

Cooling: Allow your bread to cool completely before slicing for the best results. If you cut it too soon, it will “mash” the bread and cause the interior to collapse a bit.

Slicing: We use a very sharp Nakiri Chef Knife. I typically cut it directly down the middle of the loaf, and then lay the flat, sliced part of the loaf (the middle) on the cutting board and slice each half of the loaf separately.

Storing: If the bread hasn’t been sliced, I will store it on the counter top for up to 24 hours. If it has been sliced or if I know it will be longer than that, I put the bread into a large plastic zip-bag and store it in the fridge. This does result in the bread starting to get slightly soggy after a day or two, but we usually get through our bread before that happens!

Since this artisan sourdough bread recipe has no preservatives and is relatively high in hydration, it will mold quicker in mold-prone conditions (such as our sub-tropical New Zealand weather). Keeping it in the fridge allows it to last up to a week if needed.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Is this artisan sourdough bread recipe good for beginners?
Yes! This is a simple sourdough recipe. Watch to make sure that the dough has risen to about double after the first rise, and give it a full 60 minutes to rise on the second rise before baking in a preheated oven, and you’ll do great!

Can I reduce the hydration?
Yes! In fact, if you don’t have a dutch oven or another way to bake the bread inside a container, and you want to try baking it on a baking sheet with just tin foil loosely over the loaf, I’d recommend adding an additional cup of flour to make your bread a bit sturdier and less likely to spread out into a flatter loaf.

Can I bake this artisan sourdough bread recipe without a dutch oven?
You can, as described above in the “Baking Your Artisan Sourdough Bread” section. The results may vary and you’ll need to watch the loaf as a bakes a little more closely as it may need a bit less time or more time, but you’ll certainly get edible bread if you’ve followed all the other steps!

What if my starter isn’t very strong?
You will likely need more time – more time for the first rise as well as the second rise. Or, if you need to speed the process along and can’t be flexible about the timing, you can always add a bit of conventional, active dry yeast to the dough when you add in the starter and salt, but the timing will likely vary from what I’ve outlined in this blog post.

Serving Suggestions for this Artisan Sourdough Bread Recipe:

My family loves this artisan sourdough bread recipe fresh and slathered with butter. Or, if it is a few days old, toasted and slathered with butter.

Some other classic ideas, though, are:

• butter with cinnamon and sugar or honey on top
• use for sandwiches (ham, pickles, mayo, crunchy lettuce, and a jar of kombucha is one of our favorites!)
• serve alongside soup or stew to add a bit of a different texture to your meal
• bake and serve with cheese slices, salami, and fresh cut veggies for a “snack style” lunch or dinner

Final Thoughts:

Learning anything new can feel a bit complicated or daunting, but sourdough isn’t inherently that way. It is inherently a more traditional, slower, simpler bread making process.

There are probably as many ways to make bread with sourdough as there are bakers making sourdough bread. Try a couple different people’s recipes and see what you like and what works for you. And then don’t worry about comparing your bread to anyone else’s: if you like it, that’s great! Who cares if it meets “the experts” criteria of what a great loaf is?

And if bread seems complicated or scary, feel free to start with something a bit more forgiving and simpler, like focaccia bread, until you get a bit of experience under your belt.

Let me know in the comments if you have questions or if you tried this artisan sourdough bread recipe and how it turned out for you. If you loved it, please rate and review it, and share it with a friend or on your Pinterest or social media page.

Happy Baking!

Yield: 8 servings

Everyday Artisan Sourdough Bread

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This large, artisan sourdough "boule" style bread loaf delivers a chewy, golden crust, moderate and moist open crumb, and the healthy benefits of having whole meal flour and naturally fermented sourdough incorporated into the recipe. This is a high hydration dough that is still easy to work with, and relies on just a few simple ingredients and basic baking equipment.

Prep Time 2 hours

Cook Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Additional Time 12 hours

Total Time 15 hours 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups of water (480 grams)
• 2 cups of all purpose flour (280 grams) (see note)
• 2 cups of whole wheat flour (360 grams) (see note)
• 1 Tbsp salt (15 grams)
• 1/2 cup of active sourdough starter

Instructions

1. Mix the flour and water in a mixing bowl with at least a 3 quart capacity that can be easily covered (lid or cling wrap)
2. Allow flour and water to rest for 30 minutes
3. Add the starter and salt to the mixture, combine thoroughly until the dough is uniform and binds into a firm dough ball. Cover.
4. Allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes
5. Perform the first stretch and fold. Cover and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
6. Perform the second stretch and fold. Cover and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
7. Perform a third stretch and fold (if you're still awake/remember). Cover and allow to rest overnight/most of the day/until doubled in size.
8. Preheat the oven and dutch oven to 400°F (200°C) convection/fan forced.
9. Line a smaller mixing bowl (2 quart capacity) with baking paper.
10. Gently stretch and fold the dough to shape it into a smooth, tight ball, but without removing all of the air bubbles.
11. Place the ball, smoothest side up, into the baking paper lined 2 quart mixing bowl. Cover and allow to rest for about 60 minutes, until the oven and dutch oven are well preheated. Dough will rise slightly.
12. Sprinkle the dough with flour and score it as desired.
13. Gentle move the dough (using the baking paper) into the middle of the dutch oven.
14. Return the dutch oven to the preheated oven and bake for 65 minutes.
15. Remove from oven when loaf is universally honey-golden color, and move from the dutch oven to a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before slicing.

Notes

Notes re flour: I am a lazy and relatively flexible baker, and I "dip and scoop" my flour from the flour bin. As a result, my cup of flour is slightly more grams than a spoon-and-level method. I find this recipe forgiving - plus or minus a few grams of flour doesn't seem to matter, but if you are a precise baker, consider using a scale to make sure your flour weight is accurate.

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  Dough Whisk
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  7.5 Quart Dutch Oven
• 
  Handy nesting mixing bowls with lids

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 478Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 780mgCarbohydrates: 101gFiber: 9gSugar: 1gProtein: 16g