Sourdough is bread the old way: flour, water, salt, and wild yeast you keep alive on your counter. No packets, no store-bought yeast, and once you have a starter going you can bake for years from the same jar. It looks intimidating. It isn't. It's mostly waiting.
What you need
- A sourdough starter (get a spoonful from a friend, or make one with flour and water over a week or so)
- Bread flour or all-purpose flour, water, and salt
- A kitchen scale (cups work, a scale works better)
- A bowl, a towel, and a cast iron Dutch oven with a lid
Step 1: Get your starter active
A starter is ready to bake with when it reliably rises after a feeding and smells pleasantly sour. Feed it equal weights of flour and water, wait until it's bubbly and risen (often 4–12 hours, depending on your kitchen), then use it. If a spoonful floats in water, that's a good sign it's lively.
Step 2: Mix the dough
A forgiving beginner ratio by weight:
- 500 g flour
- 350 g water
- 100 g active starter
- 10 g salt
Mix flour and water until no dry bits remain and let it rest 30–60 minutes. Then add the starter and salt and squeeze it through with wet hands.
Step 3: Stretch and fold
Over the next couple of hours, do a set of stretch-and-folds every 30 minutes: grab one side of the dough, stretch it up, fold it over, turn the bowl, and repeat four times. Three or four sets builds strength without kneading.
Step 4: Let it rise (bulk ferment)
Cover and leave it until it has grown noticeably and looks puffy and jiggly. Temperature changes everything here, so watch the dough, not the clock.
Step 5: Shape and rest overnight
Turn it out, shape a tight round, and set it seam-side up in a floured towel-lined bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight. The cold rest makes it easier to handle and develops flavor.
Step 6: Bake in the Dutch oven
This is where cast iron earns its place. Put the Dutch oven, lid on, into the oven and preheat to around 450–475°F. Carefully tip the dough onto parchment, slash the top with a sharp blade, and lower it into the hot pot.
- Bake about 20 minutes covered. The lid traps steam, so the loaf rises tall.
- Remove the lid and bake another 20–25 minutes until deep brown.
Let it cool at least an hour before cutting. Cutting it hot makes it gummy.
An enameled pot like the LAVA 28 cm Dutch oven holds heat evenly and cleans up easily. Always check your pot's maximum oven temperature, especially the lid knob.
Common beginner problems
- Flat loaf: starter wasn't active enough, or the dough over-proofed. Try a shorter rise.
- Dense, tight crumb: under-proofed. Give bulk fermentation more time.
- Burnt bottom: put a baking sheet on the rack below the Dutch oven.
Keep it going
Bake once a week and you'll learn more from five loaves than from fifty videos. Scratch bread is one small step toward a more self-reliant kitchen, the kind of skill worth passing down.
Want more old-way skills? Browse the Homestead Collection, or wear the motto with The Old Ways Tee.
Baking for someone special this season? A cast iron Dutch oven and a fresh loaf make a gift that gets used. See more ideas in Gifts for Homesteaders and Gifts for Dad.
Written by Christopher Spears of Patriots Tactical, descendant of Peter Souser and Capt. Johannes Fonda, sharing self-reliant skills as he works toward a homestead life.