Getting started: basic sourdough kit

Sourdough doesn't need to be a palaver. Here's the bare minimum that I would recommend to get you started:

Ingredients

white bread flour

wholemeal bread flour

salt

established starter

Notes

The main ingredient in sourdough (and in maintaining your starter) is bread flour, which is higher in protein than standard flour. You can get this at any supermarket and unless you are reasonably advanced, you probably won't see much difference between the various brands so just get what's easily available. The simplest sourdough is 100% white bread flour but adding wholemeal gives a better flavour (as well as being higher in fibre). As you get more advanced/adventurous, you can try adding other flours (eg rye, spelt). You typically need around 450-500g flour per loaf, plus 100g extra for feeding your starter.

You'll need around 8-11g of salt per loaf. You can't use rock salt or salt flakes as these are too coarse; use table salt or grind it first.

While you can create your own starter, this takes a while and can be frustrating. It's much easier to use an established one and feed it before use. You'll typically need around 100g starter per loaf (made up of 50g flour + 50g water).

Equipment

2 x jam jar - for storing starter and discard

Digital kitchen scales

Straight-sided transparent container, around 2L size

Digital thermometer (optional, but recommended)

Banneton (aka 'proofing basket')

Razor blade / bread lame

Water spray bottle

Dutch oven (eg Le Creuset) for baking (recommended)

Oven paper

Loaf pan (optional)

Notes

A small jam jar is fine for starter. You don't normally need to make much so just use whatever jars you already have. You also won't normally be creating much discard, so just keep a 250ml jar to store this in the fridge until you use it up.

One of the most important steps in decent sourdough is the bulk fermentation stage, where your dough rises and the gluten develops. The time this takes will depend on many factors - such as flour, starter strength and ambient temperature. The easiest way to track your bulk fermentation progress is by measuring the volume your dough grows by and its temperature, which is where the transparent 2L container and digital thermometer come in.

Once your dough has risen you will need to shape in and put it in a floured banneton in the fridge for a few hours. You can buy these from Amazon or Nisbets (link at bottom of page). Get one that's the same shape as the Dutch oven you are using and that has a washable cotton or linen cover.

When you're ready to bake, you'll score the loaf with a razor blade and spray it with water to get a good crust and decent rise. You need to bake it covered for a while to develop the crust - a Dutch oven is the easiest option for this but if you don't have one you can cover the loaf with an upturned metal bowl or lid instead.

Finally, it's a good idea to have a loaf pan for baking when you want a more square shape (eg for sandwiches/toasting) or to save dough that's overproved and is too loose to have much structure.

Bread Making and Handling Equipment | Nisbets