Sourdough: Only 4 Ingredients to Make the Perfect Bread

I started making sourdough bread over a year ago and let me tell you, it has been a roller coaster. But I love roller coasters so it’s been a ton of fun getting to where I’m at today.

When I first started I struggled because everyone had a very particular way they liked to do things. Add 100 grams of this and 500 grams of that and stretch and fold exactly 30 minutes apart and don’t add your salt to early, but also don’t add your salt too late, and, and, and…..

My first 6 loaves were over sized hockey pucks good for nothing but throwing in the trash. I couldn’t even soak them in soup they were so hard. And THEN, I forgot about my starter on the counter. It got moldy and I had to throw it out too.

After a couple months avoiding the issue, I decided to give sourdough another shot. I found some TikTok creators that make sourdough the lazy way and have great success. I took their teachings to heart, tried a couple of different recipes and finally was able to tweak those recipes to get the perfect loaf.

Before I write out the recipe I’d like to address some common questions about sourdough:

Is it expensive?

No! You can make your own starter with flour and filtered water and then the other ingredients are just salt, more flour and more filtered water. Each loaf costs me less than $1 to mix together. I use cheap off-brand bread flour and my loaves come out consistently great.

Does the strength of my starter really matter?

YES. The stronger your starter the more your bread will rise. You can use weak starter and still bake edible bread, but it will be BETTER if you let your starter strengthen for a few more days.

Do I really need to feed my starter every day?

It depends on the strength of your starter and the temperature of your house. You want to feed your starter after it has risen, fallen, and is now watery in texture with a bunch of small bubbles. For folks who keep their house at 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit, this may end up being every day. Some people need to feed their starter twice a day.

I have a strong starter, but in the winter I keep my house at 63 degrees Fahrenheit, so I only need to feed my starter about once every other day. During the summer my house gets up to 80 degrees Fahrenheit so I do need to feed it 1-2 times per day, and I usually elect to keep it in the fridge only feeding it once a week to save flour.

Do I need a scale to make sourdough?

NO! In fact I prefer the recipes that just use volumes of ingredients. As you learn and become more familiar with the process you may even start scrapping the recipe entirely and mix your dough based on texture and consistency.

Do I need to use bread flour?

I would highly recommend using bread flour but the brand doesn’t seem to matter. I have used unbleached flour before as well as wheat flour but neither made amazing loaves. Using “normal” bleached all-purpose flour gave me incredibly flat loaves.

Is it true you can’t knead sourdough dough?

NO! I either do 3-5 sets of stretch and folds OR knead my bread for 1-2 minutes total. I think stretch and folds make the loaf a little bit more airy but both methods result in a great loaf.

Do I need a Dutch oven?

NO! But I have not yet figured out how to use the open bake method so please don’t ask me for advice.

Can I cut my warm sourdough bread?

I mean you can… But I’ve learned that other creators are correct and for some reason cutting your bread before it cools seems to deflate it.

Anyway, I hope these answers were helpful to you, and here is the recipe I’ve come to use in my kitchen. I wish you luck and a little bit of floury chaos!