Beginner’s Guide: Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Life of Roman + Riley partners with affiliate platforms where commission may be earned based on clicks and or purchases, and I would love it if you decided to use the links above! We will only share honest reviews & feedback. Affiliate links help bloggers like me to fund the free content that we provide on our blogs.

I know making sourdough bread seems SO overwhelming! I was absolutely clueless when it came to sourdough bread.

But, I promise with this video and the additional notes I’ve taken along the process- you’ll successfully be on your way from the very first loaf!!!

To start, here’s what you’ll need:

Sourdough starter (to keep it simple, ask a friend for some of theirs or lots of bakers sell it on Facebook marketplace)
Bread flour (you can purchase it in bulk at Costco; but to start, I’ve linked a good starter size from Target)
Honey
Olive oil
Salt
Dough scraper
Food scale
Bread Slicer
Bread Knife
Large Mason Jar w/ Wide Mouth
9.5″x5″ Bread Pan (will need the set of 2 I linked)

Link to YouTube video I followed for guidance – start here

How to feed sourdough starter – save for reference

Notes I pulled from video above; save to your notes for reference!

•    Water 650g
    •    300g starter mixture
    •    50g olive oil
    •    40g honey
    •    20g salt
    •    1000g bread flour

Directions:

Measure out 650g of warm water into large bowl

Then, add 300g of active starter (you want the starter to float in the water)

Next, whisk the water and starter together until it looks like milk.

Add 50g of olive oil.

Add 40g of honey.

Add 20g of salt.

Add 1,000g of bread flour.

Mix it up with wooden/silicone spoon until it reaches a shaggy consistency.

Use a dough scraper to scrape sides of the bowl and get it all together into the middle.

Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let it sit for 30 minutes.

Stretch and fold the dough while keeping it in the bowl over a 2 hour time span (come up from the side of the dough and pull and stretch it out then press it down into the middle, do this in rotation around the dough) (add a little more flour to top of dough prior/during if you feel it’s necessary because of stickiness due to humidity).

Her time stamps-
11:20am, covered it back up with towel and waiting 30
11:50am she came back to bowl
12:20 she came back to bowl
12:50pm she came back to bowl
1pm she covered it up with damp towel and let it sit for 3 hours

At 4pm it doubled in size and she sprinkled bread flour on the counter top to start make the dough into bread rolls

She started by doing the folding technique to make one big loaf then cut that in half to make 2 separate normal size loaves, doing the folding technique again before putting it in the pans- being sure to tuck and press the end caps nicely

Let sit for 2.5 hours in loaf pans with damp towels

They should be a nice risen shape not too high/not too low before putting in oven

Bake in oven at 400 degrees for 30 min.

When you take them out, use a bristle brush to slather tops with butter.

Let them sit for an hour, if you cut too soon the dough can become gummy. Pop them out of bread pan to cool. It’ll be crisp/crunchy on the outside and soft in the center.
(Bread needs to sit longer than an hour, I’ll try 2 hours next time or overnight if I can)