No-Knead Sourdough Bread Recipe, Tips, and Tools

No-knead sourdough bread is a crusty, airy loaf that primarily employs time and a slow rise to develop gluten, the protein that gives many breads their distinctive chewy texture. Typically achieved by kneading, this easy method uses stretching and folding and an extended fermentation period to achieve this desired result. Baking the bread in a Dutch oven keeps the dough as hot as possible for a deep golden crust and traps in steam to ensure the crumb stays soft and chewy on the inside.

While some bread recipes can be laborious, no-knead sourdough bread takes less elbow grease. Though there are a few hours of idle rise time in the recipe, it’s a necessary step that helps develop the tangy fermented flavor associated with sourdough breads. A slow rise also aids in the gluten development needed for bread dough to keep its shape.

If you plan to make no-knead bread, schedule time for each rising step. If you’re in a hurry, try one of these quick bread recipes or classic kneaded dough (like this wholemeal bread), which both require a bit more hands-on time but fewer hours overall. These are the basic steps you’ll need to follow to make sourdough bread:

1. 1. Feed the starter. Make sure your sourdough starter is active. If your starter is dormant, it won’t leaven your dough, so you’ll need an extra day or two to feed it before using it to make bread. Learn how to make a sourdough starter with third-generation French baker Apollonia Poîlane.
2. 2. Make the dough. Mix the starter with water, flour, and salt.
3. 3. Rest, stretch, and fold the dough. You’ll rest the dough during this period, then stretch and fold it periodically as it rises at room temperature.
4. 4. Let it rise overnight. This overnight ferment, or second rise, helps the loaf develop that classic, tangy sourdough flavor.
5. 5. Shape the dough. Shaping the dough ensures that there aren’t any gaps or other air pockets that would cause the bread to bake unevenly. Learn more about shaping bread.
6. 6. Score with a blade. Slicing the surface of the dough with a sharp blade is the last step before baking. Scoring allows for a process called oven spring, in which the dough rises and forms a crust. If you skip this step, the moisture in the dough gets trapped as it turns to steam, resulting in odd shapes or uneven air pockets. Learn more about scoring bread.
7. 7. Bake the loaf. The final step of bread making is the bake, plus a short period of resting time for the bread to cool before slicing.

If this is your first loaf, you’ll need a handful of tools and ingredients before you start. Here’s what you’ll need, in order of when you will need it:

1. 1. Kitchen scale: Bread-making, like most baking, relies on chemistry. The correct ratio of moisture to flour, also called the hydration level, is crucial in ensuring the success of both your starter and your bread. Learn how to use a kitchen scale for the most accurate measurements.
2. 2. Sourdough starter: The first ingredient in any sourdough recipe is the sourdough starter. The wild yeast in the starter needs to be active and bubbling, so make sure it’s regularly fed and ready to use before mixing the dough. Most bakers like to use the “float test.” Carefully scoop a small amount of active starter into a bowl or glass of room-temperature water. If the starter floats, it is ready to use.
3. 3. Bread flour: One way to categorize types of flour is by the amount of protein they contain. High-protein flours are ideal for yeasted and sourdough breads. If you can’t find bread flour, you can use all-purpose flour in a pinch. Whole wheat flour has tiny pieces of bran that can tear the delicate gluten strands, so stick to white flour if you’re new to bread-baking.
4. 4. Coarse flour: You’ll want some polenta, cornmeal, rice flour, or semolina for the final steps of the rising process. No-knead dough is relatively moist, and bread flour will absorb into the dough or stick to your cloth or shaping basket. If you don’t have any of the flours listed, make your own rice flour by pulsing plain, raw rice in a spice grinder until it forms a coarse meal, about twenty seconds.
5. 5. Razor blade or lame: To score your bread without tearing it, you’ll need a very sharp blade. Professional bakers use a tool called a bread lame, but a regular razor blade works just as well.
6. 6. Dutch oven: Professional bread ovens run much hotter than home ovens, which is why you find the crustiest and best sourdough loaves at commercial bakeries. A cast-iron Dutch oven maintains a high heat as close to the surface of the dough as possible while trapping the steam that’s released during baking, ensuring your loaf bakes up with a crisp, golden crust and a tender interior.

Here’s how to make a golden, crusty sourdough loaf at home.

1. 1. Use room-temperature ingredients. Cold water will cause the yeast to become sluggish, reducing the effectiveness of the sourdough starter. However, warm water, which you’ll often see in recipes involving commercial yeast, could kill the wild yeasts in the starter. Use filtered, room-temperature water when working with sourdough.
2. 2. Weigh the ingredients. Using a kitchen scale will ensure consistent results and the proper ratios of water to flour in your dough. Especially for first-time or beginner sourdough baking, using a scale helps you focus on the feel and texture of the dough because your hydration levels will be consistent each time.
3. 3. Add salt last. Salt can alter the way yeast functions. Avoid oversalting, and always stir the salt into the already mixed dough, so it doesn’t come into direct contact with the starter.
4. 4. Stretch and fold the dough. Instead of kneading the dough, you’ll periodically stretch and fold the dough over itself. This method helps develop the gluten and make the dough shapeable.