Traditional Sourdough Beginner’s Guide

Aug 10

A collection of my favorite sourdough tips and recipes!

As I embarked on my sourdough journey, I found so many incredible resources and recipes.
Here are the ones that have become household favorites.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to purchase through my links, at no cost to you.

Getting started with sourdough

First, you will need a sourdough starter.

Option 1: Make one from scratch. This takes time and patience to grow and mature your starter. Farmhouse on Boone has a helpful step-by-step guide. To be honest, I tried and failed at this several times and lost motivation to figure out sourdough altogether… option 2 was a game changer.
And what about a gluten-free sourdough starter? This guide from Vanilla & Bean is a great place to start if you’re wanting to create a gluten-free starter from scratch.
Option 2: Get some starter from a friend or neighbor! Post on a local Facebook group and ask if anyone has some organic starter to share. I guarantee several people would be happy to share some of theirs. If you’re in St. Louis, I am always happy to share mine!
- And I have to shout out my friend, Anita - the scrunchy less-stressed mama, who gave me some of her starter and taught me how to make sourdough. She had a “learn to make sourdough” party explaining the benefits of both sourdough and CBD on gut health. If you’re interested in CBD, be sure to check her out!
Option 3: Dehydrated starters. These are a great option for gifting, if you don’t have access to some fresh starter, or if you’re not quite ready to dive in but want the supplies on hand for when you get the itch. They also make a great insurance policy if, God forbid, something ever happens to your cherished starter.
You can purchase my organic dehydrated starters HERE. I have a traditional sourdough and gluten-free starter that I lovingly feed and gently dehydrate for you. They are shelf stable for years, ready when you are. Each comes with step-by-step instructions on how to revive it, and in about five days, you have an active, mature starter ready to bake with!

As for what to put your starter in, I use a 16oz wide-mouth mason jar to house mine and a long cake spatula to mix. You can also find helpful kits with bands, jars, lids, and spatulas, like this one.

After you procure a starter, you’ll need to learn how to take care of it.

I’ve put together a comprehensive guide that outlines everything from feeding schedules to troubleshooting; here’s everything you need to keep your sourdough starter thriving!

Beginner's Guide to Sourdough Starter

Next, you need to find ONE simple recipe to start with.

I recommend you stick with just ONE recipe until you have made 10 loaves. This will help you understand what you need to adapt to your schedule, environment, and preferences. After those 10 loaves, you can experiment with other ratios, recipes, and add-ins.

Farmhouse on Boone Beginner Sourdough - Recipe and Guide is what I used to get started, and it’s been very successful for me.
- I still follow the above recipe but have tweaked my ratios to 300g water, 100g starter, 460g flour, and 15g salt. With the humidity of my home in St. Louis, this lower hydration (65%) has given me great rise, shaping, and oven spring. (Don’t worry if that sounded like gibberish. All of these terms are ones you will eventually familiarize yourself with as you experiment)
For my gluten-free friends, this seeded multigrain sourdough recipe is my easy, tried-and-true favorite! Follow this recipe to a T and you’ll have the yummiest gluten-free bread you’ve ever had. This recipe uses whole-grain flowers, giving you the best results and a less gummy texture. I get all of my gluten-free flours through Thrive market (my link saves you 40% off your first order).
- Check out my Gluten-Free Sourdough Guide with more detailed instructions and several tried-and-true gluten-free sourdough recipes that have wowed guests at the women’s retreats where I am the private chef.

Helpful Supplies for beginners that will last as you advance:

Complete Bread Making Kit
This handy kit has everything you need to mix, shape, and proof your dough. It’s high quality construction will serve you well. This is the one I have!

6 QT Dutch Oven, Enameled
I LOVE this one, it is the perfect size for bread making, my viral pot roast, and many other dishes. A must for successful sourdough!

Digital Food Scale
For repeatable results, it’s best to weigh all of your ingredients when feeding your starter and making your bread. I love how slim this one is for storage.

Shop my Sourdough Supplies on Amazon

Ingredients I love:

FLOUR: Use organic, unbleached flour for your starter and loaves. Pesticides, glyphosate, and additional refinement can negatively affect your fermentation; avoiding those is better for you anyway.

Costco has a 2-pack of 10lb organic, unbleached, all-purpose flour that works great. It’s what I use, is very economical, and is a popular pick amongst sourdough bakers.
King Arthur also makes a great bread flour that is widely popular, I have found the best price for that to be through Thrive Market (p.s. this link gets you 40% off your first order).
If you’re doing GLUTEN-FREE sourdough, feed only whole-grain flour such as white or brown rice, millet, and/or buckwheat. Avoid cup-for-cup GF flour blends, as they have starches and gums that can dampen your starter.

WATER: FILTER YOUR WATER! Tap water has sanitizers and softeners that can negatively affect your dough (and health). At the very least, run it through a Berkey filter or grab some distilled water. I use reverse osmosis water for all our baking and drinking. AquaTru makes an affordable tabletop RO filter for which your sourdough and health will thank you.

RICE FLOUR: Don’t skip the rice flour for your bannetons. Bob’s Red Mill makes a great organic brown rice flour, which I also get in my monthly Thrive Market order.