The Basics

There are many resources out there to help but it's overwhelming so we're going to keep this simple and also curate the best sites so that we don't reinvent the wheel.

Basic Sourdough Recipe (Noah's Ark Sourdough)

This tutorial refers to the Noah's Ark Sourdough Recipie

The Starter

The starter is the "seed" of your active culture that kicks off your process of fermentation. In times gone by we have reduced this substantially and only keep about 1/2 tsp for the next batch. It's best to keep this in the fridge between baking (and also freeze a small bit in case of an emergency).

The Pre-ferment

The Preferment is a portion of dough (about 20-30% of final dough) that one ferments to develop flavour and activity before mixing in all the flour. Typically this ferments for 5-10 hours (temperature dependent) before ready.

Bulk Fermentation

Bulk fermentation happens as soon as your flour from your main dough is mixed with the pre ferment. During this stage (3-5 hours) dough strength is developed by stretching and folding while flavour is developed with fermentation. Retarding using one's refrigerator is common so that the baking fits into one's life schedule

Baking

This is actually the easy part (if you've done everything correctly up to this point). With loaf tins, one can eliminate the hassle of shaping loaves (a good idea if you're just starting). Ovens vary a lot so there is a degree of learning which setting/ position works best. Although many baking recipes recommend baking with steam initially, we've found little to no difference in results with regular home ovens.

The Result

After baking until you achieve a dark crust, you need to restrain yourself and let the bread cool. Look for a tender crumb with shiny texture as an indicator of well developed dough