Common Sourdough Terms Explained | For Beginners

In the world of sourdough there are many common sourdough terms. In this post I want to break down these common terms and why each one is important in sourdough baking.

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There is nothing quite like the process of making sourdough bread. It’s such a fun experience and at the end you get a delicious, nutritious loaf of bread!

The journey of making a sourdough starting and eventually baking a beautiful loaf of artisan bread is one of the most fulfilling!

Sourdough bread baking is so popular these days and for good reason!

Let’s jump in to the most common Sourdough Terms!

The most common sourdough terms

Sourdough Starter

Sourdough is just wild yeast! By mixing flour and water, letting it sit at room temperature, feeding it daily, and waiting….you get a sourdough starter!

If you are brand new to sourdough, here is how to make a sourdough starter.

Once your sourdough starter (yeast) is active, which takes 5-10 days, you can use this starter to raise dough, naturally!

There is also a bacteria called lactic acid bacteria that grows in a healthy sourdough starter. Lactic acid makes your sourdough more gut healthy!

You won’t have to use active dry yeast or instant yeast!

Even better, it’s much better for your digestion to eat sourdough bread made at home than store bought bread.

There are 2 terms associated with sourdough starter: Active and Discard.

Active Starter

Active starter is starter that has recently been fed with flour and water. It is bubbly and active looking, and should have a yeasty smell.

Active sourdough starter is best suited for recipes that call for a big rise.

Sourdough Discard

Sourdough discard is “hungry” starter. It has fed off of the flour and water and is ready for more.

It may have a liquid on top and smell like acetone.

Sourdough discard is best suited for recipes that DO NOT require a big rise.

Levain or Pre-Ferment

A levain is when you take a small amount of sourdough starter and add it to more flour and water to ferment and use it for the leavening in a bread recipe.

It is said that using a levain results in a better rise and deeper flavor.

A positive of using a levain is that you can make this pre-ferment the hydration level you want for that particular recipe.

Using a levain is ideal for those who want to keep a small amount of sourdough starter in the fridge and make a mixture for baking.

This method will allow you to keep a much smaller jar of starter that only needs to be fed when you get down to the end of the jar.

Float Test

This term refers taking a small piece of your sourdough starter and putting it in a small bowl of water.

If the starter floats, it is suitable for baking. If it sinks, it is not active enough.

The theory is when the starter floats it is full of air and in the best state to rise a lump of dough.

Using this method is very popular, however is not mandatory to making great bread.

NOTE: I have used this test and my starter sank, but still rose my bread very well. So take this with a grain of salt!

Autolyse

This term refers to a time to allow the flour to absorb the water fully. Some will call this soaking the flour or letting the dough rest.

This process is important, especially for whole grain flours as it softens the bran and germ leading to better gluten development.

The amount of time you soak the flour will vary from recipe to recipe and it may or may not call for doing this with the starter.

With fresh milled flour, I choose to do a 1 hour autolyse and have wonderful results.

Autolyse is especially important when using fresh milled flour. The soaking time allows the bran and germ to soften leading to better gluten development during stretch and folds or kneading.

Stretch and Fold

For the best bread, you need to develop the gluten and structure of the bread dough.

In most yeast recipes, this process is achieved by kneading the dough.

With sourdough artisan bread, this happens with stretching and folding.

Stretch and fold refers to the action involved.

After your dough has autolysed, you will start your series of stretch and folds.

Each recipe will call for a certain amount of sets, but generally you will do 4-6 sets of stretch and folds.

To do this, lift one corner of the dough up and fold it over into the center of the dough.

Continue to do this all the way around the bowl each set. Most recipes call for having 15-30 minutes between each set.

You will notice that each time you come back to do another set, the dough will stretch more easily without breaking and also stretch higher!

After the last stretch and fold, turn the dough over and allow it to rise.

Coil Fold

Similar to a stretch and fold, a coil fold will build gluten and structure.

To perform a coil fold, you want to put your hands under the dough and lift it up pulling the ends of the dough under itself.

Like stretch and folds, you want to work your way around the bowl for a complete set.

Bulk Fermentation

This common sourdough term called Bulk fermentation is the first rise. This is the time that the sourdough starter does its magic!

During this process, the starter feeds on the flour and water. You will hear this called the fermentation process.

During the fermentation process, carbon dioxide builds up and makes the bubbles we all love to see in our sourdough bread dough!

The amount of time this process takes varies on the strength and age of your starter.

I have a very active and mature starter, so my bulk fermentation time may be shorter than that of a younger recipe.

I typically have a first rise of 4-6 hours.

Poke Test

A poke test is a way to see if your dough is properly fermented or risen.

The theory is if you poke the tip of your finger into the dough and it immediately springs back, it needs to ferment a bit longer.

If you stays put but slowly starts to spring back, it is ready to shape for the final proof.

If the poke never springs back, it is over proofed.

This can be one of the best practices to help you learn the fermentation process.

Poke the dough at different intervals to gauge the time between under proofed and properly proofed doughs.

Although it leaves an indention in the dough, it’s worth the process to get a greater understanding of what properly proofed dough looks and acts like.

Final Shaping

After your dough has proofed, you will need to shape the dough. You have a couple of options.

The dough can be shaped in an oval-shaped loaf or a round loaf.

You want to put the dough in the basket with the seam side up.

Carefully stitch the seam together before putting in the fridge.

Surface Tension

During the shaping process, you want to drag the dough across the work surface to “build tension”.

This will lead to a much better rise in the oven.

Take care when doing this as if you drag it too much it will start to tear on top.

When properly shaped, the top of the dough will be smooth.

Proper surface tension is imperative in the final product.

Proofing Basket

A proofing basket is a vessel that holds the shape of the bread dough while it completes its final rise.

There are different shapes of these baskets.

The 2 most popular are oval and round.

While you do not have to have to have one, a proofing basket will make your sourdough break making much better.

Before I bought one, I used a medium sized colander with a flour dusted tea towel.

Another aspect of the proofing basket is that they allow air to flow so that moisture is whisked away leading to the dough being easier to remove before baking.

I prefer to dust my basket with rice flour as it doesn’t absorb moisture like regular flour and helps the dough not stick to the basket.

Hydration

One of the biggest questions I get is about the hydration of the dough or the sourdough starter.

Hydration refers to the flour to water ratio.

In simple terms, 1 cup flour mixed with 1 cup water is 100% hydration.

Knowing this ratio, we can determine the hydration of a recipe.

For instance, if you have 500 grams of flour and 250 grams of water, it would be a 50% hydration dough.

Higher hydration doughs will be more around 75% hydration.

I prefer recipes on the lower hydration levels. But, for a more open crumb, higher hydration doughs are best.

Cold Fermentation

Cold ferment refers to putting your dough in the fridge and letting it ferment very slowly.

This process is ideal for increased flavor and the capability of achieving a really long fermentation time.

My favorite method is to do the bulk fermentation on the counter and the second rise in the fridge.

It’s important for those with digestive issues to have a long fermentation of at least 18-24 hours and the cold ferment can achieve that without over fermenting.

Scoring

When you hear the term, score the dough, this refers to cutting the top of the dough before baking to allow for expansion.

If you don’t score the dough, it will expand and possibly break open in a random spot. So, cutting the dough prior to baking will help you control where it opens after it hits the oven.

There are also decorative scores. These are not as deep and are for making the bread pretty when it comes out of the oven.

To achieve a good expansion score, you need to cut the dough with a very sharp razor, a lame, or a sharp knife.

Cut into the dough at a 45 degree angle and go about 3/4 inch deep. Make your scoring quick using steady pressure.

Let’s talk about Fresh Milled Flour

In my sourdough baking, I use 100% fresh milled flour. I get a lot of questions on this topic and want to briefly cover a few points in the post.

• Soaking matters! – When using fresh milled flour, it is very important to not skip the autolyse. Fresh flour has the bran and germ intact which can act like shards when trying to develop gluten. Soaking for at least 30 minutes will soften the bran and germ leading to a better knead.
• Gluten development takes longer – When working with fresh milled flour, keep in mind that it may take a bit more kneading or stretching and folding to achieve the “window pane” test or get the dough stretchy and glossy.

To mill my own wheat berries for flour, I use the Nutrimill Grain Mill

Looking for sourdough recipes? Click here!

Why choose sourdough over commercial yeast?

Conventional yeast is isolated yeast from sourdough. The difference is sourdough also has the lactic acid bacteria which adds to the easier digestion.

When you make a loaf of bread with commercial yeast, it generally takes less than 3 hours from start to finish. This is because they have isolated and amplified just the yeast strains from the starter.

Compare that with making a loaf with a sourdough starter and the time it takes to make the bread greatly increases because of the natural fermentation process.

During this time, the yeast and the bacteria work together to raise the dough.

They will eat the flour and water and in turn produce carbon dioxide (bubbles) to rise the lump of dough.

This longer process breaks down starch and in turn makes the bread easier on your digestive system especially when fermented for at least 12-24 hours.

A few other sourdough terms that you may hear

There are few other common sourdough terms that you may hear or see in a recipe and I want to cover them here.

• Oven Spring – This term refers to how the dough rises when it hits the heat and steam of the oven. Shaping is imperative to a good oven spring. And, of course, it takes a vigorous starter, as well.
• Dutch Oven – This is a cast iron cooking vessel that is very heavy and has a lid. It holds heat and steam inside for the first part of baking which leads to a good rise. Taking off the lid for the final portion of baking will lead to a deep golden crust.
• Bench Rest – Bench rest refers to allowing the shaped dough to sit on the table for a few minutes to start developing a crust. Not every recipe calls for this step, but it can be helpful for the dough keeping its shape. Usually, after the bench rest, you will reshape the dough once more before putting in the proofing basket.
• Lamination – This is a technique where you stretch the dough as thinly as possible on the table and fold it back up again. It is another form of developing gluten and structure.
• Crumb – The crumb of the bread is the inside. Most people look for many holes and a soft and almost stretchy texture. With fresh milled flour, you won’t see the big holes, but the crumb is still soft and stretchy.
• Internal temperature – Refers to a temperature reading with an instant read thermometer. You want the temperature to be between 195-205 degrees F.
• Batard – A batard is an oval shaped loaf of sourdough bread. This shape is great for making sandwiches and is more “loaf’ shaped.
• Boule – Boules are round shaped loaves and are the more recognizable as an artisan loaf. Round loaves are beautiful and eye catching, however they can be a little more difficult to slice for sandwiches.

In conclusion

As you can see, the sourdough process is packed with so many terms, it deserves its own dictionary!

However, breaking each one down in simpler terms can alleviate the stress that is sometimes involved in mastering sourdough.

My advice is to start simple and try to not get too wrapped up in the “terms” and “processes”.

Instead, look at sourdough starter as yeast and remember that it works like commercial yeast, it just takes longer!

Hopefully, this breakdown will help you on your journey to be more successful with much less stress!

Sourdough can be so much fun to make and simplifying the process is the key to success.

These common sourdough terms will be found in most sourdough recipes and having a foreknowledge of their meanings will make the process much easier!