How To Make A Basic Open Crumb Sourdough Bread

Hello and thanks for clicking on my video! In this video I take you through my method to create a simple 20% whole wheat sourdough bread from start to finish. I like to use King Arthur Flour brand bread flour (12.7% protein) and 20% whole grain, hard red spring wheat (local, Hazzard Free Farm). I take you through all steps of the autolyse, bulk ferment, final proof, shaping, and baking.

Autolyse [0:54]
Add levain [2:11]
Add sea salt [3:41]
Light fold [5:35]
Lamination [6:40]
Stretch & fold (Coil fold) #1 [8:20]
Stretch and fold (Coil fold) #2 [9:52]
Stretch and fold (Coil fold) #3 [11:07]
End of Bulk/Shaping [12:02]
Final proof [14:49]
Bake [16:05]

[australien]

I'm a qualified baker with over 30 years experience and your technique is fantastic. What a beautiful loaf of bread ❤👍

[z]

Great tutorial, I especially enjoyed the feelings of impending doom triggered by the music.

[sheilan]

I have struggled with sourdough these last 6 months..and was getting really frustrated. I watched loads of videos and made progress but at a snail's pace. This video has made a huge difference. It is by far the best video out there. Clear and precise and doable instructions. Can't thank you enough. Will be watching all your videos!

[stephenlutz]

O.k...I watched this video and commented, but...I have since rewatched a half dozen times. The timbre, tone and cadence of your voice is so compelling it is nearly hypnotic. Whether cultivated or a natural gift, your ability to teach and effectively convey a message is quite remarkable...and your mastery of breadmaking processes for one so young leaves me speechless. Lamination?? In all the years I have pursued this art of breadcraft, and in all the books I have sought out and studied it, I have rarely seen this technique even mentioned...yet here you are incorporating it into a tutorial and demonstrating it with very skilled hands. PLEASE consider spoken instruction in your future videos, as you did in this one. Your "silent" videos are also very well done, but this one....BRAVO dear lady...this is just an utterly superb and comprehensive guide for anyone who loves breadmaking!

[patchblahblah]

all bakers, the shower cap is a great re reuseable option! People seem to use so much single use plastic prepping and baking bread. Thanks for modelling this little trick too. Great video

[Depthofthesoul]

Thank you so much for this amazing tutorial. I’ve read tons of books and articles, watched so many videos, but the result from your recipe and tutorial is incredible—it looks just like your loaf. You’re the sourdough king! I’m really sad that you’ve taken a break, but I know it’s important. I’m so happy you’ve left behind all your recipes, breads, and tutorials. I’m glad I found you. You seem so kind and sweet, not just in how you speak and your voice, but also in how you handle the dough. You are filled with sensibility, and that makes you stand out from others bakers on Instagram. Thank you! 🤎

[claregrana]

This was one of the best instructional videos that I have seen. Your voice is soothing and calm and all of those steps seem doable. You are a natural instructor! Thank you.

[sgstex]

Bravo. The absolute BEST bread baking video I have ever seen. To beginners watching this video pay attention to how the dough LOOKS at each step. This is so much more critical then exact weighing. Why? Because in the countless books that I have on bread baking there is very little talk of the effects of where you live on flour hydration. I have a second home in Puerto Vallarta Mexico and depending on the time of the year, flour can weigh 15% to 20% more due to the high humidity levels. Using the same proportions as I do at home produces pancake batter. So thank you SO much FPB for such an excellent video where we can actually almost feel the textures as you progress through your explanations.

[jessicaprost]

This totally transformed the bread ive been baking for months. The texture and crumb of the bread are wonderful. Great tutorial!

[paulrivera]

Of all the sourdough tutorials I've watched this one is for the books. Definetly recommended!

[emilymorris]

This is the only sourdough recipe I’ve used that has come out perfect every single time!! Thankyou 😘

[emree]

After several weeks of total failure with sourdough on other recipes, I've had nice success with this. I credit that to the video that explains so much detail in depth. I do live in a very humid area so I always have to cut my water back by 20% and splash add as I go through the steps.

[stephenlutz]

I have been a home baker of just about every bread imaginable for the last 35 years, and the thrill of seeing the results of my effort come out of the oven is still as overwhelming as it was with my first loaf. But I must say, you handle that high hydration dough like a skilled surgeon wields a scalpel, or the fingers of a piano prodigy waltzes over the ivory keys. Your presentation is superb and I am delighted to have stumbled upon you channel! Looking forward to more of your videos.👍👍👍👍❤❤❤❤

[plainjane]

Christen/Kristen....THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I have been trying to get the perfect sourdough loaf for over a year with no success. I was close to giving up on it. My crust was too hard, too soft, not brown enough, texture was too dense, did not rise, etc. The first two loaves were not perfect, but I knew I was on the right track when I acheived an open crumb, a wonderful texture, and excellent taste with your perfectly understandable step by step instructions. The loaf I baked tonight would rival any San Fransisco sourdough. The only thing I did different, was to double the recipe for a larger loaf, bake in a dutch oven (preheating the oven and dutch oven exactly as you instructed), and I added a tiny bit of citric acid in with the salt. I have tried so many recipes, and variations of recipes and yours is THE one. You are my hero! Thank you again! To anyone considering her method, do it! You "might" need to tweak it a little for your part of the country due to your heat/cold/humidity, but this recipe will guarantee your success!

[alifaghih]

Wow, wow ... this is almost one year that I've started to bake with sourdough basically on your chart and video which is one the best videos I've saved on my list. Now I am listening to Sourdough Podcast for the very first time and guess who is the guest? My first virtual teacher Kristen 🙏🏼🍞❤ Thank you so much Kristen.

[joanmacleod]

I have watched countless videos on sourdough baking ! This, by far, is the best one. I have watched 3 times and now feel ready to try baking. Thank you for this great, easy to understand, video. 🇨🇦

[jdrake]

Hi Kristen!

I just wanted you to know that I followed your recipe to a 'T' and am very happy with the result!

I am one of the many who discovered baking as a pandemic hobby over the past two years. Of course, sourdough soon became a passion. I have made many loaves in that time, but wanted to change up my baking game just a bit to see if I could get some noticeable improvements in my bread. That's when I discovered your Youtube video (having viewed many). Something about it just rang so true to me, I decided to give it a go. Before this, I rarely autolysed, or if I did it wasn't for more than an hour. I also only did a couple of stretch-and-folds. This time, I decided I would follow your recipe and see if I could tell a difference in my results. And sure enough, my first loaf turned out great! I got a nice ear, although not as big as I'd like. This, I think, was more due to my not having made a deep enough score in the dough, than anything else (scoring has been a challenge to me). But the oven spring - wow! Such a nice rounded loaf! I'll admit to having made any number of smaller, flatter loaves over the past 2 years. All tasted great, but didn't look like they should. But this loaf is beautiful to me! I'd leave a photo, if I could.

I also opted to pop for the 5$ PDF of the recipe, to get all the details written down. It's the first time I've done this, but for 5$ I figured, why not? I'm glad I did!

I will search your recipes to see if I can find a sourdough recipe where other ingredients, like my two favorite ingredients, jalapenos and cheddar, are added to the dough. I would love to see your recipe for something like that! While I love making jalapeno/cheddar bread, the loaves never seem to get the spring I would like. Or perhaps you have a formula/method for adding such ingredients to this recipe? If so, I'd love to read about it!

Nice video, great recipe, thank you!

[bybbah]

Hi christine, I know people compliments you, because you hold a position in tutorial home baking, although northwest sourdough INTRODUCE my interest, I even bought a roasting pot to use like them and you do too but I ended up more with everything else but the pot.However you boost up my baking .From a severe nervous breakdown from over work stress and being single it flared up my weak low back pain I had a foot drop and restrained at home to discover in my healing process, changing my diet is the ultimate healing, which lead me to learn home bake I constantly failed at gluten free bread until I was recommended by YOU TUBE SOURDOUGH BAKING. IT DREW MY CURIOSITY, for I'm west African and the concept of fermentating flour seemed familiar, the rest is HISTORY. FEEL VERY PROUD AND GRATEFUL WHEN READING THIS, THANK YOU FOR THOROUGHNESS AND PATIENCE, because I do RELIGIOUS TUTORING, I CONNECTED TO YOUR VIDEOS, GOOD PROGRESS.MY BAKING AND STRONG STARTER HAS TREMENDOUSLY IMPROVED. 😊🙏👏.TAKE CARE NOW.

[Bozemancurtis]

I've made this exact recipte a dozen times now. I love the results. I add garlic, rosemary and sometimes kalamata olives during the lamination stage.

[mohiniaswani]

I am a new baker. I tried to bake sour dough bread and followed your U tube Video. My bread came out with with beautiful oven spring and nice crumb.
You are amazing baker.
Your instructions are very clear and perfect
I am so happy I can make sour dough bread now.
I also made sour dough starter with your instructions.
You are the best.