Bread baking guides: from starter to storage
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Sourdough starter: make it, feed it, keep it healthy
A sourdough starter is flour and water that wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria have colonised. Fed regularly, it doubles in a few hours and raises your bread. Making one usually takes a week or two, though there is no deadline (King Arthur); keeping one takes a feed a day on the counter or once a week in the fridge.
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Bread technique: mixing, folding, shaping, scoring
These guides cover what your hands do between mixing and baking: building strength, shaping a tight loaf, proofing it cold, giving it steam and scoring it so it opens where you want. Each has the steps, a drawing, the common mistakes, and the tool that plans it.
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What is oven spring? How to get more rise in the oven
Oven spring is the burst of rise a loaf makes early in a hot oven, before the crust sets. Gas in the dough expands with the heat, water turns to steam, and the yeast makes a last push of gas until the dough gets too hot for it. A well-sprung loaf grows visibly taller and opens along its score.
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Bulk fermentation explained: when is it done?
Bulk fermentation is the first rise, when the whole batch ferments in one container before it is divided and shaped. Yeast fills the dough with gas while bacteria build flavour and acidity. It is done when the dough has grown by the amount your recipe gives (often 50 to 75% for sourdough), is domed and bubbly, and jiggles when you move the container.
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Proofing bread: how to tell when dough is ready
Proofing is the final rise of the shaped loaf, after bulk fermentation. At room temperature King Arthur's sourdough loaves take about 2 to 3 hours (1 to 3 hours is its figure for yeasted loaves); in the fridge, 8 to 16 hours. The loaf is ready when it has grown visibly, feels airy, and a floured fingertip pressed into it springs back slowly and leaves a small dent.
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Bread hydration explained: hydration chart by flour
Hydration is the weight of water in a dough divided by the weight of flour. 750 g of water to 1,000 g of flour is 75% hydration. Higher hydration makes a wetter, stickier dough and usually a more open crumb; whole grain flours absorb more water, so they need more to feel the same.
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Baker's percentage explained, with worked examples
In baker's percentage every ingredient is a percentage of the flour you add, which is always 100%; the flour inside a levain is counted separately. A dough of 1,000 g flour, 750 g water, 20 g salt and 200 g levain is 100%, 75%, 2% and 20%. It lets you see a recipe's shape at a glance and scale it to any size.
Read the guide →Flour and ingredients
Bread flour and ingredients: what each one does
Bread is mostly flour, water, salt and a leaven, and small changes in each change the loaf. These guides explain each flour and ingredient in a baker's terms: what it does to the dough, how much water it takes, and how to swap it.
Read the guide →Bread flour vs all-purpose flour: the difference and swaps
Bread flour has more protein than all-purpose flour, about 12 to 13% against roughly 10 to 12% for US brands. More protein means more gluten, so bread flour absorbs more water and gives a chewier, taller loaf. You can swap one for the other; adjust the water by a few percent.
Read the guide →Whole wheat flour in bread: water, rise and flavour
Whole wheat flour contains the bran and germ, so it tastes nuttier, absorbs more water and ferments faster than white flour. Its bran cuts gluten strands, which makes loaves denser. Start by replacing 20 to 30% of the white flour, add water a little at a time until the dough feels as it does with white flour, and give the dough a longer rest after mixing.
Read the guide →Rye flour in bread: how it behaves and how much to use
Rye flour builds very little gluten; it holds water with gums called pentosans instead. That makes rye dough sticky, paste-like and quick to ferment, with a deep, earthy flavour. A little rye adds flavour and colour to a wheat sourdough (King Arthur suggests starting with a quarter of the flour and judging the loaf before going higher, since more rye gives a lower, denser bread); high-rye loaves need a sour leaven, a pan and patience.
Read the guide →Salt in bread: how much, which kind, when to add it
Bread usually takes salt at about 1.8 to 2.2% of the flour weight, which is 9 to 11 g for 500 g of flour. Salt seasons the loaf, tightens the gluten and slows fermentation slightly. Weigh it: a teaspoon of fine salt and a teaspoon of flaky kosher salt weigh very different amounts.
Read the guide →Yeast types for bread: instant, active dry and fresh
Instant yeast mixes straight into the flour; active dry yeast is traditionally dissolved in warm water first; fresh (cake) yeast is moist and perishable. Red Star, which makes all three, swaps instant and active dry one for one (active dry can take a little longer to rise), and puts one 7 g packet of dry yeast level with 0.6 oz (about 17 g) of fresh cake yeast.
Read the guide →Use your equipment
Baking bread at home: methods and equipment in use
These guides are about using equipment, not buying it: how to bake sourdough without a Dutch oven, what a pan loaf needs, when a stand mixer or bread machine helps, and how to handle a 500°F pot safely. Each links the buying guide for when you do want to buy.
Read the guide →How to bake sourdough without a Dutch oven: 5 methods
You do not need a Dutch oven for sourdough: what the pot gives you is a hot base and trapped steam. Bake the loaf on a preheated sheet, stone or steel and cover it with an upturned roasting pan or a metal bowl for the first 20 minutes, or add steam from a tray of boiling water. A loaf pan works too.
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How to bake bread in a Dutch oven: preheat, load, time
Preheat the empty pot and lid in the oven at 450 to 500°F for 30 to 45 minutes. Lower the scored loaf in on a sling or on parchment rated for that heat, put the lid on and bake 20 minutes; then remove the lid and bake 20 to 25 minutes more, until the crust is deep brown and the center reads 205 to 210°F.
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Sourdough in a loaf pan: shaping, proofing and baking
Sourdough bakes well in a loaf pan and needs no Dutch oven: shape it as a log, proof it in a greased pan (overnight in the fridge works well), then bake at 425°F for 45 to 55 minutes, as King Arthur bakes its everyday sourdough pan loaf.
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Stand mixer for bread dough: choosing and using one
A stand mixer saves the work of kneading stiff or enriched doughs and large batches. Choose it by the maker's stated dough or flour capacity, not the bowl's quart size, which is a volume, not a dough limit. Knead on a low speed, and watch the dough temperature: mixers warm the dough.
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Oven gloves and loading tools for bread at 500°F
Bread is baked hotter and in heavier pots than most cooking. Use oven gloves rated well above 500°F with long cuffs that cover your wrists, load the loaf on parchment rated for the heat or a silicone sling so your hands stay out of the pot, and set a trivet out before you open the oven.
Read the guide →Start with your kitchen
Sourdough tools you need: 7 essentials and what can wait
You need seven things to bake a good sourdough loaf: a scale, a bowl, a starter jar, a basket (or a bowl and towel), a bench scraper, a blade and a pot with a lid. Everything else makes it easier, and much of it is already in your kitchen.
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Bread baking tools for small kitchens: a compact kit
A small kitchen needs fewer, flatter tools that each do two jobs: a slim scale, one lidded tub for mixing and rising, a basket that stores nested, and a pot that also cooks dinner. Measure the oven first; small and apartment ovens are often too narrow for a large steel or an oblong bread pan.
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Gifts for bread bakers: useful picks for every level
The best gift for a bread baker is a tool that fixes something in their current bake: a sharper blade, a basket in the right size, a thermometer, or a heavier pot. If you can, find out what they already own and the size of loaf they make.
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Bread baking equipment on a budget: what to buy first
On a budget, buy a digital scale first and use what is in your kitchen for everything else: a bowl and towel for a banneton, a razor blade for a lame, and a roasting pan over a baking sheet for a Dutch oven. Then upgrade one piece at a time, starting with the pot.
Read the guide →KitchenAid Black Friday 2026: stand mixer deals for bread
KitchenAid's early Black Friday deals are already running. On 3 November its own store had the 7 quart bowl-lift below last year's Black Friday price, while the 5.5 quart bowl-lift, 40% off last Black Friday, was still at full price. If you bake bread, buy a bowl-lift: KitchenAid itself recommends one for heavy dough. The Artisan that leads most deals is fine for one loaf at a time.
Read the guide →Measure, mix and proof
Best scale for bread baking: capacity and 1 g steps
The best scale for bread reads in 1 gram steps and holds at least 5 kg, because the bowl counts toward the limit. A display you can read under a wide bowl matters more than extra features. For salt and yeast in small batches, a pocket scale that reads in 0.1 g steps helps.
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Best thermometer for bread: dough, water and loaf
An instant-read thermometer is the one to buy: it checks the water before you mix, the dough during bulk fermentation, and the loaf's center when it comes out (about 205 to 210°F for a lean sourdough). A leave-in probe with an alarm is for bakers who want to keep the oven door shut.
Read the guide →Sourdough starter jar: size, lid and temperature
Use a clear, wide-mouth jar of about 1 quart (32 oz) with a loose lid. That gives a 100 to 200 g starter room to double, lets you see the bubbles and the rise, and is easy to scrape clean. Keep it at 75 to 78°F to peak in about 4 to 8 hours, or in the fridge between bakes.
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Bulk fermentation container: size, shape and picks
The best bulk fermentation container is clear, straight-sided and about three times the volume of your dough, so you can see the rise against marks on the side. For one 900 g loaf that means a 3 to 4 quart tub; for two loaves, 6 quarts.
Read the guide →Bulk fermentation chart: dough rise time by temperature
How much longer or shorter a rise takes at each dough temperature, for yeasted dough and sourdough, with a calculator for your recipe.
Read the guide →Bread proofing equipment: baskets, boxes and what you need
Proofing needs two things: something that holds the loaf's shape (a banneton, a towel-lined bowl or a pan) and a steady temperature, usually 75 to 78°F (24 to 26°C) for the rise or the fridge for a cold proof. A proofing box is the only piece that costs real money, and you can wait on it.
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Banneton size chart and the best proofing baskets
A 9 inch round banneton holds the common 750 g to 1 kg sourdough loaf; a 12 inch oval holds the same dough as a bâtard. Use the chart below to match your dough weight to a basket, then flour it with rice flour so the loaf turns out cleanly.
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Best proofing box for sourdough: warm, cool and fit
A proofing box holds your dough at a set temperature, so bulk fermentation runs at a steadier, more repeatable pace; the dough still tells you when it is ready. The Brod & Taylor folding proofer warms and folds flat; the Proofer Pro also cools, which matters in a hot kitchen or for an overnight hold.
Read the guide →Shape, load and bake
Best Dutch oven for sourdough: sizes, cloches and picks
For most sourdough bakers the best Dutch oven is a 5 to 5.5 quart round cast-iron pot: it bakes the usual 750 g to 1 kg loaf and fits almost any oven. Choose a different shape for a different loaf, or a lighter cover if lifting hot cast iron is hard for you.
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Dutch oven vs bread cloche: which is better for bread?
Both bake the same kind of loaf: covered, in its own steam, then uncovered to brown. A Dutch oven costs less and cooks everything else too. A cloche's low base makes loading easier and you lift only the lighter dome. Choose by how you load and what you can lift hot.
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Baking steel for bread: sizes, weight and which to buy
A baking steel is a slab of steel that sits on the oven rack and pushes heat into the bottom of the loaf faster than a stone. Pick the largest size that leaves about an inch of air on each side of your rack, and a thickness you can lift: a quarter-inch 16 × 14 in steel weighs 15 lb.
Read the guide →Baking steel vs stone for bread: which to buy
A baking steel moves heat into the loaf faster than a stone of the same thickness, cannot crack, and doubles as a pizza steel. A stone costs less, is lighter at the same size and is a little gentler on the bottom crust. For bread alone, both work; the steel lasts forever.
Read the guide →Best bread pan: loaf pan sizes, Pullman and dough weight
Most US loaf recipes are written for an 8.5 × 4.5 in (1 lb) or 9 × 5 in (1.5 lb) pan. Fill the pan with dough to about half or two-thirds of its depth: roughly 700 g of dough for the smaller pan and 900 g for the larger, our estimate for a typical sandwich or sourdough pan loaf.
Read the guide →Bread lame and scoring tools: score and load your loaf
A lame is a razor blade on a handle. Hold it at a low angle (about 30°) and cut about 1/4 in deep in one quick stroke to get the raised ear; hold it upright for a straight, even opening. Then lower the loaf into the hot pot on a sling or heat-rated parchment, or slide it onto a steel with a peel.
Read the guide →Cool, slice and store
How to store sourdough bread: cool, slice and keep it
Store sourdough at room temperature, cut side down on a board or in a bread box, for 2 to 3 days. For longer, slice it and freeze it in a sealed bag; toast slices straight from the freezer. Avoid the fridge: bread goes stale faster there than on the counter.
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Best bread box and bread storage: what keeps bread fresh
A bread box keeps a loaf soft for 2 to 3 days by holding it in still, slightly humid air. A linen bag keeps a crusty loaf crisp for a day or two. For anything longer, slice and freeze it. The fridge is the one place not to keep bread.
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Best bread knife for sourdough: length and serrations
A good bread knife for sourdough has a serrated blade about 10 in long, at least 2 in longer than the loaf is wide, so it can saw through a hard crust in long strokes without crushing the crumb. Wavy (scalloped) serrations cut cleanly and last; pointed ones bite hard crust faster.
Read the guide →Keep the decisions together.
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