Beginner · English
Sourdough from scratch
Your first real sourdough loaf, from mixing to the first slice, with every step explained.
What you'll learn
- Mix, fold, shape and bake a sourdough loaf with an open crumb and a crackling crust
- Read the dough at each stage, instead of relying on the clock
- Plan a bake around your week, with an overnight rise in the fridge
- Score a loaf so it opens where you want it to
- Work out why a loaf came out flat or dense, and fix it next time
Course content
4 sections · 13 lessons · 32 min in all
Before you bake2 lessons · 4 min
The kit and the three ingredients, and why each one matters.
- Reading: Tools you need, and the ones you don’tPreview: Tools you need, and the ones you don’t2 min
- Reading: Flour, water and salt2 min
Your first loaf5 lessons · 10 min
Saturday: mix, fold, rise and shape, then into the fridge overnight.
- Reading: Mixing and the autolyse2 min
- Reading: Stretch and folds2 min
- Reading: Bulk fermentation: reading the dough2 min
- Reading: Pre-shaping and shaping2 min
- Reading: The overnight proof2 min
Baking day3 lessons · 6 min
Sunday morning: score, bake, and the hardest step of all, letting it cool.
- Reading: Scoring2 min
- Reading: Baking in a casserole pot2 min
- Reading: Cooling, cutting and keeping2 min
Putting it right3 lessons · 12 min
Why loaves go wrong, a final check, and your own bake, marked.
- Reading: Why loaves come out flat or dense2 min
- Quiz: Final check10 min
- Assignment: Bake it and show us the crumb
Requirements
- An active sourdough starter that doubles within eight hours of a feed
- Strong white bread flour, wholemeal flour and fine salt
- Kitchen scales, a large bowl and a lidded casserole pot that can go in a hot oven
- A proving basket, or a bowl lined with a floured tea towel
About this course
This is the course for your first proper loaf. We bake one recipe, a country sourdough of white and wholemeal flour, and learn it thoroughly: what each step is for, what the dough should look and feel like, and how to put it right when it doesn’t.
The method fits around a normal week. You mix on a Saturday morning, shape in the afternoon, leave the dough in the fridge overnight and bake on Sunday morning. Every lesson is written to keep open on the counter while you work, with real weights, temperatures and timings.
- Four parts, from your kit to putting a loaf right
- One recipe, learned properly, that you can bake for the rest of your life
- A final check, then you bake your loaf and send us a photo of the crumb: Ailsa looks at every one and tells you what to change
You’ll need a starter that doubles reliably. If you don’t have one yet, begin with our free course, Your first sourdough starter.
Who this course is for
- Home bakers making their first sourdough loaf
- Bakers whose loaves come out flat, dense or gummy
- Anyone who has baked with dried yeast and wants to move on
Your instructor
Ailsa Barr
Founder and head baker
Ailsa has baked bread for a living for fifteen years, ten of them on the night shift at a Leith bakery, before starting Proof Bread School to teach the home bakers who kept asking her why their loaves came out flat. She teaches the way she learned: by weight, by feel, and by watching the dough rather than the clock. Her own starter has been fed every day since 2014.
Frequently asked questions
How long does the loaf take?
About 24 hours from mixing to slicing, but only about 45 minutes of that is work. Most of it is the dough rising while you get on with your day, and a night in the fridge.
I don’t have a casserole pot. Can I still bake?
Yes. The lesson on baking shows how to bake on a hot baking tray with a tin of water underneath for steam. The pot is easier and gives a better crust, so it’s worth getting one if you keep baking.
Who sees the photos I send in?
Only you and Ailsa. She reads every bake herself and replies with what to change next time.
How long can I keep the course?
For as long as you like. Come back to any lesson whenever you bake.
Sourdough from scratch
13 lessons£59.00