Essential Equipment for Sourdough Bread Baking

You don’t need any fancy equipment to make sourdough bread.

If you have a sourdough starter and some sort of baking vessel on hand, you can start baking. This sourdough focaccia recipe, for instance, requires nothing more than a sourdough starter and a 9×13-inch baking vessel or something similar.

If you find yourself, however, really getting into sourdough baking, and if, in particular, you’re after a crusty boule, you may want to pick up a few more pieces of gear.

Here are the tools and ingredients I find essential for sourdough bread baking.

10 Essential Tools for Sourdough Bread Baking

1. Sourdough Starter

As you know, a sourdough starter is what distinguishes a loaf of sourdough bread from a loaf of yeast-leavened bread. For ease, you can buy (or procure) a starter as opposed to making one from scratch. If you know a sourdough baker, he or she most likely will share. If you don’t, here are two online sources:

• Breadtopia
• King Arthur Flour

2. Digital Scale

I say this all the time, but if you are serious about bread baking or baking in general, you must measure your ingredients with a digital scale. It’s the only way to truly accurately measure ingredients and to, in turn, make smart/informed changes based on your results. In fact, I will go so far as to say: do not attempt making sourdough bread without a digital scale on hand.

​This scale​ costs under $15, is very accurate, and holds up to 11 pounds.

3. Clear, Straight-Sided Vessel

This 4-qt Cambro has become, after my scale, my most valued tool for sourdough baking. Why? It lets me see exactly when the dough has risen sufficiently (roughly 50% increase in volume) and is therefore ready to be shaped. When dough rises in a bowl, judging how much it has grown is tricky. There’s no question with a straight-sided vessel.

4. Non-Stick Flour-Sack Towels

I love these flour sack towels from Dot and Army. When you use flour sack towels, dough, even very high-hydration dough, releases without any sticking. These are also great.

5. Rice flour

I sprinkle a little bit of rice flour on the flour sack towel before placing the shaped dough on it. It’s purely for looks — I like the contrast of the dusting of white flour against the auburn hue of the bread, and rice flour doesn’t burn the way wheat flour does. Before I discovered the flour sack towels, I used the rice flour to help prevent sticking with my tea towels, so you may find it helpful for that purpose as well.

6. Bench scraper for shaping.

I no longer flour a work surface for shaping. I rely on my bench scraper and minimal handling of the dough. See video here or below.

7. Parchment Paper

For ease in transferring dough from counter to Dutch oven, I rely on parchment paper.

8. Razor Blade

For slashing dough before it bakes, you’ll need a razor blade. I don’t do any fancy scoring, but it doesn’t matter. A simple X looks dramatic in the end.

9. Double Dutch Oven

If you are after that crusty boule, you’ll need a Dutch oven. This one is durable and reasonably priced. This one is more of a splurge but beautifully designed with handles on top and great for making batards and other oblong-shaped loaves. If you have a Dutch oven, you can definitely use it, but keep in mind: you might not like what the hot temperature of the oven for an extended period of time does to it. My Le Creuset Dutch oven, for instance, turned very dark on both the exterior and interior and required a deep cleaning afterwards.

10. Oven Mitts

And if you’re going to be handling a screaming hot cast iron vessel, you’re going to need a good pair of oven mitts. These have been great.

A Few More Things

1. Sharp Bread Knife

Crusty loaves require a good, sharp knife. This one is attractive and reasonably priced. This one is a little more expensive, but also nicely designed and sharp.

2. A large bowl for mixing the dough. Something like this is nice because it’s clear, which makes it easy to read the scale.

3. A spatula: Love my GIR Spatula.