Classic Sourdough Bread: The 8 Beginner Mistakes to Avoid

Dough

Pantry swaps

Method

1. Mix the dough: combine the water and the active starter in a bowl, add the salt, then the bread flour. Mix until a shaggy dough forms with no dry flour pockets left. Cover airtight and let it rest for 30 minutes.
2. Lift and folds (4 rounds, 30 minutes apart): with a wet hand, scoop under one side of the dough, lift gently until the dough starts to resist, and fold it over. Twist the bowl and repeat around the dough until the whole thing comes up, then tuck it under. Be gentle – if the dough resists, stop. Lifting aggressively tears the gluten strands, and torn gluten cannot trap the gas that makes the loaf rise.
3. Bulk ferment: cover and leave at room temperature until the dough has risen 35-75% – not doubled, not under a third. It should show bubbles on top, release cleanly from the sides of the bowl, and jiggle like set Jell-O without losing structure. At warm room temperature this runs about 2.5-4 hours; the video’s over-fermented loaf went 14 hours and collapsed into a sticky, shapeless mess.
4. Pre-shape: turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Fold it into a round or batard, creating surface tension, then let it bench rest 20-30 minutes so the gluten relaxes before you work it again.
5. Final shape: dust the top with flour, dislodge the dough with a bench scraper, and flip it over. Pull the top down about a third of the way, bring the bottom up over it, and pinch together. Lift the dough, pull the bottom out a little, and roll it up. Seal the ends, then tighten the skin – the outside of the dough should feel taut. No tension here means the loaf spreads outward instead of rising.
6. Cold proof: place the dough seam-side up in a floured banneton, dust the top, cover, and refrigerate overnight (12-16 hours).
7. Bake: about 45 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450 F with the Dutch oven inside – it must be scorching hot. Turn the proofed loaf out, score once from top to bottom at a shallow angle (about 45 degrees, more horizontal than vertical), and bake at 450 F for 25 minutes covered, then 400 F for 10 minutes uncovered.
8. Cool the loaf at least an hour before slicing – the crumb sets as it cools.

Notes

Servings: 12 (1 loaf, about 12 slices; estimate – the creator does not state a serving count). Per serving: 165 kcal, 34 g carbs, 5.5 g protein, 0.8 g fat, 1.2 g fiber. Macros are estimates summed from USDA per-100 g values for bread flour (550 g total flour, counting the 50 g of flour in the starter); salt and water contribute nothing measurable.

Quantities: exact from the video narration (350 g water, 100 g starter, 11 g salt, 500 g bread flour). The one ambiguous point is the bake: the narrator describes the mistake loaf as “25 minutes covered and 25 minutes uncovered” but states the actual schedule used for all loaves as 450 F for 25 minutes then 400 F for 10 minutes – this post uses the stated schedule.

The eight mistakes, and what each one does to the loaf:

1. Inactive starter – flat, gummy crumb with irregular tunnels; the yeast was never strong enough to leaven the dough.
2. Too rough with lift and folds – decent loaf but with irregular crumb and weak rise; torn gluten strands cannot hold gas.
3. Under-fermenting – explosive irregular holes from yeast still bursting in the oven; tight, rubbery crumb.
4. Over-fermenting – flat loaf with raggedy, sloppy holes; acids from the long ferment eat the gluten structure.
5. Skipping the bench rest – gluten tears during the final shape; good crumb potential lost to a poor rise.
6. No surface tension when shaping – the loaf spreads like a pancake; gas escapes instead of pushing the dough up.
7. Cold Dutch oven – flat loaf with a thick crust; no steam means the crust sets before the gas can expand it.
8. Not scoring – still edible with a fine crumb, but the gas bursts out in random splotches instead of a controlled ear.

The good loaf – all steps done right – is tall from shoulder to shoulder, with an even, open crumb and a strong ear.

Source: Sourdough Sister, “I ruined 8 sourdough loaves [so you don’t have to]” (YouTube, 2026-06-01). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t08iKiS4T1E