You found a sourdough recipe. You cleared the counter. Then step one tells you to “build a levain, autolyse for 45 minutes, and start bulk once it peaks.” Wait, what?
Sourdough comes with its own vocabulary, and most recipes assume you already speak it. Good news: you only need a few dozen words to follow almost any recipe out there, and every one of them describes something simple happening in a bowl on your counter.
A Sourdough Bake, Stage by Stage
Before the definitions, here’s the big picture. Every sourdough loaf follows roughly the same path, and each stage has its own handful of terms. Use this table as your map.
| Stage | What’s happening | Terms you’ll see |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Get the starter ready | You feed your starter so it’s bubbly and strong | Starter, feeding, discard, peak, levain |
| 2. Plan the recipe | Ingredients are written as ratios of the flour | Baker’s percentage, hydration, inoculation |
| 3. Mix | Flour, water, starter, and salt come together | Autolyse, fermentolyse, stretch and folds |
| 4. First rise | The whole batch of dough ferments and puffs up | Bulk fermentation, aliquot jar |
| 5. Shape | The dough becomes a tight, loaf-shaped ball | Pre-shape, bench rest, boule, bâtard |
| 6. Second rise | The shaped loaf rises again, often in the fridge | Proofing, cold retard, poke test, banneton |
| 7. Bake | The loaf gets slashed and goes into a hot oven | Scoring, lame, oven spring, ear |
| 8. Cool and slice | You check the inside and judge your work | Crumb, crust, blisters |
A typical home schedule spreads these stages across two days: feed the starter and mix on day one, then bake on the morning of day two after an overnight rest in the fridge.
Starter Terms: The Living Side of Sourdough
Your starter is the engine of every loaf. These are the words you’ll use daily once you have one bubbling away on the counter.
Sourdough Starter
A mix of flour and water that’s colonized by wild yeast and bacteria. Feed it regularly and it stays alive for years, raising your bread with no packet of commercial yeast in sight. Scientists studying the sourdough microbiome explain the teamwork: the yeasts make carbon dioxide bubbles that lift the dough, while the lactic acid bacteria supply the sour flavor and lower the pH, which helps keep the bread from spoiling.
Fun fact: a study of 500 sourdough starters across four continents found about 70% contained Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the same species as baker’s yeast, but researchers counted 70 different types of yeast across the full set. No two starters are quite the same.
Mother, Chef, or Madre
Other names for your main starter, the one you keep alive long term. “Chef” comes from French baking and “madre” from Italian. Same thing, fancier hat.
Feeding (or Refreshing)
Giving your starter fresh flour and water so the microbes have something to eat. Most bakers feed once or twice a day if the starter lives on the counter, or about once a week if it lives in the fridge.
Feeding Ratio
The proportion of starter to flour to water at each feeding, by weight. A 1:1:1 feeding means equal parts of all three, say 50 g starter, 50 g flour, and 50 g water. Bigger ratios dilute the starter more, so it takes longer to rise. That’s handy for timing your bakes.
| Feeding ratio (starter : flour : water) | Example | Rough time to peak at about 75°F (24°C) |
|---|---|---|
| 1:1:1 | 50 g : 50 g : 50 g | 4 to 6 hours |
| 1:2:2 | 25 g : 50 g : 50 g | 6 to 8 hours |
| 1:5:5 | 10 g : 50 g : 50 g | 10 to 12 hours (great for overnight) |
These times shift a lot with room temperature and flour type, so treat them as a starting point and watch your jar.
Discard
The portion of starter you remove before a feeding. Without discarding, your starter would keep doubling until it took over the kitchen. You don’t have to toss it, though.
Baking with sourdough discard adds tang to pancakes, crackers, waffles, and muffins, though it won’t do much to make them rise.
Stash it in a covered jar in the fridge and add to it with each feeding.
Active, Ripe, and Peak
An active (or fed) starter has been fed recently and is bubbly and rising. A ripe starter is ready to bake with. Peak is the moment it hits its highest point, with a domed top and bubbles all through, right before it starts to sink. Most recipes want your starter at or just before peak.
Hungry or Past Peak
A starter that has risen, used up its food, and collapsed. You’ll see streaks on the jar above the surface and smell something sharp, sometimes like vinegar or nail polish remover. It’s fine. Feed it and it bounces back.
Hooch
The gray or brownish liquid that pools on top of a hungry starter. It’s alcohol made during fermentation and a sign your starter wants a meal. Pour it off for a milder flavor or stir it back in for extra tang.
Float Test
A quick readiness check: drop a spoonful of starter into a glass of water. If it floats, it’s full of gas and probably ready to use. If it sinks, give it more time. One caveat: whole grain and rye starters can sink even when they’re raring to go, so trust the rise and smell too.
Levain (or Leaven)
A small, separate batch of starter that you build just for one bake. You mix a spoonful of your mother starter with fresh flour and water, let it ripen, then add all of it to your dough. Your main starter stays in its jar for next time. The American Society of Baking describes levain as a preferment that matures slowly before going into the dough. Many recipes use “levain” and “starter” interchangeably, which is where a lot of beginner confusion starts.
Preferment
Any portion of flour, water, and leavening that ferments before the main dough is mixed. A levain is a sourdough preferment. You may also see poolish (a wet French preferment) and biga (a stiff Italian one), though those usually use commercial yeast.
Wild Yeast and Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB)
The two main groups of microbes in your starter. Wild yeast handles the rise. Lactic acid bacteria handle most of the flavor. You’ll often see the bacteria shortened to “LAB” in baking forums.
Lactic Acid vs. Acetic Acid
The two acids that give sourdough its tang:
- Lactic acid tastes mild and creamy, a bit like yogurt.
- Acetic acid tastes sharp and vinegary.
That same four-continent study found acetic acid bacteria in 29.4% of starters, and those starters gave dough a vinegary smell and a slower rise. If you want a sharper loaf, longer and cooler fermentation tends to push flavor in that direction.
Baker’s Math Terms: How Sourdough Recipes Are Written
Sourdough recipes love percentages. Don’t let that scare you off. It’s grade-school division, and once you get it, you can read a recipe at a glance and know how the dough will behave.
Baker’s Percentage
A way of writing recipes where every ingredient is listed as a percentage of the total flour weight. Flour is always 100%, so the numbers add up to more than 100. Baker’s percentages make recipes easy to scale up or down and easy to compare. Here’s a simple loaf:
| Ingredient | Weight | Baker’s percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Bread flour | 500 g | 100% |
| Water | 375 g | 75% |
| Active starter | 100 g | 20% |
| Salt | 10 g | 2% |
One thing to know up front: baker’s math only works with weights. Grab a digital kitchen scale. Cups won’t cut it.
Hydration
The amount of water in a dough compared to the flour, written as a percentage. In the loaf above, 375 g water ÷ 500 g flour = 75% hydration. Higher hydration means a wetter, stickier dough and usually a more open, holey crumb. Lower hydration gives you a dough that’s easier to handle and a tighter crumb.
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If you’re just starting out, aim for somewhere around 65 to 70%. Wet doughs look amazing on Instagram but they’re slippery to shape. Also note that whole wheat flour soaks up more water than white flour, so a whole wheat dough will feel stiffer at the same hydration.
Total Hydration (True Hydration)
Hydration that counts the flour and water hiding inside your starter, too. Say you add 100 g of starter made with equal parts flour and water. That’s 50 g more flour and 50 g more water, so the math becomes (375 + 50) ÷ (500 + 50) = about 77%. Recipes don’t always say which number they mean, so if a dough feels wetter than expected, this is often why.
100% Hydration Starter
A starter fed with equal weights of flour and water, like the 1:1:1 example above. It’s the most common setup for home bakers. A stiff starter uses less water (often 50 to 60% hydration) and tends to make a tangier loaf.
Inoculation (Starter Percentage)
How much starter goes into the dough, as a percentage of the flour. In our example, 100 g starter ÷ 500 g flour = 20%. More starter means a faster rise. Less starter slows everything down, which can be handy if you want the dough to ferment while you’re at work.
Final Dough Temperature (FDT)
The temperature of your dough right after mixing, sometimes called desired dough temperature (DDT). Many recipes aim for about 75 to 78°F (24 to 26°C). Warmer dough ferments faster and cooler dough ferments slower, so bakers tweak the temperature of their mixing water to hit the target. An instant-read thermometer makes this easy.
Mixing Terms: Building Strength in Your Dough
Sourdough dough needs structure to trap all the gas your starter makes. These terms describe how bakers build that structure, mostly with time and gentle folding instead of heavy kneading.
Gluten
The stretchy network of proteins that forms when flour meets water. Think of it as a web of tiny balloons that holds onto gas as the dough rises. More gluten development means a dough that holds its shape and rises tall.
Autolyse
Pronounced “AW-toe-leez.” A rest where you mix only flour and water, then leave it alone for anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours before adding starter and salt. During that rest, the flour fully hydrates and its natural enzymes get to work. The result is a smoother, stretchier dough that needs less work later.
Fermentolyse
An autolyse with the starter mixed in from the start. It saves a step, but fermentation begins right away, so keep the rest short (around 30 minutes) and count it as part of your bulk fermentation time.
Saltolyse
A less common version where the salt goes in at the beginning. Some bakers like it for whole grain doughs or warm kitchens because the dough stays a bit firmer.
Extensibility vs. Elasticity
Two words for how dough moves, and you want a balance of both:
| Term | What it means | Too much of it feels like |
|---|---|---|
| Extensibility | How far dough stretches without tearing | Slack, puddly dough that spreads flat |
| Elasticity | How strongly dough springs back after stretching | Tight, rubbery dough that fights you |
Stretch and Folds
The go-to technique for building strength without kneading. With a wet hand, grab one side of the dough, stretch it up until you feel resistance, and fold it over the top. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat until you’ve gone all the way around. Most recipes call for three to four sets, spaced about 30 minutes apart, during the first couple hours of bulk fermentation.
Coil Folds
A gentler cousin of the stretch and fold. You lift the dough from the middle with both hands, let the ends tuck underneath, then rotate the bowl and repeat. It works great for very wet doughs.
Slap and Fold
A more energetic method for wet dough on the counter. You pick the dough up, slap the bottom onto the counter, stretch it toward you, and fold it back over itself. Messy, loud, and weirdly satisfying.
Lamination
Stretching the dough out into a thin sheet on a damp counter, then folding it back up like a letter. Bakers use it to build strength in one go or to spread mix-ins (also called inclusions) like olives, cheese, or seeds evenly through the dough.
Windowpane Test
A way to check gluten development. Pinch off a small piece of dough and gently stretch it between your fingers. If it stretches thin enough to let light through without tearing, your gluten is well developed.
Rising Terms: Fermentation and Proofing
This is where most of the magic (and most of the beginner mix-ups) happens. Sourdough rises twice: once as a big batch, then again after shaping.
Fermentation
The process of yeast and bacteria eating the sugars in the flour and producing gas, acids, and flavor. Everything from mixing to baking is technically fermentation, which is why timing and temperature matter so much in sourdough.
Bulk Fermentation (Bulk)
The first rise. It starts the moment your starter hits the dough and ends when you divide or shape it. This is where most of the flavor and rise develop, and it usually takes 4 to 8 hours at room temperature, depending on how warm your kitchen is. Signs bulk is done:
- The dough has grown by roughly 50 to 75% (not necessarily doubled)
- The top looks domed and smooth, with a few bubbles
- You can see bubbles along the sides of the container
- It jiggles when you shake the bowl
Aliquot Jar
A beginner’s best friend. Right after mixing, pop a small piece of dough into a straight-sided jar and mark its level with a rubber band. As the jar dough rises, it shows you exactly how much the main batch has grown. No more guessing.
Proofing (Final Proof)
The second rise, after the loaf has been shaped. It’s shorter than bulk and gives the loaf one last puff before baking. You’ll see it spelled “proof” or “prove” depending on who wrote the recipe. Same thing.
Cold Retard (Cold Proof)
Proofing the shaped loaf in the fridge, usually overnight. The cold slows fermentation way down, which fits a home schedule nicely and deepens the flavor. A cold, firm loaf is also much easier to score. This guide to proofing bread dough notes the tradeoff: the longer the dough sits in the cold, the more sour it gets and the less it rises.
Poke Test
The classic way to check if a loaf is ready to bake. Flour a finger and press about half an inch into the dough:
- Springs back fast and fully: underproofed. Give it more time.
- Springs back slowly and leaves a small dent: ready to bake.
- Doesn’t spring back at all: overproofed. Bake it soon.
Cold dough springs back slower than room temperature dough, so the poke test is a little less reliable straight out of the fridge.
Underproofed vs. Overproofed
The two most common sourdough problems. Here’s how to tell them apart:
| Underproofed | Overproofed | |
|---|---|---|
| What happened | Not enough fermentation time | Too much fermentation time |
| Raw dough | Tight, dense, springs back fast | Slack, puffy, may deflate when touched |
| Baked loaf | Dense, with a few huge holes near the top | Flat and wide, with a tight, even, gummy crumb |
| Score | Bursts open wildly or tears on the side | Barely opens and may sink |
| Next time | Let bulk go longer or warmer | Shorten bulk or proof, or use a cooler spot |
Shaping and Baking Terms
Your dough has risen. Now it’s time to give it a shape and send it into the oven.
Divide and Pre-Shape
If you’re making more than one loaf, you divide the dough first. Then you pre-shape each piece into a loose round to start building tension on the surface.
Bench Rest
A 20 to 30 minute rest after pre-shaping, usually uncovered on the counter. It lets the gluten relax so the dough is easier to shape for real.
Final Shape and Surface Tension
The last shaping step, where you fold and roll the dough into a tight loaf. The goal is surface tension: a smooth, taut skin across the outside that helps the loaf rise up instead of spreading out.
Boule and Bâtard
The two classic sourdough shapes:
- Boule (“bool”): French for “ball.” A round loaf.
- Bâtard (“bah-TAR”): an oval or torpedo-shaped loaf. Great for sandwich-sized slices.
Banneton (Proofing Basket)
A basket, often made of rattan, that holds the shaped loaf during its final proof and keeps it from spreading. Dust it with rice flour so the dough doesn’t stick. Regular wheat flour soaks up moisture and can glue your loaf to the basket. No banneton? A bowl lined with a well-floured kitchen towel works fine.
Couche
A heavy linen cloth used to hold baguettes and other long loaves while they proof. You fold it into pleats so each loaf has its own little trench.
Scoring (Slashing)
Cutting a shallow slash into the top of the loaf right before baking. Scoring controls where the bread expands in the oven, so it opens up where you want instead of bursting at a random weak spot. It’s also where bakers get creative with wheat stalks, leaves, and swirls.
Lame
Pronounced “lahm.” A small handle that holds a razor blade for scoring. A very sharp knife can do the job in a pinch, but a lame gives cleaner cuts.
Dutch Oven Baking
Baking sourdough inside a preheated, lidded cast iron pot. The lid traps steam from the dough during the first part of the bake, which keeps the crust soft long enough for the loaf to expand. Then the lid comes off so the crust can brown and crisp. It’s the easiest way to get bakery-style results at home.
Steam
Moisture in the oven during the early part of the bake. Steam keeps the outside of the loaf flexible so it can rise fully, and it helps create a glossy, crackly crust. Bakers without a Dutch oven often add a tray of hot water or ice cubes to the oven for the same effect.
Oven Spring
The burst of rising that happens in the first 10 to 15 minutes of baking, as heat makes the gas in the dough expand one last time before the crust sets. Big oven spring is the sign of a well-fermented, well-shaped loaf.
Ear
The crunchy, raised flap of crust that peels back along a score line. A dramatic ear is a bit of a bragging right among sourdough bakers. Scoring at a shallow angle (around 30 degrees) instead of straight down helps one form.
Bloom
How the loaf opens up along the score. A loaf with a nice bloom has a wide, even opening where the score was.
Reading Your Finished Loaf
The moment of truth! Once your loaf has cooled, these terms help you figure out what went right and what to tweak next time.
Crumb
The inside of the bread: its texture, holes, and color. When someone asks “how’s the crumb?” they want to see a slice cut down the middle.
Open Crumb vs. Tight Crumb
- Open crumb: big, irregular holes with a glossy, almost custardy look. Common in high-hydration loaves.
- Tight crumb: small, even holes. Great for sandwiches and toast, and totally normal for lower-hydration or whole grain loaves.
Neither one is “wrong.” They’re different styles.
Gummy Crumb
A crumb that feels wet, sticky, or doughy even after baking. Usual suspects: underbaking, overproofing, or slicing the loaf while it’s still hot.
Tunneling (Fool’s Crumb)
A few huge holes under the top crust with dense bread below. It looks impressive at first glance, but it’s usually a sign of underproofing or weak shaping.
Crust
The outer shell of the loaf. A good sourdough crust is deep golden to dark brown and crackles as it cools. Many bakers bake longer than feels comfortable because a darker crust tastes richer.
Blisters
Tiny bubbles on the surface of the crust. They show up most often on loaves that proofed overnight in the fridge.
Maillard Reaction
The browning reaction between proteins and sugars that gives crust its toasty, nutty flavor and deep color. It’s the same reaction that browns a seared steak or toasted marshmallow.
Internal Temperature
The most reliable way to know your loaf is baked through. Most lean sourdough loaves are done at around 205 to 210°F (96 to 99°C) in the center.
Cooling Time
The hardest step of all: waiting. Bread keeps cooking and setting as it cools, so slicing too early can leave the crumb gummy. Give it at least an hour, and two if you can stand it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between a sourdough starter and a levain?
Your starter is the long-term culture you keep alive and feed over and over. A levain is a one-time offshoot of that starter, built specifically for a bake and mixed entirely into the dough. Many recipes use the two words interchangeably, so if a recipe says “add 100 g levain,” ripe starter at the same amount will usually work.
Is sourdough discard safe to eat?
Yes, once it’s cooked. Discard is just flour, water, and the same microbes as your starter, so it’s great in pancakes, crackers, and muffins. Avoid eating it raw, since raw flour isn’t meant to be eaten uncooked. This guide on using and managing sourdough discard has more ideas.
What does 75% hydration mean?
It means the dough contains 75 grams of water for every 100 grams of flour. Higher numbers mean a wetter dough. Most beginners find 65 to 70% the easiest to handle.
Do I have to autolyse sourdough?
No. An autolyse makes the dough smoother and easier to work with, but plenty of great loaves skip it. If you’re short on time, a fermentolyse (mixing everything but the salt and resting 30 minutes) gives you some of the benefit with less fuss.
What’s the difference between bulk fermentation and proofing?
Bulk fermentation is the first rise, when all the dough ferments together in one container. Proofing is the second rise, after the dough has been shaped into a loaf. Bulk builds most of the flavor and strength. Proofing gives the shaped loaf its final lift before baking.
How do I know when my starter is ready to use?
Look for a starter that has roughly doubled since its last feeding, has a domed or slightly flattening top, is full of bubbles, and smells pleasantly tangy. If it reliably does this within 4 to 8 hours of a feeding, you’re good to bake. The float test can help confirm it.
Why isn’t my sourdough sour?
A young starter, a warm and fast fermentation, or a short proof can all make a mild loaf. For more tang, try a longer cold retard in the fridge, a stiffer starter, or swapping some of your white flour for whole wheat or rye.
What is an “ear” on sourdough bread?
The ear is the raised, crispy ridge of crust that forms along one side of the score. It happens when the loaf expands in the oven and pushes one edge of the cut up and outward. Good shaping, solid fermentation, and scoring at a shallow angle all help.
How long should sourdough cool before slicing?
At least one hour, and ideally two. The inside is still setting as it cools, and cutting too soon can make the crumb gummy.
