To help you navigate the world of sourdough, I've compiled a sourdough glossary of 40 essential terms that every sourdough baker should know. Whether you're a novice or a seasoned pro, this list will help you along your sourdough journey!
When starting your sourdough journey, it can be quite overwhelming! Recipes often refer to bulk fermentation, sourdough starter, boule, or a banneton and you're left looking like a deer in headlights.
Here's a comprehensive list of all the terms you'll need to make a delicious loaf of sourdough bread! Whether you want to make a loaf of same day sourdough bread or some sourdough bagels, this list will help you in your baking journey!
Make sure to check out all the essential tools for making sourdough you'll need to make bread too! It's helpful to have all the correct tools on hand as well as knowing all the proper terminology for baking sourdough.
Once you get your sourdough journey up and running, make sure to join our Sourdough Facebook group with other Sourdough fanatics sharing their favorite recipes as well as tips and tricks!
Autolyse
A resting period during dough mixing where flour and water are allowed to hydrate before further mixing.
Banneton
A proofing basket used to shape and support the dough during the final rise. Though it's not 100% necessary to have a banneton, it is helpful. You can use a large bowl covered with a kitchen towel when in a pinch if you do not have a banneton.
Bench Scraper
A tool used to move and divide dough on the work surface. It gives a quick, even cut to the dough. A good quality metal bench scraper is a must in sourdough baking.
Boule
This is the standard, round shape you think of when you think of a loaf of sourdough bread. How to shape a sourdough boule is important so you get the proper oven spring and shape of your loaf.
Bread Flour
When baking sourdough, bread flour vs all purpose flour is a question that is asked a lot. Bread flour has more protein, so it helps build up the gluten for a soft, well structured crumb in your loaf.
Bulk Fermentation
The initial fermentation period where the dough rises after mixing. This usually takes place for 6-8 hours on the counter in a warm, not hot, place in your kitchen. People often try to place the bread in an oven with the light on, but that can make it a little too hot. I have used my Instant Pot to proof sourdough bread and that works great too!
Cold Proofing
This is placing the dough in a refrigerator to slow down fermentation. This will also help the structure of the crumb set.
Crumb
The internal texture and structure of the bread. A good crumb has even air bubbles and is soft.
Dough Hook
A mixer attachment for kneading and mixing bread dough. A good quality stand mixer will come with a dough hook to help mix the dough well. It's made kneading dough so much easier than kneading it by hand.
Ear
The ear is a feature of a baked loaf that shows when the bread is scored properly. An ear shows that the oven spring and the crumb have all been produced and created properly. Though it's not necessary, an ear often shows success in a sourdough loaf.
Enzymes
Proteins in flour that play a role in fermentation and dough development. They play an essential role in the taste, texture, and overall bake of your sourdough bread.
Fermentation
The process of yeast and bacteria acting on the dough, producing carbon dioxide and alcohol. Lactic acid bacteria strains metabolizes sugars, producing lactic acid and acetic acid. These acids contribute to the sour flavor of the bread. These bacteria strains and fermentation also influences the development of the dough's structure and extensibility.
Float Test
This is when you take a portion of your sourdough starter and place it in some water. If it floats, there is enough air and yeast in the starter to bake with. If it sinks, the starter should be fed again until it is bubbly and airy.
Gluten
Proteins in wheat that provide elasticity and structure to bread dough. People are often intolerant to gluten, but due to the fermentation in sourdough, they can digest gluten much easier in properly fermented sourdough bread.
Hooch
The liquid that can accumulate on the surface of a neglected sourdough starter, indicating hunger. Its usually a brown or dark liquid that accumulates. You can simply pour the hooch off and feed the starter. I find the hooch develops on my container of sourdough discard that I keep in my refrigerator because I am not feeding that discard anymore. I simply take out the sourdough discard and make sourdough lemon poppyseed muffins, sourdough chocolate chip cookies, or sourdough peanut butter cookies.
Hydration
Everyone talks about sourdough hydration, but what is is exactly? The ratio of water to flour in a bread recipe. A high hydration loaf has a very sticky dough and a soft, open crumb. A lower hydration dough has a tighter crumb and a little more dry crumb.
Bread Lame
A tool with a razor blade used to score the dough before baking. If you don't have a specific bread lame, you can use a razor blade or a very sharp knife.
Levain
A French term for a pre-ferment or sourdough starter. A levain is made by mixing flour with sourdough starter and letting it rest for about an hour. Then add it to the rest of the ingredients for your loaf of sourdough bread.
Microorganisms
Yeast and bacteria responsible for fermentation in sourdough.
Oven Spring
The rapid rise of dough during the first few minutes of baking. This is what gives the bread the spring and rise in the oven.
Overproofed
An overproofed dough tends to lose its shape and structure. It may spread out rather than maintaining a well-defined form. The gas produced by yeast during fermentation weakens the gluten network, causing the dough to collapse.
Proofing
Allowing the shaped dough to rise before baking. It can be proofed in a banneton or a large bowl covered with a kitchen cloth.
Retardation
The process of slowing down fermentation by refrigerating the dough.
Sourdough
Bread made with a natural leaven containing wild yeast and bacteria. There are so many things that can be made with sourdough! You can make sourdough breadsticks, sourdough hamburger rolls, or cinnamon raisin sourdough bread.
Scoring
Making shallow cuts on the surface of the dough to control its expansion during baking. By scoring the bread loaf, you are controlling where the bread expands and in what pattern. Without scoring the dough, the dough will expand and create large cracks in the bread. It will still taste delicious, but it won't be as pretty.
Semolina
A coarse flour often used to dust the banneton and prevent sticking. You can also use rice flour if semolina flour is not available.
Sourdough Starter
A mixture of flour and water containing wild yeast and bacteria used to leaven bread. You can make your own sourdough starter or you can get one from a friend. Make sure you understand how to keep a sourdough starter before you start baking. A strong, healthy starter is so important in sourdough baking.
Sourdough Discard
The portion of sourdough starter removed before feeding, often used in recipes for flavor. You don't have to throw away the extra sourdough discard. You can make lots of delicious recipes, like sourdough discard chocolate chip muffins, sourdough discard pancakes, and even sourdough discard Irish soda bread.
Stoneground Flour
Flour milled using traditional stone mills, often preferred for sourdough baking. You can buy a kitchen friendly flour grinder than you can keep on your kitchen counter. Einkorn sourdough bread is often made with stoneground flour.
Stretch and Fold
A gentle method of dough manipulation to strengthen gluten during fermentation. It is often done two or three times in the process of letting the dough rise.
Temperature Control
Managing the dough temperature during fermentation for consistent results. The colder the temperature is, the longer the dough will likely take to rise. In the Summer when it is warm, a loaf of bread could be ready in 4-6 hours, while in the Winter it could be 8-10 hours before the bread is ready to be baked.
Trehalose
A sugar produced during fermentation that contributes to the flavor of sourdough.
Underproofed
Dough that has not risen sufficiently during fermentation. This will often cause an oven spring that is not very high and a crumb that is tight. Sometimes, if I make a bread loaf that I notice was underproofed, I'll make sourdough breadcrumbs with the loaf.
Water Bath
Placing a pan of water in the oven during baking to create steam. A steam bath is helpful to get a really crisp crust on the outside of your sourdough bread.
Windowpane Test
Checking dough gluten development by stretching a small portion until translucent. To do this, you would take a small portion of the dough and spread it out. You would then hold it up to the light and see if you can see the light through it. If you can, the gluten has been developed enough and it passes the windowpane test.
Wild Yeast
Naturally occurring yeast in the environment captured in a sourdough starter. The opposite of wild yeast would be the commercial yeast that you can buy in the baking section of your local grocery store.
Whole Wheat Flour
Flour made from the entire wheat kernel, often used in sourdough baking. It adds a nutty flavor and some more nutrition to the sourdough bread.
Xanthan Gum
An additive sometimes used to improve the texture of gluten-free sourdough. Usually we wouldn't use xantham gum unless specifically using a gluten-free sourdough.
Yeast
Microorganisms that produce carbon dioxide gas during fermentation. In bread, yeast is used to make the bread rise and give a soft texture. When baking sourdough, the yeast is in the sourdough starter instead of added separately as you would in a non sourdough loaf of bread.
Young Levain
A sourdough starter that hasn't fully matured and reached peak fermentation activity.
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