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So you want to make sourdough but feel a little overwhelmed by all the sourdough equipment people say you need. Let me offer some advice–skip the gear. Once you start making sourdough and get a few loaves under your belt, you might find that there are a few things you need or want. But I would focus on gaining experience–because that’s what you really need. My guess is you have the essentials around the house. Once you get started, you might find a few tools useful. And if you really want to commit pantry space and your discretionary income to sourdough tools, I’ve also listed some deluxe tools and linked to my sourdough equipment list on Amazon.
Essentials Sourdough Equipment and Ingredients
Flour-We use Einkorn flour for most of our baking (I agree: so pretentious). But it tends to make very dense bread. Bread flour makes better bread because it has less protein and leads to better gluten development (it is also way less expensive). As always, learning as you go is the real key. I recommend making your first loaf with bread flour and/or all-purpose flour, then interchange whole grains a little at a time until you get it just right. Any flour you use should be unbleached. That’s just a general recommendation for your whole life. If you haven’t switched over to unbleached flour, consider doing it this year. I use King Arthur Bread Flour.
Water-We have a filter on our sink so our water is filtered. I’ve heard some people use tap water. Depending on your water quality, you might find that problematic.
Salt-People have strong beliefs on this. I don’t. I have not personally noticed a difference in bread based on the type of salt I use.
Bowl: A medium-sized mixing bowl works great. I use the kind with a spout because they are usually more narrow at the bottom so it’s clearer to me when it’s doubled in size. But any medium size bowl will work.
Dutch oven: Bread cooks best at high heat. The moisture produced helps it stay soft in the middle. A Dutch oven with a lid on it effectively produces the steam you need while baking. There are workarounds, but they feel like drama to me. So I just use my Dutch oven. If you don’t have one, well, I recommend you get one–not just for bread, but for life. It’s a wonderful piece of equipment for your kitchen. In the meantime, here is what you can use instead of a Dutch oven: two loaf pans (invert one on top of another–put bread in the one on the bottom), two baking sheets (use one for bread and put water in the other so it creates a steamy oven), a ceramic casserole dish with a cover.
A wet dish towel: There’s no magic formula here. Submerge a nice clean towel in water and ring it out well. Use it to cover the bread while it rises.
A stirrer: People tell me you should never use metal. I have and saw no difference. But I usually use a tiny silicon spatula. It’s dishwasher safe (read: low-drama) and meets the non-metal suggestion.
Deluxe Sourdough Equipment
Fancy Dough Whisk: My friend Kristie bought me a fancy dough whisk like this for Christmas and it was a game changer. I love it so much and it mixes the bread fast. If you get into sourdough, I ten for ten recommend this.
Scale: I was dead set against buying a scale. I’m a real deal minimalist and I just don’t like gadgets or clutter in the kitchen. But my bread kept coming out super dense and my friend Jessica thought that might be why. One night I watched my friend Kristie zero out her scale with her mixing bowl on it. She then proceeded to add all of her ingredients without any measuring tools, she just added it directly to the bowl until the bowl had the right number of grams. I was impressed and it touched my minimalist heart. I haven’t regretted the choice to incorporate this.
Proofing Basket (aka Banneton Basket): This is one of those things that I was initially told I had to have, but I don’t use it very often. I know some people believe use it for every loaf. I actually like to proof in the same bowl I mix the bread because–you guessed it–less cleanup means less drama.
Artisan Sourdough Made Simple by Emilia Raffia: I’m a big Pinterest girl and find it relaxing to scroll through recipes at night. But I learn to cook with hardcover cookbooks. This is a great book with some wonderful recipes that I think everyone should work through cover to cover if they decide they want to master sourdough.
Einkorn: Recipes for Nature’s Original Wheat: A Cookbook: When I first started using Einkorn flour, I found this cookbook very helpful in learning to calibrate how I interchanged Einkorn flour with regular flour in other recipes. Now I generally use one-to-one substitution and hope for the best, but I gleaned a lot from this book when I started using ancient grains.
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