Same Day Sourdough Bread (2024)

Many people ask me if they can bake sourdough in one day, so a same day sourdough bread recipe that still gives you great oven spring and sourdough flavor?

The short answer is yes, you can make a same day sourdough bread recipe. It just takes a little forward planning before you start the whole process.

The stipulation here is same day sourdough bread recipe with no commercial yeast - so it's a one day sourdough bread.

Of course there's nothing wrong with using yeast, I love this easy sourdough discard loaf, but many people want the benefits of sourdough, just in a one day process.

You can’t wake up on Sunday morning with a starter sitting in the fridge and bake a loaf of sourdough for dinner that night (unless of course you added some commercial yeast to your dough).

With some forward planning and a mature sourdough starter you can definitely mix, ferment, proof and bake a sourdough loaf of bread all in one day.This same day sourdough recipe is suitable for a beginner baker but you will need a mature starter (and there's no shame in buying one).

If you are looking for a same say sourdough bread with yeast added, you will enjoy this slow cooker sourdough discard loaf, this sourdough pane di casa or perhaps this sourdough sandwich discard loaf is more your style.

The Key To Same Day Sourdough Bread

The key to being able to make sourdough bread in a single day process is having a fed and active sourdough starter.

To do this, you will need to feed your sourdough starter the night before so that you have a bubbly sourdough starter when you wake up. It’s also best to plan to start your day early so that you do give yourself enough time for fermentation to occur.You don't want to be starting this process in the late afternoon (unless of course you're feeding your sourdough starter).

Ideally, feed your sourdough starter in the late afternoon or evening (before bed is perfect). I like to feed my starter as follows for this recipe: 25g starter: 100g flour: 100g water (so 1:4:4).

This ratio gives me plenty of active starter for the recipe plus ensures that my starter is at it's peak when I get up because it's been given a really big feed.

There's no need to do the float test on your starter - you'll be able to see that it's risen the next morning and that's all you need for a mature starter!

Temperature Plays A Huge Role

You can’t bulk ferment sourdough quickly without increasing your temperature. Cold weather is not your friend when attempting a same day bake, because your room temperature will be too low to boost fermentation and get those natural yeasts working in a timely manner!

There are of course ways you can manipulate the temperature to speed up bulk fermentation:

• Mix the dough using warm water to motivate your wild yeast and give fermentation a head start.
  
• Use a proofing box where you can set the temperature.
  
• Use your oven or microwave as a proofing box.

Along with temperature, the amount of starter you use needs to increase too. Now increasing the amount of starter you use will also decrease the sour flavours in your loaf.

This is something to consider if you do love that really strong sour tang (and I highly recommend this recipe if you do!).

Does Same Day Sourdough Bread Still Taste Good?

Yes sourdough bread made with a single day process will still taste good! It still contains wild yeast and lacto acid bacteria. It won't however have that strong sourdough depth of flavor because it has not had a long cold ferment. It won't have the complexity of sourness that you might otherwise expect from this type of bread.

Same day sourdough bread is still delicious and better for you than yeasted bread, however it won't have as low gluten levels or as low glycemic index as longer fermented sourdough bread. Not bad, just different!

How To Make Same Day Sourdough Bread (step by step guide)

Making sourdough bread in a same day bake process is fairly easy. It is basically the same process as you would undertake to make sourdough bread over a few days, except that you are adjusting the amount of starter and the temperature to better suit your needs.

This will result in a reduced bulk fermentation time. You can also choose to skip the cold fermentation or shorten it to suit your own timeline. This recipe works best with white bread flour rather than all purpose flour or whole wheat flour.

You might enjoy this article on the differences between cold ferment and bulk ferment.

Autolyse

Weigh out your sourdough starter and water into a large mixing bowl and mix together briefly.

Now add your flour and salt and mix whole lot together to form a dry dough.

Cover your bowl with cling film or an elastic food cover and let it sit for around 30 minutes to an hour.

Forming Up The Dough

Bring the dough together into a ball. Pull the edges of the dough into the centre until it's smoother and more formed.

Once the dough has formed into a smooth ball, pop the cling film back on and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Stretch and Fold

Over the next few hours you need to create some structure for your dough by "stretching and folding".

Aim to do around 4-6 sets of stretches and folds.

For each set, stretch the dough up and over itself 4 times. Leave around 15 minutes in between each set. Again you do not have to be exact with time, but you need to do at least 4 sets over 2 hours.

Remember to keep the dough warm while you're stretching and folding.

Bulk Fermentation

Once you've finished your stretch and folds, place the cling film or damp kitchen towel back over your dough and let it rest and ferment (a plastic cover is a better option for this stage).

Remember because you're trying to ferment your dough more quickly, you'll need to let it ferment in a warm place.

Shaping the Dough

Once your dough has finished its first ferment, it's time to shape it into either a boule or a batard.

You'll need to flour your work surface with rice flour for this (we use rice flour because it has no gluten). Try to be quite sparing with the rice flour, you only need a very light dusting.

Use a silicone dough scraper to gently ease the dough out of the bowl. You want it to land upside down on your counter so that the smooth top of the dough is on the countertop and the sticky underside is facing up. This will make it easier to shape.

You want to pull the edges of the dough into the centre and then flip it over so that the sticky side is now underneath. Using the stickiness, gently pull the dough into a tight ball and get plenty of surface tension.

You will need a banneton to put your dough into. If you do not have a banneton, then a bowl or basket lined with a floured tea towel is perfectly fine. Make sure your bowl isn't too big though, you want your dough to retain some shape.

Whatever you're using needs to be liberally floured with your rice flour. If you're using a banneton - liberally sprinkle it with rice flour. If you're using a cloth or tea towel, rub the flour into it to ensure it becomes non stick.

Proofing

Once the dough is shaped into a tight dough ball,place it into your banneton basket smooth side down, so your seam is on the top.

Lift your dough around the edges to pop a little more rice flour if you feel it needs it. Just try to handle the dough as little as possible and be really gentle as you really want to preserve all the gases and air bubbles that have formed during your bulk ferment.

Now the dough is in its "shaping container" cover it loosely with a plastic bag or damp tea towel and let it sit on the counter to proof. You'll need to let it sit for around an hour or two. Just be careful not to let it get too puffy or you'll lose your oven spring!

As a caveat, if you do have a few hours until you need to bake your sourdough then do pop it in the fridge for a short cold ferment. It does make it easier to score.

Preparing to Bake

Once you're ready to bake your sourdough, you'll need to preheat your oven to 230C/450F. While your oven is preheating, place your sourdough in the freezer.

Place your Dutch Oven into the oven when you turn it on so it gets hot. Try to preheat for around 1 hour to ensure your oven is super hot - but you know your oven so just adjust this time if you need to. If you would prefer to bake on a baking stone, you'll find my best tips for baking without a dutch oven here.

Bake Your Sourdough

Now it's time to bake!

When your oven is at temperature, gently tip your sourdough out of the banneton and onto a piece of parchment paper. If it hasn't been in the freezer, just handle it very gently as it may be very soft.

Make sure that you make the baking paper big enough to use the edges as a handle to lower to dough into your Dutch Oven.

Gently score your bread with a lame, clean razor blade or knife.At minimum a large cross is sufficient, but you can get as artistic as you like. You can find myfull guide on how to score sourdough bread here.

Carefully take your dutch oven out of the oven. Place the sourdough into the pot using the baking paper as a handle. Put the lid on and place into the hot oven.

If you want to you can spritz your dough with extra water before you put the lid on.

BAKE TIME:

30 Minutes with the lid on at 230C/450F plus

10-15 Minutes with the lid off at 210C/410F

Let Your Bread Cool

When you remove your golden brown same day sourdough from the oven, carefully remove it from the dutch oven as soon as possible and place on a cooling rack. Be sure to use a good serrated knife to slice it once it's cooled.

Bulk Fermentation Tips

Judging bulk fermentation can be tricky, even for the most seasoned of sourdough bakers, but you can use this little trick to help you.

Take a little piece of dough and form it into a ball. Pop it in to a small shot glass and mark where the dough is on the side with a sharpie. Once the dough inside the glass doubles, your bulk fermentation should be finished and you can move onto shaping it and placing into your banneton basket or other shaping container. This technique is called an "aliquot jar".

This is a better technique than using the poke test to judge whether bulk fermentation has finished, because the poke test is better suited to dough that has been shaped and proofing.

Timeline for Same Day Sourdough Bread Recipe

Night Before - before you go to bed, feed your sourdough starter.

7.30am - Mix ingredients (use a higher percentage as per recipe to ensure shorter fermentation). Make sure the dough is warm during bulk fermentation.

3.00pm - shape the dough and place into banneton and into fridge for a short cold fermentation. Alternatively you could start the process a little later but do a counter proof skipping the cold fermentation.

5.30pm - bake sourdough bread and allow to cool for a few hours (ideally 4 to 6) but if you need it sooner there are no hard and fast rules ... you can eat it with dinner!

Do I have to do cold fermentation?

Short answer is no you don’t have to do cold fermentation. The yeast go to sleep during cold fermentation so it’s only the bacteria that are still working away in the fridge.

With this being said, you can proof your sourdough on the counter, particularly if you want to bake it more quickly. Dough that has been counter proofed is much harder to score, so keeping the scoring simple is recommended.

You may end up with a more rustic looking sourdough if it has not had any fridge time, but looks aren't important for this quick artisan sourdough bread!

Frequently Asked Questions