Prepare this simple sourdough for a traditional, crusty loaf to complement most any meal. Slice an extra loaf and freeze in a sealed, plastic bag for use later.

TIME
About 4 hours

SERVING SIZE
1 large loaf or 2 small loaves

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup active sourdough starter
1 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 – 3 cups Bread Baker’s Delight flour

Directions

Combine starter, water and salt in a mixing bowl. Stir together with a wooden spoon. Add flour, 1 cup at a time until it all comes together. Cover with wrap and let rest for 1 hour in a warm place. Oil your hands well, stretch the dough and fold in thirds. Stretch and fold again. Cover and let rest in a warm place for an hour more. Repeat the stretching/resting process 3 times in total. After the last stretch, let the dough rest 1 more hour. Grease a cookie sheet. Shape dough into a round or oblong loaf. Cover and let rise in a warm spot for 2 hours. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes, until when you tap on the bottom of your loaf it sounds hollow. Cool on rack.

Fresh Flour Notes

A few more notes from the mill kitchen

Sourdough Rustic Loaf makes more sense when it is connected to the flour behind it. Many of the mill's older recipe posts were written as compact kitchen notes, but stone-ground breads, biscuits, tortillas, and wheat bakes usually need a little more explanation about hydration, tenderness, and flavor carry-through.

Fresh-milled flour behaves differently

Stone-ground flour tends to absorb water more gradually and keep more of the grain flavor intact. That can make doughs feel thirstier, starters more active, and finished loaves or biscuits noticeably more aromatic than the same formula made with standardized grocery flour.

The payoff is flavor and character, but it also helps to give the flour time. Short rest periods, softer handling, and a willingness to adjust with a small splash of liquid usually matter more than forcing the dough to match the first mix.

Tie the bake back to the grain

Readers who land on articles like this are often still deciding between whole wheat, sifted flour, or even the wheat berries themselves. That is why the related links matter. They turn a short article into a clearer path for comparison instead of leaving the reader stuck at a single recipe card.

For Homestead Gristmill, that connection is part of the value proposition. The mill sells ingredients with real identity, so the education around them should help a customer understand why one flour belongs in a sandwich loaf while another is better for biscuits or pastry.

Related paths

Use the article, then keep going

Whole Wheat Flour Guide Classic Whole Wheat Sourdough Wheat Berries for Sale

Sourdough

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See the whole wheat guide and matching products when you are ready to bake with fresh-milled flour.

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