My Sourdough Adventure: Baking, Sharing, and Loving the Process

Over the past few weeks, I’ve fallen head over heels into the world of sourdough bread baking. It started from taking a fun girls day out sourdough workshop, but it’s turned into a full-blown hobby—one that’s both therapeutic and rewarding. I documented my journey baking a holiday loaf to share with family in Washington and I can’t wait to take you along my new hobby.

Thursday: Feeding the Starter

The heart of any sourdough bread is the starter and I like to feed the starter the night before I make the dough around 9pm.

  • Ingredients: 50g sourdough starter, 50g water, 50g bread flour.

  • After mixing, I added a rubber band to mark the starting level and left it to double in size, which typically takes about 8 hours.

You could usually find starters from local sourdough community pages. I got mine from the sourdough workshop. I’ve been enjoying the process of maintaining my starter, watching it bubble to life. It’s fascinating how such a simple mixture can be so dynamic. If you are local to me, I could share mine with you too so let me know!

Friday: Dough Day

I start early—6 a.m. to be exact—I will also have a time stamp schedule written for you below.

Ingredients:

  • 100g active starter

  • 350g warm water (just 30 seconds in the microwave)

  • 500g bread flour

  • 10g salt (a must—trust me, I forgot once, and the bread suffered).

I mixed everything, let it rest for an hour, and began the process of stretching and folding the dough at regular intervals: 7:00 a.m., 7:30 a.m., 8:00 a.m., and 8:30 a.m. It’s repetitive but oddly calming.

At around noon, I prepared my add-ins for one of the loaves: jalapeño and cheddar—always a crowd-pleaser. Shaping the dough was next, employing what I like to call the “burrito fold” for structure. Do the burrito fold twice altogether with 30 minutes in between, I like to do it at 12:30 and 1:00 pm. Then, the dough goes into the fridge to cold-proof for at least 8 hours.

Friday Night: Baking Time

By evening, I couldn’t wait any longer. I preheated my Dutch oven at 450°F for 30 minutes by itself and pulled out my dough to score during this time.

  • I attempted some festive designs—Christmas trees, to be exact—but I’m still learning. The scoring step adds a decorative touch and helps the bread expand in the oven.

  • Into the hot Dutch oven it went, covered with lid for 30 minutes, then uncovered lid for another 15. The house smelled divine.

After cooling on a rack for 2 hours (the hardest part!), the bread is ready to shine but I wait til the next morning to cut into.

Saturday: Sharing the Love

At 6 a.m., I sliced into one loaf to enjoy with coffee—heavenly. The rest, carefully packed, came with me on my flight to Seattle, it made it through TSA.

Traveling with bread might sound silly, but there’s something special about sharing a loaf you’ve poured so much time into. My Washington family loved it, and it felt wonderful to connect through something homemade. Watch my full video of the process below!

Reflections

Baking sourdough has become more than a hobby for me—it’s a creative outlet, a science experiment, and a delicious reward all in one. I love the balance of structure and spontaneity it brings, from carefully measured ingredients to the fun of experimenting with add-ins.

I’m far from a pro (still working on scoring cute designs), but that’s part of the journey. Each loaf is a step closer to mastering this art, and I couldn’t be happier to share it with the people I love.

Until the next bake—happy sourdough adventures! 🥖

-Sara Kim

Sourdough Bread Baking Schedule with Timestamps

Thursday: Feeding the Starter

  • 9:00pm: Feed sourdough starter.

Friday: Dough Preparation and Baking

  • 6:00 a.m.: Make the dough.

  • 7:00 a.m.: First stretch and fold.

  • 7:30 a.m.: Second stretch and fold.

  • 8:00 a.m.: Third stretch and fold.

  • 8:30 a.m.: Fourth stretch and fold and leave dough out.

  • 12:30 p.m.: Add-ins (jalapeño + cheddar) and shape the dough with the burrito method.

  • 1:00 p.m.: Shape the dough again with the burrito method and place in fridge.

  • 8:00 p.m.: Preheat Dutch oven at 450°F for 30 minutes.

  • 8:30 p.m.: Remove dough from fridge and score it and place in preheated dutch oven.

  • 9:00 p.m.: Bake for 30 minutes with the lid on.

  • 9:30 p.m.: Bake for 15 minutes uncovered.

  • 9:45 p.m.: Take the bread out and let it cool for at least 2 hours.

Saturday: Sharing the Bread

  • 6:00 a.m.: I like to slice into it the next morning and enjoy the bread for breakfast.

Sara Kimrecipes, food, bakingComment