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Basic Sourdough Recipes don't come any more basic than this. You hardly need scales, except to weigh the dough. This recipe is the one you use when you need to convert your sourdough starter to old dough, or to just really refresh it and give your starter a good workover.
Have a look at healing your starter for details of how to remove the messy stuff around your starter.
You'll get a great loaf of bread and a more lively starter as a result of using this recipe. I'll tell you straight up, this one is a bit different, because it doesn't rely on measurements - you need to make judgements by eye, rather than by weight. In that sense, it's exactly like what a genuine village baker might use to deal with their day's varied workload. I hope you make sense of it. and good luck!
All you need is:
- something to hold a litre and a half of water,
- a large bowl or plastic container,
- kitchen scales of any variety,
- something to scoop flour with,
- a dough cutter, or blunt sturdy knife,
- a couple of flat baking trays,
- a 15 or 20 ml measuring spoon. If you don't have one of these, a tablespoon will do,
- some cooking salt
- you also need a bag of white flour - a couple of kilos at least, though you may not use it all.
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Some sourdough starter that might have gone a bit too long between feeds. If you don't know how to deal with this issue, have a look at the article on healing your starter - and once you've read this, you can use up some of that excess starter you might have to find a use for.
You can get your hands on all this stuff at the SourdoughBaker Shop Ingredients Supply section. It's all there - fresh flour, plastic ware and utensils, not to mention scales and SourdoughBaker's own 20 year old Sourdough starter.
If you don't see products, just Scroll Down (website technical glitch - sorry!)
Before you embark on this recipe, I'll warn you that there are no set measurements. You have to rely on your own judgement. This recipe tends to separate the bakers from the recipe followers. It is a bit ambitious, but then if I didn't challenge you, you'd get bored and go somewhere else. Having said this, I believe you are up to the challenge, or you wouldn't have read this far!
This technique is a bit closer to how a village baker might approach their night's work. It's based on feel, not measurement by weight. I'll say straight up that if you haven't made a few doughs by now, you won't be able to easily tell how your dough should feel. So back to the recipe section for you, and make sure you choose one with measurements first, so you can get a feel for dough. Then, when you're happy with that, come back here and try this one out!
Basic Sourdough (Old Dough) Recipe
To begin:
If you've recently had to heal your sourdough starter, you'll have a fair amount of it which will ripen soon, or is already ripe. You have two choices -
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Throw some out, or
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Use it!
If you're like me, you'll choose option 2, because you just can't bear to throw it away.
You can use it now, or strengthen it to last longer. If you would like to make your starter last longer between uses, have a look at the article 'Storing Starter'. Or, read on...
Method:
Pour some warmish water over your starter, enough to cover what starter you have. and push it down with your fingers to make holes in the starter. You'll need to use at least enough water to cover the starter.
Now add one scoop of flour at a time, mixing with one hand to combine all the ingredients. Keep adding flour until it starts to look like a dough. Now knead with both hands, adding more flour as required.
Unlike other recipes, as I mentioned before, this one relies on feel. As a rule of thumb, you are looking to make four times the amount of starter you began with. So if you had two fistfuls of starter, you'll be aiming for eight, by volume. But it can be less, especially if you have a lot of starter to begin with! At the very least, aim to double the starter volume. Be aware that leavening times will vary quite a bit, according to how much starter is in the dough, proportionally.
More starter equals shorter leavening times.
You should end up with a reasonably firm dough. Weigh the dough. If it's too big for your scales, cut it into chunks and add the weights together. Write the total weight of your dough down. Let your dough rest for an hour or so.
Now cut off a chunk and store it in a plastic, loose lidded container in the fridge. This chunk will be about 300 grams in size, or about a fistful - enough for your next two loaves - about the size of your fist. If you bake more each time, a bigger chunk will be necessary.
This chunk of dough is now your sourdough starter. You don't need more than this. Here's a fistful of sourdough starter reserved and ready to become an old dough sourdough starter.
Add the salt: 
You weighed your dough in the previous step. Measure 1% of the
dough weight in salt, and set it aside.
For example: If your dough weighed 2 kilos, then you need 20 grams (about a tablespoon) of salt.
Your bulk dough, the stuff left in the mixing bowl, is ready to have the salt added. Spray or wipe the dough with water, and sprinkle over the salt. Work it through the dough until you can't feel it as you knead.
Cut the dough into roughly one kilo chunks.
If there is some left over, divide evenly between the chunks.
Leave the rounded chunks of dough to rise in your dough box(es) or bowl(s) until they have gassed enough to no longer resist your finger poking. This might take a few hours or more.
Note: the amount of time this takes depends on the amount you have increased the original starter by.
When the chunks have softened and grown to roughly twice their original size, form them into cylinders by picking them up from underneath with both hands, like you were picking up an open book. Now simply squeeze them with the edges of your palms until they are cylindrical.
Place them back in the box or bowl, spray or wipe with water, and dust with semolina or rye flour. Slash diagonally, and place on your baking sheets. 
Allow to rise again, until they are very soft (and can't resist when you poke them). Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees celsius and bake for an hour or so. For more baking information, follow the link.
This bread will be a full flavoured sourdough bread. If you've handled it correctly, it'll have a nice loose texture and sensational flavour. In essence, this method is the basic starting point for the Old Dough Technique, and will serve you well.
Other recipes in this site include:
Basic Sourdough Recipe
White Spelt Sourdough Recipe
Wholemeal Spelt Sourdough Recipe
Wholemeal Sourdough (Old Dough) Recipe
White Sourdough (Old Dough) Recipe
Light Rye Sourdough (Old Dough) Recipe
Medium Rye Sourdough (Old Dough) Recipe
Continental Bread (Semi Leaven) Recipe
Light Wholemeal (Semi Leaven) Recipe
Light Rye (Semi Leaven) Recipe
For more Sourdough Breadmaking information, recipes and resources - read on!
If you would like to flesh out your knowledge about sourdough breadmaking at home, have a look at the Recommended Reading section. I have listed a number of my all time favourite breadmaking books there. Follow the links if you would like to purchase any of the books online. Remember, if you buy a book through this site, it will help me to continue building this free sourdough breadmaking resource.
Have a look at SourdoughBaker's Online Shop. A dedicated shop for the keen home baker.
Some of the things you'll find in the SourdoughBaker Shop include:
- Tools and Utensils for the home baker, including things that you might have to pay too much for locally
- Books and articles about Artisan breadmaking and pastrycookery, including specialist compliations
- Specials and Featured Products
- Breadmaking Kits, especially the Bakery in a Box, which contains everything you need to make bread by hand at home cleanly, flexibly and efficiently.
There are also a range of specialist Sourdough and Artisan Bread Books available through this site. Remember, every book you buy through SourdoughBaker helps me to build this free Home Sourdough Breadmaking resource bigger and better for you!
For the complete list of sourdough recipes you'll find in this site, follow any of the links below.
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