Sourdough Terms to Know

There are SO MANY sourdough terms out there, and while you most certainly don't need to know and memorize every single one, there are a handful of terms I recommend knowing.

Don't worry, even expert sourdough bakers don't know what all the terms mean!

Here are the ten sourdough terms I think you will benefit from (not to worry...I leave out the complicated ones):

🥖 SOURDOUGH STARTER: a mixture of water and flour, rich in bacteria and naturally occurring yeast from the environment. This is the culture you will keep alive by continuing to feed it flour + water.

if you have been attempting to make your own sourdough starter and are having a hard time, my starter "Ro" is thriving and she is for sell off of my website for only $10! You can purchase "RO" here.

🥖 ACTIVE STARTER: this is starter that’s been fed recently (within 12 hours).

🥖 INACTIVE STARTER: often called “discard” (a term I tend to avoid), this is a starter that’s hungry and hasn’t been fed for 12+ hours.

🥖 BREAD LAME: pronounced “lahm,” a bread lame is a tool that bakers use to score the dough. It’s essentially a razor blade attached to a long handle.

🥖 BULK RISE: this is the first fermenting period (and rest) of your dough.

🥖 SCORE: this is where you slice the top of your loaf of bread before baking it. It will increase the rise of the bread and allows the steam a spot to escape during baking.

🥖 STRETCH & FOLD: this takes place of kneading. It adds air to the dough without having to knead it.

🥖 PROOF: the dough final rise before you bake it. Usually taking place in a banneton or proofing basket.

🥖 HOOCH: the grayish liquid that forms on top of your sourdough starter when it’s hungry. If you see “hooch” feed your starter!

Ready to bake sourdough bread? Click here for my Sourdough Course & here for my Favorite Sourdough Bread Recipes + Basic Principles eBook.

*This post contains affiliate links. Thanks for the support friends!

Happy Monday + Happy Baking Friends.