Sourdough Baking Tools You Actually Need

I jumped on the sourdough bread baking bandwagon during the shut down of 2020, so I have a few years of experience under my belt now. I often get requests to share more sourdough tips, tricks, and hacks, so I thought it was about time to create a list of the sourdough baking tools you actually need in your kitchen.

Y’all already know how much I love to bake, so bread was a natural fit for me. I mean, my most popular blog post I’ve ever written was my recipe for crack brownies.

If you haven’t tried these brownies yet, you need to ASAP.

Starter

Before we can even get started, let’s get something straight… You need to get yourself a happy, healthy sourdough starter.

You can make your own starter, but I was much too eager for that business, so I found a neighbor who already happy a super established starter that she was willing to share.

As a matter of fact, my starter is so established, it’s actually over 100 years old. 🤯

No one needs a multi-generational starter to make great sourdough, but the age always makes for a great tale.

I have since named my starter, Dolly Startin’ and she’s pretty fantastic if I do say so myself.

As for storage, I store my starter in a mason jar with a plastic lid. My favorite to use are the Ball nesting mason jars in the pint size, but they are currently sold out online.

Ingredients

When it comes to cooking, fabulous food starts with fabulous ingredients. I always look or the best quality ingredients so I feel good about what I’m feeding my family.

Your traditional loaf consists of four ingredients only: starter, flour, water, and salt.

Flour, for me, must be unbleached all purpose and preferably organic. Yes, it’s more expensive, but I have personally tested regular versus unbleached flour in my bread and the difference is truly noticeable.

King Arthur tends to be a fan favorite brand of flour for sourdough recipes.

If you plan to do a lot of baking, try your local Sam’s Club or Costco for better pricing on the larger bags of flour.

As for water, make sure it’s unfiltered and warm. Pretty simple.

Salt is a personal preference. We buy only sea salt and I look for iodized sea salt since I regularly have low iodine levels.

If you wish to make different recipes such as sandwich breads, donuts, bagels, etc. then you will need additional ingredients such as honey, extra virgin olive oil, and so on. Please note that a lot of these recipes are made by using sourdough discard.

Our absolute favorite discard recipe is sourdough pizza, which I can share in another blog post if y’all would like that.

Bread Pan

When baking sourdough bread, I use the same pan lined with parchment paper every time.

I invested in a Le Creuset signature enameled cast iron round dutch oven pan years ago and it’s my go-to sourdough pan. It’s also pretty to look at so it sits proudly displayed on my stovetop when not in use.

Bread Knife

It’s no secret that Matt and I both have injured ourselves using a standard bread knife.

After my stitches and Matt’s 911 call, I knew something had to change.

For Christmas, my mom bought me a bread bow and it was in my top two gifts this year.

Bread bow knives slice so precisely without shredding or crumbling your dough loaf. My bread bow is super sharp, so you need to be very careful using it.

Make sure to always keep the safety cover on the blade to prevent any unnecessary cuts or scrapes.

Cutting Board

My other favorite Christmas gift this year was my big daddy cutting board Matt bought me. This cutting board is substantial enough to be a regular fixture in my kitchen and pretty enough to want to keep it there.

Matt ordered my John Boos large cutting board from Amazon. It’s super thick and durable. The surface isn’t slippery at all, allowing for a better bread slicing experience. It’s on the pricier side for sure, but the quality and thickness make it well worth it’s price tag.

In Ohio, I have the walnut cutting board from Our Place and love it equally as much as my Boos board, except it’s much smaller.

Bench Scraper

Every sourdough recipe you read will reference a dough scraper.

Do I have one? Yes.

Do I use it every time I bake? No.

Call me crazy, but I don’t find a bench scraper to be a necessity. It gets the job done and totally fine, I just don’t personally feel like it’s needed in order for me to make a great loaf of bread.

To each their own I guess.

Bread Lame

I do feel that a bread lame is necessary to properly score your dough.

If you want a gorgeous slice to bake into a golden crust, or wish to bake designs into your bread, then a great quality bread lame is definitely needed.

Banneton Bowl or Proofing Basket

Whatever you want to call them, a bowl or basket to proof your bread in is something you’ll want to have on hand.

You can purchase a set like this on Amazon that includes your Banneton proofing basket, bread lame, dough scraper, and linen basket cover all in one set for under $20. I actually bought this same set to keep on hand in Ohio.

In Tennessee, I have a set from Ballerina Farms, which Matt bought me as a gift, but the Amazon set is way cheaper and does the exact same thing.

In conclusion…

If you are looking to become a bread baker, there are only a few products that you really need in order to get started. Before you shop any high end retailers, invest minimally with items from places like Amazon to see if this will become a longterm hobby for you.

Leave a comment below with any sourdough recipes you would like me to share.