Dough Dough Guides
Hi, I'm Richard — the baker behind Dough Dough at Home. I bake fresh sourdough every single day for the guests at the Airbnb we run, which means these recipes aren't theory: they're the ones I make on repeat, in a real kitchen, week in and week out. I'm self-taught, and after years of daily baking I've learned that a few simple habits make all the difference. Here's exactly how I work — the kit I use, the temperatures I hit, and the tips that took me far too long to figure out.
Tested in my kitchen, 50+ times
Before any recipe goes on this site, I've baked it dozens of times and tweaked it until it's reliable enough to hand to someone making their very first loaf. My kitchen sits at around 22–23°C; I mix to a target dough temperature, bulk ferment on the side, cold-proof overnight in the fridge, and bake in a cast-iron Dutch oven. The times in my recipes assume a similar setup — but the golden rule is always the same: watch your dough, not the clock, and adjust to your own kitchen.
Mix to temperature, not by feel
If I could give a new baker just one tip, it's this: dough temperature is the single biggest lever on how fast your dough ferments. Guessing is why the same recipe behaves differently from one day to the next. I check mine with a probe thermometer.
- Mix to a dough temperature of ~25°C (77°F). Warm or cool your water to hit it. A quick way to estimate: water temp ≈ (2 × target) − flour temp.
- Bulk ferment at 24–26°C. In a cooler kitchen like mine (22–23°C) it runs a touch slower — go by rise and bubbles, not minutes.
- Bake until the internal temperature reaches ~98°C (208°F). That takes "is it done?" out of the equation — colour can fool you, temperature doesn't.
What I use (and easy swaps if you don't have it)
Here's my actual kit. None of it is essential — sourdough has been made for thousands of years without any of it — so for everything I use, here's what works just as well.
| What I use | Why | If you don't have it |
|---|---|---|
| Rangemaster range cooker | Big, even, holds heat well | Any home oven works — preheat it fully and use a cheap oven thermometer, as most home ovens run 10–20°C off. |
| Combustion Inc thermometer | Hit exact dough & bake temps | Any instant-read/probe thermometer. No thermometer? Mix with lukewarm water and tap the base of the loaf — a hollow sound means it's baked. |
| Cast-iron Dutch oven | Traps steam for big oven spring & crust | Any heavy lidded pot (enamelled cast iron, etc.), or a baking stone/tray with a metal bowl over the loaf for the first 20 minutes to trap steam. |
| Fan-assisted proofing fridge | Overnight cold-proof for 10+ loaves | A normal fridge does exactly the same job for 1–2 loaves — cold-proof overnight (8–16 hrs). It also makes the dough easier to score. |
| Commercial Buffalo mixer | Mixing big batches | A stand mixer with a dough hook, or just your hands — sourdough doesn't need a mixer. A few sets of stretch-and-folds build all the strength you need. |
My hard-won tips
Every one of these I learned the slow way. Adopt them and you'll skip a lot of the frustration.
- Mix to temperature, not by feel. Hitting ~25°C dough is what makes timings repeatable — guessing is why the same recipe behaves differently day to day.
- In a cooler kitchen, trust the dough, not the timer. Look for ~50% rise, a domed top and bubbles at the edges before you shape.
- Cold-proof overnight in the fridge. Better flavour, and cold dough scores cleanly instead of dragging.
- Preheat the Dutch oven empty until it's screaming hot. That first blast of heat is what gives you oven spring — a cold pot gives a flat loaf.
- Lid on, then lid off. Bake covered first to trap steam for the rise, then uncover to colour and crisp the crust.
- Bake to ~98°C internal. Colour can fool you; temperature doesn't.
- Let it cool fully — at least an hour. Slicing hot gives a gummy crumb; the loaf is still cooking inside as it cools.
- Wholemeal wakes things up. A little wholemeal in your starter or levain ferments faster and adds flavour — handy in a cooler kitchen.
- Read the loaf. Dense with a burst side seam = underproofed; flat and spreading with no spring = overproofed. The poke test (springs back slowly = ready) saves a lot of guesswork.
- Score with confidence, one decisive cut. A timid score tears; a clean, angled slash lets the loaf open where you want it.
Everything here works best with a lively culture. Ours is live, organic and ready to bake in 2 hours — no 7-day wait.
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