Sourdough bread: what it is, how it is made and how to buy it

Sourdough bread is a loaf raised with a live starter, a fermented mix of flour and water, instead of packet baker’s yeast. The slow fermentation gives sourdough bread its tangy flavour, chewy crumb and thick, blistered crust. A true sourdough loaf needs only flour, water and salt, and it takes many hours from mixing to oven.

What is sourdough bread?

Sourdough bread is bread leavened by a sourdough starter, a culture of wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria living in flour and water. The yeast makes the dough rise and the bacteria add the gentle sour note that gives the bread its name.

Sourdough is one of the oldest ways of making bread, and the method is used in many countries. The word describes the method, not the flour. A sourdough loaf can be made from white wheat, wholemeal, spelt, rye or a blend, and it can carry seeds, cheese or other additions.

How is sourdough bread made?

Sourdough bread is made by mixing flour, water, salt and starter, letting the dough ferment for many hours, shaping it, proving it and baking it in a very hot oven. The long wait is the defining feature.

1. Feed the starter a few hours before mixing so it is active and bubbly.
2. Mix flour, water, salt and starter into a shaggy dough and rest it.
3. Stretch and fold the dough several times over a few hours, or knead briefly.
4. Leave the dough to ferment until it has grown and feels airy.
5. Shape it into a round or oval and place it in a floured basket.
6. Prove it, often overnight in a cool place, until it springs back slowly when pressed.
7. Score the top with a blade and bake at a high temperature, around 230 to 250°C, ideally with steam in the first minutes.

Craft bakeries often run this over two days so that the dough ferments slowly and the flavour develops. Home bakers usually follow the same pattern with smaller batches.

What does sourdough bread taste like?

Sourdough bread tastes mildly tangy, with a savoury depth, a chewy crumb and a crust that crackles when cut. The sourness ranges from barely there to quite sharp, depending on the starter, the flour and how long the dough fermented.

Longer, cooler fermentation tends to give a rounder, more acidic flavour. A shorter, warmer one gives a milder loaf. Wholemeal and rye flours add a nuttier, earthier taste, while a white loaf tastes cleaner and lighter.

Sourdough vs yeasted bread: what is the difference?

Sourdough is raised by a wild starter over many hours, while yeasted bread is raised by commercial baker’s yeast, often in an hour or two. The difference shows in flavour, texture and shelf life.

Neither is wrong. Yeasted loaves suit soft sandwich bread and rolls, while sourdough suits toast, soup and anything where the bread is the star.

How can you tell real sourdough from a fake?

Real sourdough lists flour, water, salt and sometimes seeds or other flavours, with no baker’s yeast and no added acid. A loaf labelled sourdough but made with yeast and flavouring is a shortcut, sometimes called sourdough style.

Signs worth checking:

• The ingredient list is short and has no yeast, vinegar or improvers.
• The crumb has irregular holes, not tiny uniform ones.
• The crust is thick and darkly coloured, not pale and soft.
• The bakery can tell you how long the dough ferments.

Not every craft bakery lists ingredients on the shelf, so asking at the counter is a fair thing to do.

What should you look for when buying sourdough?

When buying a sourdough loaf, look for a well-browned crust, good weight for its size and a fresh, slightly sour smell. A loaf that feels heavy and has a deep colour has usually had a full bake.

Pick the flour to match the use. White or mixed-flour loaves suit sandwiches, wholemeal and spelt suit toast and soup, and flavoured loaves with cheese or seeds work well on their own with butter. Ask when the loaf was baked, because sourdough is best on the day and the day after.

What is a sourdough starter and why does it matter?

A sourdough starter is a jar of flour and water that has been left to ferment until it is full of wild yeast and bacteria, and it is the engine of every sourdough loaf. Without a starter, the bread is not sourdough.

The baker feeds the starter regularly with fresh flour and water, which keeps the culture active. A healthy starter doubles in size, smells pleasantly tangy and is full of bubbles. Many bakeries keep the same starter going for years, and each one develops a slightly different character depending on its flour, temperature and feeding routine.

What do you eat with sourdough bread?

Sourdough bread suits butter, soft cheese, jam, eggs, soup and roasted vegetables, because its tang balances both rich and sweet toppings. It also makes sturdy toast that holds up to heavy fillings.

Common uses include:

• Toast with butter or a thick spread
• Open sandwiches and toasties, where the crust stays crisp
• Dipping in soup, stew or olive oil
• Cubes baked into croutons for salads
• Breadcrumbs for coating or topping bakes

How do you store and use sourdough bread?

Store sourdough cut side down on a board or in a paper bag at room temperature for two to three days, and freeze slices for longer storage. Avoid the fridge, which dries bread faster.

Stale sourdough is far from wasted. It makes excellent toast, croutons, breadcrumbs and panzanella, and it can be refreshed by running the whole loaf briefly under a tap and baking it for ten minutes in a hot oven.

What sourdough loaves does Gorse Bakery list?

Gorse Bakery, an independent sourdough bakery and cafe near Newquay in Cornwall, is named in press and directory coverage for four sourdough loaves: spelt sourdough, Cornish cheddar sourdough, Marmite sourdough and pickled green chilli sourdough. It also lists a baguette and a sourdough pide flatbread.

The bakery began in 2021 supplying sourdough wholesale to cafes and restaurants across Cornwall before opening a counter and cafe for the public. No prices are published and the range changes, so treat this as a snapshot from November 2026. The Gorse Bakery menu page collects the items found in that coverage, and the hours and location page explains where the bakery is and why its listed opening hours differ between sources.

This guide is independent and is not the bakery’s own website, and it takes no orders.

Common questions

For the address, opening hours and menu, see Gorse Bakery in Newquay.

This article is general information from an independent guide, not from Gorse Bakery itself. For the store’s current details see hours and location.