Sourdough Bread Lab · Decision tree
Find your sourdough bread
Two questions sort all 152 recipes into 4 groups. Each question is about one of the ingredients recipes disagree on most, and splits the recipes in front of it at their own median, so each answer keeps about half of them. Every group ends with its median recipe in grams and the real recipes nearest it.
The questions
Question 1
More starter than most, or less?
Active starter by flour weight. More starter rises faster and tastes milder; less starter needs a longer, sourer ferment. Its own flour and water are not counted in the other numbers.
All 152 recipes: median 25% of the flour weight, 125 g per 500 g of flour; middle half 19% to 30%.
Question 2
More water than most, or less?
Water added to the dough, the main hydration lever: higher water gives the open, irregular crumb and is harder to shape.
All 152 recipes: median 68% of the flour weight, 340 g per 500 g of flour; middle half 60% to 75%.
Asked within each answer to question 1, split at the median of the recipes that gave it.
The key
Read left to right: pick an answer to question 1, then one of the answers beside it for question 2, and so on to a group. Each cell gives the answer, its bound in grams per 100 g of flour, and how many recipes give it.
The 4 groups
Each median recipe is the median of every ingredient over the group's recipes, scaled to 500 g of flour, beside the typical loaf of all 152. Bold rows are the ingredients the questions asked about.
Group A · 40 recipes · 26% of all
More starter and more water
Starter 25% or more and water 65% or more of the flour weight.
| At 500 g flour | Group A | All |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 500 g | 500 g |
| Starter | 150 g | 125 g |
| Water | 360 gabout 1 1/2 cups | 340 g |
| Salt | 10 g | 10 g |
| Fat | none | none |
| Sweetener | none | none |
Bake475°F (245°C) for about 31 minutes, the medians of the 33 recipes here that state a temperature and the 34 that state a time.
Nearest the middle of group A
Closest to the group's median on every ingredient at once.
- Pane rustico con lievito madre. La ricetta tradizionale del pane fatto in casa! · ricettedalmondo.itstarter 29% · water 72%
- Jalapeno Cheddar Sourdough Bread Recipe · anediblemosaic.comstarter 33% · water 73%
- Tartine Olive Sourdough Bread · theperfectloaf.comstarter 25% · water 73%
- High Hydration Sourdough Bread · theperfectloaf.comstarter 25% · water 75%
- Country Sourdough Bread with Walnuts & Raisins · theclevercarrot.comstarter 30% · water 70%
Group B · 38 recipes · 25% of all
More starter and less water
Starter 25% or more and water under 65% of the flour weight.
| At 500 g flour | Group B | All |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 500 g | 500 g |
| Starter | 155 g | 125 g |
| Water | 295 gabout 1 1/4 cups | 340 g |
| Salt | 10 g | 10 g |
| Fat | none | none |
| Sweetener | none | none |
Bake450°F (230°C) for about 30 minutes, the medians of the 29 recipes here that state a temperature and the 30 that state a time.
Nearest the middle of group B
Closest to the group's median on every ingredient at once.
- Brot mit sauerteig · ichkoche.atstarter 31% · water 59%
- Hybride brood met desem en gist · rutgerbakt.nlstarter 31% · water 59%
- Pain au levain, fromage et noix · ptitchef.comstarter 30% · water 60%
- Einfaches Sauerteigbrot · baketotheroots.destarter 30% · water 64%
- Pan de masa madre · velocidadcuchara.comstarter 30% · water 64%
Group C · 35 recipes · 23% of all
Less starter and more water
Starter under 25% and water over 70% of the flour weight.
| At 500 g flour | Group C | All |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 500 g | 500 g |
| Starter | 95 g | 125 g |
| Water | 380 gabout 1 1/2 cups | 340 g |
| Salt | 9 g | 10 g |
| Fat | none | none |
| Sweetener | none | none |
Bake450°F (230°C) for about 30 minutes, the medians of the 32 recipes here that state a temperature and the 33 that state a time.
Nearest the middle of group C
Closest to the group's median on every ingredient at once.
- Sea Wolf Inspired Small Batch White Sourdough Loaf · iamafoodblog.comstarter 20% · water 75%
- Sprouted Wheat Sourdough Bread · breadtopia.comstarter 17% · water 74%
- Large Rye Sourdough Bread · breadtopia.comstarter 19% · water 76%
- Simple Weekday Sourdough Bread · theperfectloaf.comstarter 18% · water 76%
- Basisrecept zuurdesembrood · laurasbakery.nlstarter 23% · water 76%
Group D · 39 recipes · 25% of all
Less starter and less water
Starter under 25% and water 70% or less of the flour weight.
| At 500 g flour | Group D | All |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 500 g | 500 g |
| Starter | 95 g | 125 g |
| Water | 330 gabout 1 1/3 cups | 340 g |
| Salt | 10 g | 10 g |
| Fat | none | none |
| Sweetener | none | none |
Bake450°F (230°C) for about 25 minutes, the medians of the 34 recipes here that state a temperature and the 39 that state a time.
Nearest the middle of group D
Closest to the group's median on every ingredient at once.
- Zuurdesembrood maken · leukerecepten.nlstarter 19% · water 66%
- Beginners Sourdough Bread · farmhouseonboone.comstarter 21% · water 68%
- AI-Generated Sourdough Bread Recipe · theperfectloaf.comstarter 20% · water 70%
- Bettie's Basic Sourdough Bread · bakerbettie.comstarter 20% · water 70%
- Le pain au levain, aux myrtilles et au citron · chefsimon.comstarter 20% · water 70%
How the questions are chosen
Each ingredient is ranked by how much recipes disagree on it: the width of the middle half of recipes (25th to 75th percentile) divided by the median, less 4% for each place it sits down this lab's list of ingredients, so the ones that define the dish win near ties. For sourdough bread the order is starter (0.45) and water (0.22), and the first 2 are asked. Salt is never asked about: recipes differ on it mostly by brand and taste. Fat and sweetener are left out because most recipes use none.
Every split is at the median of the recipes in front of it, rounded to the percentage shown. Recipes exactly at the median go to whichever side leaves the two halves more even. No answer may keep fewer than 5 recipes; a group that could not be split further says so.
The recipes listed under each group are the 5 nearest its median on every ingredient at once, each scaled by how much recipes vary on it. Every recipe page links to the original for the method.