High-Quality Bread Flour (Bread Flour)

For optimal sourdough baking, you should look for a bread flour with a protein content ideally between 12% and 14%. This high protein level is crucial because it provides the necessary gluten scaffolding to trap the gases produced by wild yeast during the long fermentation process.

High-quality bread flour creates a robust, elastic gluten network that acts like a balloon to hold onto the carbon dioxide generated by your sourdough starter. This strong internal structure is exactly what allows the dough to expand rapidly in the hot oven, resulting in maximum oven spring and an airy crumb.

While you can use All-Purpose flour to feed your starter, it has a lower protein content than bread flour, which will result in a softer, weaker dough. To achieve the massive oven spring and structural integrity desired in artisan loaves, it is highly recommended to use high-quality bread flour for the final dough mix.

Yes, because of its high protein content, quality bread flour naturally absorbs more water (hydration) than standard All-Purpose flour. This is why sourdough recipes often require you to increase the liquid in your recipe, allowing the flour to fully hydrate and develop the strong, extensible gluten network needed for artisan baking.