Begginner's Sourdough Dictionary

When you first get into sourdough, it can feel like everyone else is speaking in code. Hooch? Levain? Bulk fermentation? Why does my bread sound like it needs therapy?

This little dictionary breaks down common sourdough terms in plain, human language—no lab coat required.

 

Starter

Your living culture of wild yeast and bacteria. Flour + water + time = a bubbly, slightly needy roommate you now have to care for forever.

If it’s active, it’ll rise, bubble, and smell pleasantly tangy. If it’s neglected, it’ll sulk. Loudly.

 

Hooch

The dark liquid that sometimes forms on top of your starter.

Hooch is made of alcohol and acids produced during fermentation. It’s your starter saying, “Hey. I ate everything. Please feed me.”

You can stir it back in for more sour flavor or pour it off for something milder. Either way, it’s normal—not a disaster.

 

Feeding

Giving your starter fresh flour and water.

Feedings keep the yeast happy, active, and ready to make bread. Think of it less as a chore and more as maintaining a very small, very opinionated pet.

 

Discard

The portion of starter you remove before feeding.

No, it doesn’t have to be thrown away (despite the name). Discard can be used in pancakes, crackers, waffles, muffins, and basically anything that wants a little tang.

 

Levain

A small, purpose-built starter made for one bake.

Instead of baking directly with your main starter, you build a levain to control timing and flavor. It’s like dressing your starter up for a special occasion.

 

Autolyse

A rest period where flour and water are mixed and left alone before adding salt and starter.

This helps gluten develop naturally. Translation: the dough does some of the work for you while you do literally anything else.

 

Bulk Fermentation

The long rise that happens after mixing.

This is where flavor develops and structure forms. The dough gets puffy, stretchy, and alive. It’s done when the dough tells you it’s done—not when the clock does.

 

Stretch and Fold

A gentle way to strengthen dough without kneading.

You stretch the dough up and fold it over itself. It’s less aggressive than kneading and feels more like tucking your dough into bed.

 

Proof

The final rise after shaping.

Under-proofed dough springs back too fast. Over-proofed dough collapses. Perfectly proofed dough feels like a soft marshmallow that remembers being poked.

 

Oven Spring

That dramatic rise in the oven during the first part of baking.

This is when your bread shows off. Good oven spring means good fermentation, good shaping, and maybe a little bit of luck.

 

Scoring

Cutting the surface of the dough before baking.

Scoring controls where the bread expands and gives you that classic artisan look. Function first, beauty second—but it can be both.

 

Crumb

The inside structure of your bread.

Open crumb has big holes. Tight crumb has small ones. Neither is morally superior—crumb is about what you want to eat, not what wins Instagram.

 

Crust

The outer shell of the loaf.

It can be thin, thick, crackly, or deeply caramelized. The crust is where the flavor lives, and yes, it will sing to you as it cools if you did things right.re is finding a routine that works in your kitchen and sticking to it. Once you understand how your starter behaves, maintaining it becomes easy and predictable — just another part of the baking process.

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