Sourdough • Baker Lingo • Beginner's Guide

You Can't Become a Cool Sourdough Baker Until You Learn the Lingo

Every hobby has its own language. Sourdough is no different. And yes, eventually you'll casually say things like "my levain peaked during bulk" like that's a completely normal sentence.

So you've decided to become a sourdough baker.

Congratulations. 🎉

You bought flour.

You got a starter.

You watched approximately 47 videos about stretching dough.

And then you entered a sourdough Facebook group and immediately felt like everyone was speaking another language.

Don't worry.

You haven't accidentally joined a secret sourdough society.

You just need to learn the lingo.

Because apparently, making bread wasn't complicated enough. 😂

1. Starter

Let's start with the obvious one.

Your sourdough starter is a living culture of wild yeast and beneficial bacteria living in a mixture of flour and water.

It's the thing sitting on your counter that you now check more often than your email.

🥣 2. Feeding

Feeding means giving your starter fresh flour and water.

You're essentially refreshing the food supply so the microorganisms can keep fermenting.

You'll probably eventually develop a feeding schedule.

You'll weigh everything.

You'll calculate ratios.

And eventually you'll look at someone else's starter jar and immediately know it hasn't been fed recently.

You've become one of them. 😂

3. Peak

When your starter reaches its highest point after feeding, it's at or near its peak.

This is often when it's particularly active and useful for baking.

Bakers will start talking about things like:

Basically, your starter has reached its "I AM READY!" moment.

💧 4. Hydration

Hydration is the amount of water in your dough relative to the amount of flour, expressed as a percentage.

For example, 75% hydration means you have 75 grams of water for every 100 grams of flour.

The higher the hydration, the wetter and often more challenging the dough can be to handle.

Which leads to another important sourdough term:

"Why is my dough attacking me?" 😂

5. Autolyse

Autolyse sounds like something that should require a chemistry degree.

It's actually much simpler.

Traditionally, autolyse refers to mixing flour and water and allowing them to rest before adding the remaining ingredients.

The rest gives the flour time to hydrate and begins developing the dough.

🫙 6. Levain

This is where things start getting fancy.

A levain is a portion of sourdough culture that is built specifically for a particular bake.

You take some starter, feed it with fresh flour and water, let it ferment, and use that mixture in your dough.

In everyday sourdough conversations, the terms starter and levain can sometimes overlap, but technically they aren't always referring to exactly the same thing.

Basically: your starter went to work and got a job. 😂

7. Bulk Fermentation

This is one of the big ones.

Bulk fermentation is the main fermentation period after your ingredients have been combined and your starter has been incorporated.

During this stage, fermentation develops the dough's structure, flavor, and gas.

And this is where sourdough bakers start staring at dough containers like they're trying to predict the future.

🤲 8. Stretch & Fold

A technique used during fermentation to help develop strength in the dough.

You gently stretch part of the dough and fold it back over itself.

Repeat several times.

Suddenly you're standing in your kitchen performing yoga with a blob of dough.

Namaste. 🙏

9. Banneton

A banneton is a proofing basket used to support shaped dough during its final rise.

It can leave those beautiful rings on the surface of your loaf.

It is also one of the first pieces of sourdough equipment that makes your family wonder what exactly has happened to you.

🔥 10. Oven Spring

Oven spring is the rapid expansion your dough can experience during the early part of baking.

It's one of the most satisfying moments in sourdough.

You score the loaf.

You put it into the hot Dutch oven.

And then...

11. The Ear

No, we're not talking about your anatomy.

In sourdough, the ear is the raised flap of dough that can form along a score after baking.

A beautiful ear is basically the sourdough baker equivalent of a trophy.

You will eventually see someone post a loaf with an enormous ear and think:

"I need that." 😂

🕸️ 12. Crumb

The crumb is the inside of your bread.

Not the crust.

The inside.

And yes, sourdough bakers will absolutely cut open an entire loaf just to photograph the crumb.

Your crumb is basically your bread's report card.

🔪 13. Scoring

Scoring means cutting the surface of your dough before baking.

It gives expanding gases somewhere to escape and allows you to control how the loaf opens in the oven.

It's also where sourdough bakers discover they apparently have hidden artistic abilities.

Wheat stalks.

Leaves.

Flowers.

Geometric patterns.

And then there's the person who just makes one giant slash. 😂

14. Baker's Percentage

Welcome to the moment when sourdough stops being baking and starts feeling suspiciously like math class.

Baker's percentages express each ingredient as a percentage of the total flour weight.

Flour is always treated as 100%.

Water might be 75%.

Salt might be 2%.

Starter might be 20%.

❄️ 15. Cold Proof

A cold proof is when shaped dough is placed in the refrigerator to ferment slowly before baking.

It can help develop flavor and makes scheduling your bake much easier.

It also means you can put your dough in the refrigerator at night and pretend you're organized.

You're not disorganized. You're cold-proofing. 😎

16. Gummy Crumb

The dreaded gummy crumb.

This is when the interior of your loaf is excessively moist, sticky, or gummy rather than properly baked and set.

You cut open the loaf.

You stare at it.

You quietly whisper:

Don't worry. Your sourdough journey has officially begun.

Congratulations. You Speak Sourdough.

You now know enough sourdough terminology to walk into a bread conversation and at least look like you know what's happening.

You know what a starter is.

You know what bulk fermentation means.

You know your crumb from your crust.

You can discuss hydration without immediately changing the subject.

You're officially becoming a cool sourdough baker. 😎

Continue Your Sourdough Journey

Now that you know the lingo, it's time to learn what all of it actually means in practice. Explore the Squirrelly Girl Sourdough Academy for guides, tips, and sourdough fundamentals to help you bake with confidence.

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