You Don’t Need to Stretch and Fold Your Sourdough—Yes, Really.

Sourdough bread has captured the hearts (and stomachs) of many home bakers. But for just as many, the dream of making sourdough feels out of reach—overwhelmed by all the “rules,” techniques, and perfect Instagram-worthy loaves, they never even get started.

Stretch and folds? Ice in the oven? Timed feedings? A dozen specialty flours? It’s enough to make you throw in the towel before you’ve even mixed the starter. Trust me—I’ve been there. And I say this as someone with a food production engineering degree!

But here’s the truth: you don’t need to do any of that.

Sourdough is one of humanity’s oldest forms of baking. Fermented breads have been around since ancient Egypt—over 3,000 years ago! And I can promise you, those early bakers weren’t obsessing over the perfect stretch-and-fold routine or precise oven temperatures. Oven thermostats didn’t even exist until the late 1800s!

What’s my point? Making sourdough isn’t about perfection. It’s about feeding yourself and your loved ones with simple, nourishing bread. The process might be trendy now, but it’s also timeless. If you want to dive into the details and perfect your technique, go for it. But if you’re just trying to bake a decent loaf for your family, don’t let the endless tips and tricks scare you off.
I’ve baked sourdough every which way:
• With and without stretch and folds.
• With ‘too much’ or ‘too little’ flour.
• Fermented for long hours, short hours—you name it.
Guess what? They all turned out as edible, tasty bread. Were they identical? No. But they all did the job, and that’s the beauty of it.

Here’s something else to remember: even if you follow the same method every time, your bread will still vary. This is true for any kind of baking—temperature, humidity, ingredient age, and more can affect your results. And with sourdough, you’re working with a live ferment, a living, breathing thing. Its quirks are part of the charm.

So, if you’ve been put off by the flood of information about sourdough, let this be your permission to keep it simple. You’re not running a bakery or creating a factory-perfect product. You’re making food—a staple that has sustained humanity for millennia.

Dive in. Embrace the imperfections. Enjoy the variety of loaves you’ll create. And most importantly, have fun. After all, that’s what baking is supposed to be about.