kitchen tools
To Simplify Sourdough Baking
This curated list of sourdough baking tools and equipment will help you learn, grow, and succeed on your journey to becoming a better baker. This is a hand-picked collection of the items I regularly use in my kitchen; they’re the tools I wish I had known about when I started my journey! Everything is available for sale on Amazon, so you can read the reviews and see what other people say about the products. Cheers to simplifying sourdough!
Essential Tools & Equipment For Sourdough Baking
I’m one of those people who truly believes that you don’t need fancy equipment for sourdough baking. But there are just a few tools that are so helpful you’ll wonder how you got along without them. Here they are.
Don’t feel like you have to stick with these specific products. For example, if a sourdough starter jar isn’t in your budget, use a lidded 32-ounce Mason jar or a 3/4-liter Weck jar. Any glass jar with a lid will do the trick.
It’ll be a little harder to see when your dough is doubled. However, a large glass bowl will work instead of these food storage containers.
And if you’re going for a basic score on your loaf to help get a good rise, you can use any very sharp blade.
It’s definitely possible to become an amazing sourdough baker, even if you’re on a budget. If you’re going to spring for one piece of equipment to make your life easier, go for a great kitchen scale! If you want, you can add more tools to your collection later as your budget allows.
❤️ Why You’ll Love It:
✔️ Functional Design: Made of glass with volume markings on the side so you easily see when your starter peaks.
✔️ Wide Neck: Allows for easy mixing and cleaning.
✔️ Days of the Week Elastic Band: Allows you to keep track of when you last fed your stater.
✨ Tip: Buy the 2-pack of jars so you can use one for your discard!
Includes:
34 oz sourdough starter jar, silicon cover, cloth cover, temperature strip, silicone spatula, elastic band with days of the week marked
❤️ Why You’ll Love It:
✔️ Simplifies the Process: You can put a bowl or a dough tub right onto the scale and weigh the ingredients as you add them. It’s easy and precise, and there are no other bowls or measuring spoons or cups to clean. And it even has a baker’s percentage weighing feature!
✔️ Functional Design: It has a large area on top where you can weigh bigger items. It includes a protective cover for the buttons to protect them from spills.
✔️ Quality Product: Fast, accurate readings.
✨ Tip: This scale comes with a power adapter so you can plug it in instead of using batteries!
Includes:
Food scale (weighs up to 8000g or about 17.6 pounds) with power adapter
❤️ Why You’ll Love It:
✔️ Functional Design: These are see-through and they have straight sides with volume markings, so you can easily see when the dough is doubled.
✔️ Quality Product: BPA-free, resistant to cracking and breaking, easy to clean, and dishwasher safe!
✨ Tip: The 2-pack of buckets means you can make multiple loaves at a time and batch cook your sourdough bread!
Includes:
2 4-quart food storage containers with lids
❤️ Why You’ll Love It:
✔️ Functional Design: Extractable bread scoring tool with a secure magnetic blade holder for safe, precise scoring. It’s designed to prevent blade slippage, ensuring every cut is controlled and easy to execute.
✔️ Quality Product: The ergonomic handle ensures a comfortable grip, while sharp razors deliver clean and precise cuts.
✨ Tip: Sourdough scoring is an art in itself, and this tool will help you master it!
Includes:
Bread lame with 5 razor blades
Useful Tools & Equipment For Sourdough Baking
The following tools are useful for sourdough baking, but they aren’t essential. These what you get if you want to streamline the process. If you have a few extra dollars you want to spend on yourself (or your sourdough hobby!). Or if your birthday rolls around and people are asking for gift ideas.
❤️ Why You’ll Love It:
✔️ Makes it Quick and Easy to Mix Dough
✔️ Easy to Clean
✨ Tip: Your hands will work just fine for mixing up sourdough dough, but this whisk makes quick work out of it, and is much easier to clean!
Includes:
Danish dough whisk
❤️ Why You’ll Love It:
✔️ Makes it Easy to Cut or Divide Dough
✔️ Helpful For Shaping Dough
✔️ Makes Cleaning the Countertop a Breeze
✨ Tip: While I don’t consider a bench scraper an essential tool for sourdough bread baking, it really does make the process easier!
Includes:
6-inch wide bench scraper
❤️ Why You’ll Love It:
✔️ Simplifies the Process: Sprinkle a banneton with flour, place your dough inside, and then use the liner as a cover while your dough proofs.
✔️ Functional Design: No splinters or visible stapling.
✔️ Quality Product: Made of high-quality, natural rattan cane that allows for excellent airflow and moisture absorption.
✨ Tip: The lines made by the basket make your loaf look like a professionally-made boule!
Includes:
2 9-inch round bread proofing baskets
❤️ Why You’ll Love It:
✔️ Quality Product For the Best Bread: Excellent heat distribution and retention for consistent, even baking.
✔️ No Discoloration or Staining: Sourdough baking can cause discolloarating or staining of enamel-coated Dutch ovens, so I prefer an uncoated Dutch oven.
✔️ Superior Heat Retention: Uncoated Dutch ovens are known for their superior heat retention, which helps you get optimal oven spring.
✨ Tip: You don’t need to spend a ton of money for a Le Creuset or Staub Dutch oven to get bake amazing bread!
Includes:
Pre-seasoned 7-quart cast-iron Dutch oven with lid
❤️ Why You’ll Love It:
✔️ Double Lock For Freshness: Use the zipper and then the buckle for double locking.
✔️ Easy Cleaning: Machine-washable.
✔️ Freezer-Friendly: Helps prevent freezer-burn for about 3 months.
✨ Tip: I make multiple loaves of bread at a time, slice them, flash-freeze the slices, and pop them into a bread bag to keep in the freezer!
Includes:
2 17-inch by 12-inch bags