Sourdough Bread on a Baking Steel — No Dutch Oven Needed
Every sourdough recipe on the internet tells you to bake in a Dutch oven. And they work. But I've been baking sourdough open on a Baking Steel for years, and I'm never going back.
No wrestling a 450-degree lid. No burning your forearms. No cramming a banneton-shaped loaf into a pot that's barely big enough. Just bread on steel, the way real bakeries do it.
The Baking Steel gives you something a Dutch oven can't, a massive heat source underneath the loaf that creates an incredible bottom crust while steam does the work on top. You get the same oven spring, the same crackly crust, and the same open crumb. Just without the circus act of handling a screaming-hot pot.
This is the recipe I come back to every week. 75% hydration, overnight ferment, open baked on steel. It's the simplest sourdough I've ever made, and it's the best.
About the Author
Andris Lagsdin is the founder of Baking Steel. He invented the original Baking Steel in 2012 at his family's steel fabrication plant in Hanover, MA after reading about baking on steel in Modernist Cuisine. What started as a Kickstarter project endorsed by food scientist Kenji López-Alt has grown into the go-to tool for hundreds of thousands of home bakers. Andris teaches free live baking classes every week and recently launched the 72-Hour Pizza Dough Mix, the same recipe he's been teaching for over a decade, now in a bag.
Why Bake Sourdough on a Baking Steel?
Steel conducts heat 18 times faster than a ceramic stone and holds significantly more thermal energy than a Dutch oven. When your loaf hits a preheated Baking Steel, all of that stored energy blasts into the bottom of the bread instantly. That's what gives you that deep golden crust on the bottom that you see in professional bakeries.
The trick to getting oven spring without a Dutch oven is steam. Two ice cubes next to the loaf and an inverted metal mixing bowl over the top gives you the same trapped-steam environment as a Dutch oven — but you can remove the bowl after 25 minutes without burning yourself, and the loaf has room to expand in any direction. I break down this whole method in our Baking Steel Dutch oven hack, it works for any bread, not just sourdough.
I've tested this side by side more times than I can count. The Baking Steel version wins on bottom crust every time. It's not even close.
What You Need Before You Start
This recipe requires a sourdough starter. If you don't have one going yet, check out our how to master a sourdough starter guide. You'll need at least 125g of active starter for this bake.
If sourdough feels like too much commitment right now, our 72-Hour Pizza Dough Mix uses active dry yeast instead of a starter, just add water and you're making dough in minutes. Different process, same obsession with long fermentation and great flour.
This recipe was developed by Ben Turcotte, a talented baker who worked with us at Baking Steel. Ben dialed in the hydration, the barley flour addition, and the timing. I've been baking his recipe on my steel ever since and the method I'm sharing here is how I've refined it over time.
Ingredients
375g bread flour — high protein for structure. I use Central Milling organic bread flour for everything. The difference in flavor and performance is real.
75g barley flour — adds an earthy, nutty depth to the crumb. You can substitute whole wheat or spelt if you can't find barley, but it's worth seeking out.
300g water at 90°F — plus 25g cold water later for the salt stage (bassinage method).
125g sourdough starter — active, bubbly, at peak rise.
11g salt
The Process — Night Before
9-10 PM: Feed your starter. Mix up at least 125g in preparation for mixing dough the next morning. You want it peaking by 8-9 AM.
Next Day — Mix and Bulk Rise
8:00 AM — Autolyse. Mix 300g of water with all the flour in your stand mixer using the paddle attachment. Mix for 5 minutes on speed 3-4. Cover and rest for 1 hour. This step hydrates the flour and starts gluten development before you even touch the starter.
9:00 AM — Add starter. Add your 125g of active starter to the mixer. Switch to the dough hook and mix on speed 3-4 for 5 minutes. Cover and rest 30 minutes.
9:30 AM — Add salt. Add the salt and 25g of cold water. Work it in with your hands for a minute until the water is mostly absorbed, then mix with the dough hook for 5 minutes on speed 3-4. Cover and rest 30 minutes.
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM — Bulk rise with stretch and folds. Every 30-45 minutes, stretch and fold the dough 4-6 times, then cover and rest. Repeat this 3-4 more times over the next 2-3 hours. You'll feel the dough getting stronger and more elastic with each set.
1:00 PM — Preshape. Dump the dough onto an unfloured counter and shape it into a ball. Lightly dust the top with flour, cover with a towel, and let it rest for 45 minutes.
1:45 PM — Final shape. Shape the dough into a boule or batard and place it seam-side up in your proofing basket. Cover and put it in the fridge overnight.
Bake Day
8:00 AM — Preheat. Put your Baking Steel Original on the middle rack and preheat your oven to 500°F for a full hour. Don't rush this. The steel needs time to fully saturate with heat.
9:00 AM — Score and load. Turn your loaf out onto a piece of parchment paper. Score the top with a lame or razor blade — this is where you get creative. Slide the loaf and parchment onto your preheated steel, drop 2 ice cubes next to the loaf, and immediately cover it with an inverted metal mixing bowl.
Turn the oven down to 475°F. Bake covered for 25 minutes. The ice cubes create steam under the bowl, which gives you oven spring and that gorgeous blistered crust.
Remove the bowl. Now elevate the loaf on 2-3 Baking Steel Bracelets or a rolled-up ring of aluminum foil. This lifts the bottom off the steel so it doesn't over-brown while the top finishes. Turn the oven down to 450°F and bake for 15 more minutes.
Cool completely. I know it's hard. The smell is unreal. But cutting into sourdough before it's fully cooled ruins the crumb structure. Give it at least an hour. Then slice, listen for that crackle, and enjoy.
Grab a Baking Steel and start baking bread that rivals your local bakery →
Why This Method Works
The combination of the Baking Steel underneath and the inverted bowl on top gives you the best of both worlds — radiant bottom heat for crust development and trapped steam for oven spring. When you remove the bowl at 25 minutes, the loaf finishes in dry heat, which is what creates that deep mahogany color and crackly exterior.
The Bracelets (or foil ring) in the final stage are a small detail that makes a big difference. Lifting the loaf off the steel prevents the bottom from getting too dark while the top catches up. It's a technique I've dialed in over years of testing, and it works every time.
Tips From 13 Years of Baking on Steel
Preheat for a full hour. The steel needs to be fully heat-soaked. 45 minutes isn't enough. Set a timer and walk away.
Use parchment paper. It makes loading the loaf onto a 500-degree steel safe and easy. The paper won't burn at these temperatures for the duration of the bake.
The ice cube trick is everything. Two ice cubes next to the loaf, under the bowl, creates instant steam right where you need it. Don't skip this step.
Don't score too deep. A quarter-inch is plenty. You want to guide the expansion, not deflate the loaf.
Your starter is the engine. If it's not active and bubbly at peak rise, your bread won't have the lift you're looking for. The float test works, drop a spoonful in water. If it floats, you're good to go.
What Else Can You Bake on a Baking Steel?
Sourdough is just the beginning. The Baking Steel is a game changer for pizza, English muffins, smash burgers, and anything that benefits from intense, even heat. Check out our full recipe library, we've got over 200 recipes and counting.
And if you want to make pizza dough without measuring a single ingredient, try our 72-Hour Pizza Dough Mix. Organic Central Milling flour, pre-measured, just add water. It's the same recipe I've been teaching in my free live classes for over a decade.
Tools You'll Need
Baking Steel Original — the foundation of this whole method. 15 lbs of quarter-inch steel that turns your home oven into a bread oven.
Metal mixing bowl — inverted over the loaf to trap steam. Any oven-safe stainless steel bowl that's large enough to cover the bread.
Lame or razor blade — for scoring. A sharp blade makes clean cuts that open up beautifully in the oven.
Parchment paper — for easy loading onto the hot steel.
Baking Steel Bracelets — to elevate the loaf during the final stage of baking. Or use a rolled ring of aluminum foil.
Stand mixer — helpful but not required. If mixing by hand, double the mixing times.
Bench scraper — for shaping and handling the dough.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you bake sourdough bread on a Baking Steel?
Absolutely. The Baking Steel is one of the best surfaces for sourdough bread. Steel conducts heat 18 times faster than ceramic stone, which gives you a superior bottom crust. Use an inverted metal bowl and ice cubes for steam during the first half of the bake, then remove the bowl and finish in dry heat. The result rivals a professional deck oven.
Do you need a Dutch oven for sourdough bread?
No. A Baking Steel with an inverted metal mixing bowl and ice cubes gives you the same steam environment as a Dutch oven — with better bottom crust, more room for the loaf to expand, and no risk of burning yourself on a heavy, scorching-hot pot. It's the method I've used for years and I'll never go back.
What is 75% hydration sourdough?
75% hydration means the dough contains 75% water relative to the flour weight. In this recipe, that's 325g of water to 450g of flour. This hydration level produces a dough that's workable but wet enough to create an open, airy crumb with beautiful holes throughout the bread.
Do you need sourdough starter to make sourdough bread?
Yes — sourdough bread by definition uses a natural sourdough starter (wild yeast and bacteria) instead of commercial yeast. If you don't have a starter yet, check out our guide on how to master a sourdough starter. If you want great homemade bread without maintaining a starter, our 72-Hour Pizza Dough Mix uses active dry yeast and produces incredible results with just water and time.
How long does sourdough bread take to make?
From start to finish, this recipe takes about 24 hours — but the hands-on time is only about 30 minutes total. You feed your starter the night before, mix and shape the dough the next day over a few hours (with lots of resting in between), refrigerate overnight, and bake the following morning.
What's the best flour for sourdough bread?
High-protein bread flour gives you the best structure and chew. I use organic bread flour from Central Milling for everything — it's what professional bakeries use and the difference in flavor and performance is noticeable. For this recipe, we also add barley flour for depth and nuttiness.
Can I bake sourdough on a pizza stone instead?
You can, but the results won't be the same. Stone conducts heat much slower than steel, so your bottom crust won't develop the same deep color and crunch. Stone also loses heat faster after you load the bread, which means less oven spring. If you have a stone, it works — but if you want the best possible loaf, steel is the upgrade.
