Lesson #3: The Sourdough Gear You Actually Need (and What You Can Skip)

🥣 A Mixing Bowl — glass or plastic, either works fine. Just make sure it’s big enough to comfortably hold the dough once it rises, you don’t want it climbing over the sides mid-ferment.

🌀 A Danish Dough Whisk — handy for bringing a shaggy dough together without it clumping all over a spoon. A regular wooden spoon can do the same job just fine, this is purely a convenience upgrade.

🚿 A Shower Cap — you don’t need an expensive one. A plain, cheap shower cap does the job and can be reused as long as it’s clean. I only use mine to cover the dough while it’s fermenting out on the counter, before it goes into the proofing basket. Once the dough’s in the basket and headed to the fridge, skip the shower cap, that stage needs something breathable so moisture doesn’t get trapped and collect on the dough.

🔪 A Bench Scraper — not a must-have. It helps with dividing and handling sticky dough, and it’s usually under ten dollars, but you can absolutely bake without one.

🧺 A Proofing Basket (Banneton) — you don’t need to buy one of these. Grab a bread basket you already have lying around the kitchen, line it with a kitchen towel (not a fluffy one, a plain, tightly woven one works best so it doesn’t stick), and that does the exact same job of holding your dough’s shape while it rests.

🧵 A Proofing Basket Liner — if you do end up buying an actual banneton, a liner keeps the dough from sticking, but you’ll still need to flour it first, it’s not a flour-free fix like it’s sometimes made out to be. The one that comes with the banneton I use as a true liner, but I also have these single use ones and those I use as a cover, laid over the top of the dough once it’s sitting in the basket.

📄 Parchment Paper — you most likely already have a roll of this in your kitchen. It makes transferring dough into a hot Dutch oven far less stressful and saves you a stuck-loaf disaster. I like the pre-cut sheets since they’re ready to go, but that’s purely a convenience, they work no differently than whatever parchment paper you’ve already got at home.

🌾 A Flour Sifter — handy for dusting flour evenly over your work surface or the top of your loaf. Not necessary, sprinkling flour straight from your hand or through a small strainer works just fine.

✂️ A Bread Lame — this is just for scoring the top of your loaf before baking. A sharp paring knife or even a clean razor blade held at an angle works just as well.

⚙️ A Stand Mixer — to this day, I still mix my bread dough entirely by hand. I use my stand mixer for things like bagels and cookies, but for sourdough bread, it’s genuinely not needed. If you don’t have one, you’re not missing a step, hand-mixing is part of the process.