What type of flour is sourdough bread made from?

January 9, 2026 •

4 min read

While sourdough bread is a relatively simple mix of flour, water, and salt, the specific flour chosen has a dramatic effect on the final product. Your choice influences everything from the crust's chewiness to the crumb's texture and the overall depth of flavor. This article explores what type of flour is sourdough bread made from and how to select the best one for your desired results.

Quick Summary

Sourdough bread can be made with various flours, including high-protein bread flour for structure, all-purpose for softness, or whole grain flours like rye and whole wheat for added flavor. Flour choice impacts gluten development, water absorption, and fermentation, which in turn defines the bread's texture and taste.

Key Points

Bread Flour: Its high protein content (12-14%) is ideal for strong gluten development, producing a chewy texture and excellent oven spring.
All-Purpose Flour: A versatile option with lower protein (9-12%) that creates a softer, more tender crumb, though it may require hydration adjustments.
Whole Wheat Flour: Adds robust, nutty flavor and nutrients, but its bran can inhibit gluten formation, leading to a denser loaf.
Rye Flour: Boosts fermentation activity and adds a complex, moist texture and tangy flavor, often used in blends due to its low gluten content.
Flour Blends: Combining flours, such as bread flour with whole wheat or rye, allows bakers to balance strong structure with complex flavors.
Starter Flour: Whole grain flours like whole wheat or rye are excellent for building a new starter, as their nutrients help kickstart fermentation.
Adjustments: When swapping flours, especially between different protein levels, adjusting hydration is crucial to manage the dough's texture and prevent it from becoming too sticky.

The beauty of baking sourdough lies in its simplicity, but also in the vast possibilities offered by different types of flour. The flour you choose is the primary building block, dictating the bread’s texture, flavor profile, and handling characteristics. For beginners, a strong white bread flour is often recommended for its predictable results. Experienced bakers, however, experiment with a blend of grains to create complex and unique loaves.

The Foundation: Bread Flour vs. All-Purpose Flour

Many bakers start with either bread flour or all-purpose flour, as they are widely available and relatively easy to work with. Understanding the key differences is crucial for predicting your outcome.

The Versatile Bread Flour

Bread flour is the logical and often ideal choice for a classic sourdough boule. Milled from hard wheat, its higher protein content, typically between 12% and 14%, is key to developing a strong gluten network. This high-protein content provides several benefits:

Superior gluten development for a chewy, elastic crumb.
The ability to absorb more water, leading to a dough that is easier to handle.
Excellent oven spring, resulting in a taller, more voluminous loaf.

For a novice baker, strong white bread flour minimizes handling challenges and consistently produces a robust, well-risen bread.

The Accessible All-Purpose Flour

While bread flour is preferred, it's absolutely possible to bake excellent sourdough with 100% all-purpose flour. This flour has a lower protein content, typically 9% to 12%, resulting in a softer, more tender crumb. If using all-purpose flour for a recipe that calls for bread flour, some adjustments may be necessary to compensate for the weaker gluten structure. A slightly lower hydration level or more frequent folds can help.

Best uses for all-purpose flour in sourdough:

Softer breads like sandwich loaves or dinner rolls.
Enriched doughs such as cinnamon rolls or brioche.
Sourdough discard recipes like pancakes or crackers.

Embracing Whole Grains: The World of Flavor

For those who want to move beyond a simple white loaf, whole grains offer a world of complex flavors and textures. Incorporating whole wheat or rye flour, for instance, adds nutritional benefits and a distinctive taste.

Hearty Whole Wheat Flour

Whole wheat flour contains the entire grain, including the bran and germ, which provides a rich source of nutrients and flavor. However, the bran can act like tiny razor blades, physically cutting the gluten strands and hindering development. This results in a denser, heavier loaf. To manage this effect, bakers often blend whole wheat with a higher-protein white flour. Whole wheat also absorbs more water, so recipes may need to be adjusted.

Distinctive Rye Flour

Rye flour is highly prized in sourdough for its ability to speed up fermentation and impart a moist, complex flavor. Rye contains pentosans, a type of sugar that absorbs large amounts of water, leading to a sticky dough that doesn't develop a strong gluten network. For this reason, 100% rye bread is denser, but a blend with wheat flour provides the best of both worlds: a complex flavor with a good structure.

The Craft of Blending Flours

Professional and home bakers alike often blend different flours to achieve a specific result. A common strategy involves a base of high-protein bread flour for structure, combined with smaller percentages of whole grain flours like whole wheat or rye for added flavor and faster fermentation. For example, a 90% white bread flour and 10% rye mix is a great way to boost activity without sacrificing structure.

Comparing Sourdough Flours


Flour Type	Protein Content (Approx.)	Flavor Profile	Texture	Handling Notes
Bread Flour	12-14%	Mild, classic wheat	Chewy, elastic, open crumb	Strong and easy to handle; absorbs more water
All-Purpose Flour	9-12%	Mild, less pronounced wheat	Soft, tender, tighter crumb	Weaker gluten; may need hydration adjustments
Whole Wheat Flour	13-15%	Nutty, earthy, robust	Denser, heavier crumb	Bran inhibits gluten; requires more water
Rye Flour	Low gluten	Complex, tangy, earthy	Moist, dense crumb	Very sticky due to pentosans; excellent for fermentation
Spelt Flour	Medium	Mild, slightly sweet	More delicate than wheat	Lower gluten; dough can be stickier to work with

The Role of Flour in Your Sourdough Starter

Your sourdough starter itself can be maintained using a variety of flours, and the type of flour used to feed it can influence its activity and flavor. Many bakers recommend a 50/50 blend of whole wheat and all-purpose flour to kickstart a new starter, as the whole grain provides a rich food source for the wild microbes. Once established, a starter can be fed with all-purpose or bread flour. Some bakers use a little rye flour to give a sluggish starter a boost of activity. Consistency is more important than the type of flour for a healthy, active starter.

Conclusion: Choosing Your Sourdough Flour

The ultimate answer to what type of flour is sourdough bread made from is that there is no single right answer. The ideal flour depends entirely on your personal goals and preferences. For a tall, chewy loaf with a classic open crumb, stick with a high-protein bread flour. If a softer, less chewy texture is desired, all-purpose flour is a viable option, with slight adjustments. To add complexity, nutrients, and a tangy bite, incorporate whole wheat or rye. The journey of sourdough baking is one of experimentation and discovery, and the flour you choose is your first step towards creating a truly unique and delicious loaf. Embrace the variety and find the perfect blend for your perfect bread.

For more in-depth comparisons and troubleshooting, resources like Serious Eats' sourdough flour investigation are excellent to explore.

Frequently Asked Questions

For beginners, strong white bread flour is the best option. It has a high protein content that develops strong gluten, making the dough easy to handle and reliably producing a good rise and chewy texture.

Yes, you can use all-purpose flour for sourdough bread, but you may need to adjust the hydration level and folding technique, as it has a lower protein content than bread flour. It will produce a softer, less chewy bread.

Rye flour speeds up fermentation and adds a complex, earthy, and moist texture to your bread. Because it has low gluten, it is often blended with higher-protein wheat flour to maintain a good structure.

Yes, the flour used to feed your starter influences its activity and flavor profile. Whole grain flours like rye or whole wheat can create a more vigorous starter with a more complex flavor, while white flours produce a milder, more consistent starter.

US all-purpose flour generally has a higher protein content (up to 11.7% in some brands) than UK 'plain flour' (closer to 9-10%), making US all-purpose flour a more suitable substitute for bread flour in sourdough.

Using low-protein flour in a high-hydration recipe will likely result in a wet, sticky, and slack dough that is difficult to handle. The lower gluten cannot absorb and hold the water as effectively as high-protein bread flour.

Yes, gluten-free sourdough is possible with flours like buckwheat, brown rice, or sorghum. The process and results will differ significantly from wheat-based sourdough, as there is no gluten network for the classic chewy texture. A boosted starter may be needed initially.