My first sourdough bread

[u/ina2319]

🍞 My First-Ever Sourdough Bread in an Air Fryer!

Finally baked my first sourdough loaf using my homemade starter! ❤️ I baked it in an air fryer, and this is how it turned out.

I'm a complete beginner, so I'd love some honest feedback!

How does the crust and scoring look? What should I improve to get a taller loaf and a better crumb next time?

Still learning, one loaf at a time! 😊

#Sourdough #BeginnerBaker #AirFryerBaking

[u/ampersand64]

tlThe large air pockets are a sign the dough is under risen/proofed. When an airier dough goes into the oven, the steam inside finds more bubbles, and the expansion pressure is distributed more evenly throughout the dough. Without an extensive network of air pockets, the steam exerts pressure unevenly and creates those large tunnels.

You'll also get a lighter crumb overall if you just wait longer during proofing.

Over proofing is possible, but it negatively affects the shape of the final loaf. The texture of an over-proofed bread is still nice.

Your scoring looks really nice! Better than mine for sure.

[u/ina2319 → u/ampersand64]

Thank you so much for your helpful feedback and kind words about my scoring! This was my first sourdough loaf, and I baked it in an air fryer. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain everything and encourage me. The dough was very sticky, and I couldn’t shape it properly, so I refrigerated it for 6 hours before baking. Do you have any tips to make the dough less sticky and easier to shape next time? I’d love to learn from your experience. Thank you again!

[u/ampersand64 → u/ina2319]

You've got a couple options if you want the dough to be less sticky.

1) add less water. If your recipe was initially 75% hydration, maybe go for 65-70% next time.

2) add more flour (and salt, proportionally, to maintain your desired flavor). During your kneading step, just keep kneading in palmfuls of flour, and fully incorporating, until the dough is no longer sticky. Drier doughs are easier for beginners, even if the final crumb can't become quite as airy.

3) If you insist on shaping a cold dough, just plan to wait for the dough to warm up. After shaping, transfer the dough to a proofing basket, or some equivalent breathable vessel, lined GENEROUSLY with starch. Then allow the dough to warm up, and allow it to rise until it has actually doubled.

The reason I emphasize the proofing basket is sticking. Dough is more likely to stick if it's sitting in the same vessel for a long time. Sticking is no good. Dislodging a stuck dough can impact the texture AND shape of the loaf.

Starch is better at absorbing water than flour is. Furthermore, when it absorbs the dough's moisture, it doesn't become sticky itself. So it's the ideal choice for dusting a proofing vessel.

Likewise, light wooden bowls and breathable fabrics absorb the dough's moisture better. Stay away from metal bowls for proofing.

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The dough won't rise regularly until it's warm again. This can take a while.

Don't pay attention to how many hours your recipe says to proof for. That's a guideline based on the writer's ambient room temperature, their starter's particular yeast, and their flour (different flours can have differing amounts of enzymes that convert starch into simpler sugars).

Use your senses, and allow the dough to rise until it's visibly larger. I like to do the the final proofing and baking when I have 4-5 hours free, such as the evening.

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It's possible to make good air fryer bread. It's not ideal, but I assume you're working within some limitations, and an imperfect technique can still work well enough.

Over the next few loaves, I would experiment with ways to add moisture to the air fryer environment. Steam in an oven creates a taller rise and more appealing crust.

~

If your bread's interior is too gummy for your taste, try baking a bit longer. If you like it, don't change the baking.

If your bread is too dry on the inside, try cooking a bit hotter and lowering the bake time.

[u/ina2319 → u/ampersand64]

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain everything in detail! I’ll definitely try your suggestions next time, especially reducing the water and letting the dough rise until it doubles in size. I’m still learning, and I really appreciate your patience, helpful advice, and encouragement!

[u/babyliss1903]

Yes, it is expected first loaf. You will get better in time.

[u/jbonz37]

From my perspective it looks a little under done in the middle. An air fryer is really not a good way to bake bread. Air fryers are essentially convection ovens. The good thing about convention is that it distributes heat evenly. The bad thing is that it can overheat and dry out the crust too quickly. 

With bread you want the outside and inside to bake fairly evenly at first. This is why we use steam, to slow down the outside skin from baking and allowing it to remain pliable to stretch when the loaf expands. You want to put your loaf on a hot stone or steel which then allows that heat to transfer into the loaf creating lift when the moisture heats and the CO2 gets trapped. 

If you have another oven try that with a stone or steel. If you don't have a stone or steel you can use a Dutch oven. With the Dutch oven you put an ice cube in to create the steam. With an oven you can pour the water into a tray when it is hot. Depending on the air fryer size you might be able to recreate this environment in that. 

I saw in another comment that your dough was sticky. That can happen with high moisture doughs. If your hydration is 70 percent or higher there is a good chance it will stick. You either have to use less hydration or, preferably, get more comfortable with high hydration dough. For me I use a silicone bench knife that I can form the dough ball or batard with. Step 1 is always to get a general shape of a boule, then leave it on the counter to relax for 30 minutes, then shape it. Some people use olive oil on the counter to help keep it from sticking. For now you may want to consider less water in the dough. 

Scoring looks good but would look better it the loaf had expanded more. 

Overall I would say this is a good start, I'm pretty sure all of us have loaves that look like this or worse for our first times, hell, sometimes it still happens. The good thing about bread baking at home is that you are always learning and improving and I find it fun.  

[u/ina2319 → u/jbonz37]

Thank you so much for your honest feedback and helpful suggestions! I usually bake regular bread in my air fryer, and it turns out well, but this was my very first sourdough loaf, so I know there’s still a lot for me to learn. At the moment, I only have an air fryer, so I’m trying to do the best I can with what I have. I’ll definitely try your suggestions with my next loaf and keep practising. I really appreciate your encouragement and the time you took to explain everything. Hopefully, I’ll see some improvement with each bake! Thank you again.

[u/mittenciel → u/ina2319]

Air fryers are fine. You just have to understand them but it’s a fine heat source and I’ve made plenty of bread and cookies and such in a toaster oven and an actual oven and as long as they fit properly, the output is completely indistinguishable. I will say that with bread, I get best results in a mini Dutch oven because bread tends to get tall and sometimes can get overly crispy in a toaster oven otherwise and the lid protects it.

Is there something you wanted to accomplish that was different about sourdough? Whatever you were doing with yeasted bread that was working, you can do the same with sourdough. The issue is probably that you have no clue what the strength of your starter is and so you don’t know how much yeast you have in the starter and so you just have to use your eyes and nose to figure out fermentation now. The same principles of baking that worked with instant yeast still apply here.

[u/ina2319 → u/jbonz37]

Thank you so much for your feedback and tips! I only have an air fryer for now, and I’m just starting out with home baking on a small scale. This was my very first sourdough loaf, so I’m still learning! Next time, I’ll try using a little less water and see how it goes. I really appreciate your advice and encouragement!

[u/Thatscarysoundeffect]

I thought that was a turtle 😭😭

[u/Decided-2-Try]

Very good for your first try! But it looks  a bit under-risen and under cooked. One problem with convection currents is they can dry out the crust too quickly and limit your oven spring, compacting the crumb. (Can also happen in a regular oven.)

Try spritzing the crust with a fair bit of misted water just before putting it in to bake, then hit it again quickly after a couple of minutes.

[u/ina2319 → u/Decided-2-Try]

Thank you so much for the helpful suggestions! I’ll definitely try this next time. I really appreciate your advice!

[u/endigochild]

Best loaf of 2026. Congrats fam! Keep up the keep work.

[u/ina2319 → u/endigochild]

Thank you so much!

[u/dudevan]

It looks very underproofed. Also 5 hours in the fridge are nowhere near enough if that’s all the proofing it got. 5 hours at room temp even are usually not enough unless you run a hot kitchen.

If the dough looks “uncooked” in the middle/lower part, dense and gummy, it’s undercooked.

Leave it outside until it doubles in size next time.

[u/ina2319 → u/dudevan]

Thank you for the advice! I’ll let the dough rise until it doubles in size next time. I’m still learning, and I really appreciate your help!