Process to Make Sourdough Bread In Bulk

Your sourdough bakery is growing - and I'm so proud of you! Scaling to meet the demand is super exciting, and with a little thoughtful planning and the right methods you'll keep your quality and consistency shining without the stress and burnout.

By dividing the process into three stages-prep, mixing, and baking-you can optimize each part of your workflow to ensure every batch of sourdough is a success.

Jump to:

• Prep Day
• Dough Day
• Baking Day
• Cleaning and Make Up Day
• Final Tips For Bulk Prep, Mix And Bake Days
• Related
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Prep Day

Before you begin mixing your dough, proper pre-prep is essential for efficiency and accuracy in your sourdough bakery.

The amount of time this takes will depend on your menu, but for a micro bakery selling bread and cookies like Leaf and Loaf, this takes approximately 2-3 hours and I do it the day before I mix the dough, typically on Tuesday afternoon.

Here are the steps I take on Prep Day:

- Calculate What You Need

Determine the number of loaves you want to bake and use baker's percentages to scale your recipe correctly.

- Shop or Gather Ingredients

Visit your fridge and pantry and ensure you have all necessary ingredients on hand: flour, salt, water, starter, and any inclusions (e.g., seeds, nuts, dried fruit, cheese, etc).

Buying in bulk can save time and money, but double-check freshness, especially for perishable items.

Buy ingredients like baking soda, baking powder and other perishables in small quantities from your regular grocery store to ensure freshness.

Save a list of your usual ingredients to quickly order online, and pickup at the store to save time.

Use apps like Instacart when it makes sense - those make the bill a little more expensive, but they can save you a ton of time. As a busy mom of 5 I use them a lot.

- Get everything out and ready

I keep everything I typically use during Dough and Bake Days on a stainless steel rolling cooling rack. Then I bring it out on Prep Days, use the scale and bins to pre measure ingredients, and set the mixer and bulk fermentation bins in place, so that I'm ready to go early in the morning.

I might also bring out the bags I use for packaging and my label maker. I could label the bags now or I typically leave it to do during the rest periods I get between coil folds on Dough Day.

- Pre-Measure Ingredients

Set up a "mise en place" station by weighing out all your ingredients ahead of time. This minimizes interruptions during mixing and ensures accuracy, especially for large batches where small errors can lead to inconsistent results.

- Feed Your Sourdough Starter

Feeding your starter correctly is crucial to have enough active and bubbly starter when it's time to mix the dough.

I typically feed my sourdough starter using a high feeding ratio around 6:00 pm, so that it would take it 10-12 hours to rise at room temperature and I can start mixing at 6:00 am in the morning while it's holding its peak.

How to Feed Your Sourdough Starter For Bulk Prep:

• Determine Feeding Ratios: For larger batches, a 1:10:10 (starter:flour:water) ratio is often ideal to build enough starter without exhausting it. For example, for a 1:10:10 ratio, if you start with 300g of starter, feed it 3000 grams of both flour and water, to obtain enough starter for 63-70 loaves of bread.
• Timing is Key: Consider when you want to start mixing your dough. If you feed the starter too early, it may peak and collapse before you're ready. If you feed it too late, it may not be active enough. The typical feeding window is about 6-12 hours before mixing, but this depends on temperature of the water you feed your starter and of the environment where you keep it. To speed things up you can use warm water, around 85F and you can keep it inside your oven that is off but with the light on.
• Track Readiness: Your starter is ready when it has doubled or more in size, is bubbly, and has a pleasant, slightly tangy smell. It should have risen all the way to the top and started to fall back down slightly. Use the float test (an unstirred spoonful of starter should float in water) as a secondary check.

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Dough Day

With everything measured and your sourdough starter ready, it's time to mix and prep your dough. At Leaf and Loaf, my sourdough bakery, I typically do this on Wednesdays.

It's important to start early (depending on the schedule you follow) to allow enough time for the dough to properly ferment and rise.

- Mixing Methods

The right mixing method depends on the size of your batch and the equipment you have:

• By Hand: Perfect for small batches of 1-20 loaves. This method involves mixing directly in a bowl or large bin and using stretch-and-fold techniques to build gluten.

I wouldn't recommend doing this for more than 20 loaves per week because it will be hard on your hands and wrists, as well as hard on your back and shoulders. In my opinion, it's not worth wearing your body down in ways that are hard to recover from, when a mixer could do all of that hard work for you.

• Small Bread Mixer (7-loaf capacity): Great for batches up to 7 loaves. It's quicker than mixing by hand, easier on your body, and it mixes the dough well, helping the gluten align early. I love that I can mix at counter height, which is easier on my back when removing the dough (vs. large commercial mixers that sit on the floor). I also love that the batches are a manageable size-no lugging huge bulk-fermentation bins around-so they ferment at a reasonable speed. Cleanup is simple: the bowl and tools are removable, fit in a standard sink, and can go in the dishwasher; a quick wipe of the base finishes the job.

Here are the links for the mixers I own, love and recommend: the one with the white plastic bowl or the one with a black, stainless steel bowl. Use code MARIA for a discount and free shipping.

• Large Spiral Mixer: Ideal for bulk production, a spiral mixer can handle large batches of 12+ loaves. However, it comes with challenges: longer mixing times, removing the dough from it can be hard on your body (as I experienced myself with mine), heavy bins that are difficult to move, and a non-removable bowl that's harder to clean.

- Coil Folds and Bulk Fermentation

Even when working with large batches and mixers, I still recommend doing 2-4 sets of coil folds to develop layers upon layers of a strong gluten network. Set timers and write down the times when you performed the coil folds and when you expect bulk fermentation to end and shaping to start.

Monitor the dough's progress using one of these methods:

• Temperature Control: Bulk fermentation depends on temperature, so keep an eye on the dough bin. The optimal range is around 75-80°F (24-27°C). If your space is too warm, fermentation will speed up, and if it's too cool, it will slow down.

Use The Sourdough Journey Chart to track the stages of fermentation and adjust timing based on dough behavior.

• Aliquot Method: Place 40g of dough in a 2oz clear container. When the dough reaches the lid, the entire batch is ready for dividing and shaping. You can learn more about this method from Kristen, Audrey or Hannah.

- Adding Inclusions

In bulk batches, you can add inclusions in two ways:

• During bulk fermentation: Mix dry inclusions directly into the dough bin during the second set of coil folds.
• During lamination: After dividing the dough, gently laminate to incorporate inclusions evenly. This is mostly done with wet inclusions like Nutella, cinnamon sugar, etc.

- Shaping and Bench Rest

When dividing and shaping dough, work quickly to prevent overproofing.

• First Shape: Pre-shape the dough into rounds and allow them to rest on the bench for 20-30 minutes.

I like to keep them uncovered. This way they develop a bit of a skin that allows me to easily shape the dough into it's final shape without any sticking to my hands.

• Final Shape: Once the bench rest is complete, perform the final shaping and transfer the loaves seam down to greased or lined loaf pans or seam up to lined or floured proofing baskets or bannetons.

- Proofing

• Cold Proofing: Place shaped loaves in the fridge for overnight proofing. This slows fermentation, enhances flavor, and gives you flexibility when baking multiple batches.

I keep my fridge between 34-36F. Most real bakeries don't cover their loaves in the fridge, but this is totally up to you. I often don't cover them, which makes them dry a little and develop a bit of a skin. This is totally ok for up to 24 hours, but if you are cold proofing longer than that I do recommend using plastic caps to cover your loaves and ensure they do not dry up in the fridge.

• Counter or Ambiance Proofing: You can also proof on the counter at room temperature, but only if you are baking the same day. I have done this whenever I am baking late at night, for a farmers market I have in the morning.

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Baking Day

Bake day is here. For my sourdough bakery, it's also the day when my customer pickup their orders and get to take home my bread and bakes. I usually do this on Thursdays.

- Techniques for Bulk Baking Success

Baking multiple loaves at once requires the right technique and equipment to ensure even baking and crust development. Here are several methods you can use:

• Using my viral Two-Pan Method (up to 12 loaves at once in one home oven): Cover each loaf pan with an identical loaf pan to bake multiple loaves efficiently.
• Open Bake (up to 8 loaves): Bake loaves directly on a baking stone or steel without a cover. Add steam using a water tray or by spritzing the oven.
• Roasters (up to 6 loaves): Use covered roasting pans as an alternative to Dutch ovens for steam retention.
• Commercial Oven: If you're ready to scale up further, consider investing in a commercial bread oven like the Pico Plus, Rack Master, Rofco, or Forno Ovens.

- Cooling and Packaging

After baking, transfer loaves to wire racks and allow them to cool for at least 3 hours before packaging. Cooling is crucial to prevent condensation inside the bags, which can lead to a soggy crust.

While they are cooling, you can get the packaging ready, or setup your pickup location (your bakery stand, porch, etc) -if you didn't do this during your Prep Day or Dough Day.

I typically bake cookies while the bread cools down, as well.

Then I package everything and set it outside for my customers to pickup between 4 and 8 pm.

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Cleaning and Make Up Day

For me Fridays are all about deep cleaning and reorganizing everything, but to be 100% transparent with you, this is one thing I am happy to outsource. It means a little less income for me, but I make it up in other ways - Read my article on Other Ways To Earn Money As A Home Baker.

Since I film everything I do while I prep, mix and bake, I usually edit and schedule content on Fridays.

The reason I like having my bake & pickup day on Thursdays is so that I can have Fridays in case something went wrong and I need to remake an order. It happens more often that I wish to admit, not gonna lie.

As a busy mom of 5, my brain is a little fried and sometimes I forget stuff. Hey I'm human and that's the secret ingredient that makes my bread and bakes so good and better than anything my customers could buy at a store.

If I didn't mess anything up, then I give myself a pat on the back and a well deserved rest & recovery day.

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Final Tips For Bulk Prep, Mix And Bake Days

• Stay organized: Pre-prep everything to avoid scrambling during critical stages. Write things down, because I always surprise myself with stuff I forget lol
• Stay flexible: Adjust based on temperature, humidity, and even stuff like real life. I am always fitting in school performances or a surprise pickup when a kid falls at recess.
• Set timers for everything: Mix, folds, bulk, bakes, deliveries. I use multiple alarms so nothing slips when the kitchen gets busy.
• Label like a pro: Sticky notes on ingredient bins, bulk fermentation bins, baking trays, etc. Future you will be very grateful.
• Stage your space: Sheet pans and loaf pans lined and waiting, racks cleared, parchment cut, scoops and scales out. The less you hunt for tools, the smoother it goes.
• Clean as you go: Quick wipe, quick dish load, keep the sink clear. A tidy station keeps the pace calm and steady.

And hey, you have got this. With a little planning and a few good habits, you will stay consistent, work faster, and grow your home bakery without losing quality or your sanity.