Sourdough for a small kitchen: what equipment is actually necessary?

Sourdough for a small kitchen: what equipment is actually necessary?

I've been wanting to get more serious about sourdough, but I live in a pretty small kitchen and I'm interested in keeping things practical rather than accumulating a pile of specialized equipment.

For people who have been baking sourdough for a while: what equipment do you actually consider essential?

I'm especially curious about things like Dutch ovens, bannetons, kitchen scales, dough scrapers, proofing containers, bread lames, baking stones/steels, and all the other gadgets that seem to multiply once you start looking at sourdough supplies.

What do you use constantly, what turned out to be unnecessary, and what inexpensive or improvised substitutes work just as well?

I'd also love to hear from people baking in small kitchens, apartments, or without a dedicated bread-baking setup. What have you figured out that makes sourdough easier without turning your kitchen into a bakery?

I'm much more interested in learning the reasoning behind the equipment choices than just getting a shopping list. 🙂

For equipment, for starters, you'll need a bowl that will fit however much dough you'll be working with. 5 litres (5 quarts) is a good size for up to 3 whole grain loaves (but 1or 2 loaves are easier to manage with this size), 10 litres (2 1/2 gallons) is good for larger batches. I use stainless steel ones from the catering shop, which get used for all kinds of things.

Then you'll need something to proof your bread in: either loaf pans if you're doing pan loaves, or a bowl and a tea towel if doing dutch oven bread. I like using a 3L (3 quart) pyrex bowl and a linen tea towel, again, these two things get used for many purposes.

For baking, either the loaf pan that you've proofed it in, or a cast iron dutch oven. 5 litres (5 quarts) is a good size to have, because you can bake large boules as well as small ones, and it's a great size for many other things, but you can go as low as 3.5 quarts if you're only baking small loaves.

I prefer to weigh my ingredients, so I find a kitchen scale is useful (I use a non-electric one), but, I write my recipes with dual measurements, and many other bakers do too, so you can use a measuring cup as well if you want. The scale gets used for preserving food as well and all kinds of baking.

For scoring bread, when I do it (I don't usually), I use a steak knife.

So my basic list is all stuff that I use for other purposes as well as bread. I got into baking on a very tiny budget, and just used stuff that I already had, rather than going out and buying a bunch of single-purpose baking gear, and you can bake beautiful bread with this minimalist setup.

Chiming in to say, I've not bought any extra equipment to start making & using sourdough.  I like to use a Kilner jar covered by a damp muslin cloth for my starter, but I already had those.  A bowl covered with a damp, clean tea towel would do as well, I think?

By all means not an expert.

Ashley said, "I'm especially curious about things like Dutch ovens, bannetons, kitchen scales, dough scrapers, proofing containers, bread lames, baking stones/steels, and all the other gadgets that seem to multiply once you start looking at sourdough supplies.

I feel that all these are unnecessary.

Folks don't even need a loaf pan.  Brad can be made on a baking sheet or oven proof bowl.

1. A glass jar for the starter. No need for fancy ones.
2. A large mixing bowl, plate large enough to cover the bowl or a clean towel.
3. dough whisk - totally not necessary, but I like using it.
4. plastic/silicone bowl scraper - not necessary at all. I use a spoon if needed.
5. dough scraper/cutter (metal) - nice to have, but also not necessary. I had one gifted, so I use it.
6. scale - I resisted buying one for years, but it doesn't take up much room and I prefer using it. Not strictly necessary.
7. banneton - not strictly necessary. I then ended up buying one anyway and later getting a linen cloth liner for it. Any bowl lined with a well-floured cotton/linen towel works.
8. some sort of vessel to bake the bread; does not have to be a dutch oven or baking stone unless you already own one. I use a rometopf clay pot. This is where specialized version would cost the most and take up a lot of room in storage.
9. Lame - not necessary. Use a sharp knife.
10. Special proofing chambers - not necessary.
11. Thermometer to stick inside the bread to check if ready - not necessary, but you may already have one.
11. Cooling rack - you may already have, not strictly necessary.
12. Large cutting board or other large clean surface for shaping.
13. Parchment paper - not necessary. I use sunflower seeds and oats to prevent sticking. But depends on your cooking vessel.
14. Time, patience, energy - absolutely necessary.


You could absolutely just start with the absolute basics (jar, bowl, towels, baking vessel) and then figure out if you need any specialized equipment. Different people have different needs and I found that I did too much research before finally getting started.

I've been baking for years, so when I started baking sourdough bread, there were really only 2 things I bought:

My son swiped my large oval cast iron Dutch oven, so I replaced it with a smaller round one because I was mostly just making bread for me.

Sigh... then when he killed his sourdough starter, he decided I was his bread producer and brought back the large oval Dutch oven, so now I'm back to making big loaves, with the option of making 2 at once if needed.

The one thing not mentioned, which I really find essential, is a nice, long, serrated "bread" knife. Mine is only a 8" (20cm) blade and I wouldn't want it any shorter. Quality is not cheap where knives are concerned, although occasionally available second hand. However, a well-cared for knife is a lifetime purchase - I bought my favorite kitchen knife on sale 35 years ago and use it daily! The bread knife is a "new" purchase - only 12 years old if I recall correctly and it too, gets used daily.

In the serendipity department, my DiL bought me a stainless steel chain mail "scrubby" - fairly large rings. It didn't work for the task I was hoping to use it for, but it does an awesome job of cleaning uncooked sourdough bits off bowls! I always clean the bowl with just water, then tip it onto a deserving plant, because raw flour and water pipes don't play nice together. The scrubby I used to use, hung onto the sticky dough - transferring it to the scrubby rather than emulsifying it into the water.  Not helpful! Absolutely not "necessary", but worth mentioning.