The equipment I would actually buy for baking sourdough at home - and the things you can safely leave until later.
From my kitchenI own and use one of each
Honest opinionsEvery item lists its downsides
By Steven · Updated September 2026
Eight things. A stand mixer is not one of them.
There is a lot of sourdough equipment for sale, and most of it is a nice-to-have rather than a need-to-have. This page is the short list: eight things I own, use and would buy again. For each one there are notes on what it does, what irritates me about it, and whether it is needed at all.
For example, you do not need a stand mixer. You do not need a ceramic crock. You do not need a purpose-made baker's blade: it is the same blade shavers buy a hundred at a time. And the thing that changes the loaf most is a heavy pot with a lid, not a machine. Some of those extras will make the job easier, and they are certainly nice to own, but you can make a fabulous loaf at home without them.
If you are starting from nothing, buy the ones marked Buy first and leave the rest until you have baked a few loaves.
Everything in this kit, in the order you meet it.
All eight items in the order you meet them. The four marked Buy first are where to start; the rest can wait. Every one has a full review a click away.
Cost is relative to this kit: Budget is the cheap end of what it needs, Premium is where the real money goes.
Check the cupboard first.
Already have accurate scales, a heavy pot with a lid, a couple of bowls or a clear tub? Use them. This is a buying order, not an inventory of everything a loaf needs.
Where to spend, where to save.
Spend on the pot and the scales; between them they do most of the work. Save everywhere else. The blades, the tub and the knife are all places where the cheap answer is the right answer, and the whole list still comes to less than one stand mixer.
01
Mix. Start with the ratios.
Get the numbers right and everything downstream gets easier.
A year in and still on the original charge cycle
Buy firstBudgetGood gift
Digital scales
BOMATA · 0.1g precision · 5kg · USB-C charging
Everything else on this page assumes you are working by weight.
Sourdough is defined by its ratios: the water as a percentage of the flour, the salt against the flour, the starter fed by weight rather than by eye. Get into the habit of weighing all four and a loaf becomes repeatable, and a loaf that goes wrong becomes diagnosable.
The catchThe tare button sometimes needs a second press before it re-zeroes
Weigh everything, the water included. That is the whole change.
They look essentially as they did new
Mid rangeGood gift
Stainless mixing bowls
Wildone · stainless steel · five nesting bowls with lids
The big one is where the dough lives, not just where you mix it.
A sourdough spends hours in the bowl, through the rests and the sets of stretches and folds, so the largest one earns its place long after the mixing is done. Its lid means no clingfilm and no tea towel drying the surface, and the non-slip base holds it still when you have one hand in the dough and nothing in the other.
The catchFive bowls, and realistically you will use two for baking
One big enough to ferment in, two small enough to weigh into. Yours will probably do.
02
Ferment. Watch the rise.
Hours where nothing appears to happen, and the part that makes it sourdough.
At least three years of use
Budget
Clear round starter tub
Any tub · clear, round, straight-sided · taller than you think you need
The only thing here you handle in a week when you do not bake.
A starter is fed whether or not there is a loaf coming. It wants enough headroom for a lively climb, and it wants to go into the fridge unchanged when you are away, which is how a starter survives a fortnight without you.
The catchThe airtight seal is the one feature you mostly cannot use
Any clear tub with room to climb. This is not a thing to shop for.
03
Shape. Give the loaf some structure.
Where the loaf either holds its shape or spreads.
Three years of use, dishwasher every time
Buy firstBudgetGood gift
Dough scrapers
Vicloon · rigid steel for the bench · curved flexible plastic for the bowl
Your hands will do the job. A scraper is just quicker.
One steel for the bench, two identical plastic for the bowl, so there is always a clean one to hand. You can work sourdough with your hands perfectly well, so these are a convenience rather than a rescue: what they buy you is speed between the bowl and the basket, and less dough left behind on both.
The catchThe plastic scrapers are stiffer than ideal for a straight-sided bowl
Three pieces, two jobs, and never having to stop and wash one.
Tea towel in a bowl: tried twice, creased twice.
Three years of use, both baskets as good as new
Buy firstBudgetGood gift
Oval bannetons
ifsecond · two oval cane baskets · covers included
A little structure goes a long way.
Sourdough proves for hours and a slack dough will spread sideways given nothing to push against. A cane basket holds it upright, and leaves the spiral on the crust while it is at it. Two of them means the second loaf is not waiting on the first coming out of the oven.
The catchDough stuck to bare cane is genuinely awkward to get out of the weave
Two minutes of work that decide what the loaf looks like.
Years of regular baking
Buy firstBudgetGood gift
Enamelled cast iron pot
Amazon Basics · 5.7L · round, with lid
The biggest single change to how the loaf comes out.
A home oven has no steam injection and no stone floor, so the loaf sets early, stays pale and rises less. A lid over a preheated cast iron pot traps the steam the dough gives off and holds it there for the first half of the bake; take the lid off and the crust colours.
The catchWhite enamel stains badly. Ours has gone from cream to dark mahogany in places
Scoring is the last thing you do before the loaf goes in, and it decides where the crust opens rather than leaving it to tear along whatever seam is weakest. It wants an edge thin enough to part the dough instead of dragging it, which a kitchen knife is not. Dust the top with flour first and the cut stays clean.
The catchLoose razor blades in a kitchen need storing somewhere deliberate
Anyone who wants their loaf to open where intended
The shaving aisle sells the same blade for a fraction of the baking one.
05
Slice. The last thing that can go wrong.
The loaf is not finished until it is sliced.
About eight months of use, my own IKEA knife
BudgetGood gift
Serrated bread knife
Any sharp serrated knife · at least nine inches
Sharp matters more than the name.
A sourdough crust is tougher than a shop loaf's, and the base is tougher still after sitting on the floor of a hot pot. A blunt serrated edge struggles to start the cut and struggles more to finish it, and crushes the crumb on the way through. Nine inches clears a 500g loaf in one pass.
The catchA serrated edge cannot practically be sharpened at home
Let the loaf cool completely. That matters more than the knife.
Common questions
Do I need a stand mixer for sourdough?
No. This is worth being blunt about, a stand mixer is by far the most expensive thing anyone will try to sell you for bread baking. Yes they can help, yes it removes the manual effort, but sourdough doesn't need the level of work yeasted dough does, so unless you need them for other things asside from sourdough, I'd avoid these.
Sourdough is not kneaded in the way an enriched dough is. You mix it, you let it rest, and you do a few sets of stretches and folds over the first couple of hours. There is no long kneading stage for a machine to save you from. A stand mixer earns its place with brioche, cakes and large batches - it does not earn its place with a single sourdough loaf.
We own one. It rarely comes out for sourdough. If you are choosing between a stand mixer and everything else on this page, buy everything else on this page and you will still have money left.
Can I cut the loaf while it is still warm?
You can, but you should not, and this is the hardest rule to follow in sourdough baking.
A loaf is still cooking when it comes out of the oven. The interior continues to set as it cools, and cutting into it early gives you a gummy, compressed crumb rather than an open one. The flavour is still developing too - a sourdough that has cooled completely tastes noticeably more of itself than one cut hot.
Wait. It is worth it, even when there is butter on the side ready to go - give it time to cool and thank me later!
How do I revive a day-old sourdough loaf?
Wet it and put it back in the oven.
Sprinkle water liberally over the crust - you can run it briefly under the tap if you are feeling confident - then bake at around 180C for around five to seven minutes. It comes out with a softer, fresher crust and a texture much closer to the day it was baked.
This also makes an older loaf far easier to slice, because the crust stiffens as it stales and a hard base crust is what blunt bread knives struggle with most.
What is the one thing that makes the biggest difference?
A covered cast iron pot, closely followed by scales.
A professional bread oven injects steam at the start of the bake, which keeps the crust soft long enough for the loaf to expand properly before it sets. A covered pot does the same job by trapping the steam the dough gives off. Bake the same dough uncovered on a tray and it will set early, stay pale and rise less.
It is the single piece of equipment that most changes how the finished loaf looks.
Good kit helps. Good habits help more.
Weigh your water, let the loaf cool, and pay attention to what your starter is doing. None of that costs anything. Buy the ones marked Buy first, bake a few loaves, and come back for the rest when you know what you are missing.
