There are tons of great bread making resources. A beginner is really well served at King Arthur: Creating a starter: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2012/

There are tons of great bread making resources. A beginner is really well served at King Arthur: Creating a starter: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2012/04/05/creating-your-own-sourdough-starter-the-path-to-great-bread https://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2012/04/05/creating-you... Maintaining a starter: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2012/04/08/maintaining-your-sourdough-starter-food-water-and-time https://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2012/04/08/maintaining-... and the remainder of the starter-specific articles under the tag https://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/tag/sourdough-starter https://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/tag/sourdough-starter Anyone starting out should also try a no-knead preparation. The NY Times's recipe is famous: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11376-no-knead-bread https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11376-no-knead-bread If you have a large enough dutch oven with a lid, those trap steam and you don't have to have a tray of water in the oven.