How to Shape Sourdough Bread (Boule and Batard)
Shaping is one of the most satisfying steps in the whole sourdough process — and one of the most misunderstood. A lot of bakers get their fermentation right, nail their scoring, and still end up with a flat, disappointing loaf. The culprit? Poor shaping technique.
When you shape sourdough correctly, you create what bakers call surface tension. This tight outer skin holds the dough together during proofing and baking, giving your loaf the height, structure, and open crumb you're working towards. Shape it weakly and the dough spreads sideways in the oven instead of rising upwards.
This guide covers the two most common sourdough shapes — the boule (round) and the batard (oval) — along with the critical pre-shaping step that most beginner recipes skip over.
If you're following along with our complete classic sourdough recipe, this is the step that comes right after bulk fermentation, so make sure your dough is properly fermented before you start.
Why Shaping Matters
Shaping does three important things:
- Builds surface tension — the tight outer skin that supports the loaf as it proofs and bakes.
- Redistributes gas — it gently degasses the dough so it can build structure again during the final proof.
- Sets the crumb structure — the direction you apply tension affects how the bubbles in the dough align, which influences your final crumb.
Shaping is a physical skill. It takes practice, and your first few attempts probably won't be perfect. That's completely normal. The more you bake, the more intuitive it becomes.
What You'll Need
- A clean, unfloured bench or work surface (a lightly floured surface works for beginners, but bare bench grips the dough better)
- A bench scraper
- A banneton (proofing basket) or a bowl lined with a floured cloth
- Your fully fermented dough from bulk fermentation
Step 1: Pre-Shaping
Pre-shaping is the step before the step. Many recipes leave it out, but skipping it makes the final shape harder to achieve and less effective.
After bulk fermentation, gently turn your dough out onto a clean bench. The idea here is not to degas it aggressively — you want to keep most of the gas you've built during fermentation.
The goal of pre-shaping is to create a rough round with some initial surface tension. Using your hands and a bench scraper together, you fold the dough into itself and then drag it across the bench surface — the friction between the dough and the bench is what creates tension. A few rotations, a few drags, and you should have a rough ball that holds its shape rather than spreading immediately.
This does not need to be perfect. You are simply giving the dough some initial structure to make final shaping easier.
The Bench Rest
Once pre-shaped, leave the dough uncovered on the bench for 20 to 40 minutes. This is called the bench rest. The gluten relaxes, which makes the dough easier to stretch and work with during final shaping.
If the dough is very cold, give it the full 40 minutes. If it's warm and active, aim for 20 minutes. You want the dough to feel slightly relaxed but not slouching.
Step 2: Final Shaping — The Boule
A boule is a round loaf. The name comes from the French word for "ball." It bakes well in a round Dutch oven and suits high-hydration doughs because the round shape supports the dough evenly from all sides.
The process of shaping a boule involves folding the dough in on itself to build structure, then flipping it onto the bench and using your hands and bench scraper to drag and rotate the dough, creating surface tension across the top. The finished shape should look smooth and feel firm — not pillow-soft and not tearing. If you see the surface start to tear, stop: you have built enough tension.
What you're aiming for is a ball that sits proudly on the bench rather than spreading. When you move it, it should hold its shape.
Transferring to the Banneton
Dust your banneton generously with rice flour or a 50/50 mix of rice flour and plain flour. Rice flour resists absorbing moisture from the dough and prevents sticking.
Flip your shaped boule into the banneton so the seam side is facing up. Cover the banneton and place it in the fridge for a cold proof — usually overnight.
Step 3: Final Shaping — The Batard
A batard is an oval or torpedo-shaped loaf. It suits a longer Dutch oven or an oval banneton. Many bakers find the batard produces a more open crumb because of the way tension is applied along the length of the loaf.
Shaping a batard follows a similar principle to the boule — fold to create structure, then build tension along the length of the loaf using a rolling motion. The result should be a smooth, taut oval that holds its elongated shape without the ends flopping outward.
The tension along the long axis of a batard is what gives it that dramatic spring and ear when properly scored.
Transferring to the Banneton
Use an oval banneton or a long bowl lined with a well-floured cloth. Place the batard seam side up. Cover and cold proof as above.
The Key Thing Shaping Teaches You
Surface tension is something you feel, not something you read. The moment a well-shaped loaf pulls tight under your hands — when you can feel the resistance in the skin — is a genuinely satisfying sensation that all the description in the world cannot fully convey.
This is why shaping is one of the things we put the most emphasis on in our sourdough workshops. An experienced baker watching your hands and giving real-time feedback on your technique will correct shaping issues in a single session that might otherwise take months of trial and error to identify.
Common Shaping Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)
The dough is sticking to my hands and the bench
Your dough may be too wet, or your hands aren't moving with enough confidence. Try using a damp hand on one side and using the bench scraper more aggressively to move the dough. Avoid adding more flour at this stage — it disrupts the surface tension you're trying to build.
The surface is tearing
You've built good tension but gone slightly too far. Stop shaping immediately and transfer the dough to the banneton. Tearing weakens the outer skin and can cause blowouts in the oven.
My loaf is spreading sideways instead of holding its shape
This usually means shaping is too loose — not enough tension was created. It can also mean the dough over-fermented slightly during bulk, which weakens the gluten structure. Check our guide to sourdough bulk fermentation for help reading the signs correctly.
My loaf looks fine but bakes flat
Flat baking despite a well-shaped loaf is often a scoring or steam issue rather than a shaping issue. See our guide on scoring sourdough for more.
Boule vs Batard: Which Should You Make?
Both shapes work beautifully for sourdough. Here's a simple guide to help you decide:
| Boule | Batard | |
|---|---|---|
| Shape | Round | Oval / torpedo |
| Best Dutch oven | Round | Oval or long |
| Crumb | Even, rounded holes | Often more elongated, open |
| Difficulty | Slightly easier to learn | Slightly more technique |
| Slicing | Short, round slices | Long, even slices |
If you're just starting out, the boule is more forgiving. Once you're comfortable with the technique, try a batard — many experienced bakers prefer the crumb it produces.
Practising the Technique
Shaping is one of those skills that's much easier to feel than to read about. Research on motor learning consistently shows that physical skills are best learned through repetition with feedback — and bread baking is no different.
A few things that help:
- Watch and bake — Video tutorials of shaping are genuinely useful because you can see how the dough behaves. But nothing replaces doing it yourself.
- Use lower hydration to start — A more manageable dough is more forgiving. Build your muscle memory before moving to wetter ones.
- Bake often — Each loaf teaches you something. Even a flat loaf tells you something went wrong that you can correct next time.
If you'd rather learn in person with direct feedback on your technique, our hands-on sourdough workshops cover shaping step by step — and you'll leave with a loaf you shaped yourself.
What Comes Next
Once your dough is shaped and in the banneton, you move on to the cold proof. From there, it's scoring and baking.
Here's where this step sits in the full process:
- Mix and autolyse
- Stretch and folds
- Bulk fermentation
- Pre-shape and bench rest ← you are here
- Final shaping ← and here
- Cold proof (overnight in the fridge)
- Scoring
- Baking
For the complete step-by-step walkthrough, head back to the classic sourdough bread guide.
Ready to Shape Your First Loaf?
Shaping sourdough is a skill that clicks once you've felt it in your hands. The tension, the drag, the moment the dough pulls tight — it's one of those satisfying parts of baking that no amount of reading can fully replicate.
If you want to learn it properly the first time, with guidance from an experienced baker watching your technique, come along to one of our sourdough workshops. In three hands-on hours, you'll shape, score, and bake a real sourdough loaf — and you'll know exactly what to do when you get home.
