People ask me which channels to watch almost as often as which book to buy. I run one of the channels on this list, so keep that in mind. These are the channels I send friends to, sorted by what each one does best rather than by size. If you want the book side of this question, my honest ranking of sourdough books is here too.

Last updated: September 17, 2026. I revisit this list once a year.

How to use this list

No channel teaches everything. Some are best for your first loaf, some for understanding fermentation, some for watching a professional’s hands. I have grouped them by what they are good at, and I say which ones to skip until you are past the beginner stage.

Two rules that apply to every channel here. First, watch one full method video before you bake, not ten. Ten methods at once is how people end up with a runny starter and no idea why. Second, pair the videos with something that explains the variables. That is what The Sourdough Framework is for, and it is free. If you want a printed book instead, my comparison of sourdough books covers eight of them.

Best for your first loaf

Bake with Jack, Jack Sturgess. A former professional baker who films in a normal kitchen with normal equipment. His sourdough series takes you from starter to loaf without jargon, and his shaping videos are the clearest I know. Start here if you have never baked bread.

Grant Bakes. Short, direct, and honest about what goes wrong. Good troubleshooting videos for the first few bakes, when most problems are the same three problems.

The Perfect Loaf, Maurizio Leo. Recipe-led videos with the timeline on screen, the same calm approach as his book. The best channel if you like following a full recipe and want it to work the first time.

Best for understanding why

Foodgeek, Sune Trudslev. Sune bakes the same loaf two or three ways and changes one thing: hydration, flour, starter ratio, cold proof or not. Then he cuts them open. This is the closest thing on YouTube to a lab, and it is how I think about baking too.

The Sourdough Journey, Tom Cucuzza. Long, methodical deep dives. His videos on bulk fermentation and on reading the dough are the ones I recommend when someone’s loaves are dense and they do not know why. Not for a first bake, perfect for a tenth.

ChainBaker, Charlie. Covers yeasted breads as much as sourdough, which is a feature: you learn the fundamentals of gluten, fermentation and temperature that apply to both. Very good on the difference between what a recipe says and what a dough does.

Best for technique and hands

Culinary Exploration, Philip. Clean technique videos with a good eye for shaping, scoring and crust. Watch his shaping videos slowly, then copy the hand positions.

Full Proof Baking, Kristen Dennis. If you are chasing the very open, high-hydration crumb, this is where to learn the patient handling it needs. Do not start here; the doughs are demanding.

Proof Bread. A real bakery in Arizona filming its production, mistakes included. Not a tutorial channel, but watching hundreds of loaves shaped in a row will fix your shaping faster than any tutorial.

Broader channels worth knowing

Life by Mike G, Mike G. A cooking channel with more than five million subscribers, and excellent on fermentation and pizza dough fundamentals. I sat down with him for his eight baking tips, and most of them were about understanding the dough, not the recipe.

King Arthur Baking. The flour company’s channel. Reliable, conservative technique videos and a very large back catalog. Good for specific questions like “how do I shape a batard” when you want a plain, correct answer.

And mine

The Bread Code. I test one variable at a time, show the failures, and collect what holds up in The Sourdough Framework, which is free to read. If the channels above show you what to do, my aim is to explain why it works, so you can adapt it to your own flour and oven.

If you only watch three

• Never baked bread: Bake with Jack, then The Perfect Loaf.
• Baked a few, loaves are dense or flat: The Sourdough Journey, then Foodgeek.
• Want the open crumb: Full Proof Baking, with Culinary Exploration for shaping.

Whichever you pick, bake the same recipe three times before changing channels. Your loaves will tell you more than the next video will.