There are many different types of sourdough bread, but they all have one thing in common. Sourdough bread needs to cool for more extended periods before being sliced. This is unlike other homemade and commercially made loaves of bread, which you can slice shortly after baking.

With many homemade bread types, a 2 lb loaf may need only a couple of hours to cool. A similar size of sourdough bread will require at least double that time to be ready to cut. The time period can even extend beyond that, as sourdough bread will still be cooking even as it cools to room temperature. Therefore, making the premature cut of the sourdough is, in essence, a way to ruin the integrity of the bread, causing it to appear jelly-like and not completely done because, well, it isn’t. 

As we mentioned earlier, while the minimum time required to cool is six hours, it may still not be enough for all types of sourdough. Bread recipes made with wholegrains retain moisture at a higher rate than regular flour. When making sourdough bread with like rye flour, it could take at least 24, and possibly up to 48 hours for the bread to be cool enough to slice.