Hello there, I’m Maurizio, an author and software engineer turned baker, crafting sourdough bread and pizza in Albuquerque, New Mexico for over a decade. Growing up in an Italian family, our lives revolved around good food made by hand. From my dad’s restaurant pizzas to my mom’s homemade gnocchi, I learned to appreciate slow, homemade food. Summers in Italy, filled with family meals and fresh bread hunts, further shaped this value.
The Perfect Loaf, which I founded in 2013, combines my analytical mind with my passion for good food and shares my sourdough journey. Sourdough bread embodies my belief that exceptional taste comes from patience and natural processes. It’s not about complicated techniques, but about giving flavors time to develop.
Here, I aim to help you become a better baker, as I constantly evolve in the kitchen. I’m constantly learning, experimenting, and sharing insights – because if I’m not baking sourdough, I’m probably thinking about it, always in pursuit of that elusive perfect loaf.
He strives for perfection, for the perfect loaf, secretly hoping never to attain it — for where would he go from there?
Jeffrey Hamelman
If you have a burning baking question, I usually hang out with many like-minded—and very helpful!—bakers on The Perfect Loaf’s Discord, where you can post questions, comments, and photos. Come join the community and ask a question.
Or, email Maurizio directly.
The Perfect Loaf is the leading independent sourdough baking website and was launched in 2013 by home baker Maurizio Leo.
The Perfect Loaf is a two-time Saveur Magazine Blog Award winner, winning both Editors’ and Readers’ Choice Awards in 2016, and a Readers’ Choice Award in 2018. In 2019, The Perfect Loaf was nominated for a Webby Award.
In 2022, Maurizio’s cookbook, The Perfect Loaf: The Craft and Science of Sourdough Breads, Sweets, and More, made the New York Times’ bestseller list.
The Perfect Loaf cookbook won a 2023 James Beard Foundation Book Award in the Bread category and a 2023 IACP Cookbook Award in the Baking category.
As an Amazon Influencer, The Perfect Loaf earns from qualifying purchases. Please see the policy for more.
477 Comments
Ordered The Perfect Loaf, hopefully it'll arrive today!… it's a bank holiday this weekend in Ireland so I cant wait to get going.
Amazing, Pat. I hope you love it! Let me know what you think after you've read through 🙂
Hello – I’m new! I have your cookbook and just found this awesome resource. Thank you! I’d really like to only bake one loaf at a time to start… should I just 1/2 the recipes? Do I 1/2 what I feed my starter too? I’m starting with the beginner’s sourdough. Thank you
Yup, you can halve all the ingredients for a recipe and bake just one loaf. (You'll also want to halve the levain ingredients, too.)
Hi Maurizio, the Search button doesn't seem to be working 🙁
Hey there! Give the site a hard refresh (CMD+R), it should show back up! I'll look into this and make sure all is okay, but looks good on my end. Let me know if you're still having trouble!
Hi there! I love your recipes and techniques, and every weekend I take my 9yo starter on so many new (and traditional) adventures. Question though: every recipe I’ve done turns out amazing, but the end product is gargantuan! I mean massive, seriously. They’re incredible, and I follow everything to a tee… it’s just whatever the loaf or bun or roll or something it is, they turn out huge! At first I thought it was an over-proof, but temp, time, signs…all correct. Then I thought it was maybe these recipes just made bigger-than-usual items, but when I got to recipes that called for one sheet pan or a specific pan that, by all accounts, should have held the volume, they all don’t really “contain” my doughs like I’d expect. I made English muffins today, 12 total, and what started as 85g – 6 W x 0.85cm H post warm proof balls became 11.5 W x 4.5cm H final cooked and I had to force them to fit into the half sheet pan to bake. They are amazing with all the nooks and crannies! Delicious!! Just really big! I’ve had to reduce many recipes to 80% formulas, which has been great, but now the question: is it possible that my starter is just….more active, or is this completely normal?? Is mine releasing more gases?? I’ve used so many other fresh and dry yeasts that don’t do this, but whenever I use my starter, it seems like he really over performs. He is a natural starter and I know there are millions of types of yeasts…I don’t know the science though. As I said, the products turn out right, just BIG. Wondering what’s going on here! Thanks!
Hey there Christine! It's hard to say exactly what's happening, but if you're seeing tons of rise and explosive oven spring, it can usually be from underproofing. I would have to see the interior crumb to help determine this though! But regarding your starter strength, totally possible it's very strong if you've kept it in good condition with proper maintenance—in fact, many would be jealous of this 🙂
Maurizio, Got the email regarding renewal invoice and noticed that the credit card number on file was outdated. I have entered the correct card number in my account.
Thanks so much, Dan! If you're ever having issues, please feel free to email me maurizio (at) theperfectloaf.com.
nice
Hello Maurizio,
I have been baking Sourdough bread for a year and a half now and have kept book on all 156 loaves so far. Started with Dutch ovens and am now baking on steel with steam. Love my Italian Famag spiral mixer but still enjoy mixing by hand when only making 1 or 2 loaves. It's been fun from the start and although my bread didn't always look the best, it tasted great. Thanks to your book "The Perfect Loaf" I have learned so much and continue learning from all the fine articles you have published. Having lived in Europe, I fell in love with their breads and had to learn to make my own and am still learning.
Thank you so much,
Ron Smith
Means a great deal to hear all of this, Ron, thank you. Sounds like you're definitely on the right track here with your baking, I love it!
Hello Maurizio,
Here I am on your site and I’m terrified! Haha
I’m going to open up a micro bakery but want to learn how to make sourdough bread. I’ve heard you are the Best. Coming from an Italian family, myself, I always remember my grandmother in the kitchen making wonderful memories. I wish I was old enough to learn back then. But, it’s never too late. I have looked at recipes for sourdough and have talked with those who have made it; this is what is so terrifying. It appears to be so very difficult. Any pointers on where I should start would be most welcoming.
Grazie,
Andrea Antonelli
Hey there, Andrea! That is a big venture, for sure, but you can do it! Maybe start small and scale up over time based on demand, that is what I would do (and I have thought about it many, many times over the years). Pick one or two recipes that are your core offerings, and really nail those down so you can produce that bread consistently each week.
If you're looking for more help, I'm always here (my email is above), or, join our membership , lots of great bakers there chatting each day! A few of which have microbakeries and beyond. Keep me posted on how it's going, here to help 🙂
I suffer with painful digestive issues for many years. I had eliminated grains from my diet. I came across a few articles that explained today's modern wheat that is labeled non-GMO. Our wheat had been modified long before the law defining non-GMO. The Ancient wheat that has not ever been altered is still available from parts of Europe. Most people that are sensitive to US wheat can eat ancient wheat.
I gave it a try, bought your book, ordered Polselli Organic wheat flour from Italy, and because I was in a hurry I bought an Italian Starter from Living Dough. I made your first loaf and pigged out. I expected to bloat up like a balloon.
Ten minutes,15, 30, 60 minutes later I was fine. I ate a slice with my eggs, still no reaction. Could this be true???
I have since made your white bread 2 times, soft Dinner Rolls, and baguettes.
The starter from Living Dough is beautiful. Her instructions said to wake her up so her name is Maggie May. I am the happiest bread lover ever.
Thank you for getting me started. My brother and nurses at the hospital are getting you book and going sourdough.
Hi Maurizio…I am your biggest fun and you are my inspiration from day one on my Sourdough journey for past 5 years. I go back and forth to different bakers, books, websites, etc. but then again ending up using your recipes and your suggestions. The outcome is always amazing, thank you!!!
I was challenged to make Italian prosciutto provolone bread. I did my home work and found some recipes. I like to combine recipes and come up with my own one, but this one looks very challenging. I don't like the dough consistency. All recipes call for lard and lager. But final bread is more like a scone than bread.
Do you have any suggestions or maybe a recipe for it? I will really appreciate your help:)
Means SO much to read that Irina, thank you! Sorry for the delay. I'm not a huge fan of using lard in bread, to be honest. I've tried it many times over the years and don't really like the flavor profile. Instead I choose to use butter or oil more often than not. It sounds like the dough needs more water to me, especially if it's dry and dense!
Hi Maurizio, Thanks for such a great website. I've baked bread for a long time and I'm just getting into sourdough bread. I've been reading tons of information on your site and have my starter stable and ready to go. I have a question, or comment, about the "Starter And Levain Calculator" page. It is confusing because there seems to be a discrepancy in the example provided. The writeup says "The desired starter can be made by mixing the outputs below in the grey boxes (50g starter, 25g flour, 25g water)." But the grey boxes show different numbers (20g starter, 40g flour, 40g water). Using Bakers Percentages, I believe the calculator numbers (20, 40, 40) are correct. Yes?
Yes, that's correct, sorry about that, Lenny. I'll fix the example!
Hello Maurizio – I tried your Simple Focaccia recipe – it was excellent first time! I see the flour, levain and water quantities are the same combination as the normal sourdough loaves I bake! Instead of adding the Olive Oil to the autolyse stage – can I add this in only when going into the bulk fermentation i.e. AFTER the 4 * 20 min turn intervals.
If yes I can then combine my normal sourdough loaves and the Focaccia in the same bake prep!
Thanks
Bill
I like the idea there, Bill, but I would be hesitant to try and add oil that much later in the process, unfortunately. It won't absorb well into the dough and you'll have to really work to get it in.
What I'd do instead, though, is mix the same dough without olive oil. Then at the very end, take out some of the dough to use as the lean (without OO) loaves and put that into a bulk container. Then add the OO to the other dough and mix it through. You'll have two different doughs in bulk fermentation, but at least you save a lot of time by mixing only a single dough.
Hope that helps!
Hello Mauizio,
I’m new to your site and I am loving the information, especially about your home milled grains. I use a Komo mill and am relearning to make sourdough bread with the home milled flour.I have a question about milling your flour. Is there a reason that you include factory milled bread in combination with your home milled flour.
Thank you,
Suzan
Hey Suzan, really great to have you here! I'll sometimes blend the two flours depending what I'm after. With aged flour I tend to get more rise and a lighter texture (but less flavor!). So I see it as the best of both worlds using both. But there is magic in a 100% freshly milled flour loaf, too. You'll find those recipes here as well.
If you haven't yet, check out my guide to working with fresh flour .
Again, great to have you here!
Hello Maurizio,
I wanted to attempt The One Day Bake. The guidance is a 10:00pm Autolyse, with the next step at 0700am. That sounds like an overnight Autolyse, yet the site cautions against it. Is the 10:00pm Autolyse to be left on the counter, refrigerated, or in a proofer (what temp) until 07:00am? Please advise.
I don't usually do an overnight autolyse. Which recipe is this you're referring to, it must be a typo. I'd imagine it should be 10am.
Hello Maurizio,
I’m a big fan of your site! It’s my go to in my sourdough bread challenge. Amazing job you’re doing and please keep it up.
I need to ask your opinion on the flour I’ve been using to bake your recipes. The flour I purchase is from a mill here in ontario(Canada) and it’s a 14 % protein content. It also does not remove anything from it(bread flour). I love the results in using your recipe with this flour,BUT, I just can’t seem to get an open crumb.. can you tell me what modifications I should make when making your best sourdough bread recipe, which is the one I use weekly. The flavor, using this flour, is exceptional. I’ve read your posts and, if I’m not mistaken, using these whole grain flours sometimes means sacrificing an open crumb. But I’d like your advice and expertise. The bread turns out the way my nonna would make it…dense, thick, but hearty and delicious. Would love to hear back. You’re amazing!
Diana
Hey Diana, thanks so much! You can make fantastic bread with high protein flour. Have you sen my guide to working with it? Check it out here:
https://www.theperfectloaf.com/sourdough-bread-high-protein-white-bread-flour/
Let me know if you have more Qs, I can help 🙂
I've been using your book "The Perfect Loaf" for two years and loving it. Is there a second book coming soon?
Thanks so much, means a lot to hear that. I have to ask, what would you look for in a second book? More bread, sweets, or something else?
More bread, flatbreads, whole grains, international breads. I’m not very interested in sweets.
I would like to see my discard recipes. I love your cookbook, I used it to make my starter from scratch. I have had the best luck with any bread using your recipes.