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
Wow! Thank you! Foolishly, we decided we couldn’t wait until warmer weather to try your “beginner’s sour dough.” I say ‘foolishly’ because it’s still winter here, and 65 degrees in the house isn’t conducive to bread baking. Despite that, and despite interruptions (surprise Covid shot appointments, etc), the result was unbelievably good. We used KA bread flour and a locally produced, heirloom, whole grain flour. We were slightly apprehensive that “bread flour” might produce a seriously chewy bread, but not at all. It is perfect. The only change we’ll make for the next time will be to divide the dough into 3 proofing baskets. The loaves are pretty large for 2 seniors to eat in a short time. We have the baskets, so this is no problem.
So glad to hear they turned out great, guys! That’s part of the challenge with baking, but also part of the fun: adjusting on the fly as things come up and relying on your instinct with how the dough is progressing to still make it through the bake. So many times things have come up here and I’ve had to pivot and make it work. Usually works out ok, too 🙂 Enjoy!
I appreciate your website and your explanations. I read your explanation of Levain because I’ve been puzzled by the distinction between starter and Levain. My interpretation is slightly different from yours.
I make sourdough maybe once a week and sometimes only once a month. I feed my starter twice a day. My starter tends to become more sour over time. When a small a small amount of “older and sour” starter is combined with larger amounts of flour and water (on the morning of making bread) to create Levain, the result is much “younger and milder” than the starter. This process avoids much of the sourness and brings forward the flavors of the grain. The starter is also refreshed by using the excess Levain as the new starter.
I think our process is similar! Using the leftover levain to continue the starter works as well, I used to do that. Nowadays, I simply keep my starter separate, mostly because I’m afraid I might forget to keep that bit of levain going 🙂
So many ways to make great bread!
Ciao Maurizio!!
Thanks for your the amazing articles…
My wife would like to have bread with onions, a recipe typical from Sardinia. Do you have any tip on when I should add the onion? I think I could do it during the pre-shape step but I wanted to get the feedback from the master 🙂
Thanks a lot!
Ciao! I’ve never made bread with onions, believe it or not! Typically I like to add inclusions in during bulk fermentation, near the beginning. That’s where I’d add them 🙂
You have a new challenge then 😀😅 I will try it as you suggest… Thanks a lot!
So… I tried and it worked 😀 Actually it came out pretty good.
I used the Beginner sourdough bread recipe as the base for it and I added sliced onions along with the salt (after the autolyse). The beginner recipe does not have a very high hydration so it was good because onions will release some water. The only thing I would change next time is that I will chop the onions…and maybe add some olives as well 😉
So great to hear that!! Sounds delicious, I need to give it a try.
Attempt number 2 🙂
This time I used chopped onions and sliced black olives 🙂 So good!!!!!!!
Excellent, Gianluigi!
Maurizio: I loved your article on preferments. It was very informative. My question involves converting a yeast-based recipe to one that uses a sourdough preferment along with the yeast. Because I am addicted to them, I have been baking Bialys, using a Jeffrey Hamelman recipe from his book – 2nd edition pp 332 and 333. I’d like to add a preferment to that recipe to kick up flavor and shelf-life. I’m thinking I can just make a preferment, subtract water and flour from the dough mix and make the final dough with preferment. Where I get bogged down is deciding how much preferment to use and how much mature starter to use in the preferment. Also, do I need to adjust the yeast in the recipe to allow for leavening power of preferment. Any help wiould be greatly apprecieted.
Hey, Peter! I plan to work on bialys here at some point. I have very little experience in working with instant yeast, but what you’re saying is the approach I’d take. You could take a look at Hamelman’s book for any recipe where he makes a poolish (baguettes are common), that should give you an idea how to build a preferment for the bialy!
Thanks for the tip. I’ll give it a try. Would love to get your take on sourdough bialys, By the way, this weekend I made your sunflower/sesame sourdough bread. The result was absolutely spectacular! I didn’t have black sesame seeds, so I used toasted white seeds without soaking them (no hulls). The flavor was excellent, but I now need to go again for the black seeds. The end result of all this is that my friends are all enjoying the fruits of my learning experiments. Give a man a loaf of sourdough bread and you’ll feed him for a day or so. Teach him to bake sourdough and he’ll gain 10 pounds in a month.
Hi Maurizio,
I love your recipes and knowledge…thanks for sharing them! I’m a new bread maker and I’m lucky to have a Miele steam oven. Have you ever used something like that to bake bread? If so, what do you think of it? I’ve been using it and most of my loaves come out looking great…some have been very dense but I think that has to do with other newbie issues.
Thanks!
Allie
Hey, Allie! You’re very welcome. I’ve never used one of Miele’s ovens, but I sure wish I had one! It should work very well. It sounds like perhaps your dough might have been under proofed, which is a common issue with results like that. I’d say yes, your oven should be fine!
Hi Maurizio,
I’m having an issue with the sunflower/sesame seed bread. The first time I made it it was fantastic and there were no problems, but the second time the dough seemed to lose its gluten flexibility and felt dead in my hands. I ended up putting the dough to rise overnight in bread pans and it was very dense but flavorful. I’m now starting the bulk fermentation and when I addled the salt the dough started to lose its flexibility and the feeling of it being alive. I did a bunch of stretch and folds and finally put it in the bowl to continue the fermentation. I’m feeling discouraged and think I’m on the same path as last time. How can I get the gluten formation to pick up and get rid of the sticky-ness ?
That’s interesting, Jane! Just to be sure, make sure you’re adding salt at the mix stage, and not during bulk fermentation. Adding salt will cause the dough to tighten up, that’s one of the effects salt has on dough. But it shouldn’t be super excessive, your dough should still feel just fine (although a bit more elastic). Are you making sure your dough is kept warm and around the final dough temp I have listed in the post? If you use your starter and levain at the right time (when ripe), and the dough is warm, you should see plenty of rise during bulk fermentation.
Hello Maurizio! Wonderful to have just found your site! Sounds like you know your stuff, regarding actual sourdough. I’ve found too many sites saying that in making starter, you use flour, and milk and/or sugar and/or (heaven forbid) yeast! I’m only a few weeks into both a whole grain starter & a gluten-free starter. I’ve been feeding 1/4 cup flour & 2-3 TBS water AM & PM, and discarding once a day. I now have way too much discard and way too much starter (as in, I will never use this much). This evening, I’m going to take these down to the small measurements you’ve explained on your site … so suggestions of how to dispose of the discard? Thank you so much for all this great info! I will be looking for that book!
Hey, Tess! Glad to have you here and thanks for the kind words. Yes, I have lots of great stuff to do with the discard; check out my page on using sourdough starter discard for things like banana bread, waffles, pancakes, etc. They’re all fantastic. Happy baking!
Here’s a fun question: What temperature do you use for bassinage water that is being mixed in a large mixer (Estella)
Best,
Elena
What I typically do is take the temp of the dough in the mixer before adding the bassinage water. If it’s below my FDT, I know that I might need to warm that bassinage water as a last minute adjustment (and conversely, if the dough is warm, I can use cooler water). But, you must also take into account your mixer: in your experience, will it warm the dough during this last bit of mixing? If so, factor that into the water temperature as well.
Hi Maurizio! I love your site and recipes! I thought I’ve seen posts of your Sourdough English Muffins and can’t find the recipe. Do you have one? Thank You
Thanks, Susan! I don’t have a recipe for English muffins up just yet, but it is something I’ve been working on! It’s not quite ready yet, they are finicky little things 🙂
Thank you for the fast response! I’ve heard that they are fussy and I’m going to finally try them. Fingers crossed!
If you made a cookbook I’d totally purchase it!
Thank you! I might be working on something 🙂 Stay tuned…
Whoa !!! That would be a treat indeed
Are you still using the Sangre de Cristo organic flour? Has the flour company changed names? Is it still available?
I haven’t been able to find it in some time, but I had heard it was available again. I’ve been wanting to check at the local co-op to see if it was back! I have also noticed they now carry Navajo Pride flour (which is local) at our Whole Foods. That’s another flour from the Southwest I’m eager to try.
I just killed my 4 year old starter!!!! I have been using your website for the last 4 years making bread. Recently I had been getting comments that my sourdough wasn’t very sour so I turned to your site and tried to work with my starter to get it up to speed (thinking thats the problem). I read that I actually didn’t need to refrigerate like I had done for years if I was going to feed often. Between working as a nurse in the ER during a pandemic and going to NP school I didn’t get a chance to feed it every day and it was left on the counter… I think today was the day of its death. It smells absolutely terrible. I tried to feed it today but it has the worst smell. Its interesting in the glass container the top and the bottom have no bubble but the middle section does. Before I throw it all away if anyone has any insight ill take it. Thank you Maurizio for all you do on here. I love creating breads that everyone loves. Oh and congrats on your aware.
Ah! I totally understand, sometimes life gets in the way, not much we can do there—it’ll be ok. As long as you don’t see any signs of mold (green/pink/fuzzy white), like you’d normally see with food that’s gone bad, it might still be just fine. If you don’t see those signs, I’d discard quite a bit of it, only leaving behind a small bit in the jar. Then do a normal refreshment and keep it at room temperature. If you have whole rye flour, use some of that to do the refreshment as well.
Try that for a few days and see how it responds. If it shows signs of mold, sad to say, it’s best to toss it out.
Keep me updated!
Congratulations on winning the best Elementor design award!
Thank you so much, Manfred! So excited to have won, incredible!
I never expected the mere mention of it to be interpreted as a dropped hint, but lo and behold, I RECEIVED A BROD & TAYLOR FOLDING PROOFER FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!
Currently proofing a biga for tomorrow’s focaccia; yesterday I made quark and it’s delicious. Thanks for the recommendation, can’t wait to proof some terrific sourdough bread to eat with a slow-cooked pork shoulder!
Sometimes planting that seed is all we need to do 🙂 Glad to hear that! I’m confident it’s going to help you in your baking. Here’s to a wonderful 2021—happy baking!
My Bagels are excellent except soft. Difficult to slice. Any suggestions?
Hey, Neil. Hmm, it could be a few things: under baked, too high of a hydration, or too much steam in the oven. I’d first try baking them a little longer. You might want to reduce the temperature if they start to color too fast, then extend the bake time–that’s where I’d start!
Thanks will try next Saturday
Tried lower temp. and baked longer. These Bagels are Great. Thanks for the suggestion
Super glad to hear that, Neil! Enjoy and thanks for reporting back 🙂
I dont see it!
Thanks (it’s fixed) and super happy to hear I’ve helped, Rob! Here’s to more awesome baking next year 🙂
That looks delicious (hence the website name 🙂). Thanks for pointing out those additional typos—now fixed. Happy New Year!
Love your Tartine Country sourdough recipe!!! But a question about starter management: If refreshing my starter every day is out of the question, how would you recommend I bring my starter to full strength a day or two prior to weekend baking?
Many thanks,. Liz
Hey, Liz! Check out my weekend baking schedule, it’s exactly what you’re looking for!
Yes it is! Sorry I hadn’t found it BEFORE asking you. You website is the ultimate in providing good information and inspiration for sourdough baking. Thanks again for all you are doing😘
No problem 🙂 Happy to help and happy baking, Liz!
Mauricio! Hi from a fellow NM baker (up in Los Alamos). This has been the year for me to finally nail my sourdough bread – after 9 years of more or less unsuccessful fiddling. Thanks to your blog I’ve also tried a bunch of other sourdough recipes. Your pancakes and pizza dough are favorites around here. But I was disappointed that I could not find a Panettone recipe here… Do you have one you recommend for this altitude? Would really appreciate suggestions. Thank you! Alex
Hey, Alex! It’s great to hear from a fellow NM resident. Also happy to hear my recipes have been working well for you! I have been working on panettone for a long, long while… But I’m not quite where I want it to be just yet. I do plan to have a recipe posted here once I get there! You could try searching online for recipes by a few Italian masters, Massari or Pepe, there are some out there 🙂
Question: How long is fresh-milled flour, well, fresh-milled? In March I ordered some high protein flour from Janie’s Mill and I have, for the most part, stored it in the fridge. At 9 months old, is it considered ‘fresh”, and how would you treat it with regard to autolyse?
Great question, Becky! When I say “freshly milled flour” I’m usually referring to flour that’s been milled within a week or so, but that’s my arbitrary cutoff and based on my experience in milling. I do notice that even if I use it after a week it’s still usually more “active” than aged flour from a mill. I would say an autolyse with that 9mo. old flour would be just fine. In fact, many bakers autolyse freshly milled flour as well with no ill effect, I just prefer not to do so.
Hi Maurizio
I follow your website with great interest. I started baking bread 18 months ago and feel I still have a long way to go. My biggest challenge is overcoming a slightly gummy inside. I’m getting the hang of working with high hydration but my bread never reaches the high temperatures suggested in the recipes. Can the inside of a loaf reach temperatures of 95-99 degrees in a domestic oven, please? My loaves do not go over 96 degrees Celcius.
Also, how can I capture more air to get a lighter loaf and a better oven spring, please? My bread tastes amazing, but I long for a lacy crumb with lots of big holes. I use stoneground flour but I do not have a mill therefore cannot my flour fresh.
Thank you for your reply and for your detailed recipes.
Best regards
Colette
Hey Colette! It’s ok if your bread doesnt go over 96C, depending on your location that may be all it will ever get to.
It sounds like perhaps your dough was slightly underproofed. There are a few indicators your dough could be under: explosive rise in the oven, dense spots in the interior with potentially scattered large holes, and a gummy texture to the interior. Finally, it’s possible the bottom of the loaf might be slightly bowed upward (like the letter “U” — the top will kind of dome).
Make sure to build your levain from a starter that’s strong and mature (meaning it’s risen to it’s peak height before you take some to use). From there, bulk fermentation is very important! Make sure your bulk fermentation goes sufficiently far, you want the dough to look smooth, it should have risen considerably, and have bubbles here and there — it should look alive. If you tug on the dough a bit it should offer resistance to your tugging, it’ll feel stronger. Give the dough the time it needs in bulk fermentation! If you have to give it another 30m or hour to see these signs, do so. It’s important for this step to go sufficiently far for the dough to have enough fermentation activity before its proof.
Thanks Maurizio … will work upon your advice and see how I get on. Best regards
Hi Maurizio;
Thanks to your Web site, I now consider myself a baker and no longer buy bread, except as research. Just made your potato rolls and they were perfect. I bought a Mockmill and hope you write more about working with it. I am not certain that I am getting the finest grind and wonder if this is the reason my 50/50 loaf doesn’t have the oven spring that yours has. I tried the pan bread, hoping that the structure of the pan would help support the rise, but still didn’t get the rise I’d like.
On another subject, last year, during a cross-country drive, I discovered the Corona BakeryGolden Crown Panderia in Albaquerque. What a find!
So glad to hear that! It’s hard to say why you’re not getting the same rise. Flour could be the issue, or it could be a proofing issue or dough strength issue… With my Mockmill, I usually mill as fine as it can possibly go. If you’re going to that level, well, that’s all we can do 🙂 Keep at it with that recipe, it’s a little challenging but you’ll notice improvements the more you bake it!
Ah yes! I’d say one of the few great bakeries here. So good!
Hi Maurizio.
I am new to sourdough, taken up to try to keep sane, during Covid. I ran across your blog and had success recently backing your Perfect loaf. Thank you for such great instructions. I have a question about freezing the sourdough. My husband and I do not go through enough bread to warrant cooking 2 loaves at a time. I ran across a post that credited you for instructions on freezing dough which said to wrap and freeze the dough prior to the final rise. I took that to mean before the final 2 hour rise. I let the dough defrost in the fridge overnight, when I took it out for the final rise it was very cold. I believe one thing that I did wrong was not letting the dough come back to room temperature before the 2 hour final rise. The bread didn’t rise as much as my first loaf and it was not cooked, doughy, inside even though the temperature was correct. Can you give me some tips on freezing the dough?
Thank you for your attention and love for sourdough!
Hey, Alice! Happy to help. I’ve actually never done what you’re describing, but I know readers here who’ve had success doing this. What I prefer doing instead is baking all the dough and then freezing the final loaf, which reheats wonderfully. Some readers have said with dough they’ll freeze it in a container that’s wrapped very well. Then thaw the dough in the fridge until very pliable. Finally, bring it out to the counter to finish proofing.
If you’re interesting in freezing a baked loaf (my preference), check out my post on storing bread.
Hope that helps, Alice!
2 salt questions. Some of your recipes call for “fine sea salt.” I just use regular table salt, nothing fancy. Is that OK? Since I’m measuring by weight, i figure they are comparable. Also, I’m trying to cut down on salt in our diet. “My Best Sourdough Recipe” calls for 19 g salt, or 2%. I add about 15g, not 19g. Is there a particular percentage of salt below which you shouldn’t go?
Thanks so much. I love this “Best” recipe. Am adding walnuts and it tastes great.
Hey, Lisa! I don’t like to use table salt because of the iodine added, to me it tastes a little off. I don’t think there’s a problem there, though. And yes, measuring by weight is the way to go! Typically, bread recipes do not dip below 1.8% salt—in fact, that’s where I’d say 95% of my recipes end up. But, if your dough baked up well then that’s great! Walnuts in bread is perhaps one of life’s greatest joys 🙂 Happy baking!
HI Maurizio
I have been having tremendous success with the simple weekday sourdough recipe. It seems to rise well and often I get an ear, but, one of the comments that people make is that it doesn’t toast well. Too heavy, they say. Is it not rising enough? I don’t have the bubbles like you do, but I am improving.
Hey, Kate! It sounds like perhaps your dough was slightly underproofed. There are a few indicators your dough could be under: explosive rise in the oven, dense spots in the interior with potentially scattered large holes, and a gummy texture to the interior. Finally, it’s possible the bottom of the loaf might be slightly bowed upward (like the letter “U” — the top will kind of dome).
Make sure to build your levain from a starter that’s strong and mature (meaning it’s risen to it’s peak height before you take some to use). From there, bulk fermentation is very important! Make sure your bulk fermentation goes sufficiently far, you want the dough to look smooth, it should have risen considerably, and have bubbles here and there — it should look alive. If you tug on the dough a bit it should offer resistance to your tugging, it’ll feel stronger. Give the dough the time it needs in bulk fermentation! If you have to give it another 30m or hour to see these signs, do so. It’s important for this step to go sufficiently far for the dough to have enough fermentation activity before its proof.
Thank you, Maurizio! I will work on the bulk fermentation first. My starter is very active and bubbly. I noticed when I did the final proof in the banneton, the dough had a few bubbles under the skin of the dough. This is an improvement for sure. So how do you know when the dough in the final rise has risen enough? And, for my starter, sometimes it triples and sometimes it doubles. I can only guess for full ripeness. Should I feed the starter again if it only raises to double?
If you’re proofing the dough overnight in the fridge, you have a larger window when you can bake the dough. In the morning, the dough should feel risen, soft, and airy. If it feels dense and lifeless, give it a little time at room temp before baking. If you’re baking with the dough proofing at room temp, give it a few gentle pokes around the surface. The dough should feel very soft and airy, but not so much it’s broken down. It takes some experience in determining these times. I always say, before you bake try to assess the dough by feeling it a little, poking, seeing how it looks. Then bake. If the dough rises dramatically (too much) then you’ve under proofed. Draw a connection between how the dough looked and felt with how that bake ended up—next time you know those signs lead to an under proofed dough.
I don’t like to go by rise height for a starter to determine when it’s ready because the flour you’re using can change how it looks. Instead, I go by a combination of signs: sour aroma, loosening consistency, bubbles at sides and top, and then I take the time and temperature into account.
Thank you!! This “see how it feels” approach totally worked. I gave my dough a bit more time out of the fridge before baking and it was incredible!!!!! Lots of holes, lovely texture and great oven spring (but not too much). I also now understand that my dough was under hydrated. Too dry, in other words. I was concerned as a newbie that the dough was too wet. But the overnight proofing in the fridge allowed the dough to absorb more moisture and still have great strength. Now all my friends can’t wait until I bake them a boule.
Right on, Kate! So glad that is now working for you. I find that overnight proof really does help firm up the dough and bake up nice the next day. Enjoy and have fun baking for your friends!
Hi Maurizio, one of my favorite recipe of yours is the Stout Country Sourdough…..beer and bread what can be any better? One question I have is level of sourdough sour taste. I would like to increase the sour level some (not san francisco level). How would I achieve a bit more tang to your recipes? Thanks
Happy to hear that, Steve! I’m actually working on a comprehensive recipe and guide page on exactly this topic with many suggestions to help get you there (not to SF sour, but to increase sourness in general). Hopefully I can have this posted here soon! Keep an eye out 🙂