I’ve baked this loaf, or some variant of it, so many times I’ve lost count. This bread was born when I first got my hands dirty with flour and water. Its parent—if you could call it that—was originally Chad Robertson’s Tartine loaf with his liquid levain, brought to life, not with intensive kneading, but rather a series of folds during bulk fermentation.
My best sourdough recipe has grown since then. It has developed a personality of its own as I’ve expanded my baking repertoire and investigated the many facets of baking naturally leavened sourdough. It’s taken on and lost traits from many great bakers out there, borrowing from their inspiration and giving me a direction to raise this bread into something of my own. This bread is one that doesn’t entirely taste like anything else I’ve had, and yet, still employs many of the same processes and ingredients.
That’s one of the greatest things about bread: it can taste and look dramatically different just by changing the two hands that create it. Calling this post “my best sourdough recipe” is a lofty claim, but honestly, I do believe this is the best bread I’ve made thus far.
I sometimes revisit a discussion I had with a few readers of this site and their comments: “bread is just bread, it’s something to be eaten and is something life-giving, isn’t that enough?” I agree, but when something becomes a passion for you it’s important to set lofty goals and get excited when breakthroughs are made. Isn’t that the definition of a craft and the relentless honing required?
I’ve taken my best sourdough recipe from its most nascent form to its current stage and can trace through the years each change to its formula or process — and I’m sure I’ll be changing things well into the future as it continues to evolve — a work-in-progress.
Yes it’s excessive in some way, but there’s an excessiveness to ambition as well.
John Mayer
Maybe the actual recipe for this bread isn’t the most important part, but rather, the lessons and insights learned along the way as I continually hone my baking proficiency. I’m not claiming this recipe will yield the perfect loaf every single time, but I dare say it comes the closest for me—and that’s exciting.
This bread is the bread that I want to make the most often, the one my family asks for the most often, and the one I share most often. I have a special place for whole wheat bread, and taste-wise, it might make me want to call that my favorite one day, but the versatility of this bread is pretty hard to beat. In fact, I bake this so often that my freezer has an entire shelf lined with pre-sliced loaves wrapped and in bags labeled pane perfetto.
While the actual formula for my best sourdough recipe is simply a mix of flour, water, salt, and levain, there are many nuances here to pay close attention to; here are a few key things to successfully making this bread:
- An active starter
- An autolyse
- A high hydration
- Sufficient dough strength
- A warm and complete bulk fermentation
- A long, cold proof
Before writing this post, I pulled out my trusty notebook (or use my free baker’s note sheet!) and paged through the handwritten (and flour-ridden) pages to find any scribbled “ah-ha” moments or little notes jotted down in the margin, along with a few curse words peppered throughout, and have bundled them up into this entry (sans curse words to keep it clean). A compendium of sorts containing my insights, breakthroughs, and ah-ha moments.
My best sourdough recipe doesn’t require an exotic blend of hard-to-find flour, a complicated multi-step levain build, or the use of a mechanical mixer. It’s built around making this bread in your home kitchen.
My best sourdough recipe is very highly hydrated and can be challenging. When mixing, be watchful for the signs and adjust the dough hydration to suit your environment and flour. If you’re not used to working with high-hydration dough, please start with hydration somewhere in the middle and slowly work up.
Flour Selection
I’ve tried a lot of flour out there (and am an avid user of freshly milled flour), indeed not everything there is, but I’ve ordered enough now that the UPS guy thinks I might have a bakery in my backyard. I have baked some great bread with Hayden Flour Mills, Central Milling, and Giusto’s. I’ve also had great success with King Arthur Baking high-protein white flour.
I have consistently made incredible loaves with Giusto’s flour; I only wish it were organic. Nevertheless, I find myself ordering a box of it here and there and enjoying the results every time. Of course, as I mentioned before, try whatever is local first (sadly, my source for local, organic flour is no longer available) and whatever you like.
When trying new flour, remember to hold back more water than you might otherwise, and then slowly add it in at the end of mixing or throughout bulk fermentation. Now, on to my best sourdough recipe.
Watch Me Make This From Start To Finish
I absolutely love this bread and make it often, but it can be challenging for first-time bakers. Be sure to watch my YouTube video below for a look at how I handle the dough and every step of the process.
If you’re brand new to baking sourdough, check out my Beginner’s Sourdough Bread recipe; it has in-depth information on every step in the baking process. Then come back and bake this!
My Best Sourdough Recipe
Vitals
| Total Dough Weight | 1,800 grams |
| Pre-fermented Flour | 6.4% |
| Levain percentage in final dough | 17.1% |
| Hydration | 85.0% |
| Yield | Two 900g loaves |
Total Formula
The target final dough temperature (FDT) is 78°F (25°C). This dough loves a warm ambient environment. Try to keep the dough at the listed temperatures if possible; use your oven with its light on inside, your microwave with a bowl of steaming water, or a proofer. I use my instant-read thermometer to check the dough temperature periodically throughout bulk.
For more information on how to calculate DDT, monitor temperature, and maintain temperature have a look at my post on The Importance of Dough Temperature in Baking.
| Weight | Ingredient | Baker’s Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 852g | Medium-protein bread flour (~11.5% protein, Giusto’s Artisan Bread Flour) | 90.00% |
| 94g | Whole wheat flour (Giusto’s Organic Stoneground Whole Wheat) | 10.00% |
| 710g | Water 1 | 75.00% |
| 95g | Water 2 | 10.00% |
| 17g | Salt | 1.80% |
| 30g | Ripe sourdough starter (100% hydration) | 3.20% |
As I mentioned above, my best sourdough recipe is an extremely high hydration. If this is your first time working with this recipe, reduce the total water or hold water back during mixing to ensure your dough can handle the addition. The amount of water your dough will handle will vary based on your particular flour and environment—play it safe the first few bakes and work the water up gradually once you get a feel for the dough.
My Best Sourdough Recipe Method
1. Levain – 9:00 a.m.
Build the liquid levain in the morning and store somewhere warm around 77-80°F (25-26°C) ambient for 5 hours.
| Weight | Ingredient | Baker’s Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 30g | Ripe sourdough starter (100% hydration) | 50% |
| 30g | Medium-protein bread flour (~11.5% protein, Giusto’s Artisan Bread Flour) | 50% |
| 30g | Whole wheat flour (Giusto’s Organic Stoneground Whole Wheat) | 50% |
| 60g | Water | 100% |
If you haven’t yet read through my post on my sourdough starter maintenance routine, check it out for some helpful hints on what to look for when your sourdough starter and levain are ripe and ready to use.
2. Autolyse – 12:00 p.m.
This highly hydrated dough can be mixed by hand or with a mechanical mixer (like a home spiral mixer). Either one will yield great results, but here, I’ll discuss mixing this dough by hand.
Mix the flour and water in a bowl until all the dry bits are incorporated, then cover. Ensure all the dry flour is hydrated—store near levain (we want the dough’s temperature to remain warm).
| Weight | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 822g | Medium-protein bread flour |
| 64g | Whole wheat flour |
| 650g | Water 1 |
3. Mix – 2:00 p.m.
| Weight | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 95g | Water 2 |
| 17g | Fine sea salt |
| 151g | Ripe liquid levain (see above) |
Add the ingredients to your dough in the mixing bowl that underwent an autolyse. Add the water slowly, in stages, while you’re mixing, and stop adding water if the dough feels excessively wet or soupy at any point.
Perform folds for about 2-3 minutes in the bowl. Grab under one side, pull up and over to the other side, then rotate the bowl a bit and repeat. I do this probably 30 times or so (it goes fast and easy). In the end, the dough should still be shaggy, but it will be more smooth and will start to hold itself together more in the bowl.
If you’re a fan of the slap & fold mixing technique I’ve described in the past, you can do this but be aware that it is difficult at this hydration. It’s best to first slap and fold the dough without adding all the reserved water to get the dough smooth and strong. Then, return the dough to the mixing bowl and slowly add the remaining water while folding the dough.
I find that the correct level of dough strength at this point is important. You want the dough to be smooth, elastic, and strong, but it doesn’t have to be fully developed, and it will still be shaggy. We will continue to strengthen the dough through stretch and folds in bulk fermentation.
Transfer dough to a tub or thick-walled bowl for bulk fermentation.
5. Bulk Fermentation – 2:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.
At 78°F (25°C) ambient temperature, bulk fermentation should go for about 4 hours. Perform six sets of stretch and folds during the bulk. The first three are at 15-minute intervals, and the last three are at 30-minute intervals. After these folds (2 hours and 15 minutes have gone by), let the dough rest for the remainder of bulk fermentation.
I stretch and fold more vigorously at the beginning of bulk than usual since it is extraordinarily slack and extensible (due to this recipe’s high hydration and autolyse). Pick up one side of the dough with both hands and pull it up, just before tearing, and fold it over to the other side. Rotate your container and repeat 4 or 5 times. That is one set.
Above, you can see my best sourdough recipe dough halfway through bulk, after about 2 hours. There is no significant rise as of yet, but the edges are beginning to dome downward, and the dough’s texture is smoothing out slightly. We still have several more folds to do and more strength to build.
It is essential that the dough is kept near 78°F (25°C) as much as possible (minor fluctuations up and down are ok). If temperatures dip down too far, you might have to extend the bulk fermentation duration to compensate, and vice versa. Use your judgment, the signs described below, and be flexible.
At the end of bulk, your dough should look very gassy, with some bubbles here and there, and the edges where the dough meets the bowl should be slightly domed. You can see all these signs in the image above.
When you gently shake the bowl, the entire mass jiggles from side to side—very alive. You’ll also notice that compared with the photo at the beginning of bulk, the dough is smoother and holds its edges, folds, and creases more readily (most of the bumps and ridges you see are due to trapped gasses from fermentation).
6. Divide & Preshape – 6:15 p.m.
Divide the dough into two halves and gently preshape each piece of dough into a round. Then, let the dough rest for 30 minutes, uncovered. Act quickly when handling this dough and rely heavily on your bench knife. I try to use my hands as little as possible when dealing with the dough at this point.
7. Shape – 6:45 p.m.
Lightly flour the top of your dough rounds and flour the work surface. With this recipe use a little more flour on the surface than normal, the dough will be extremely sticky and wet. Flip each round and shape into a batard (see notes below) or boule, whatever your preference.
Here’s a video of how I shape a bâtard. With this dough, be sure to use the “slack dough” shaping method since the dough is such high hydration.
I prefer to shape these as batards, and my shaping method is as follows:
- Flip pre-shaped round
- Fold the bottom up to about halfway
- Fold the left side over to about 3/4 to the right
- Fold the right side over to cover left
- Stretch top up & away from the center and fold down to about half (you’ll now have a “letter”)
- Grab a little of the dough at the sides near the top and stretch it over the center, so the dough crosses. Imagine lacing up a shoe where you first grab your laces and cross them over
- Repeat three times from top to bottom (the result will look like a laced up shoe)
- Take the bottom and gently roll the dough up to the top and try to seal it slightly when done rolling
Alternatively, if the dough feels pretty strong, you could shape it by “cinching” up the dough. For more instruction on how to shape this dough as an oblong loaf, see my post on how to shape a batard (with video!).
After shaping, let the dough rest on the bench for a few minutes and then place it into a banneton that is lightly dusted with white flour. You’ll see above my bannetons give the dough plenty of room to relax and expand in the fridge overnight. If your proofing container is on the smaller side, and you find your dough almost spilling over the edges, it might be time for a larger basket.
8. Proof – 7:25 p.m. to 9:00 a.m., the next day
Cover your banneton with plastic and place it in the refrigerator at 38°F (3°C) overnight.
9. Bake – Next Morning: Preheat oven at 8:00 a.m., Bake at 9:00 a.m.
Preheat your oven to 450°F (230°C). Remove the dough from the fridge (there’s no need to let the dough come to room temperature) and uncover. I scored the dough with a single, long slash to get that dramatic opening when baked. I keep the blade at a reasonably shallow angle so the taut skin created during shaping will “peel” back as the loaf rises.
I steamed my oven in my usual way, described here in my post on how to steam your home oven for baking. But you can also bake in a pot or Dutch oven.
Bake for 20 minutes with steam, then remove your steaming pans if baking on a surface or Dutch oven/combo cooker lid. Then, bake for an additional 30 minutes until done to your liking. I like to bake rather dark, so I sometimes extend this second half of baking until I get the crust I’m looking for.
Once your loaf is done, remove and let cool on a wire rack for 1-2 hours. See my post on the best way to store the bread after it’s baked for a few tips on keeping it on the counter and freezing if you think you won’t get through both loaves in a week.
Conclusion
It’s hard to put into words just how much I enjoy this “my best sourdough recipe.” I bake it almost every week (sometimes multiple times if baking for friends and family), and yet every time I pull it from the oven, I smile. The crust color, the open and light interior, only the smallest perception of sour notes, and the way it crunches when toasted. I could go on and on.
The photos to follow are the results of scattered recent bakes that all followed this process exactly and have a slightly different outcome. You’ll notice some are a bit darker, some have more or less flour on them, some expand differently in the oven, and some are taller and some are shorter—that’s the nature of baking.
With baking, every single bake is different no matter how consistent you try to be. It’s the same with my Dad and his Italian restaurant, and the reason I’ll sometimes get a call in the middle of the afternoon: “hey, the pizza dough is incredible today, you should head over and grab some.”
Crust
As a kid, I was known to take slices of bread, cut out the center, and eat the crust. It used to anger my family because they’d reach into the breadbasket only to find slices of only the soft parts. That’s how much I love the crust! Can you blame me, though?
I enjoy bread with a chunky, chewy crust, but this bread with its delicate and cracker-like crust takes the top spot for me. Even though I bake these rather dark, the crust remains thin and brittle, crackling under the slightest pressure. I love using the “heel” (the very end) of this bread to eat soup or combined with hefty slices of cheese. It’s delicious.
Crumb
I think there’s a balance to be had with bread like this. It’s possible to let the crumb open up too much, but for me, this is just right. Scattered open areas with that translucent webbing spanning from wall-to-wall, a dynamic movement to these areas, almost show you how shaping was carried out.
Taste
This bread has an almost imperceptible hint of sour, and because of this, the wheat flavors from the flour come forward. It has an incredibly tender, soft crumb that almost dissolves in your mouth. It’s one of those rare foods whereupon taking that first bite your mouth begins to water.
In the end, bread is just bread. But it’s also the staff of life and has been for thousands of years. It’s is also more than the sum of the ingredients you add to the mixing bowl. It’s how it makes you feel when you give some to a friend, and they grin ear-to-ear as they take a big bite. It’s the knowledge that you created this thing over a few days that once was a lump on your counter and is now an incredibly delicious food meant to be shared. To me, this is real bread and my best sourdough recipe to date.
Buon appetito!
Print
My Best Sourdough Recipe
- Prep Time: 24 hours
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 24 hours 55 minutes
- Yield: 2 loaves
- Category: Sourdough, Bread
- Cuisine: American
Description
This sourdough bread is one of my favorite recipes. It’s a highly hydrated dough that results in a loaf with an open and lacey interior contrasted by a thin, crispy crust.
Ingredients
Levain
- 30g medium-protein bread flour
- 30g whole wheat flour
- 60g water
- 30g ripe sourdough starter
Main Dough
- 822g medium-protein bread flour
- 64g whole wheat flour
- 745g water
- 17g salt
- 151g ripe levain
Instructions
- Levain (9:00 a.m.)
In a small container, mix the levain ingredients and keep at 78°F (25°C) for 5 hours. - Autolyse (12:00 p.m)
In a medium mixing bowl, add 822g medium-protein bread flour, 64g whole wheat flour, 650g water, and mix until no dry bits remain. Cover the bowl and let rest for 2 hours. - Mix (2:00 p.m.)
To the mixing bowl holding your dough, add 95g water (holding back any as necessary if the dough is too wet), 17g sea salt, and the ripe levain (from step 1). Pinch and mix all the ingredients together and do folds in the bowl for 2 to 3 minutes until the dough smooths and is cohesive. Then, transfer your dough to a bulk fermentation container and cover. - Bulk Fermentation (2:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.)
Give the dough 6 sets of stretch and folds. The first three sets are at 15-minute intervals, and the last three sets are at 30-minute intervals. - Divide and Preshape (6:15 p.m.)
Lightly flour your work surface and scrape out your dough. Using your bench knife, divide the dough in half. Lightly shape each half into a round shape. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes, uncovered. - Shape (6:45 p.m.)
Shape the dough into a round (boule) or oval (batard) and place it in proofing baskets. Cover the baskets with a reusable plastic bag. - Proof (7:25 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. the next day)
Cover proofing baskets with reusable plastic and seal them shut. Then, place both baskets into the refrigerator and proof overnight. - Bake (Preheat oven at 8:00 a.m., bake at 9:00 a.m.)
I steamed my oven in my usual way, described here in my post on how to steam your home oven for baking. But you can also bake in a pot or Dutch oven. Preheat your oven with a combo cooker or Dutch oven inside to 450°F (230°C). Remove your dough from the fridge, score it, and transfer it to the preheated combo cooker. Place the cooker in the oven, cover with the lid, and bake for 20 minutes. After this time, remove the lid (you can keep it in the oven or remove it) and continue to bake for 30 minutes longer. When done, the internal temperature should be around 208°F (97°C). Let the loaves cool for 2 hours on a wire rack before slicing.
Notes
This is a very highly hydrated dough. Don’t add in all the reserved water during mixing if it feels like the dough is becoming overly weak, slack, or soupy.
What’s Next?
If you want more help getting an open crumb with this bread, I’ve created a 100+ page book with step-by-step instructions. Learn the best flour to use, the right fermentation schedule, and all my tips in my Bread Baker’s Handbook.
Are you a TPL Member? If so, the handbook is free for you!
2,142 Comments
I have just baked your best sourdough recipe and while I am very happy with the crust, crumb and flavour I am interested in your comments re the following.
At 88% hydration it is a very wet dough but that doesn’t worry me as I have made and baked similarly high hydration breads many times. In this instance however I found the dough almost soupy and believe it may be because I am using Australian high protein bread flours from northern NSW and their water absorption quality is far less than the softer northern USA wheats you are using. I did withhold 50g of the recommended water and did hit all the benchmarks of time and temp.
However due to an unexpected social commitment I did over ferment the dough by at least 5 hours😟. The final loaves were vert flat with minimal oven spring and I attribute that result to over fermentation as it has happened before.
I will use the recipe again with my Aussie flour but will aim for 75% hydration and proper fermentation. Any thoughts on the different water absorption properties of flours from different countries?
Yes, it’s likely your flour doesn’t have the same absorption level as our flour here in the USA — this is pretty typical in my experience. However, that’s not to say all flour out there will be this way, just what I’ve heard from readers in general. And this is ok! It’s easy enough to cut back the hydration level to suit your flour, and this is what we should all be doing as necessary 🙂 I don’t have any firsthand experience in working with Australian flour, perhaps one day I can head out there, though!
Hope that helps and happy baking, Leslie!
I’ve made this quite a few times with good results. My latest loaf was a bit strange though. The crumb was more dense than normal, and all of the larger bubbles (which there were still plenty of) were just under the crust rather than distributed through the crumb. Any ideas? Thanks
overproofed
Alex, it sounds like your dough might have over proofed. I’d suggest cutting back the proof time in the fridge by 2 hours to see if that helps. If you get a more open interior and a little more rise then you’re on the right track — pull back the proof time a little more until you don’t see improvement. I hope that helps!
Ciao Maurizio, due domande: if I don’t have the malted flour, what flour should I sub it for? I don’t have the proofing basket in that shape, just the round one. Is that ok to use? Thank you!!
Flora
It’s ok if you don’t have malted flour, your loaf will still turn out wonderful! In the future, you could look at buying diastatic malt powder to add to the dough in very small percentages, but this is optional. Yes, a round shape will work well!
I baked this recipe this morning. If you have a moment, i’d be curious to hear your thoughts on what you see from the pictures here – https://imgur.com/gallery/BgN1HN2?
Delicious! Best oven spring yet. First time doing batard shape. I’m curious, however, about the pockets throughout the crumb.
Thanks!
Wonderful bake, Rob! Those pockets can sometimes indicate under proofed dough, but the fermentation in your loaf looks nice to me. I’d say it’s likely a shaping issue — the dough might need to be evened out during shaping, to ensure pockets like that don’t settle all to one area. A very light pat down from top to bottom will help here: if your dough feels very gassy, just lightly pat the dough in a series of gentle slaps from top to bottom right before you do your final shape. Hope that helps!
If the hydration is too high for your dough it can lead to an overly wet or gummy interior (as @disqus_3olFgL1OPJ:disqus mentioned below). If the dough feels “soupy” or very “slack” then try pulling back the water percentage by 5% and see if that helps.
Make sure to bake your loaves completely. The interior should register around 208°F or higher.
If your loaf is under proofed then this will typically lead to a gummy or “wet” textured interior. Make sure your starter and levain are very vigorous and strong when you use them. This is very important! From there, make sure to bulk ferment your dough fully (use the images you see in my posts to guide you on what the dough should look/feel like). You want the dough to be alive and aerated before you divide and shape. From there, a full and complete proof is also very important.
I hope this helps, let me know how the next bake goes!
Hi Maurizio,
I just finished shaping these, and I have a question about leaving them uncovered after the pre-shape. I did that, but I found that it developed a dry skin. I also reduced the water by 6%, might that make the difference? Or, is it ok to have that dry skin when shaping?
Thanks for your help,
I like to leave them uncovered to slightly dry out on top: this makes the dough easier to handle. However, if you’re seeing a thick skin form you should definitely cover them. You can use inverted mixing bowls over each round, a box of some kind, a dampt kitchen towel, or a greased plastic sheet. It’s very dry here and I usually don’t have a problem, I just make sure there are no drafts in the room (air conditioner, door open, etc.). Hope that helps!
Super helpful – thank you!
This is my first time shaping batards, and I found your slow-mo video incredibly helpful. I’ll be throwing the first one in the oven in about 15ish mins. I’ll share the results.
Thanks again!
I’ve had a similar experience w/ the high hydration — the loaf is too moist inside. I made the recipe above and only used 500 grams of h2o and it turned out beautifully. Although the holes are not as big as Maurizio’s in his photos. but the crust, crumb & taste were fantastic.
I’ve tried cooking the bread longer, but do not find it assists with this moistness. I’ve been wondering if I’m not flapping, folding punching enough to get somehow remove the excess moisture by the time the loaf is ready to bake?
Thanks for all these suggestions, Janet. I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong there with regard to stretching and folding. See my suggestions above for a few ideas of what might be causing a gummy interior!
love how detailed you are and all the pictures. I recently loosely followed this recipe but got a less than desirable aesthetic outcome. my proofing environment was around 75 F. I also fed my starter with a 1:1:1 ratio of Mature starter, Water, Flour. Where i deviated from your recipe is i used 80% hyrdation instead of 86%. Any advice?
Thanks! I’d say good move lowering the hydration but it looks like your loaf was under proofed — likely because of the lower temperature. If your dough is going to be at 75°F, give it more time in bulk fermentation (use my pictures and descriptions above, but my guess will be somehwere around 4-4.25 hours at that temp). Hope that helps!
Great recipe and explanations.
After proofing overnight, when I take the dough an put in on an oven pan it spreads and almost flattens.
What can be the problem? Should I try and form it again?
The dough was likely not strong enough and/or shaped tightly enough. You could either knead it more or give it more stretch and folds to help strengthen it further. Additionally, you could try reducing the hydration 5% or so to see if that helps!
Love this sourdough recipe. My Round Brotforms were not floured enough for this lovely wet dough. Am I right in saying use extra flour in your final resting forms? Or more flour on the top of the dough before tipping into the form?
That’s right, flour directly into the empty proofing basket/brotform.
Maurizio,
Tried your basic sourdough last weekend and it was terrific. I’ve been baking bread and sourdough for years so it so pretty easy. So yesterday and today I tried this harder one. (cut recipe in half to make only one loaf). Not a complete success. It never really got the dough stiff enough; it kind of spread out too much on the hot stone losing it’s shape a bit then didn’t rise quite enough in the oven. I think I should have done more stretch and folds during the bulk??? Or try with less liquid??? But the ultimate irony… I take it out of the oven to let it cool and it looks pretty good, not great, but ok. Had to go outside to meet UPS guy & came back in the house to no loaf of bread! But find it in the living room with our 2 dogs are munching it down. They loved it! I now have less than half a loaf left. Guess I have to try again tomorrow…..
Thanks for the great site!
Right on, Ric! Ha ha, that’s just too funny, your dogs have a good sense for good food! Yes, sounds like the dough wasn’t strong enough and/or it was too high of a hydration. I’d suggest give it another try with 5% less water in the recipe, that’ll help quite a bit!
Hi – I’ve been experimenting with your sourdoughs but I am trying to figure out how to adjust these recipes to an inflexible 9-5 work schedule without getting (too) compromised results. I know it’s a tall order, but I’m trying to figure out how I could retard the levain, bulk, and proofs to be done over a few weeknights. Such as – evening 1, start levain, retard somehow; morning 2, start long autolyse (in fridge??); evening 2, mix, bulk, proof overnight; evening 3, bake. Any ideas? It would be amazing to come up with a Weeknight Baker plan that all of us could do…
I have managed to bake in two evenings – mix the levain in the morning, when just back from work started the autolysis, and finished shaping/proof around 11 PM. Then just baked next evening. If you are using a recipe that doesn’t have a too long autolysis+bulk this is quite manageable.
I am out of the house from about 8am – 6pm and I use pretty much the same schedule with pretty good results. I have even left the dough in the fridge for 40+hours (something came up the evening of the second day so had to bake on the 3rd evening) and the loaf still turned out pretty good.
I’ll work on a post exactly outlining this — thanks for the suggestion (it’s a common question/request).
What @disqus_5nC28gBeCN:disqus mentioned below will work out really well. Make a levain in the morning to ripen while you’re at work, when you get back start the autolyse, mix, bulk, and shape at night. Then, retard the dough (place in the fridge) overnight, covered, and bake either the next morning before work or first thing when you get home. That’ll work quite well!
Hi! I have been baking sourdough for a couple years now, varying a few things here and there. This recipe turned out fantastic. It was my first foray into a hydration over 80%. I don’t think I got my shaping right on one loaf, as soon as it came out of the banneton, it started spreading prior to chucking it in a dutch oven. The other was much better. One thing I would like to know is when it comes to scoring high hydration breads, mine always start spreading after cutting the skin and during baking I don’t get that nice split of the crust. Is my structure not quite strong enough? Bread still turns out fantastic, with perfevct crust and open crumb, but want those beautiful ‘ears’ on my loaf. Cheers
Hey, Zac! Yes, sounds like the dough isn’t quite strong enough. I’d suggest try reducing the hydration just a bit, maybe 5%, that’ll bring a lot of strength to the dough. You could also try kneading the dough (I like to do “slap and fold”, as you’ll see throughout my site) or give it another set or two of stretch and folds to give it even more strength. A combination of these two should make the dough feel stronger and you’ll notice it right away.
Hope that helps!
Hi! I just made my dough and will be baking it tomorrow. Can this be baked in a Dutch oven like your beginner sourdough?
Absolutely!
Maurizio!
I’ve just returned to your recipes after a bit of a hiatus. I’ve noticed that after your preshape you’ve gone to allowing the dough to rest uncovered. Is there a reason for the change? I’ve always thought that covering the dough kept it from getting too dried out….?
Thank you for being amazing. Your recipes are an inspiration.
Carmel
Hey, Carmel! Great to have you back. Yes, I’ve slightly changed many things in my process over the years and that’s one of those changes. I’ve found that leaving the dough exposed to air during the 30-45 min preshape actually dries the dough out just enough to make shaping even easier — the dough is less sticky. I almost always do this except for certain types of dough formulas, specifically if I expect that the dough will be resting longer than 45 minutes in preshape or I notice it start to dry out on the counter faster than expected (this can happen if there’s an air conditioner running or door open). Another case I’d cover the dough is if the formula was a very low hydration one where the dough is already pretty dry to begin with (for me this is anytime below about 78% hydration).
So in the end I’ve really taken a liking to leaving my dough uncovered during this step to each shaping and dry things out just enough. Hope that helps and thank you for the kind words!
Hi Maurizio,
First of all, thank you so much again for sharing all your recipes! I tried this recipe for the first time this week and for the most part, the bread is awesome: friends loved my bread picture (very important), it has a nice dark brown color, nice oven spring, smells great, and there are many many tiny air bubbles on the crust (which weird me out a little, but the pictures of your bread also have them, so I think it is fine). The only issue is the crust is not very crispy. I followed your beginner sourdough and fifty-fifty whole wheat recipes, and they all came out very crispy (I used the same dutch oven). Do you know what might have caused this issue with the limited information I gave you here? I was a bit concerned that the dough was really wet during bulk fermentation.
Anyways, many thanks for your recipes and taking the time to response our comments/questions! This is fun and I’m definitely going to try this recipe again.
Cheers,
Stefanie
You’re very welcome, Stefanie! Sounds like your bake went really well! Yes, those blisters are normal if things line up just right for them to form (sufficient fermentation, tight shaping, ample steam in the oven) — I actually really like them to some degree, they add a bit more texture and crunch to the outside.
My guess is the much higher hydration of this recipe, coupled with the mostly-white flour base, might have resulting in a wetter dough than your other bakes. Next time you bake this, try to bake it out a little longer at the end, don’t burn the bread but make it nice and dark. You can reduce the temp of your oven by 25°F to extend the bake time and help dry it out some more. Additionally, a trick I used to use is to crack the oven door for the last few minutes of the bake with the bread still in the oven, this helps dry out the interior and also causes the oven to turn the heating elements on — this should help get an even more crunchy crust.
Let me know if these suggestions help and thanks for the update!
Hi Maurizio,
I wanted to report back that I tried your suggestion and it worked like a charm. My (very supportive) friend commented on my Instagram that it is the most beautiful thing they have seen all week 😀
Thank you again for your recipes and responding to my question!
Cheers and happy baking!
Stefanie
Super glad to hear that, Stefanie! Enjoy 😀
Maurizio,
Love how detailed your recipies are, but I am missing one detail here – how do you actually bake it? On a pizza stone? In a dutch oven? You mention steaming, so I am guessing the first?
Any more information would be much appreciated!
Thanks
Thank you, Filip! I typically do most of my bakes straight on a baking stone or a baking steel following my home oven steaming method — it works very well!
My first attempt with this recipe, baked this morning: https://imgur.com/nfpn38x
I found the timing quite easy to work with, and the dough had plenty of strength for shaping! The shaped dough was kinda floppy upon removal from the fridge before baking, so that made it a little hard (for me) to score, but otherwise came out great. I used KA flour.
I use this batard shaping method. I think the oblong air pockets are due to that.
Your loaf looks great! Yes, the long interior ovals are likely due to shaping and really not a bad thing. When I’m shaping I try to be as even and consistent with the dough as possible to produce an evenly open interior. It definitely takes a bit of practice! Thanks for sharing your baking success, really looks great.
It’s hard to pinpoint the exact cause of that but it could be that your starter and/or levain wasn’t used at the right point. Be sure to use each when they are mature (have a look at my guide to Maintaining a Sourdough Starter for tips on this) — a mature starter to build the levain, and a mature levain to mix into the dough. From there, give your bulk fermentation time to develop enough activity in the dough. If your dough is cold it might take significantly longer than the times I have listed above. Give the dough the time it needs.
Let me know how the next attempt goes!
My sourdough keeps coming out burnt and stuck to the pan. I can’t figure out if it’s my oven, the old tin pan I’m using, or my dough. Is 500 degrees too hot for some ovens? Is my 7×10 inch pan causing something to go awry? What’s the right oven rack level (top, middle, bottom)? I always have to pry the loaf from all sides using a metal spatula. Not pleasant – inevitably the bottom of the bread rips off in the process, and I can’t let it rest before the insides are exposed to air.
It’s very possible 500°F is too hot — try going down to 475°F or lower in the initial stage of this bake. Additionally, when you’re using a bread tin you typically want to bake at a lower temp. Have a look at one of my pan loaf recipes, you can see my recommended baking times and temps therein.
You might find some more ideas on preventing your dough from burning on my post Baking Bread in a Dutch Oven — even if you’re not baking in one, there’s some great ideas there!
Bacon grease works best for me. I don’t use parchment paper.
Hey friend,
I’ve been enjoying your beginner guide so thought i’d take the jump and try this “best” recipe. One thing I noticed is that your baking temps and times are a little different. On the beginner guide, the “lid on” baking temp (combo cooker) was 475. On this one, the “lid on” baking temp is 500. Both go down to 450 once the lid is off, for the 2nd part of the bake. Is that significant at all? If so, is it because of the higher hydration of the “best” version’s dough? I’m baking with a gas oven so i’m already reducing some of my baking times, but wondering if you learned that dough hydration was a factor in baking temp.
With the “beginners” guide I had success with about 18 minutes lidded @ 475, and then about 22 lid off @ 450. Wondering how to adjust with the new dough.
Thanks!
For this dough I do like to preheat a bit higher. The extra heat helps “set” the dough a bit quicker, and given the high hydration of this dough, it means a little less spreading in the oven. However, if you stick with 475°F your loaves will likely turn out just fine. More and more lately I’ve been preheating to 500°F instead of 475°F, and I think this recipe was when I started that transition.
I hope it turned out well and sorry for the delayed reply!
Thanks for the guide. How would the ingredient measurements and baking time be affected if I wanted to create a single loaf, rather than two?
To make a single loaf, just halve all the ingredients. The baking time would be exactly the same since the dough mass for a single loaf would be the same as with this recipe (in other words, the actual loaf itself is the same dough weight when making one or two). Happy baking!
Hey Maurizio,
Starting a new thread because I have a little bit of a different question 😉
Although I’ve seen it pop up a few times here before, I can’t really nail down an answer. My “problem” is that my nicely shaped dough, after spending between 11-13 hours in the fridge (at 5 deg C), never manages to rise one bit. I’m starting to be pretty happy overall with my end results, but i always end with a slightly flatter bread, with several big holes, but then the rest of them are rather small, instead of medium. I’ve been adjusting bulk fermentation time to be slightly less than yours, with better results (as I think I started off overproofing my dough). I know as always that there are many many variables, but I’ve been chalking this one up to the fact that I live at sea level, and the rise is just not as pronounced as yours. I noticed this after my starter, although nice and active and predictive (and always at least doubling in size), never got many medium sized bubbles, only small ones. I even took it with me to france for the holidays, and at 700m altitude the same starter starts looking a bit more like yours, with many medium sized bubbles.
Anyway, back to the issue. I was thinking this was why my dough never really rose much in the fridge, simply because of the higher atmospheric pressure. But I just received the Tartine book for Christmas, and I noticed, even though San Fran is a sea level, Chad definitely shows in his photos that there is an at least noticeable rise during retard.
Long post, but I hope you have some insight! 🙂 And happy holidays!
Sorry for the delay, Sebastian! It’s pretty typical to see little rise in the dough overnight in the fridge — it’s cold in there! What you could try is to leave the dough out for 15 minutes – 30 minutes after you shape and cover your dough. This extra time should offset the cold temps in the fridge and bring more fermentation to the dough before it cools completely. Also, if you’re not covering your dough in total before you place it in the fridge, please do so. I use plastic bags that are sealed shut.
Another idea is to increase the percentage of levain in my recipe to compensate for the altitude different. Typically this is not necessary, but if you feel there’s just not enough activity in the dough give this a try. You could adjust the levain up 2.5-5% and see if that helps. Let me know if you need help with that adjustment and keep me posted on how it’s going!
Hi Maurizio,
No worries at all! I know you’re busy.
Good to know that rise in the fridge is not a must, since it’s been bothering me for awhile. I have been following your tips though, i.e. rest at 80deg for 20 min after shape, and covering the bowl tightly in the fridge.
It’s left me with the same underlying problem though, which is that the dough just completely flattens out in the shaping basket while retarding. It doesn’t look anything at all like your dough from “Beginners sourdough” (i’m shaping as a boule). As I think my shaping skills are pretty good by now, I keep thinking it’s because there’s not enough strength in the dough. However, I’ve tried it all – more stretch and folds in the first mix, more during bulk ferment, and also the opposite (as I thought maybe i was making it too elastic). But I’m stumped! You can see my final results in the dropbox folder here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ge0adpp5r0b0s72/AAC4I-VjsA2NUn07d7JIodFoa?dl=0
Like I said, I’m happy with taste etc., but the dough just doesn’t seem to want to hold it’s outer shape so I’m not getting that good round spring. What could be going on?
Lastly, since my hydration is down to 73% now, should bulk maybe go a bit longer? Since more less water generally means less activity?
Sebastian,
Your bread looks really wonderful from here! It looks nicely fermented, nice ear, nice color, nice rise. The dough does look a little “wet” and perhaps a little “loose,” but not bad at all. I’d suggest try reducing hydration down to 70% and see how that goes. To me the dough could use just a bit more strength do it, a little more smoothness.
Generally, yes, a lower hydration dough might need a longer bulk (assuming all else is equal), but the interior of your loaf looks spot on to me — I would not adjust.
Hope this helps, sorry again for the delay.
Hey again!
No worries (again), I know you’re busy 🙂
Luckily I’ve been making considerable progress since I last wrote. I’m down to a mere 65% hydration, but getting incredible results. This is of course because of everything I’ve learned from your wonderful site, and also some new tricks and knowledge I’ve gathered from Trevor Wilson and his really awesome book “Open Crumb Mastery”.
Take a look at my latest loaf, when you have the time! https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ge0adpp5r0b0s72/AAC4I-VjsA2NUn07d7JIodFoa?dl=0
Next step is to even out my crumb a bit, as I actually lean more towards liking an even (but open!) structure.
That’s a really, really nice bake, Sebastian. Your modifications are right on and you’re heading down the right direction! Glad I could help, and yes, Trevor’s work is fantastic as well!
Hi Maurizio — I’m going on about 6 months with the starter made per your guide (including Weck jars). Her name is Eva and she’s been wonderful, producing the best pizza, bagels and, of course, sourdough loaves I’ve ever made (and some say the best they’ve ever had!). For loaves, I stick pretty close to your “Perfect Sourdough Recipe,” although back off the water just a bit, but mostly so it stays up better when I score it. To go with Christmas dinner this year, I added roasted garlic cloves from 2 heads of garlic and about 10g of chopped rosemary when I added my salt, and the result was just stunning. Dipped in a high quality EV olive oil, it was really something. Thank you for all you do, and happy/healthy 2019!!
That’s fantastic, Peter! Glad Eva is working so hard for you — a sourdough starter is an incredible thing! It’s funny, I’ve never tried adding roasted garlic, I need to get on this. Thanks for that suggestion and a Happy New Year to you and family!
Hi today i made this recipe second time with paying attention to dough temperature and i got very good oven spring. what still have to improve is the flattening of the dough on bench rest and when taking out of the proofing basket what i assume is on 86% hydration it need to be high % protein flour or lowering the hydration or better shaping can change this? i did my best with shaping . what do you think? i used 11% protein flour
I’d say try this recipe with reduced water, perhaps 5%, and see if that helps further. In addition to this, try adding in another set of stretch and folds during bulk to give the dough even more strength. It sounds like the dough is still a little too slack by the time you go to preshape/shape. Reducing water and adding in that set should help bring more strength to the dough, which will allow it to hold shape better coming out of bulk. Hope that helps, Guy!