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
Hi Maurizio! Like others, so appreciative of your work.
I made this this week along with the Beginner Sourdough, and the loaves were beautiful, but the following day the crusts seemed to get leathery quicker than usual. I’m assuming this is from the hydration, and maybe my kitchen was more humid? Do you have this issue if you don’t finish these loaves in the first day?thank you, Chloe
You’re welcome, Chloe! I do find this happens sometimes with higher hydration loaves, but it really depends on the flour used and the environment it’s kept at. If you haven’t seen it yet, I just posted on my best ways to store bread after baking. There’s a few tips in there that might help. Happy baking!
Great guide – one quick questions, what banneton do you use for this recipe (size and shape)? Thank you!
Thanks! These are oval baskets about 14″ in length.
Hi,
Can we use gluten free All purpose flour instead of regular all purpose flour while making the starter as well as the actual bread?
I don’t have any experience in using gluten free flour when baking bread, but my guess is you can use it when creating a starter. However, it would not work so well for this type of bread because it relies on gluten for strength and structure.
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. and the long retardation.
While my bread has incredible flavor and color and a nice open crumb, the profile is very flat and the dough was very slack. (I used Central Milling’s Artisan and WW flours.) I fell asleep during the bulk >< so I'm assuming that may have led to slacker dough. It was no less than 45-60 minutes over. Might I also have over hydrated the dough? I always struggle with high hydration doughs.
Nevermind. I definitely overproofed these loaves. I was wondering however, once a loaf has been retarded, how do you know when it’s well proofed and ready to bake?
Hey, Tina. Most of that comes with experience in working with a particular dough, but I always like to poke the dough gently a few times around the loaf to see how it feels, to try and determine when it’s gassed up and ready for the oven. The dough should feel slightly weak/pliable, but not overly so. If it feels dense and lifeless, it needs more time (and you can take it out to warm on the counter if you’d like).
The traditional “poke test” isn’t as reliable with loaves straight from the fridge since the dough is sort of artificially tightened up from the cold temperature, but poking in general is a good thing to try and assess the dough.
One way to help develop your intuition for this is to bake one loaf, then wait till later in the day to bake the second — then compare the results.
Thanks for getting back. I assume you earned this patience for fielding all of these messages from baking bread! I typically never retard loaves but this is such a beautiful bread despite the overproofing that I’ll make two more this weekend and let you know if I fare any better.
Hi, tried this loaf twice, first time a smashing success, second time, looked okay, but tasted like cardboard. I would like to try again ( of course, 😁), I only have KA flour available. Would you suggest bread flour (12.7% protein) or their all purpose flour (11.7% protein)?
Thanks so much. Really love your website.
Hey, Bytia! This recipe does call for a proper “bread flour” (~12-13% protein) but you can also experiment with all-purpose. I actually prefer flour with lower protein percentage but be cautious with the hydration of loaf if you do go from BF to AP — it might not take as much. Just hold some bake through the mix and add it in if it feels like it can take it.
If you want to try and add in more flavor, add in some more whole grains! Even just 5% will be noticeable 🙂
So very kind and generous of you to reply so fast. Thank you
Hey Maurizio! My loaves are tucked into their bannetons and are sleeping peacefully in the fridge for the night. Have you experimented with how long one could potentially keep them, shaped & in bannetons, in the fridge? There’s only two of us, and I’d love to be able to make the second loaf halfway through the week and have fresh bread the whole week. Right now the second loaf almost always turns into breadcrumbs or croutons.
Thanks again for all the awesome content. Can’t wait to try my bread from this recipe tomorrow!
I’ve kept one loaf an extra day, and you might be able to push it more, but know the result will be less rise and likely more sour tasting — and this might be just fine for you. Test it out and see how it goes!
The other option is to bake both and freeze one (after it thoroughly cools, of course). When freezing, I’ll wrap an entire loaf several times in plastic wrap and then place it into a freezer ziplock. When I want to eat it I’ll take it out the night before and let it thaw in the fridge. Then, you could pop it into the oven to warm up the next day or slice and toast the slices.
If you plan to eat it somewhat in the near term, you could slice the entire loaf then place the slices in a freezer ziplock bag. Using a toaster (like this awesome toaster from Breville) you can thaw and toast the slices in one step and they come out fantastic.
I hope they turn out great!
Help?
Followed your recipe exactly, dough felt great. Not a great oven rise, but enough, crust beautiful, crumb appear good but when I went to slice it was completely and extremely “gummy”? I mean sticking to the knife like plaster gummy?
Is most likely culprit “underproofing”? I did bulk ferment for the two hours and there were bubbles, but it definitely hadn’t doubled. Should I have waited until doubled before proceeding? Frustrated and perplexed, advice please?
Amazing web site, as a long time bread baker definitely one of the very best I have ever run across, even compared to the “famous artisan bread bakers” who have published so many books.
Thank you,
Steve Sheffield
Hey, Steve. Thank you so much for the kind words, I really appreciate that.
It does sound like your loaf is either under proofed, but it could also be a combination of over hydration and under baking. I’d suggest next try use 5% less water in the recipe to see if that helps. Then, be sure to use your starter when it’s fully ripe and mature to make your levain, and then the same for your levain: it should be at its peak height and just starting to fall in the jar. It’s important to hit the final dough temperature listed in my recipe above as well, this “sets the stage” for bulk fermentation to ensure the dough will have plenty of activity during this first rise. Let the dough ferment in bulk for as long as it needs to have risen considerably, have bubbles showing on top, and be smoother and more elastic/stronger. See my photos above for some tips there.
Finally, be sure to bake the loaf out thoroughly. The internal temp should be around 204°F or higher.
Let me know how the next attempt goes!
Thank you Maurizio!
I love this recipe! I’ve made it so many times now, and it just keeps getting better and better with practice! Thank you for being my virtual sourdough guide!
That’s awesome to hear, Corrie! Happy to help. Enjoy 🙂
Hi Marizio, I love this sourdough recipe and regularly have success that results in great crumb and flavor. Thank you for sharing your experience in such a thoughtfully designed format, the detailed instruction and pictures are fantastic.
I would like to use this recipe to make gifts for my neighbors, but I would like to divide the dough into 4 boules. Knowing that the boule will be half the size, can you share your thoughts on baking time and temperatures.
Hi again Marizio, just a quick follow up. Well I took a stab at cutting all the times in half, as the boules were half the size and they came out perfect with an internal temp of 208F. Baked 10 minutes covered at 475F and 15 min uncovered at 450F.
Thanks for the kind words and for reporting back with your results, Mark! I was going to say that yes, that’ll work quite well, just keep an eye on the baking time as smaller loaves will typically bake faster. Thanks again and happy baking 🙂
Hey Marizio, Merry Christmas! I have made your beginners bread a few times with great results. Thinking of doing this one but want to use the same baking method: covered pan. Should I use the same baking times and methods as the beginners loaf? Thanks
Hey, John! Sorry for the delayed reply. Yes, I’d go with the same baking times and temps as the Beginner’s recipe, if you haven’t already! Happy New Year 🙂
Hey Maurizio,
thanks so much for this site and all the information you’ve shared! Your Perfect Loaf recipe looks great and I have some experience in making high hydration (pizza) dough, so I’d like to give it a try. I’m based in Germany though and I’m struggling to find high proteine wheat flours (whole grain and bread = type 550). The flours you suggested are not available here (or have ridiculous high shipping costs) – and most of the wheat flours I found in stores don’t even have any information about their proteine percentage. I assume you don’t have any experience/suggestions with European flours, but perhaps someone in this community here has?
Thanks a lot!
You can certainly make great pizza with most of the flour you have available in Europe, it doesn’t have to be overly strong (in terms of protein percentage). Use what flour you have and be sure to adjust the hydration down to suit. Hold back a large percentage of the water and add it in slowly as you’re mixing if it feels like the dough can take it, but I wouldn’t push it high for pizza, anyway!
For this recipe you commented on in particular, it’s very high hydration and I wouldn’t recommend you try it outright — start with a moderate hydration percentage and work your way up (if desired) over the course of a few bakes.
In general, just about every bread/pizza formula is going to need some hydration adjustment. Work with the flour you have near you and adjust as necessary!
Pretty good flour type 812 can be found from Amazon, e.g. Stadtmühle Waldenbuch 5kg bag has very reasonable cost. Italian flour type are not hard to find in internet, or local Italian supermarkets.
Would adjusting the ambient temperature and the water temperature be the best way to manipulate how much “active/awake” time this recipe takes? For example, if the “warm” levain build takes 5-6 hours but the room temperature one takes 10-12, is it correct to assume that since a “warm” autolyse takes 1.5 hours, a room temperature autolyse would be 3? Could the autolyse be longer? Is there any danger in doing the autolyse at room temperature overnight alongside the levain build? Would it be possible then to raise the ambient temperature after I wake up in the morning and continue the recipe as written, from the Mix 1 step onward? Thanks!
This is an interesting question regarding the autolyse and the temperature — my guess is that at a warmer temperature perhaps the autolyse would be more “effective” in that there would be more enzymatic activity (and more energy in the system — dough — overall), but I can’t say I’ve ever directly experienced this nor have I read about it. Yes, I’ve run into issues with an autolyse went for too long, usually more than an hour with this dough isn’t needed. If you autolyse too long it can cause the dough to become really difficult to come together during mixing, it will exhibit extreme extensibility (due to protease activity during the autolyse) and perhaps may never come back together fully. However, this is a general statement and it really depends on the flour/grain you’re using (whole grain flour can stand a longer autolyse and usually benefits from it). My suggestion would be to not do the autolyse overnight and rather opt for no autolyse at all if I had to choose between the two.
You could always test it out, though! I hope that helps.
Hello Maurizio. I appreciate your wealth of information. I made this bread and baked it last night. What I’m feeling is that my bread is heavy and doesn’t have a lot of the “holes” that yours does. What am I doing? I’m curious, perhaps that I should let the dough rise more on the counter once I’ve make it into the final loaf? It rises some over the 16 hours in the refrigerator and still seems dense and heavy when cooked. Maybe I should be folding more to make the final loaf? Any suggestions?
Unfortunately there isn’t a single thing that leads to a more open interior in a baked loaf of bread. First, the flour used is very important, it needs to be strong enough (protein) and have the proper gluten properties to trap the gasses produced during fermentation. For example, no matter how hard you try with rye flour, the gluten properties in the grain just won’t lead to an open interior.
From there, a very strong and well-fed starter is important — it all begins there. Fermentation in general is so critical, it’s worth spending some time really stepping back to look at how your starter is performing and how well-fermented your dough is during bulk fermentation and the final proof. Without strong fermentation your loaf will never rise to its full potential.
Sufficient dough strength through mixing, and also organically through fermentation, is also important. Think of your dough as a balloon: you want it strong enough to trap gasses and expand in the oven, but not so strong that it won’t relax and expand out. Finding this sweet spot takes some practice.
A full and complete bulk is also very important. Cutting bulk fermentation short before the dough is sufficiently fermented will hinder the development in final proof.
I also find that, and this depends on the dough you’re working with, a very gentle preshape and shape are key to maintaining an open interior. If you’re rough with the dough during these times the delicate interior will quickly break down and become more dense. That said, the dough does still need enough strength through shaping to hold its shape during baking.
Sorry for the long winded answer but really all of these things are important! Each part plays into the next and overall what we’re searching for as bakers is balance. Balance between the extremes in each phase of the process.
Thank you Maurizio. I appreciate your thorough answer.
Barbara Dawson
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hello Maurizio thank you a lot for share your experience with us, I m really gratefull.. May I ask you a question? i ve been doing some breads but everytime i try hight hidration its a mess.. doesnt work and i lost the bread..is terrible.. So i ve been studying but still cant make high hidration.. could you give some advice .. some secrets how to deal with high hidrations..
It sounds like you might simply just need to reduce the hydration in your dough. This is very subjective to the flour you’re using, it might just be that your flour isn’t able to handle high percentages of water — and thats OK! Every flour is different, the hydration percentage — the actual number — really doesn’t mean much, it’s all about what your flour can handle.
The more water you put into the dough the more strengthening it’ll require, you could also try mixing longer to help impart more strength on the dough. Regardless, I’d still drop the hydration!
thank you, yes i guess the flour was not weak but not enough strong for so great hydration.. But i will drop the hydration for 75 and mixing longer and see what i get.. You mean folder more times dont you?thank you dear friend
That’s correct.
hi Maurizio, did you already made a turmeric bread? i think we need use coconut oil .. I made a recipe with coconut milk but i sold it before taste.. normally its not happen but was a bazaar and no time to taste
I haven’t!
Hello Maurizio, how are you? Fist, amazing website and recipes man! I am new to this bread world and I find it very interesting.
I am kinda confused with some points and I am in need of some help.
I saw both the “Best Sourdough Recipe” and “Beginner’s Sourdough Bread”, anf in both I got confused in the same topic.
1. The percentege of the levain used is based in the weight of only the flour used right?
I normally make my bread with 800g to 1kg of flour, and use 20% of the flour weight to make the bread. Is it wrong and I should calculate the water as well or am I doing it right?
2. What is “pre-fermented flour”? Is that the levain or I am making a big confusion? I am having a difficult time to understand it…
I always get lost in the Vitals and in the Total Formula of the Baker’s Percentage…
Thank you in advance! (:
Thanks, Lucas! Much appreciated.
1) I use “baker’s math” to show my formulas here, the standard in baking. Essentially all ingredients are with respect to the total flour. For example, if total flour was 1kg and there was 800g water in the recipe, the water would be at 80% (800g water / 1000g flour = 80%). See the baker’s math section in my beginner’s sourdough bread for an in depth explanation.
2) Pre-fermented flour is the total amount of flour fermented ahead of time, before the mix. Yes, in this case it’s my levain, but the pre-fermented flour represents the total flour fermented ahead of time with respect to the total flour in the recipe (the same as all ingredients, and the water example I gave above).
I hope that helps and happy baking!
How do you calculate the pre-fermented flour percentage? I’m getting 75/(75+73+804) = 7.87%, which is different from the 6.40% you have written here.
Joshua — I’ve updated the post to fix a few numbers (oops!) and have also included the Total Formula table to make things more clear. Sorry about the confusion!
Hi there; just thought I’d say I’m a newcomer and enjoying going through your site!
I tried this recipe over the weekend, bearing in mind I’d not done it before took the hydration down by about 5%. It seemed to go along fine in my Brod and Taylor proofer, but despite slap and folds and the stretching and folding got an incredibly wet/sticky dough that has proved impossible to shape into a strong batard; when removing from the fridge after retarding and taking out of the banneton they just fell flat like a pancake.
Any idea where I might it’s likely that I’m going wrong? I’m using strong Canadian bread flour with 14% protein as my main flour source
Many thanks!
Glad to hear that, Alex. Everything is relative to the flour you’re using. My experience with many Canadian flours is they typically can take quite a bit of water and do have a high protein percentage (depending on the flour, of course). However, I’d say drop down 10% and see how the dough feels at that point. When you’re mixing, still hold back 50-100g of the mixing water and only add it in through mixing if the dough feels strong and smooth to you. Don’t worry about pushing the water right now, focus on the process, get a good loaf, then increase it slowly over time if desired.
Be sure your starter is used when it’s mature to build your levain, and subsequently, your levain is mature when you mix it into your dough. A strong levain is critical for proper fermentation in this dough!
Keep me posted on that next go, I’m confident you’ll get a nice loaf!
This is my second attempt at sourdough, I used your beginners guide the first time to great (albeit slightly less risen due to scheduling) results. Out of curiosity I wanted to try this, higher hydration method. Everything was going great, my dough was rising and bubbling and ended up shaping really nicely. But after I took it from the fridge I had a couple problems. It never rises at all in the fridge I don’t have a banneton so I have been using a mixing bowl with a kitchen towel, heavely doused in flower for my retard in the fridge. I put SO much flower on the towel but when i attempted to put the bread out before baking it completely stuck and I had to pull a lot of the dough off, my top of the dough ended up looking a lot like my bottom and the dough “pancaked” out and became very flat. Is there anything I can do to prevent this? Or do i just have to suck it up and buy a banneton?
I also barely got any oven spring so my bread looks almost like a cibatta. I’ll probaby stick to lower hydration dough now because I think I’m too much of a novice for this one
Here are my advices:
1 Try rice flour instead of wheat flour and perhaps a towel that`s smoother then your current one
2 Banetons are really great, durable and beautiful. They really do help a lot with maintaing shape and not sticking, I do recomend one
3 The oven will dry out the bread and form its crust if there isn`t enough steam. My oven doesn`t hold any steam at all with whatever methods i`ve tried, so I only bake using cast iron pans wich is by far the best investment I`ve made for baking
4 Did you check your fridge`s temperature? Are you sure it`s not simply overfermenting? Ususally overfermented breads lose a lot of structure and start to lose water, that might solve the pancake riddle. Anyway high hydration breads are very flat at the time you put them in the oven
Hope you can find any of the suggestions helpful, I`m a baker at a local Bakery in Brasil and I`ve had many of the problems you`re having now. Don`t give up! It`ll be the best feeling when you hit the spot, It`s a matter of perseverance and patience.
It sounds like maybe your dough is not strengthened enough, over hydrated, or over proofing. Dusting your baskets with flour is definitely important and certainly helps dough cleanly remove, but it can only go so far.
If your dough is on the weak side it won’t be as smooth and as strong as needed to cleanly remove from the liner. Try adding in another set or two of stretch and folds to impart a little more strength, and be sure when you shape the resulting dough is smooth, strong, and taut. A good test here is to just shape one loaf very, very tight and see if it cleanly removes next time (still dust your basket, though).
Over hydration is related to dough strength also: if your dough is over hydrated and not commensurately strengthened, it’ll lose shape during proof and stick to the liner. Reducing hydration is a quick way to give your dough strength to ensure it removes cleanly.
Finally, the longer your dough proofs the more it begins to lose strength: fermentation has the effect of strengthening gluten up to a point, but as acidity builds up in the dough it begins to degrade. This is actually a good (and necessary) thing up to a point, but too far and your dough will lose shape, get overly sticky, and eventually collapse. If you’ve tried shaping tighter and this isn’t working, try pulling back your proof time a bit to see if that helps.
Let me know how it goes!
Tried several other methods and finally did it with an added stretch and fold and rice flower on my towel. Came out easily and had a great oven spring. It’s got lots of holes and tastes amazing! Only problem is that the actual texture of the bread is sticky and a little gummy. It’s fine once toasted the texture is just different from other sourdough breads I’ve had. I have had this texture for all my loaves so far (only made 4), but my method has changed for each time. I’ve decreased my hydration, done my final prove for a much shorter time in room temp, different flour percentages. The texture is always a little gummy. Still tastes amazing but I’m a perfectionist and want to know what I’m doing wrong.
It might be that you need to bake your loaves more thoroughly. If you have an instant read thermometer, check that their interior temperature is 205°F or higher when you stop baking.
The gumminess could also be that you’re letting the initial fermentation go too long–or too long between stretch and folds. I had that issue when I first tried making sourdough loaves–I thought I could simply substitute sourdough starter for dried yeast and would make sourdough bread. It took me several tries (and many gummy loaves) to find out that you have to be more involved with sourdough.
It’s my first time attempting sourdough, and I pulled two delicious loaves of bread out of the oven!
I substituted the whole-wheat flour with pure rye and compromised on the kneading schedule (didn’t work it enough and I let it ferment for an extra 6 hours) so it came out a bit dense and sticky. But, the crust was delicious (as described) and the flavours were beautifully sour. I almost finished a whole loaf by myself.
Thanks for the recipe and the detailed steps! Can’t wait to make it again 🙂
Ah that’s fantastic to hear, Destiny! It’s endless fun to tweak and experiment, I find it hard to stick to a recipe 100% sometimes. Have fun and enjoy!
Hi Maurizio, I’m loving your website. I am up in Taos and it’s really great to have all your suggestions already worked out from high altitude!
Just made my first batch of Your Best Sourdough. With mixed results. Used KA Bread flour and Red Fife whole wheat. Followed the instructions closely, but accidentally added salt with levain….no problem with the rise. Bulk went fine, did give it some extra stretches. Proof I only ran for 13 hours as i needed to run to work, but the dough had risen over the edge of the proofing baskets.
I didn’t get great oven Spring, though the crumb looks pretty good with nice holes. I’m thinking that the dough was still underdeveloped. Thinking I might just give it 3 minutes in the mixer with a hook before bulk rise? Also considering shortening the proof or moving to a colder fridge (used the 54 degree wine cooler for this batch).
Then I was very surprised that the flavor was actually a bit bland. I’ve been using Breadtopia Select plus Emmer and getting really amazing flavor. I went back to KA just to see if it was the flour or fermentation and to recheck what a mostly white flour sourdough would be like. I guess this could also be proofing too warm? As you description sounds like what i was expecting with the Breadtopia flour.
Finally, just a note on baking. I’m using the Lodge double pan method. I find I have to use scissors to get good scores (maybe again because i haven’t developed enough structure). I moved to 35 minutes covered baking and finish uncovered as the crust was browning to fast using the 20/25 timing. I’ve been taking it out at 199F but probably need to extend the uncovered time as the crumb is just on the edge of finished.
Thanks for any suggestions/comments.
All the BEST
Paul
Improved rise with decreased bulk rise time and increased levain but still only to 3.5 inches…must do better.
Also added charcoal for fun black color…..but I think it absorbed away some of the flavor.
Finally realized that water boils here at 199F, so no chance of getting much above 200F internal temperature
Next plan is to try even less bulk rise, maybe lower temperature…..difficult because no AC here, will have to use fridge (my best rise was in the Spring when it was cooler)…maybe go back to less levain…..?more salt…
Really this is too much fun and so delicious.
Glad to hear that, Paul! And hello to a fellow New Mexican. As you said below, I’d say a bit less bulk time but also try mixing/kneading it a bit longer or reduce the hydration 5% (which will bring strength to the dough).
Let me know how that goes!
I noticed that “Divide & Preshape” starts at 6:45 and “Shape” starts 20 minutes later at 7:05. However, it says to let the preshaped dough rest for 30 minutes before shaping. Am I correct in assuming that “Shape should start around 7:15 or 7:20, or am I missing something?
You’re right, it’s a typo! Thanks for pointing that out, I’ve fixed it in the post.
Hi Maurizio! I just baked this loaf but I have a couple of questions. I have dabbled in highish hydration sourdoughs before so cut the water back a little bit for this recipe, but didn’t find it too hard to handle and in the bulk ferment stage saw bubbles on the surface and the dough felt like it had developed enough tension. However, after a 14 hour ferment overnight in the fridge, and when I came to bake the dough-it basically collapsed on the way from banneton to bread cloche 🙁 which resulted in hardly any oven spring at all (more of a bread spread than a rise!) Do you have any ideas where I went wrong? I’m wondering whether I didn’t develop enough tension during pre-shape and shape, or perhaps the overnight rise went on for too long?
Thank you so much for the recipe though, I will be sure to try again!
Hey, Pasha! Sorry for the delay. Sounds like your dough likely over proofed. I’d say cut that final proof back 2-4 hours and see if that helps.
So I have been making a variation of the Tartine Country loaf (from their book) for the last 5 months and have pretty much have stuck to about 75-78% hydration but I wanted to try something with a higher hydration and this was it. And boy it did not disappoint. I have a place a couple of miles away from me that stocks Giusto’s and was able to score a 25# bag of the high performing flour which truly makes baking bread a joy. I have yet to have a major failure using their flour.
Anyway this bread was easier to make than I was expecting. I did about 2 minutes of slap and fold, which is my prefered method of mixing after adding the salt. I wasn’t sure based on what you wrote if the slap and fold would be feasible but it was fine, just stickier than what I am used to. Shaping was also easier than I expected but I am still trying to find a batard shaping method that works for me. When it comes to shaping, only doing it a couple times of week doesn’t really give you the chance to practice any method to the point that it feels natural. It’s like I want to shape 20 batards in a row to really get a feel for it but that would not work for my tiny kitchen and single bakes. 😉
Months ago I bought a Bayou cooker on amazon which allows me to bake batards in a sealed environment without steaming my oven and that has been a dream to use. When I took my loaf out of the oven I noted how niced it had sprung and I couldn’t wait for it to cool completely before digging. Thank you so much for this recipe and all your meticulous notes.
Excellent, Tracy! Very cool you have a local source for Giusto’s, I really like their flour (as you probably could tell). Slap and fold is definitely possible with this dough! In fact, these days I also do a little bit upfront, even if the dough is very high hydration (in fact, S&F is kind of made for this type of dough) — you can also hold back some water during mixing so the S&F is a little easier in the beginning, then finish off the water and folds in the bowl at the end.
I’ve seen those Bayou cookers, they look pretty nice. Glad to hear things are working well for you in your kitchen! Happy baking, Tracy 🙂
I am absolutely loving this loaf and starting to add a little extra whole wheat each time to see how it is handles the change. Also I finally figured out how to do a good batard shaping. The technique was just eluding me but it really made a difference in the overall appearance of the ear. Thank you.
Right on! I’d say use King Arthur Bread Flour for your first try at this recipe. The hydration is quite high and the bread flour will hold up better, but in the long run I’d say KA AP is closer to Giusto’s. You might also want to hold back some water your first go, just to feel things out.
Instead of adding more flour, it’s usually easier for me to just hold back water as I’m mixing. Add the water into the dough if it feels good and is holding together. It shouldn’t every really be super slack and falling apart. If it starts to feel that way, stop adding water and continue on with the process.
Let me know how it goes!
Ok, it looks like you might have gone a bit far in the other direction toward over proofing. I would try reducing the hydration 5% next time and also reduce that bulk fermentation time by 30-45 minutes. I think that extra hour pushed it a bit too far (lots of small holes and a reduced rise in the oven are key indicators of this!).
Hi Maurizio!
I have tried this recipe several times. I let the levain ferment for 5 hours prior to mixing. I notice at least one or two bubbles on the edge of the bowl during the fermentation phase when I am performing folds. But when I set it in the fridge overnight it seems to get very dense. When it is placed in the oven, I do not experience a good oven spring and the end result is a dense gummy-like inside without many bubbles present inside the loaf. Do you have any idea what I could be doing wrong from start to finish?
Based on the description of your loaves it could be that they are underproofed. There are a few indicators your dough could be under: explosive rise in the oven, dense interior with potentially scattered large holes, and 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. If you tug on the dough a bit it should offer resistance to your tugging, it’ll feel stronger.
Hello! Thank you for this site, it is a wealth of information and inspiration!
I have tried this recipe a couple of times, but my results have been only so-so. (Poor dough strength, not taste!) In reading through this again this morning, I’m wondering if I’m screwing up the percentages because of this note.
Note that the baker’s percentages listed below are with respect to the final dough ingredients and do not take into account the levain.
Does that mean I should be subtracting the levain ingredients from the final dough recipe or does it mean they’re a separate set of measurements that I just add to the rest of the recipe?
I know this sounds silly, but for some reason it’s been running through my head this morning and I thought maybe others had had the same question.
Thanks again for everything!
Jim
You’re very welcome, Jim! Thanks for that feedback, I can see how it might lead to confusion. I’ve adjusted the way I display these tables over the years, and my latest recipes have the best approach. No, you don’t have to subtract anything from the Final Dough Mix, just use the numbers in that chart to mix your final dough. My feeling is this might be too high of a hydration for the flour you’re using — and that’s ok, it’s all very relative! Give this a try with a reduction in water, perhaps 5%, and see how it goes. It’ll bring a noticeable amount of strength to the dough and it should fix things. Let me know!