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, great recipe. Can I leave the the dough longer in the fridge when I want to bake in the evening?
You can, but know the longer they proof the less rise you’ll get and with a potentially more forward sour flavor.
Hi Maurizio,
I have made this bread many times now and every now and again I experience a couple of different problems.
1. My crust is very thick and hard to cut with a bread knife.
2. The bottom of my bread is not flat, it sort of curves up away from the stone.
Any advice you could give would be appreciated. Thanks
1. It could be a lack of steam in the oven when you’re baking — be sure to steam quite heavily. If you’re using a Dutch oven or combo cooker to bake these, I do notice they’ll get a slightly thicker crust.
2. Based on the description of your loaves it could be that they are slightly under proofed. 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 — it should look alive. If you tug on the dough a bit it should offer resistance to your tugging, it’ll feel stronger. Give the dough the time it needs in bulk fermentation! If you have to give it another 30m or hour to see these signs, do so. It’s important for this step to go sufficiently far for the dough to have enough fermentation activity before its proof.
Hi Maurizio,
I’m an experienced Home baker and followed along. It was all going well, through shaping but when I pulled the retarded bannetons out of the fridge this morning they’d clearly overproofed and didn’t spring particularly well. What’s the best thing to do in that instance – reduce bulk or not retard and do a late night bake?
I usually will cut back the proof several hours and see how it goes next time. If you’re cutting more and more proof time and it’s not helping, then yes, dial back the bulk fermentation time as well. At the end of bulk, the dough shouldn’t be super gassy or very weak feeling — it will be wet and slack, as that’s the nature of this dough, but not super bubbly and easily falling apart.
Hi Maurizio, Thank you so much for your beautiful recipes! Im making best sourdough bread tomorrow but only have strong bread flour and organic white rye flour. There’ nothing in the shops to choose from and I was sooo lucky to get both of these flour. Do you think I will be ok with single type of strong bead flour only or should I mix with rye flour? Could you advise. please? Thank you and best wishes to you and yours! Malgosia x
I often use a mix of rye and whole wheat in recipes that call for some whole wheat and it works out fine. The rye adds some nice personality to the flavor. In general these recipes are quite resilient to substitutions like this as long as you are patient with the fermentation and final proofing.
It’ll come out great with a little rye in there!
If making just one loaf, do you still reserve 50g of water?
I’d halve that to 25g.
For your “My Best Sourdough” bread, could I add diastatic malt powder if I don’t have malted bread flour?
Sure you could definitely do this. I’d start at 0.5% and see how that goes.
Hi Maurizio, can you please tell me, which one is the recipe?The total formula or the dough formula??
Thank you
The Dough Mix is the table you’ll want to use in the kitchen when you’re mixing. Similarly, the Levain Build is the table for when you’re making your levain (which happens first).
Hey maurizio! Apologies if this has already been answered. However, how does this recipe do when doubled? Any concerns or adjustments with bulk fermentation? Thank you!!!
Since this recipe uses precise measurements, there should be no problem at all scaling it up or down. Recipe scaling is more of a problem when you have integer ingredients (like a whole egg, or a Tablespoon of sugar); in those cases you cna experience “rounding error” when you scale. But with gram measurements of everything, you can scale up or down as you like.
You can double without any problem!
Hi Maurizio,
I’m excited to try this recipe for the first time! I made your focaccia the other day and it was the best bread I’ve ever made. I only have King Arthur AP (11.7%), bread (12.7%), and whole wheat (14%). What do you think I should use to make this recipe? Just the AP and whole wheat since those have the most similar gluten content, or do you think I need to blend in some of the bread flours as well? Thanks!
Glad to hear that, Connor! You can definitely make this recipe, but I would reduce the hydration to suit the flour you’re using. I’d probably start lower at 80% hydration and work your way up. I’ve found KAF AP a nice and strong flour, but I can’t say it’ll be just right for the hydration of this recipe. If you have bread flour (higher protein), I’d probably add some of that to the mix also if you’re looking to increase the hydration!
Thanks for the quick reply! I’ll probably go for a 50/50 blend of AP and bread then and try to get as close to the original hydration as I can if the dough seems to be handling it. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Sounds like a good plan!
Hi Maurizio, love your work!! I followed this recipe (except I did the leaven build overnight), but the bread turned out a little “gummy”. Do you think that the overnight leaven could have contributed to this or do you think it’s just the high hydration of the dough?
Thanks, Sally! It might be the hydration of this, I would try reducing it by 5-10% and see how it bakes up. If you still notice that gummy texture, it might be that the loaves are under-baked or under proofed!
Hey Maurizio,
I have just given a try to this recipe and, although the end result is fine, I had an interesting experience that doesn’t usually happen.
During bulk fermentation, the bread didn’t rise significantly (it got to about 60-70%), but in the fridge during proofing it almost doubled overnight.
When taken out of the basket it immediately deflated so I had to carefully reshape the loaf so that I can transfer it to the oven.
Do you have any ide what may have caused this much delayed rise and lack of structure?
Cheers,
A
Interesting! My guess is you were likely getting sufficient fermentation during bulk but you just didn’t see it happening: if the dough is super high hydration and lacks strength, you won’t see a lot of rise. Once you put it into the fridge, the cold temp firmed up the dough and so you saw more rise. That’s my guess!
Hi Maurizio
I have been learning and baking with your site for 4 months. Thank you so much for providing me with amazing guidance! I just graduated from the weekday sourdough and I’m on my 4th batch of “best” sourdough. This batch has 100g of spelt.
What can I add in easily with this recipe? Can I use the polenta rosemary?
What would happen if I baked this in a loaf pan?
Also I had some issues with burning on the bottom so I decreased 25 degrees and it’s helped.
Thanks!
Mara
Happy to help, Mara! I would not add the polenta/rosemary to this recipe, this already has a very high hydration and that polenta will bring even more. If you wanted to add polenta, you’d have to reduce the hydration of this dough or you’ll risk a very slack and weak dough! You can, however, add rosemary for a flavor additive, that’ll work well.
You can definitely bake this in a loaf pan, it would be great.
Hope that helps and happy baking!
I’ve just made two loaves using this method but added 11/2 cup of mixed (baked then soaked) seeds at the second mix stage.
This is the best bread I’ve made yet!!!
That’s awesome to hear, Julie! Yes, a versatile dough that’ll take all manner of mix-ins 🙂 Enjoy!
Hi Maurizio, I haven’t read every one of the 989 comments, so I apologize if you answered this 10 times already. I’m trying to not waste any starter or levain. Most recipes of the Tartine branch only use a portion of the levain or you have to bake a bunch of bread. I was wondering why there isn’t much talk about using your starter as the levain? My starter is pretty much exactly a levain except for having what might be called a stiffer feed(less water than flour by weight) because I like more sour flavor in my bread. My purpose in using my starter is multifaceted but primarily to save me time(I work a 9-5 job). What’s the downside or what am I missing by not creating the levain first?
Hey, Bryan! You can certainly use your starter instead of the levain, they’re essentially the same thing (depending on the flour used to make them).
Your website has been my favorite guide as I navigate this world of sourdough! I have had so much success with each of your recipes. I was wondering what advice you might have if I would like to try this recipe and bake same day, without proofing in the fridge overnight? I am curious as to how long to allow it to proof before sticking it in the oven if I leave out that one step.
I have the same question! Since my fridge doesn’t get cold enough my dough overproofed overnight
Check my reply above!
Thanks, Melissa! You can do this in one day, proof the dough for 2-4 hours on the counter until it’s ready instead of sticking it in the fridge. Be cautious with the hydration in this recipe because an all-ambient temperature dough will be more slack and harder to score going into the oven. I’d probably suggest you stick the dough for 15 minutes or so into the fridge before baking, this will help firm up the dough and make scoring easier.
Looks delicious, Maurizio!
I skimmed, but still can’t find the answer… What do you bake your bread on? Straight on the rack? Dutch-oven not listed anywhere. Thanks!
Maurizio! Reading through your shaping portion, it appears that you describe one method for shaping a batard, but your batard shaping post linked in that section describes a different way. Which is your preferred way, as I’m quite confused? Thanks!
Sorry about that, Chris (I’ll update the post to clarify)! For this highly hydrated dough I would use the method described in the text, not the video. The video requires a dough that’s stronger — if you tried that method with this dough you might have trouble. I need to take a video sometime soon of me shaping this style for higher hydration doughs. I’ll work on that!
I greatly appreciate the clarification!
Hi Maurizio,
In the last step of shaping you say:
So does this mean to roll the dough like a cigar? thanks
Hi Maurizio,
I used this recipe today and had some issues. I am using two DOs as I can’t get my oven to steam properly, so I took your exact ratios and made six mini loaves so that they would fit. The first two loaves had poor oven spring, the second two came out like pancakes, even worse than the first two, and the last two loaves came out with a perfect oven spring.
The second issue I’m having is with the interior texture – it’s gummy and seems to be simply under cooked, even though my internal temperature is hitting 210 degrees minimum with every loaf. When I toast the bread it’s fine, which leads me to believe it’s a baking issue.
Thank you and any suggestions are much appreciated!
That’s interesting, Chase. My guess is you might have some over hydration issues but I’m not sure why there were such vast differences between the loaves given they were from the same batch of dough and couldn’t have been baked that far apart.
I’d recommend scaling this back to two loaves that’ll fit in your DOs, reduce the hydration by 5-10%, and give it another go. See how those two turn out, once you have those baking up nicely then scale up the dough quantity but divide them smaller.
I’m a bit at a loss as to why the issues!
Hei! Thank you for this awesome website. I have been baking sourdough breads for a while and felt ready to try this one. Unfortunately my bread was burnt black after 20min in the oven with the steam. I have an iron cast in the bottom with the water and a pizza stone in the middle with the bread. I tried making the same bread second time but lowering the heat in the oven to 230C, then the bread was undercooked inside. Any suggestions?
Thank you in advance
Lisa
You’re very welcome, Lisa! Yikes, sorry to hear that! I’d say use a max heat of 230°C (to preheat), load the dough and then drop the oven to 205°C and bake the remainder of the the time at that temperature. It sounds like the temperature was too high and it burned the outside before fully baking through the interior.
You might also want to use an oven thermometer to test your oven’s temperature — perhaps it’s not what it’s saying it is? This has happened to me in the past.
Just a few ideas, I hope this helps!
Hi Maurizio! Thanks so much for this recipe and for documenting your process so well. I’ve been working about a year on my sourdough expertise and I feel I’m getting closer, in large part thanks to your site.
I have two questions about your Best Sourdough process –
(1) Why do you split the mix process in two parts, adding the levain with a rest, then adding salt later. What gave you that idea or what are you trying to accomplish by mixing the two ingredients separately?
(2) In Mix Step #2, doing folds for 2-3 minutes really helps the strength of the dough. How did you think of this? Could you elaborate on your comment, “You want the dough to be a little smoother after mixing, but not fully developed”? What happens if the dough gets too developed at this point? Sometimes I notice the dough getting pretty developed at this point, and when this happens I can’t do as many folds during bulk fermentation, but overall I haven’t noticed any ill effects. It’s possible I’m just not observant enough though 🙂
You’re very welcome, Keith! Answers:
1) You can do it all in one step if you’d like, but I like to add salt a little later because it has a tightening effect on the dough. If mixing by hand, I almost always add salt later, but if you’re doing this in a mixer I’d likely add it all in one step. If you’re doing prolonged mixing in a mixer, adding salt at the beginning is helpful because it can help prevent over oxidization of the dough.
2) Letting the dough rest a bit during mixing helps it come together and you’ll see the gluten start developing. It’s similar to an autolyse in this way, once water and flour are mixed this begins. If you mix/knead the dough excessively in the beginning it just means you won’t need to perform any (or less) sets of stretch and folds during bulk fermentation — as you said. Nothing really wrong with doing that at all, but I prefer to mix it just enough so I still need 1-2 sets of stretch and folds during bulk (this helps regulate the dough temperature as well as gives you a chance to “check in” with the dough to assess progress).
Hope that helps!
Thank you Maurizio. I really appreciate your thinking and experience!
I do all my mixing by hand. For some time I have been making a slurry, with 50-100kg water, of the levain and salt when mixing into the autolyse. Originally I believe I was trying to simplify my process as much as I could. Plus, I somehow felt distributing the levain in water before mixing can’t be a bad thing.
Can I just half the Total Formula if I want to make just one loaf?
Yes, exactly!
Hey Maurizio! I just want to let you know how amazing your website is! I had been wanting to bake my own sourdough for a while, but never had the courage to actually get started until I read your guides and felt that it might be something doable. I started my sourdough starter earlier this month and have baked a few of your recipes already. The first few loafs (50/50, WW, and WW Walnut), while not perfect, were amazingly good for a beginner and I was very satisfied. After a few loaves, I made the WW Sandwich Bread, which was very very good! I then decided to bake your “Best Sourdough” recipe. I could already feel during the process that my dough felt quiet different than my earlier attempts and knew that something good was coming. It came out of the oven this morning and I had just cut through my bread, it was absolutely perfect! The bubbles when I cut my bread was basically the same as in your pictures.
I have ordered some spelt flour and will move on to your spelt recipes soon!
Thank you so so much!
Ah this makes me happy to hear, Diana. I’m really glad your loaves have turned out fantastic thus far — there’s something amazing about baking bread from home, especially when it only uses the healthiest of ingredients 🙂 Stay well and happy baking!
Maurizio — Thank you for the many terrific recipes. Your site is astoundingly good and an inspiration. It’s given a lot of pleasure to me and my family and friends. Quick question about levain amounts: in this recipe and the beginner’s loaf, I never end up with quite enough of the amount of levain called for by the recipe. Bread still turns out great but I’m wondering if I can increase the amounts when I build the levain — just in proportion? Want to try the recipes with the appropriate amount of levain. Thanks again and I hope that you and your loved ones are safe and healthy.
You’re welcome, Ben! And thank you so much for the kind words. Yes, this is a very common issue, sometimes the build will be just a few grams off due to some loss in the jar, spatula, hands, etc. I used to have these recipes scale up the levain just a bit to compensate for that but I received so many emails from confused readers who didn’t know what to do with the excess levain that I removed the “buffer.” So yes, you can certainly scale it up a little to cover if it’s a big discrepancy!
Thank you and likewise, stay well out there 🙂
Maurizio. Thanks again for another great recipe. What is your preferred baking method? In a pre-heated pan, DO? Or maybe what are the options? You didn’t mention that in the final baking step. Thanks much!
Denise
You’re very welcome, Denise. My preference for this type of dough is right on my baking surface in my oven as described on my post about steaming a home oven. However, using a DO or other pan will also work quite well!
Hi there, if I wanted to put in some mix ins, at which step would you suggest I do that? I’ve had much success with this recipe thank you so much for the thorough recipe and guidance. My loaves come out custardy and soft with a crackly crust. I am still, however working on getting that highly desired open crumb.
Hey there, Linda! I like to add mix-ins right at the end of mixing. When your dough is all finished and ready to start bulk fermentation, spread the mix-ins on top of the dough and gently work them into the dough. Don’t worry about mixing them in completely because you’ll likely give the dough several sets of stretch and folds during bulk fermentation which will help mix them in more fully.
Glad the recipe is working out so well for ya! Have fun and enjoy 🙂