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
Hey Maurizio! Love this recipe and it’s my go to! I think it changed recently though, do you remember/know how much bread flour was used in the autolyse stage – I remember all the other numbers off the top of my head. I want to just make sure I have written down the recipe that’s been working for me 🙂
Glad to hear that, Anna! The changes here were so, so minor you should not have a problem with the recipe stated as-is above! Trust me, give it a try 🙂 (and sorry, I can’t remember, I’ll try to find them, though!!). Let me know how it goes and happy holidays, Anna!
I found a version of the recipe I was more familiar with (and very happy with): https://web.archive.org/web/20200410213550/https://www.theperfectloaf.com/best-sourdough-recipe/
There were some process changes as well…I assume in an effort to simplify it a little?
MERRY CHRISTMAS, MAURIZIO…if you celebrate it! I am grateful for your recipes and support. Here are my questions: 1 – How many 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 loaf pans would I use to bake 1 of your 900g loaves? 2 – I received a Brod & Taylor Dough Proofer for Christmas..:)….and a 100% cotton rope proofing basket – can I use that in the B & T? 3 – What is the advantage of using the B & T for proofing, as compared to doing it in the fridge?
Thanks, Mare! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas as well 🙂
1. Hmm, hard to say on those pans, I’ve never baked with something that small! My guess would be two?
2. Congrats on the proofer! Such a great tools. Yes, you can definitely use that basket in there.
3. The B&T won’t cool your dough, it can only heat. So if you’re doing a recipe that calls for a fridge proof (retard the dough), you’ll have to use the fridge. I use the B&T to keep my starter warm and my dough warm if proofing at room temperature.
Hope that helps and happy holidays!
Thanks ever so much!!
Greetings Maurizio,
I just got into baking as a hobby and tried your recipe for the first time the other day. It was a disaster (under proofed and huge tunnels–still trying to figure out where I went wrong). I have a question about adding the levain in step 3. I’ve been playing with Tartine’s country bread, the the recipe has you mix the levain with water to make the dough (skips autolyse all together). With your recipe, when adding the levain, do I just add the levain or should it be mixed in with parts of the 95g of water then added to the dough with the salt?
Thanks in advance!
Cheers,
K
p.s. Your sourdough starter instructions are foolproof. Thanks for helping me start and maintain my first starter yeast.
Ah sorry to hear that, K! Yea, those huge tunnels like that typically indicate under proofed dough. I typically add the levain and salt with some of that reserved mixing water, just to make it easier to mix everything. It’s also helpful to at least have a splash of water to ensure that salt dissolves and mixes in the dough evenly.
Keep at it!
So, I tried your recipe again. Instead of using the printout version of your recipe, I read through your blog recipe–the instructions vary a bit. Based on gauging the feel of the dough and reading the bubbles through the bulk fermentation, I modified a bit, and I ended up with the most delicious bread. I gifted one to my sister-in-law—and it was such a rewarding experience to share the spirit of bread making with family.
Thanks for the recipe–that crumb and gloss are incredibly beautiful. Ah! Can’t wait to try it again for New Years gifting!
Cheers,
K
That’s great to hear, K! Baking sourdough bread really is all about developing your senses and adjusting as needed! Enjoy and happy holidays 🙂
I found that when I cooked at 500 degrees covered 20min and then 475 degrees uncovered 20 minutes with a cookie sheet on rack under bread which prevented burning bottom crust, that I got great oven rise. Why do you think that is? Thanks, it’s a great recipe.
I usually find a high temperature really helps the dough pop up in the oven. I used to have this recipe at 500F but many said the bottom crust was a little too dark. Using your cookie sheet is a great way to solve that!
Can you make the leavain the night before and do autolyste in morning.
You could do that, but you’d have to adjust the levain to run longer. You could make one with something around 10% sourdough starter, 50% whole wheat flour, 50% white flour, 100% water. Then let that run overnight for 12 hours and do the autolyse in the morning.
Hi Maurizio,
Hope all is well, I was wondering if I could try this recipe but with all bread flour and no whole wheat? Would that change the hydration? Thank you 🙂
You could, sure! Typically, I find higher protein flour able to take on more water than lower protein, but that’s not always the case. Because this recipe is so highly hydrated, I’d probably do the recipe as-is, just sub the flour. Let me know how it goes!
Thanks Maurizio! This is going to be my first attempt at a sourdough bread recipe (aside from the foccacia, pizza, rolls, cinnamon rolls, etc) haha but love all your recipes! Trying to move up to your more advanced recipes 🤞🏼. I’ll report back!! Thanks! Happy holidays!^_^
Happy holidays to you as well, Gayle!
So glad to hear it turned out well, Erin! It’s ok with a few mods here and there, it’s quite a forgiving recipe. Plus, it sounds like your instinct came into play and you adjusted just fine 🙂 I’m working on a way for other bakers to post photos and discuss a bit more—stay tuned! In the meantime, happy baking 🙂
Hi Maurizio, hoping you can confirm whether or not I’m crazy- I swear the last time I made this recipe the mix was in the separate steps – first adding the levain, and after waiting, the salt. Also I recall the folds being at 15 min intervals for the first three, then 30 min intervals for the final 3. Am I indeed crazy, or has the recipe been recently updated? Thanks much!
-lauren
I’m looking at the recipe again and see I must have just read the folds wrong – they are still first 3 at 15 min intervals and last 3 at 30 min.
I updated this post a few weeks ago, yes! Small changes, but it should still be quite similar!
Hi Maurizio,
I’m loving this website. I have learnt so much from it since I first discovered it in March. It has helped me get through this tough year.
With living in Oxford, UK, I have had to make a few adjustments because of the colder climate and I was wondering what your thoughts were on overnight autolyse at room temp (18-19C)? By making my levain overnight at the same time it gives me more time in the day for bulk fermentation.
Thanks again for curating this amazing website.
So glad to hear that, Owen! I’d say give it a try; because the temps are low, it might just be fine with an auto overnight. The concern I have with this dough is that it’s very highly hydrated, a long autolyse might make the dough very, very slack and it’ll be hard to strengthen back up. I’d be interested to hear how it turns out!
You’re welcome and happy baking!
Best sourdough recipe for sure. Can I divide this recipe into 4 small loaves? Does it change cooking time or temperature?
Yes, you certainly can. I’d reduce the total duration and keep the temp the same.
Hi Maurizio,
I’ve made this recipe twice, and the crumb is the best I’ve had. However, the loaves come out extremely flat. How can I prevent this from happening?
I saw in other comments you attributed this to not having a ripe starter, but my starter was extremely active before I mixed the levain. Thanks so much!
Emma
Hey, Emma. Usually that’s due to insufficient dough strength and/or over hydration. It could also be that you need to shape the dough tighter to keep it in shape when you go to bake (and this is somewhat related to dough strength). You could try holding back some of the water in the mix to bring strength to the dough, or knead the dough longer before bulk, or finally, adding in a few more sets of stretch and folds during bulk feremtantion.
Thanks so much! I’ll be sure to try this next time.
Hey Maurizio,
I’ve learned to bake this year, thanks to you. It’s been such a fun and rewarding journey so far. I’ve worked my way through most of your sourdough recipes, and keep coming back to this one. I think I’ve made your best sourdough about 5 times already, which is probably about 20 loaves (I usually do four at a time, for the economies of scale). They’ve all been delicious and better than the last batch. I recently switched to a new flour, which is a stoneground heritage white grain with medium protein. I suspect it might be closer to what you use, as for the first time the flour could hold 100% of the water you recommend in the recipe (previously, I’ve had to withhold a bit). Any way, the results on this latest bake are truly sublime – incredibly flavourful, luxurious texture, amazing crumb & crust, and a really good rise. I look forward to making it again and again, and continuing to improve.
Thanks for all the care you’ve put into all your recipes – learning to bake bread has been a really special part of this year for me, and it’s brought me, my friends and family a lot of happiness! Really hope you release a book some time soon – we would love to have your recipes all together in book on our kitchen shelf.
Thanks and best wishes,
Dave
Dave—glad to hear you’ve taken up sourdough baking! Sounds like a great flour source, and yes, each flour has differing absorption levels, great job on the adjustments. Hydration is always a tricky thing. Thanks so much for the comments, I really do appreciate that, makes me happy to hear I’ve helped! And regarding the book… Something is in the works 🙂 Happy baking and happy holidays!
Hi Maurizio,
I can definitely see why this is called My Best Sourdough. I just completed my first bake today and it was a joy from start to finish. Of all the bread I have made this past year, it was my best hands down. Great crust, great crumb, and wonderful oven spring. I did adjust the water down by 50g and I suspect that was necessary dur to the high humidity where I live north of Seattle WA.
Continued thanks for all that you share with all of us fellow bakers..
Fantastic, Bruce! Sounds like the appropriate adjustment for your location, good move. This is definitely my favorite sourdough to date, it always pleases! Enjoy and happy baking 🙂
I’m sure it’s mostly the power of suggestion, since I still used the same old flour brands I always use (King Arthur bread and Bobs Red Mill Whole Wheat since that’s what the store carries), but this IS especially good bread. I too have been making the beginners recipes, mostly variations on the 50/50. This recipe is really, really good. My crust is covered with tiny bubbles. What causes that? It’s not a problem, it looks really cool, but I don’t think I’ve seen it with any of my bread before.
Happy to hear you’re liking the recipe, Zach! Those bubbles are a combination of things (and this is my speculation): they form when a cold loaf (since it was proofed in the fridge) is baked and fermentation rapidly increases, small pockets of gas are trapped in the exterior layer of the dough. Usually it’s a combination of cold dough + heavy steam in the oven. I like them, they add crunch!
I just attempted this recipe for the first time after making both the beginners sourdough and the all purpose sourdough many times. Everything seemed to go well – I didn’t use all of the 95 g of water – and the bread looks and tastes amazing, but there are HUGE holes. Can you explain to me what would cause this? Thanks so much, your website has been so helpful these last few months.
Hey, Sarah! Usually large holes like that are due to under proofing. 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.
Ok, thanks for getting back to me!
Minor, the levain built in step 1 totals 150g. The mixing step calls for 152g.
Thanks for pointing that out Mark; fixed!
Hey Maurizio, you mention that the dough should have medium gluten development when starting bulk fermentation, and then further develop the dough by doing stretch & folds. I usually like to do slap & fold (thanks a lot for introducing me to that technique!) until the dough is strong and smooth, so until the gluten are well developed already. I perform stretch & folds as well, according to the recipe. What’s your opinion on this – will a strong gluten development at the start of bulk fermentation give a different result than medium gluten development at that stage?
Hey! The more you strengthen the dough upfront, the less you’ll have to do during bulk fermentation via stretch and folds. So, if you mix a little more aggressively by slap/fold, it might just mean you need fewer sets of stretch and folds during bulk—or not, it really depends on how the dough is that day! Hope that makes sense 🙂
Thanks for your help! Yes, that makes sense, and it’s good to know it’s not affecting the dough strength later on if I create more strength earlier.
Hi Maurizio! I absolutely love this recipe (it’s given me some of my best loaves), so thank you so much for making it and troubleshooting in the comments. I’ve been having a lot of issues with oven spring, and was wondering if you had any tips. The first two times I followed the recipe, it worked like a charm but since then, I’ve been having some trouble. I usually work the dough a lot more at the beginning because it doesn’t quite form a dough (and a few times it’s been impossible to shape at the end). Even then, it doesn’t strengthen as much as I hope during the turns and I’ll usually throw in 1 or 2 more. The minute I score it the next day, it completely loses its shape. It will rise in the oven but not as much as it once did. Do you think I’m overworking the dough? Is it something else? Thank you so much for your help!
You’re very welcome, Reena! Glad to hear that. It doesn’t sound like you’re over working the dough (this is very difficult, if not impossible, if you’re mixing by hand). It’s more likely the dough is over hydrated and/or under strengthened. I would say try cutting back the water in the recipe by 5-10% and see if that helps firm up the dough. It should gain considerable strength when holding back this water. Keep me posted on how it goes the next attempt, I’m confident you’ll get more rise with a stronger dough.
OMG, the crust! I can’t get over this crunchy, chewy, shattery crust. Just wow!
This was my first time making this recipe. I used half King Arthur All Purpose and half King Arthur Bread Flour to try to approximate the protein content. The dough handled beautifully. Crumb has a nice mix of big and small holes. It didn’t get a whole lot of oven spring though. I need to think about whether I slightly over-proofed.
One side effect of doing slap and folds I’ve found is that my dough cools down too much by the end of it. At the end of autolyse, the flour + water mix was 78 deg F and it remained there after mixing in levain, salt and some water. But at the end of 6 minutes of slap and fold, dough was around 65 deg F. I might have over-compensated for this with the warmth (oven light) and length of bulk. I suspect by tomorrow I might calm down a bit about the crust and get in a more analyzing frame of mind. 🙂
I recently purchased a combo cooker so I can stop abusing my (too large) Le Creuset and got a functional thermometer again. I am bummed about the very lackluster oven spring and it was humbling to learn (again) that fancy equipment does not result in a perfect loaf, craft does. But when the “fail” is so delicious, it’s just hard to remain bummed for more than a minute.
Awesome, Nivedita! Yes, that’s a common issue with slap/fold, it always cools off drastically in the winter for me here as well. I usually compensate by warming the water up to 85F or so. You’re right about that, it is all about the process, tools help, but aren’t a silver bullet. I’m confident the next attempt will be better—keep at it!
Hi Maurizio! I’ve made the original recipe tons of times and it always came out perfectly, but when I tried your newly edited recipe yesterday both of my loaves were incredibly flat with no spring. Could you possibly post or email me your old recipe? I think I’m going to stick with that since I had lots of success with it!
Or if you can’t send the recipe, did the flour amounts change from the original? I think I can remember the recipe, but am not sure what the flour was in grams. Thanks!
Hey, Emily! I can dig it up, but the changes were *so* small that I don’t think that would have caused issue. The changes were mostly just formatting and a very slight (0.1%) reduction in salt, which wouldn’t have impacted your loaves that significantly. Is there any chance something was off with your starter or levain when you went to bake this loaf? So sorry to hear about this!!
Hi Maurizio, thanks so much for your content! I’ve learned a lot from you. I am looking into buying a baking stone or steel for my home oven and I was wondering if you have any preferences or recommendations between a stone or steel for bread baking. Thank you!
Hey, David. I like both in the end, but I might give more preference to the steel. It’s more versatile as it can really make wonderful pizza, and it doesn’t have any chance for cracking. Check out my baking tools page for a link to the one I have!
Thank you so much! I was worried that the steel would burn the bottoms of the bread because of the high conductivity. Should I worry about this?
It definitely can happen. If you notice this, just preheat at a lower temperature or for a shorter time to balance it out a bit.
Quick question about water in the autolyse and mix–the recipe says to hold back 50 gr of water of step 2 (so I’m assuming that means add 600 gr water, hold back 50?), but then in step 3, the mix, it calls for 95 gr water. Is that not where the held-back-50 gr comes in? This is my first time making this recipe (I’ve been doing the beginner’s sourdough recipe for months and decided to try to level up!). I’m going to feel my way through the hydration as you advise, but am uncertain about the water math here. (But excited to have learned enough from repeating your beginner’s loaf that I’m up for this recipe now. Thanks for being my pandemic baking guide.)
Sorry about that, Susan, was a typo! Although it wouldn’t hurt anything. Add all 650g of the water in autolyse; then during Step 3. Mix, there’s an additional bit of water to add in when mixing. Don’t add all of this 95g of water if your dough looks like it’s too wet or sticky. Keep me posted on how it’s going!
I wrote that last comment while I was baking, so I had to decide on the fly. I ended up just adding 600 gr in autolyse, which left a rather stiff and not-anywhere-near-soupy dough at that point, so it took all of the 95g of water in the mix (at which point the dough was pretty wet). And it was the very best loaf of bread I’ve ever baked…can’t wait to try it again, this time with a little more water in the autolyse stage.
So glad to hear this, Susan!
I’ve noticed the new format to your recipe, and the changes. May I ask some questions?
1. You took the salt from 19g to 17g. I’m sticking with 19g, and thought perhaps others might want a comment on a range?
2. You took out the two stage mix, am I right? Any comments as to why? I can’t remember the old version well enough to recall if the extra half hour is just gone from the total time. I’ll experiment with the new version for this batch, but would love your insights.
3. I’d appreciate it if you mention the amount of levain in grams, not just “the total amount.” I know this has caused confusion in the past, but…. I generally halve the recipe, but find if I halve the levain, I end up lean. Too much sticks to the container. So my habit was to do a 20g/20g/20g/40g levain, and then measure out the final amount. When making a full batch, frankly, I’d probably do the same, and prepare too large a quantity before measuring it into the dough. I can obviously divide and figure out the amount you’re intending, but again, would personally appreciate knowing the amount in grams.
4. Finally, my habit is to use my oven with a pilot light as my proofing chamber. I mix my levain, and then measure all my ingredients at the same time. I store them with the levain, and by the time I mix, everything is at a nice, toasty temperature which results in a batch of bread I enjoy. This new version, while it does have the total water in the top version, doesn’t do so again after the water added to make the levain. For me, I’d rather know the total amount, and then to hold back a portion during the autolyse. In other words, I’d love the old chart back.
I’m guessing these changes are meant to make things easier for new bakers to follow. But there are some things I miss about the old recipe style.
I’m a big fan of the site and your recipes. You’ve made my pandemic better, and I thank you. It is pretty wonderful to know that I literally cannot buy bread which I like better than the bread I make.
With gratitude, Debbie
LOL I’ve been following this for years and today I double checked one of my measurements and I was like…am I crazy? Did the recipe change?
Very, very slight changes to the recipe, but yes, it has. I’ve been slowly going through my older posts and updating them to (hopefully) be more clear and concise, where appropriate. I hope it doesn’t confuse!
Hey, Debbie! Yes, some small changes and updates here (and other recipes) after baking this bread for many, many years. Will answer below:
1. Yes, a slight reduction in salt, go with what you prefer but I find 1.8% total salt sufficient for this bread.
2. Yes, I removed the two stage mix because after making this for so long I’ve found it really not to be necessary. It’ll still work just fine, and it’s a little more time for fermentation, but in the end I’ve reduced my mixing “complexity” down to just one step and haven’t seen any issues.
3. This is such a difficult thing! I absolutely see your reasoning for me to list the actual weight (which you can always calculate by adding the values in the levain table), I’ll likely go back to that. Usually the levain comes in just a little short, so I used to build a little more, but then there was confusion why there was extra. It’s very rare to hit that number right on, either you’re over or under. But honestly, in the end a small deviation one way or the other isn’t a huge deal.
4. I’m 100% with you on this and it’s what I personally do. But yes, I’ve split things up to make it easier to follow as a traditional recipe (step by step by step). I like your approach as well, keeping everything together to equalize the temperature of everything. What I’ve been doing lately is scaling out all my water in one large pitcher, then pour from that pitcher as I go through each step. You could keep that pitcher in your oven with all your ingredients and pour from that as you’re going through the steps. It would also allow you to hold back as necessary, just don’t pour as much from the main pitcher. Would that work? Trying to find a good way for everyone is tough!
Hope that all makes sense and the reasoning behind why I’ve changed things around just a bit. What funny is about 5 years ago I changed my method after baking for several years and I encountered the same “growing pains” as I am right now. I’ve always looking at the way I present formulas and the structure of things, trying to improve. Sometimes not always for the better and I have to back step—totally fine with that if it’s what makes sense!
Glad to hear your bread baking is going so well. There’s really something satisfying about being able to make bakery quality bread right from home.
Happy baking, Debbie!
Hi Maurizio, after proofing the dough in the fridge for 12hrs, I am not happy with the finish, can I re-shape it? And proof it again for 12-17hrs?
You’d likely get less rise and a tighter interior, but it’s possible!
Hi Maurizio — can you add a complete dough formula for this recipe in bakers math / percentages? That would make it easier to understand the recipe, much clearer, and quicker to follow. Thanks!
Yes! This is the next post I’m updating to my latest format for formulas (including a printable recipe page). Will update soon!