I’ve baked this loaf, or some variant of it, so many times I’ve lost count. This bread was born when I first got my hands dirty with flour and water. Its parent—if you could call it that—was originally Chad Robertson’s Tartine loaf with his liquid levain, brought to life, not with intensive kneading, but rather a series of folds during bulk fermentation.
My best sourdough recipe has grown since then. It has developed a personality of its own as I’ve expanded my baking repertoire and investigated the many facets of baking naturally leavened sourdough. It’s taken on and lost traits from many great bakers out there, borrowing from their inspiration and giving me a direction to raise this bread into something of my own. This bread is one that doesn’t entirely taste like anything else I’ve had, and yet, still employs many of the same processes and ingredients.
That’s one of the greatest things about bread: it can taste and look dramatically different just by changing the two hands that create it. Calling this post “my best sourdough recipe” is a lofty claim, but honestly, I do believe this is the best bread I’ve made thus far.
I sometimes revisit a discussion I had with a few readers of this site and their comments: “bread is just bread, it’s something to be eaten and is something life-giving, isn’t that enough?” I agree, but when something becomes a passion for you it’s important to set lofty goals and get excited when breakthroughs are made. Isn’t that the definition of a craft and the relentless honing required?
I’ve taken my best sourdough recipe from its most nascent form to its current stage and can trace through the years each change to its formula or process — and I’m sure I’ll be changing things well into the future as it continues to evolve — a work-in-progress.
Yes it’s excessive in some way, but there’s an excessiveness to ambition as well.
John Mayer
Maybe the actual recipe for this bread isn’t the most important part, but rather, the lessons and insights learned along the way as I continually hone my baking proficiency. I’m not claiming this recipe will yield the perfect loaf every single time, but I dare say it comes the closest for me—and that’s exciting.
This bread is the bread that I want to make the most often, the one my family asks for the most often, and the one I share most often. I have a special place for whole wheat bread, and taste-wise, it might make me want to call that my favorite one day, but the versatility of this bread is pretty hard to beat. In fact, I bake this so often that my freezer has an entire shelf lined with pre-sliced loaves wrapped and in bags labeled pane perfetto.
While the actual formula for my best sourdough recipe is simply a mix of flour, water, salt, and levain, there are many nuances here to pay close attention to; here are a few key things to successfully making this bread:
- An active starter
- An autolyse
- A high hydration
- Sufficient dough strength
- A warm and complete bulk fermentation
- A long, cold proof
Before writing this post, I pulled out my trusty notebook (or use my free baker’s note sheet!) and paged through the handwritten (and flour-ridden) pages to find any scribbled “ah-ha” moments or little notes jotted down in the margin, along with a few curse words peppered throughout, and have bundled them up into this entry (sans curse words to keep it clean). A compendium of sorts containing my insights, breakthroughs, and ah-ha moments.
My best sourdough recipe doesn’t require an exotic blend of hard-to-find flour, a complicated multi-step levain build, or the use of a mechanical mixer. It’s built around making this bread in your home kitchen.
My best sourdough recipe is very highly hydrated and can be challenging. When mixing, be watchful for the signs and adjust the dough hydration to suit your environment and flour. If you’re not used to working with high-hydration dough, please start with hydration somewhere in the middle and slowly work up.
Flour Selection
I’ve tried a lot of flour out there (and am an avid user of freshly milled flour), indeed not everything there is, but I’ve ordered enough now that the UPS guy thinks I might have a bakery in my backyard. I have baked some great bread with Hayden Flour Mills, Central Milling, and Giusto’s. I’ve also had great success with King Arthur Baking high-protein white flour.
I have consistently made incredible loaves with Giusto’s flour; I only wish it were organic. Nevertheless, I find myself ordering a box of it here and there and enjoying the results every time. Of course, as I mentioned before, try whatever is local first (sadly, my source for local, organic flour is no longer available) and whatever you like.
When trying new flour, remember to hold back more water than you might otherwise, and then slowly add it in at the end of mixing or throughout bulk fermentation. Now, on to my best sourdough recipe.
Watch Me Make This From Start To Finish
I absolutely love this bread and make it often, but it can be challenging for first-time bakers. Be sure to watch my YouTube video below for a look at how I handle the dough and every step of the process.
If you’re brand new to baking sourdough, check out my Beginner’s Sourdough Bread recipe; it has in-depth information on every step in the baking process. Then come back and bake this!
My Best Sourdough Recipe
Vitals
| Total Dough Weight | 1,800 grams |
| Pre-fermented Flour | 6.4% |
| Levain percentage in final dough | 17.1% |
| Hydration | 85.0% |
| Yield | Two 900g loaves |
Total Formula
The target final dough temperature (FDT) is 78°F (25°C). This dough loves a warm ambient environment. Try to keep the dough at the listed temperatures if possible; use your oven with its light on inside, your microwave with a bowl of steaming water, or a proofer. I use my instant-read thermometer to check the dough temperature periodically throughout bulk.
For more information on how to calculate DDT, monitor temperature, and maintain temperature have a look at my post on The Importance of Dough Temperature in Baking.
| Weight | Ingredient | Baker’s Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 852g | Medium-protein bread flour (~11.5% protein, Giusto’s Artisan Bread Flour) | 90.00% |
| 94g | Whole wheat flour (Giusto’s Organic Stoneground Whole Wheat) | 10.00% |
| 710g | Water 1 | 75.00% |
| 95g | Water 2 | 10.00% |
| 17g | Salt | 1.80% |
| 30g | Ripe sourdough starter (100% hydration) | 3.20% |
As I mentioned above, my best sourdough recipe is an extremely high hydration. If this is your first time working with this recipe, reduce the total water or hold water back during mixing to ensure your dough can handle the addition. The amount of water your dough will handle will vary based on your particular flour and environment—play it safe the first few bakes and work the water up gradually once you get a feel for the dough.
My Best Sourdough Recipe Method
1. Levain – 9:00 a.m.
Build the liquid levain in the morning and store somewhere warm around 77-80°F (25-26°C) ambient for 5 hours.
| Weight | Ingredient | Baker’s Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 30g | Ripe sourdough starter (100% hydration) | 50% |
| 30g | Medium-protein bread flour (~11.5% protein, Giusto’s Artisan Bread Flour) | 50% |
| 30g | Whole wheat flour (Giusto’s Organic Stoneground Whole Wheat) | 50% |
| 60g | Water | 100% |
If you haven’t yet read through my post on my sourdough starter maintenance routine, check it out for some helpful hints on what to look for when your sourdough starter and levain are ripe and ready to use.
2. Autolyse – 12:00 p.m.
This highly hydrated dough can be mixed by hand or with a mechanical mixer (like a home spiral mixer). Either one will yield great results, but here, I’ll discuss mixing this dough by hand.
Mix the flour and water in a bowl until all the dry bits are incorporated, then cover. Ensure all the dry flour is hydrated—store near levain (we want the dough’s temperature to remain warm).
| Weight | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 822g | Medium-protein bread flour |
| 64g | Whole wheat flour |
| 650g | Water 1 |
3. Mix – 2:00 p.m.
| Weight | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 95g | Water 2 |
| 17g | Fine sea salt |
| 151g | Ripe liquid levain (see above) |
Add the ingredients to your dough in the mixing bowl that underwent an autolyse. Add the water slowly, in stages, while you’re mixing, and stop adding water if the dough feels excessively wet or soupy at any point.
Perform folds for about 2-3 minutes in the bowl. Grab under one side, pull up and over to the other side, then rotate the bowl a bit and repeat. I do this probably 30 times or so (it goes fast and easy). In the end, the dough should still be shaggy, but it will be more smooth and will start to hold itself together more in the bowl.
If you’re a fan of the slap & fold mixing technique I’ve described in the past, you can do this but be aware that it is difficult at this hydration. It’s best to first slap and fold the dough without adding all the reserved water to get the dough smooth and strong. Then, return the dough to the mixing bowl and slowly add the remaining water while folding the dough.
I find that the correct level of dough strength at this point is important. You want the dough to be smooth, elastic, and strong, but it doesn’t have to be fully developed, and it will still be shaggy. We will continue to strengthen the dough through stretch and folds in bulk fermentation.
Transfer dough to a tub or thick-walled bowl for bulk fermentation.
5. Bulk Fermentation – 2:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.
At 78°F (25°C) ambient temperature, bulk fermentation should go for about 4 hours. Perform six sets of stretch and folds during the bulk. The first three are at 15-minute intervals, and the last three are at 30-minute intervals. After these folds (2 hours and 15 minutes have gone by), let the dough rest for the remainder of bulk fermentation.
I stretch and fold more vigorously at the beginning of bulk than usual since it is extraordinarily slack and extensible (due to this recipe’s high hydration and autolyse). Pick up one side of the dough with both hands and pull it up, just before tearing, and fold it over to the other side. Rotate your container and repeat 4 or 5 times. That is one set.
Above, you can see my best sourdough recipe dough halfway through bulk, after about 2 hours. There is no significant rise as of yet, but the edges are beginning to dome downward, and the dough’s texture is smoothing out slightly. We still have several more folds to do and more strength to build.
It is essential that the dough is kept near 78°F (25°C) as much as possible (minor fluctuations up and down are ok). If temperatures dip down too far, you might have to extend the bulk fermentation duration to compensate, and vice versa. Use your judgment, the signs described below, and be flexible.
At the end of bulk, your dough should look very gassy, with some bubbles here and there, and the edges where the dough meets the bowl should be slightly domed. You can see all these signs in the image above.
When you gently shake the bowl, the entire mass jiggles from side to side—very alive. You’ll also notice that compared with the photo at the beginning of bulk, the dough is smoother and holds its edges, folds, and creases more readily (most of the bumps and ridges you see are due to trapped gasses from fermentation).
6. Divide & Preshape – 6:15 p.m.
Divide the dough into two halves and gently preshape each piece of dough into a round. Then, let the dough rest for 30 minutes, uncovered. Act quickly when handling this dough and rely heavily on your bench knife. I try to use my hands as little as possible when dealing with the dough at this point.
7. Shape – 6:45 p.m.
Lightly flour the top of your dough rounds and flour the work surface. With this recipe use a little more flour on the surface than normal, the dough will be extremely sticky and wet. Flip each round and shape into a batard (see notes below) or boule, whatever your preference.
Here’s a video of how I shape a bâtard. With this dough, be sure to use the “slack dough” shaping method since the dough is such high hydration.
I prefer to shape these as batards, and my shaping method is as follows:
- Flip pre-shaped round
- Fold the bottom up to about halfway
- Fold the left side over to about 3/4 to the right
- Fold the right side over to cover left
- Stretch top up & away from the center and fold down to about half (you’ll now have a “letter”)
- Grab a little of the dough at the sides near the top and stretch it over the center, so the dough crosses. Imagine lacing up a shoe where you first grab your laces and cross them over
- Repeat three times from top to bottom (the result will look like a laced up shoe)
- Take the bottom and gently roll the dough up to the top and try to seal it slightly when done rolling
Alternatively, if the dough feels pretty strong, you could shape it by “cinching” up the dough. For more instruction on how to shape this dough as an oblong loaf, see my post on how to shape a batard (with video!).
After shaping, let the dough rest on the bench for a few minutes and then place it into a banneton that is lightly dusted with white flour. You’ll see above my bannetons give the dough plenty of room to relax and expand in the fridge overnight. If your proofing container is on the smaller side, and you find your dough almost spilling over the edges, it might be time for a larger basket.
8. Proof – 7:25 p.m. to 9:00 a.m., the next day
Cover your banneton with plastic and place it in the refrigerator at 38°F (3°C) overnight.
9. Bake – Next Morning: Preheat oven at 8:00 a.m., Bake at 9:00 a.m.
Preheat your oven to 450°F (230°C). Remove the dough from the fridge (there’s no need to let the dough come to room temperature) and uncover. I scored the dough with a single, long slash to get that dramatic opening when baked. I keep the blade at a reasonably shallow angle so the taut skin created during shaping will “peel” back as the loaf rises.
I steamed my oven in my usual way, described here in my post on how to steam your home oven for baking. But you can also bake in a pot or Dutch oven.
Bake for 20 minutes with steam, then remove your steaming pans if baking on a surface or Dutch oven/combo cooker lid. Then, bake for an additional 30 minutes until done to your liking. I like to bake rather dark, so I sometimes extend this second half of baking until I get the crust I’m looking for.
Once your loaf is done, remove and let cool on a wire rack for 1-2 hours. See my post on the best way to store the bread after it’s baked for a few tips on keeping it on the counter and freezing if you think you won’t get through both loaves in a week.
Conclusion
It’s hard to put into words just how much I enjoy this “my best sourdough recipe.” I bake it almost every week (sometimes multiple times if baking for friends and family), and yet every time I pull it from the oven, I smile. The crust color, the open and light interior, only the smallest perception of sour notes, and the way it crunches when toasted. I could go on and on.
The photos to follow are the results of scattered recent bakes that all followed this process exactly and have a slightly different outcome. You’ll notice some are a bit darker, some have more or less flour on them, some expand differently in the oven, and some are taller and some are shorter—that’s the nature of baking.
With baking, every single bake is different no matter how consistent you try to be. It’s the same with my Dad and his Italian restaurant, and the reason I’ll sometimes get a call in the middle of the afternoon: “hey, the pizza dough is incredible today, you should head over and grab some.”
Crust
As a kid, I was known to take slices of bread, cut out the center, and eat the crust. It used to anger my family because they’d reach into the breadbasket only to find slices of only the soft parts. That’s how much I love the crust! Can you blame me, though?
I enjoy bread with a chunky, chewy crust, but this bread with its delicate and cracker-like crust takes the top spot for me. Even though I bake these rather dark, the crust remains thin and brittle, crackling under the slightest pressure. I love using the “heel” (the very end) of this bread to eat soup or combined with hefty slices of cheese. It’s delicious.
Crumb
I think there’s a balance to be had with bread like this. It’s possible to let the crumb open up too much, but for me, this is just right. Scattered open areas with that translucent webbing spanning from wall-to-wall, a dynamic movement to these areas, almost show you how shaping was carried out.
Taste
This bread has an almost imperceptible hint of sour, and because of this, the wheat flavors from the flour come forward. It has an incredibly tender, soft crumb that almost dissolves in your mouth. It’s one of those rare foods whereupon taking that first bite your mouth begins to water.
In the end, bread is just bread. But it’s also the staff of life and has been for thousands of years. It’s is also more than the sum of the ingredients you add to the mixing bowl. It’s how it makes you feel when you give some to a friend, and they grin ear-to-ear as they take a big bite. It’s the knowledge that you created this thing over a few days that once was a lump on your counter and is now an incredibly delicious food meant to be shared. To me, this is real bread and my best sourdough recipe to date.
Buon appetito!
Print
My Best Sourdough Recipe
- Prep Time: 24 hours
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 24 hours 55 minutes
- Yield: 2 loaves
- Category: Sourdough, Bread
- Cuisine: American
Description
This sourdough bread is one of my favorite recipes. It’s a highly hydrated dough that results in a loaf with an open and lacey interior contrasted by a thin, crispy crust.
Ingredients
Levain
- 30g medium-protein bread flour
- 30g whole wheat flour
- 60g water
- 30g ripe sourdough starter
Main Dough
- 822g medium-protein bread flour
- 64g whole wheat flour
- 745g water
- 17g salt
- 151g ripe levain
Instructions
- Levain (9:00 a.m.)
In a small container, mix the levain ingredients and keep at 78°F (25°C) for 5 hours. - Autolyse (12:00 p.m)
In a medium mixing bowl, add 822g medium-protein bread flour, 64g whole wheat flour, 650g water, and mix until no dry bits remain. Cover the bowl and let rest for 2 hours. - Mix (2:00 p.m.)
To the mixing bowl holding your dough, add 95g water (holding back any as necessary if the dough is too wet), 17g sea salt, and the ripe levain (from step 1). Pinch and mix all the ingredients together and do folds in the bowl for 2 to 3 minutes until the dough smooths and is cohesive. Then, transfer your dough to a bulk fermentation container and cover. - Bulk Fermentation (2:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.)
Give the dough 6 sets of stretch and folds. The first three sets are at 15-minute intervals, and the last three sets are at 30-minute intervals. - Divide and Preshape (6:15 p.m.)
Lightly flour your work surface and scrape out your dough. Using your bench knife, divide the dough in half. Lightly shape each half into a round shape. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes, uncovered. - Shape (6:45 p.m.)
Shape the dough into a round (boule) or oval (batard) and place it in proofing baskets. Cover the baskets with a reusable plastic bag. - Proof (7:25 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. the next day)
Cover proofing baskets with reusable plastic and seal them shut. Then, place both baskets into the refrigerator and proof overnight. - Bake (Preheat oven at 8:00 a.m., bake at 9:00 a.m.)
I steamed my oven in my usual way, described here in my post on how to steam your home oven for baking. But you can also bake in a pot or Dutch oven. Preheat your oven with a combo cooker or Dutch oven inside to 450°F (230°C). Remove your dough from the fridge, score it, and transfer it to the preheated combo cooker. Place the cooker in the oven, cover with the lid, and bake for 20 minutes. After this time, remove the lid (you can keep it in the oven or remove it) and continue to bake for 30 minutes longer. When done, the internal temperature should be around 208°F (97°C). Let the loaves cool for 2 hours on a wire rack before slicing.
Notes
This is a very highly hydrated dough. Don’t add in all the reserved water during mixing if it feels like the dough is becoming overly weak, slack, or soupy.
What’s Next?
If you want more help getting an open crumb with this bread, I’ve created a 100+ page book with step-by-step instructions. Learn the best flour to use, the right fermentation schedule, and all my tips in my Bread Baker’s Handbook.
Are you a TPL Member? If so, the handbook is free for you!
2,142 Comments
I have tried this recipe several times and have the same problem each time. The dough is really wet even after all the stretch and folds and bulk fermentation and I struggle to shape it. I don’t add the extra water, but, it is still extremely wet. When I bake the loaf it remains dense and somewhat damp. Is there something obvious that I am doing wrong? Is it possible that the flour I am using just can’t absorb that much water?
Yes, sounds like you need to continue to drop the water–every flour is different! Hold back even more, perhaps another 150g, and only add that in as the dough feels like it can handle it. There’s nothing “wrong” with your flour, it’s just different. Let me know how it goes, Tom!
Thanks Maurizio, I will continue to experiment. Tom
That’s so awesome to hear!
Hi Maurizio! I have made this a few times now and my bread does not seem to be handling the hydration well. The crust turns out shiny and the scoring smooths and tightens in the oven so I never get a good satisfying score. Any advice?
I’d say try dropping the hydration, Laura!
Hi Maurizio, thank you for sharing yor wonderful recipe – I’ve had so much enjoyment from it! Works beautifully for me exactly as it is, wouldn’t change it at all. Just to let you know though, there’s an error with the timings of the stretch and fold steps (sorry if you’ve heard this before!) – 2:15pm plus three repetitions 15 minutes apart and three more 30 minutes apart brings you to 4:15pm (or 16:15) not 6:15pm! Makes little difference as you’re proving overnight in the fridge, but this might account for over-proving for some people. Hasn’t stopped me making some of my best bread with your recipe however! Just means a little more mental arithmetic haha but I often start off a little later in the morning so it all pans out nicely. Thanks again!
* your
You’re welcome, Daniel! Glad to hear it worked out. Thanks so much for pointing out that error, will take a look now!
So the timing is correct there, after the the sets of stretches and folds the dough should rest in bulk fermentation for the rest of the time (a total of 4 hours).
Thanks for clarifying! 🙂
Hi Maurizio!
Today I baked these loaves in my Rofco oven b30, just bought it two weeks ago so I’m still figuring out how best to bake with it since it’s a bit different than the b40. The problem that I had with the bake, and a problem I often have, is that the batards lose shape almost immediately after scoring, even when scoring directly out of the fridge. The dough had great activity and held its shape pretty good when I pre shaped them and looked very airy. Because it loses shape so quick the rise in the oven is quite low so instead of ending up with a beautiful airy loaf as shown in your recipe it comes out quite dens.
Is the problem with my final shaping? Still find it pretty hard to shape a good batard so maybe that’s it. It’s pretty frustrating to not be able to find the reason for this problem so all help would be greatly appreciated.
Hey, Nick! Ah yes, it does take some getting used to. It could be either the dough is over proofed or the dough isn’t strong enough (and wasn’t shaped tightly enough).
What would you recommend me doing at this point to improve the shape of the loaf? More/different kneading of the dough and shaping tighter? I don’t think it’s over proofed but I will do a poke test next time. Thank you for your help, really appreciated.
You could try reducing the water in the dough to bring strength, sometimes small like 3-5% will have a big impact. You could also knead a bit before bulk fermentation, or add in another set or two of stretches and folds. These will all bring strength and should make for an easier time shaping.
Thank you, that’s great advice. I think I will try to do some slap and folds before bulk to develop the gluten a bit more to start with.
It’s 9:00 AM and I’m following The Perfect Loaf recipe for the second time. Adding my beautiful ripe starter (begun 7.8.21 and named Mauricio) to build the levain. I’ve poured over Tartine Bread and Flour Water Salt Yeast and all over the Internet, but nowhere else have I found a guide as good as you. Thank you.
That means a lot, thank you so much, Don! I hope the bake goes well—have fun!
After about a year of trying to make sourdough properly I found this recipe
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
Finally A perfect loaf !! 🎉🎉🎉
So glad to hear that, Trish! Enjoy 🙂
Hi, I would like to ask if it’s possible to just halve the recipe as I don’t have that big of a proofing basket.
Yes! Just halve all the ingredients and you’re good to go. Check out my guide to baker’s percentages for more on all this!
Hi there! Question about proofing, would a room temp proof for a few hours work rather than a cold proof in the refrigerator? I’ve been experimenting with 1-day recipes as I prefer a more mild sourdough taste.
Yes, that will!
Whoaa! I wanted to create a bread that tastes and feels like the French country loaves. Found a recipe close enough and tweaked it a bit to get my perfect one. Hydration was closer to 60 % and currently is at 70 %. After reading some of your advice and going through this recipe decided to give a higher hydration dough a go. It is marginally more interesting to shape, but the instructions are -as always- easy to follow. The bread looks great, tastes even better and the crust due to the lower temperature and lower baking time is heavenly. Thank you for sharing this!
Right on, so glad to hear it turned out well for you. Nice move adjusting the hydration, working up slowly! Enjoy 🙂
Hi Maurizio, I have used your Beginner Sourdough recipe for the last year and it is always perfect. But I am going to step up and try this recipe next. It’s time to “grow up” and bake like the big boys! I look forward to trying this recipe. Thank you for all your hard work so that we can enjoy beautiful bread!
Ha ha, well, I think all of these recipes are great, at any experience level! I sometimes return to my Beginner’s SD recipe myself, when I want a no-fuss loaf that just tastes great. 🙂 Let me know how the bake goes and have fun!
Hi Maurizio, I wanted to thank you for this great recipe. I love the recipe as is, and I also make jalapeno cheddar sourdough loaves using it as the foundation. Both original and jalapeno cheddar versions are so, so tasty! Thanks again for a great recipe and informative website.
So glad to hear you like the recipe, Skee! I’ve been playing around with jalapeño+cheddar for some time as well, it is wonderful with this base dough. Happy baking!
Hi Maurizio,
Thank you for all the detail in this post, I find it so helpful 🙂
I tried this recipe and just pulled the loaves from the refrigerator to bake this morning. They have not risen at all and look lifeless without bubbles. I had very good bubbles with my starter and bulk fermentation. I have in Calgary AB at 3500ft. Could my fridge be too cold? I’ve taken them out and put them in the oven on the bread proof setting to see if anything happens before I attempt to bake. Overall my biggest issue to date is oven spring, I just get lifeless flat bread. I’m wondering if its my starter as well. I feed it daily and its great and bubbly, but perhaps its not strong enough?
I adjust for elevation. I find that I need higher hydration for the elevation. Also, add 5 degrees of oven temperature for every 2000 feet of elevation. So for you add about 10 degrees to your oven temp and your bread will bake about 5 minutes less. Also, test your starter by dropping a half teaspoon into water, if it floats its strong enough to bake with. If it doesn’t float your starter is not strong enough. When you are ready to bake make sure your starter has peaked but isn’t deflating yet. When it is fully bubbled up and expanded at least double then it’s ready for baking. Good luck.
Hi Maurizio,
I made my sourdough starter using your recipe and I cannot wait to try out this recipe. However, my oven cannot go up to 400F (200C) since it is super old so can I bake this bread at a lower temperature, maybe 180C for a longer time? Anyways, thank you for your detailed sharing!
Hi Maurizio. I am getting ready to try this and curious how you hold the temp near 78 for 4 hours in the bulk fermentation step? This looks like its going to be a lot of fun.
Hey, Doug. It’s ok if the dough cools some during that time, just be sure the dough hits 78F at the end of mixing. If it’s cold where you live, you might want to consider a dough proofer or keep the dough in the oven (turned off) with the light on. But really, as long as you hit that final dough temp and keep it covered, it should be fine!
awesome Maurizio. Live in warm So Cal and I have a proofer and thought that it was the temp at mixing but I wanted to be sure. Thanks again. Looks like an AWESOME recipe and I really appreciate how well and fast you respond to people writing in.
Happy to help, Doug! Happy baking 🙂
Hey, Allan! Yes, it sounds like perhaps a little too much water for the flour you’re using—your instincts are spot on. I’d say you’ll probably have much better results dropping the water by 5% and see how it goes, adjusting up/down from there as desired.
There’s no way to really reduce the protein content of the flour. If the flour you use has great flavor and texture for you, go with it! For me, sometimes higher protein flour has a gummy texture (that’s kind of hard to capture in words), something like excessive chewiness or toughness, I’m not a huge fan of. Of course, it’s always important to fully ferment your dough, which will help go a long way toward excellent texture, but some higher protein flour just ends up being too tough for my liking. If you like your end result, though, stick with it!
It’s hard to say a blend of flour will get you to a certain protein percentage overall, in my experience. I tend to approach this by thinking “Ok, I can add some lower protein flour to reduce the overall strength of the dough” instead of trying to target a specific protein percentage average.
For what it’s worth, I made this yesterday and only had half the bread flour I needed, so I substituted all-purpose flour (not KAB, but one with less protein) for the rest, and it worked great!
Glad to hear that! This is indeed a very versatile recipe. I bet the sesame and sunflower turned out amazing—that’s one of my favorite combinations! Enjoy and thanks so much for the comments 🙂
Hi Maurizio! Thank you for this wonderful recipe. It’s the best sourdough loaf recipe I’ve tried so far. I’ve been baking once a week for about 6 months now, and one thing I can’t seem to achieve is the iconic “ear”. I use a 5 quart cast iron Lodge dutch oven. From other articles I’ve read, it sounds like steam is one of the key components to getting an ear. I followed your recipe exactly as written and got a tinnnnny ear…so that’s progress. I shaped the loaves as boules. I’ve noticed more successful ears on batards but maybe that has nothing to do with it. Any tips on how I could get a more successful ear? Thanks so much!
You’re welcome, Katie! Many things contribute to forming a nice ear on a loaf: sufficient dough strength, a tight shape, proper proof (not over proofed), deep score, and sufficient oven steaming during the beginning. You might be shaping boules a little tighter and cutting in more appropriately and that might be why you’re seeing an ear there and not with a batard!
Hi Maurizio! I’m planning on baking this sourdough bread this Saturday, but I’m thinking about creating my levain overnight instead of in 5 hours. I’m from Belgium so it’s usually rather cold here (my starter usually peaks around the 7th hour or so), but the past few days have been quite hot (23-27 degrees). My question is; do you think an overnight levain would work just as good? Also, what are the possible consequences of using a levain that’s over it’s peak (using it when it has (just) started collapsing). I’ve read this might help increase the sourness of the bread, but I’m not sure about the effects it will have on the amount of rise I’ll get.
Additionally, the flour I’m going to be using is white American patent flour (at 12%) and eco wheat flour. Do you think these will work just fine?
Thanks!
Hey, Wietse. Sure, you can switch to an overnight levain, and if it’s quite cold there, your levain will likely take longer to ripe anyway. If it’s warm, of course, the time to ripeness will decrease (unless you modify something). When I do an overnight levain I typically build it with around 10% seed starter (inoculation) to 100% flour to 100% water. If you use a levain later you’ll likely have the entire process speed up to a degree. This means you might have to end bulk earlier depending on other factors (dough temp, flour type, etc.).
Yup, flour blend looks good. This will be a great recipe using your local flour, too! But in that case, I would start with a lower hydration, maybe somewhere around 70%, and see how the dough feels during mixing, increasing water as/if necessary.
Hope that helps!
Thanks for the beautiful website! After reading some of your ideas, I turned a mini fridge into a retarder for my bread. At it’s lowest setting, it hovers right around 50F. (The picture you have of that beautiful loaf said 12 hours at 50 degrees, so that seemed like a winning temp) Looking at your site, I think that means the yeast are still going to be a little more active than they would be in a standard fridge. If that’s the case, does it mean I should dial back on the bulk fermentation time reduce the risk of over proofing?
Fantastic, Wally! Yes, that might be necessary depending on how things are going in your kitchen. The key is you don’t want the dough to go too far in bulk and than excessively far in proof, otherwise it’ll go over as you said. Usually for me, 50F overnight is a tall order as most of my doughs will over proof.
Should I lower the temp on the retarder? Or reduce the bulk time? Or both? What temp would you recommend for the retarding fridge?
You could do either, or both, it’s up to you! For me, I usually retard around 42°F (5°C).
Hi there! I’ve recently come across your website and it’s been a breath of fresh air. Thanks for the hard work and effort you put into crafting your recipes. I’ve tried a handful of your sourdough recipes and really enjoyed them all. Which recipe do you think has the sourest flavor profile? Or, is there anything you recommend doing differently to your current recipes to deepen the sourdough flavor?
You’re very welcome, Colleen! I’m currently working on a more sour recipe to address exactly what you’re looking for, but in the meantime: use your starter when it’s very ripe to make your levain, and similarly, use your levain when really ripe to mix into your dough. Any recipe with higher whole grain percentages could yield a more sour result. I find keeping the dough warm through bulk and then with a long, overnight cold proof in the fridge helps bring out more sourness. Those are the big hitters! I have a longer, more in-depth post coming soon 🙂
Thanks, Maurizio! Looking forward to the more in-depth post. How long have you pushed the limits on slow retards or cold proofing? What would be the result if I cold proofed for 24 or 48 hrs?
I’ve done up to 48 hours with pretty good results for most doughs, but it does depend on the state they are in when they go into the fridge. The longer they rest, the less rise you’ll get, but a more tender and complex flavor profile.
Hi Mauricio, thank you so much for the recipe! i have a small population in my household so is it ok if i half the entire recipe (for total 900g) then split it for 2 loaves of 450g? would the consistency of the bread change? Or would you recommend a minimum size per loaf? thank you!
Going that small will likely change things. At that point, you’re making smaller loaves that will need a drop in bake time to avoid over baking. You’ll end up with more overall crust than interior (which is fine), getting close to roll/bun territory there, but not quite. It’ll still be fine, though!
Hi Maurizio! I love this recipe and have been getting great results. Have also passed it along to other sourdough folks. But the past couple of loaves have come out very odd. There are big holes at the top (as if the top was one big air bubble) and the rest is a bit bubbly but not well risen. I ydon’t know why my results are changing now. My dough is usually very soft when it goes in the oven but springs up nicely. Now it is depressed in the middle when I take the lid off and rises with a big hole.I’ve read that the cause could be either over OR under proving… can you help?
It sounds like you likely over proofed the dough. There are a few signs your dough could have gone over: sluggish rise in the oven, the score on top of the dough might not open with a nice “ear” and instead just kind of fuse together, the interior will have lots of small holes and perhaps one or two large ones near the top (but no dense areas of unfermented flour), and finally the loaf could be a little on the sour side. Try reducing the proofing period.
Thank you for helping! This sounds right. I will decrease the bulk rise time. Bet it has to do with the warmer weather (England is not exactly warm). Also started using a finer whole wheat flour that might get eaten faster by the yeasties. Your recipe is fantastic. I’m really looking forward to making decent loaves again : )
Hi Maurizio, thank you so much for all your work and wonderful recipes, I have been using your blog for a year now! I have finally built up courage to level up from the beginner’s sourdough to this one. I have one question though, applicable to both recipes. Is there a way to proof the breads on the counter for 3 or 4 hours? I love the overnight proof but some days I wish I could bake on the same day. Thank you again!
You’re welcome, Miska! Yes, you can always skip the cold proof and just proof on the counter for 1-3 hours (temperature depending). Hope this bake turned out well—happy baking!
Is there any downside to splitting this into 3 – 600g loaves? We’re a household of 2, so 1800g is a huge amount, and this would make it easier to gift 2, eat 1 = more baking (and more crust).
Any ballpark guesses on timing if I try it?
That’ll work just fine, Todd! There shouldn’t be any adjustments except at bake time, they might require less time overall to bake given the smaller size. Just bake as instructed, but keep an eye on them in the last 10 mins.
Thank you. If I wanted more of a sour flavor in the finished loaf is it reasonable to skip the levain and add 150g of ripe starter at mixing stage? And if that ends up being too sour, then next try boosting the starter % in the levain to get something inbetween. Or in your opinion is it better to take steps to make the starter itself more potently sour? What would that path look like? The texture of this bread recipe turned out spectacular, I just want more of a sour bite for my personal taste. After spending 20+ years on a pizza odyssey, it feels like a cheat code to be this good on only my 2nd sourdough bake (I just did 900g loaves again – will try my 600g idea next. 1st bake was your beginner loaf).
For more sour flavor you can try increasing the whole grain percentage in the levain and the main dough, keep the dough warmer (but watch out for over proofed dough!), or yes, use your starter/levain when it’s very ripe and has a pungent sour aroma.
Good bread is welcome no matter the circumstances!