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
What size bannetons did you use by chance? Were/are they 11”?
They are 14″ long!
Thanks!😊
I must say as a beer brewer I’m taken aback by using tap water in something that’s at (rare) times over half water. Chloramine, chlorine, fluoride (tasteless), high levels of calcium (indicated by spots on stainless steel), who knows what else is in their without owning your own lab.
I fill 5 gallon jugs for $1.25 with RO water and you can add some salts, such as pickling salt, and minerals as per a calculator if you want but it’s nearly negligible, yet without the chlorinated tastes. Perhaps you have top quality tap water, we have some of the best in the country and I still don’t drink it.
Once I got into specialty coffee I moved away from tap water, but coffee and beer are often over 99% water.
I hear you. I don’t use tap water in my espresso machine, only distilled + Third Wave over here. That said, honestly, as long as the water is safe to drink, it’s fine to bake with. Bakers have been doing it this way for thousands of years! (Though, I understand water quality has certainly changed over that time.) I’ve tested in the past using purified water vs my tap here, and I don’t taste a difference in my final loaves.
But I totally understand what you’re saying. If you want to go for that extra 10% of amazingness, using the best water possible is the way to go.
How do you ensure your starter is ripe by 9AM in the morning? I can feed it before going to bed the day before but the room temp in the kitchen goes down by a lot during the night so I find it hard to predict when it’s going to be ripe to make the levain.
Hey Maurizio, first of all thank you for this amazing resource you have created. Your breakdown of this unknown world has helped me learn so much, I truly appreciate it. I had a question come up baking this recipe. My bulk fermentation has had to run a little long to see the proper signs, when that happens should I expect my retard proof stage to run a little longer? This recipe has ~14 hour retard. Should I deduct the extra time the bulk fermentation took from the retard timeline or expect it to run its independent time course?
I do check with the poke test, I am just deathly afraid of overproofing.
You’re very welcome, Mitch! Sorry for the late reply. Since the proof for this bread is in the fridge, you might not need to reduce the final proof time very much. Though, yes, generally if you’re doing a longer bulk you might need to do a shorter proof.
Also, don’t be afraid of overproofing! I actually prefer it to underproofing (more flavor/better texture 🙂).
I am the proud owner of The Perfect Loaf. I love it! I made “My Best Sourdough.” It was delicious. I like to do complicated scoring. The bread was delicious, but, split on top so the scoring didn’t look great. What should I be aware of to prevent the bread from splitting? Thank you! Anne
Thank you so much for ordering my cookbook, Anne! I appreciate that. If you see splitting try scoring a bit more, either deeper or more cuts. It could also be underproofing a bit, give the dough a little longer in proof to help “tame” the oven spring.
hi! sorry if this question has already been asked but is there a conversation from grams to cups?
Use an app on your phone to make the conversion. But you shouldn’t use cups for baking, they are way too imprecise.
Used 300g of KA Bread flour and 200g of fresh milled Hard Red Wheat. Ratios all the same as the recipe – the dough turned out extra sticky and I was wondering it that’s part of using a fresh milled flour? Recipe works beautifully using store bought flour (anything other than fresh milled) and has stays firm/manageable.
Is the stickiness a result of the fresh milled? If so, any recommendations on what to adjust?
I have been successfully making this recipe for a couple of years now without any real failures. Some loaves a bit better than others but overall good. I used King Arthur bread flour and KA regular AP flour and both worked. I recently picked up a bag of Bob’s Red Mill Artisan bread flour. Both times I used it I have ended up with pizza dough. No structure to the dough at all. My starter has always been strong. I boosted it a bit this time (more frequent feeding) and still got the same results. Seems like it can’t handle the hydration.
Making a batch now with that flour and so far so good. Bulk fermenting now. I did 3-5 minutes of slap and fold before I added the additional water. Added 10-15 grams of water at a time and hand mixed until absorbed followed with additional slap and fold. I did hold back about 15 grams of water
After bulk this time I kneaded in some more flour and threw it the the refrigerator overnight. Took it out this afternoon and let it rise a bit more and cooked it. Turned out to be a decent loaf. Too much water for that flour is my conclusion.
After bulk this time I kneaded in some more flour and threw it the the refrigerator overnight. Took it out this afternoon and let it rise a bit more and cooked it. Turned out to be a decent loaf. Too much water for that flour is my conclusion.
Oh nooooo. I messed up and let the levain sit for 5 hours before mixing the flour and water for the autolyse. Should I keep the levain in the fridge for the alotted two hours of resting? Or should I just leave it at a cool room temp?
I’d go room temp! Or make a new one!
I have a question…I have tried this recipe a few times and each time the bread has a huge gap just under the crust at the top of the loaf. I am not sure what I am doing wrong… Do you have any ideas?
It sounds like perhaps your dough was slightly underproofed. There are a few indicators your dough could be under: explosive rise in the oven, dense spots in the interior with potentially scattered large holes, and a 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 there! In the instructions you say to bulk ferment for four hours but I usually bf on the counter for 10 hours overnight before it doubles in size. Why such a short bf? Can I still do the 10 hours overnight with this recipe?
If the temperature in your kitchen is around 74-76F, for my recipe here, it shouldn’t need to bulk ferment that long! If you go for 10 hours, I’d say the dough temperature would need to be very cool… Much below the 78°F (25°C) I usually try to hit.
Hi Maurizio, I’ve tried your recipe twice, both your written and YouTube instructions are awesome and so easy to follow! However, both times my dough comes out of the banneton fairly flat. It doesn’t rise at all in the Le cruset and is a waste. The first time I think my dough was a little wet and couldn’t hold its shape. I withheld 60g of water the second time and the dough seemed to have more structure but again, failed to rise and turned out dense! What am I doing wrong here? Thank you
It sounds like your dough is most likely over hydrated—your flour likely isn’t able to take on quite a much water, and that’s ok! Try reducing the hydration by 5% and give it another go—the reduced water should bring strength to the dough and you’ll feel it immediately. Once you find a suitable hydration, you can try to push it back up (if desired), but as you do, take note of how the consistency of the dough changes: the dough will start to slacken out as you add more and more water, this means you’ll likely have to mix more upfront or add another set or two of stretch and folds during bulk fermentation.
Generally, with an increased hydration, you need to mix longer to develop the gluten in the dough to sufficiently support the water added, but this only goes so far. At some point, the flour you’re using just isn’t able to take on any more water and you’ll essentially have a weak and slack dough. It’s always best to start conservatively and work your way up with hydration as you feel out your flour. This is typically why I recommend holding back water during mixing, adding it in as the dough handles it.
Try to keep everything else as consistent as possible and let me know how the next attempt goes!
i highly suggest a rigorous slap and fold session to develop gluten after you add the starter but before you add the salt. save the water to add with the salt and develop the gluten first.
I’ve been baking the “beginner loaf” for 2 years and wanted to try this recipe. However, the flour recommendation has thrown me off. A mix of soft and hard wheat with a medium protein content? Medium is supposedly 9.5-10.5 and I can’t find anything lower than 11.5. How critical is this element? King Arthur bread flour is 12.7 and must be too high… thanks!
King Arthur Bread Flour will work really well with this recipe! It’s very high hydration, so be sure to hold back water during mixing and add it in only if the dough feels cohesive and it can handle the addition.
Hi Maurizio! Aside from King Arthur bread flour, could you please make a couple other bread flour recs for this recipe? Thanks so much!
So, I just wanted to say, I did everything possibly incorrect in this recipe..I don’t have a bench scraper, thermometer, scale, or banneton. I have tried other sourdough recipes with not much success.(after following instructions to a tee.) I had to look up conversions for everything since I didn’t have a scale, and I just kind of took the median of my results. my levain came out with a crust on it, and when i mixed my levain with my autolyse it was like soup, so i decided to just add more flour (I know, a big no, no. ) I was sporadic with my stretches during my bulk fermentation, and when it came out of the fridge after my proof, I was certain it was going to be a brick when I cooked it, as it was flat-ish. but I went ahead and shaped it and just put it in the oven in a regular baking dish, sprayed it with water, and covered it with a pot lid. Boy was I amazed after the 20 minutes!! it had sprung up and looked amazing! I finished it off without the lid, and it came out fabulous! airy and springy and the taste is lovely. so, thanks, Maurizio! It’s obviously a very forgiving recipe.!
Amazing, Kris! So glad to hear the recipe worked, even with your “modifications” 🙂
Hi Maurizio, is it possible just to make 1 loaf by halving the recipe or does it not quite work that way? Otherwise, is it bad to keep it as just one loaf with the current measurements? My oven can’t fit 2 Dutch ovens at once!
Yes, you can absolutely halve the recipe and make only one loaf! Just halve all the ingredients and you’re set. Check out my post on baker’s percentages for an in-depth explanation and example of me doing this!!
Hi Maurizio,
Is it possible to leave the dough in for the overnight proof for 24+ hours? Would you proof it less in the previous steps? Thanks!
Yes, you can absolutely halve the recipe and make only one loaf! Just halve all the ingredients and you’re set. Check out my post on baker’s percentages for an in-depth explanation and example of me doing this!
You could do this, but the resulting loaf will be more sour and you’ll get a little less rise. If you wanted to try, I would cut bulk fermentation by 15 minutes and go through the steps quickly to get it into the fridge.
Is that mould in it?
Nope 🙂
I have always added the levain to the flour during the autolyse stage but you add it during mixing stage. Is there an explanation for this somewhere?
Yes, see why I don’t usually do this (though, sometimes do) over at my guide to the autolyse technique.
Just wanted to say the new updated recipe format is SO much more easier to follow and understand than the previous format, and the addition of videos for parts of the steps (especially the shaping and oven steaming) was incredibly helpful. I felt like I ‘got it’ better than the previous photos and instructions. Since it’s been over a year since I visited this recipe online, I was amazed at how much easier this process seemed to me with the new updated instructions then before where it had felt like a steep learning curve (although after several attempts I finally did get some good loaves). This time everything went smoothly together and tomorrow I’ll bake. Looking forward to future bakes now that the process seems ‘easier’ :-). Thank you for all your dedication to the craft!
Ahh thank you Anni! I appreciate that feedback. I’m always trying to improve things here!
I certainly appreciate your dedication – and pleased to report my loaves turned out SO good! Hands down, your best sourdough recipe is truly the best one I’ve tried :-). Looking forward to future bakes!
Hi Maurizio, thank you so much for your thoroughness and attention to detail in updating this recipe. I should have listened to you the first time I tried to make this and not added all of the water during the mixing stage. I created sourdough soup by accident, and after 9 sets of stretch and folds, realized that no structure was going to emerge for me, and composted the whole dough. The next day I tried again with a refreshed levain, and only added water to my feeling of what the dough could absorb. It’s still slack, but comes together during stretch and folds much more readily and actually holds it’s structure! Unfortunately, when I baked the two loafs this AM they didn’t rise in the oven. I often have trouble with this end stage, and am wondering if you could please help me troubleshoot?
You’re very welcome, Leigh! Lack of rise could be still from too much water in the dough and/or it’s not strengthened enough. OR it could be from overproofing. I would recommend reducing the amount of water further, this will help bring more strength to the dough so you’ll get more rise (and even slow fermentation a bit, too).
Let me know how the next attempt goes! This is a challenging recipe due to the hydration, stick with it, you’ll love it once you tame that unruly dough 🙂
For the mix, I have always used my stand mixer with this recipe, and I have always had really good results. Is there a reason I should be doing this by hand?
Nope, stand mixer works totally fine! Either way 🙂
Thank you; I really appreciate how you take the time to answer all questions posed in all of your recipes!
You’re very welcome!
When using a stand mixer, do you recommend performing all the stretch and folds, or is a good stand mixer workout enough?
You can mix 100% in a mixer if you’d like, though, I still stop just a bit short to full development and do a s&f or two.
I have made this bread many times using your website, and I just made it from your new cookbook yesterday. I followed everything as written, the dough had all the signs of necessary proofing, but when I baked it today, there was no oven spring at all. That’s never happened to me before. Was it over proofed?? Also, I noticed there is a longer refrigeration period in the cookbook – 18 hours – versus less than 14 here. Could that have made any difference?
The same thing keeps happening to me. I think it’s overproofed, but I don’t know how long to rest in the fridge if when I get up at 8:30am it’s already past.
It’s ok if it’s in the fridge. If you find it lacks oven spring, definitely try cutting back bulk fermentation a bit.
Sounds a bit like it was over proofed, Sarah. Though, 14 vs 18 hrs shouldn’t be a huge difference if it’s in the fridge at home… The dough might have gone a bit to far in bulk!
Ok so I followed everything to a T- but then when I got to the preshaping everything completely fell apart. I have never encountered such sticky, melty dough in my life! It was so hard to preshape and then I just took it out to bake after cold proof and they both completely turned into sticky blobs, lost their entire shape, ugh such a waste. Too much water? I don’t get it 😩
It sounds like your dough is most likely over hydrated—your flour likely isn’t able to take on quite a much water, and that’s ok! Try reducing the hydration by 5% and give it another go—the reduced water should bring strength to the dough and you’ll feel it immediately. Once you find a suitable hydration, you can try to push it back up (if desired), but as you do, take note of how the consistency of the dough changes: the dough will start to slacken out as you add more and more water, this means you’ll likely have to mix more upfront or add another set or two of stretch and folds during bulk fermentation.
Generally, with an increased hydration, you need to mix longer to develop the gluten in the dough to sufficiently support the water added, but this only goes so far. At some point, the flour you’re using just isn’t able to take on any more water and you’ll essentially have a weak and slack dough. It’s always best to start conservatively and work your way up with hydration as you feel out your flour. This is typically why I recommend holding back water during mixing, adding it in as the dough handles it.
Try to keep everything else as consistent as possible and let me know how the next attempt goes!
Hello! Very excited for your cookbook!!
Can I use a stiff levain @ 1:3:5? Would the measurements change?
Thanks, Sherry! Should arrive tomorrow 🙂 If you get to baking through it, let me know what you think!
Yes, you could use a stiff lev with this recipe, no problem. I’d just use it as-is and not adjust the hydration in the dough since it’s already quite high.
Hey there, I love the website! Thank you. I find that I am often busy and away from home throughout the process and so have to push the timing on things from time to time. My biggest issue is with getting all the folds in during bulk. If I were to miss some, would it be best to prioritize the early, every 15 min folds, or the later, every 30 min folds? Shall I go by how the dough looks- gassy?
Thank you.
Julia
Thank you, Julia! I would prioritize the ones at the beginning. Also, what you can do if you know you’re going to be away during bulk, mix/knead the dough longer upfront so you don’t have to give it so many stretches and folds during bulk fermentation.
Check out my guide to stretching and folding for more info on this!