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
Getting better with the latest round — a nice rise and crumb — but the crust is bland. Somewhat uniformly brown, very little of the spackled caramelization and air bubbles you show in yours. Maybe not enough surface tension? Perhaps related, I think the dough was still over-hydrated. It would not hold its shape well before proofing; it would slump over my pastry cuter as I moved it from the counter into the basket. It had great structure otherwise, just too soft.
Well, glad to hear the structure is improving! It does sound like the dough might have been over hydrated. Try pulling back some more on the water in the mix and/or adding in another set of stretch and folds (or some slap/fold, kneading during mix time) to give the dough some additional strength.
If you’re not performing the autolyse step I’d recommend doing so. I usually find I get a much nicer crust color on the loaves that I let auto, even if it’s just 30 minutes. Additionally, if your flour doesn’t have malt added (it’ll say “malted barley flour”) you could try addind .5 – 1% of this formula. The malt helps “unlock” extra sugars in the flour and makes them available during the entire process, it’ll add some nice color to your crust as well.
Keep at it, you’ll notice the more you bake the better things get!
This recipe is fantastic! Do you have any tips for making a loaf with more sour? San Francisco sourdough, sour?
Thanks, Sherri! I’ve actually never made my bread quite as sour as some of the classic sourdough from San Francisco. To increase the sourness you could try working in a percentage of rye flour, both into your starter and your final dough mix. Additionally, a longer proof in the fridge will help add sour notes. I’d experiment with pushing both of those!
Loving this recipe. Used it the past three weekend’s and have made some of my best loaves ever!
Have any tips for freezing loaves and thawing them?
Taylor, awesome! really glad to hear that 🙂
I freeze loaves in two ways:
1) To freeze an entire, uncut loaf, I’ll wrap it 5-6 times in plastic wrap and then toss it into a freezer Ziplock. Bread will last frozen like this for quite a while and I do this if I don’t plan on using it relatively soon. To defrost I take the bag out and place into the fridge for a day or so, then I unwrap and keep on my counter.
2) I’ll slice up the entire loaf. Then, I place the slices into a freezer Ziplock as-is. When I want a slice of bread, I take out a frozen slice and I use my amazing Breville toaster to defrost and toast. I do this with bread I want to freeze but plan to eat within a month.
That toaster is one of the best things I’ve bought since making my own bread: it’s long so it can take long batard slices and the “frozen” button on the top will first defrost a slice and then toast it — comes out perfect every time.
Hope that helps!
Perfect. Thank you very much for the help! I will give both methods a try!
First of all, I have to say (in conjunction with all your other successful bakers who commented below) this recipe and procedure (in conjunction with my observations and trial-by-error findings) has created my most perfect boule to date! So, thank you, Maurizio for the very detailed posts that led me to such results!
Question though.
When do you pull your dough from the fridge? 15-16 hrs, yes, but when you turn the oven on?, right before the bake?, put it in the proofer?, bring it to 78F?, etc etc. ? The last successful bake I did with this recipe, I set it out while the oven was preheating. Wasn’t sure if I could get an even better bake if there was another way.
Thank you thank you thank you!
Alexandra, super happy to hear that! I love hearing when things work out, and it sounds like you’ve made the necessary adjustments for your flour, environment and starter — fantastic!
I preheat my oven for 1-1.5 hours before I place the dough in to bake. Once the oven is preaheated, I take the dough out of the fridge, score it and bake right away. I don’t usually let me dough rest on the counter before baking but it’s not bad to do so, I just find (and prefer) scoring my dough straight from the fridge to be much easier as the cold dough holds its shape as the lame (blade) slides right through. If you had good results by letting your dough come up to temp for a few mins before baking then that works just as well — it all depends on how well fermented your dough is and whether or not it could use more or less time before baking.
I hope that makes sense and thanks so much for the update. Happy baking!
Even worse, I left it in the oven overnight (pilot light only) with a pan of water to maintain surface hydration. This morning the two loaves have completely collapsed.
What was the temperature in there overnight? If you proof with the oven light on I fear the temps would be too high for that long of an overnight proof… This dough, with high hydration and well fermented dough by the time you’re done shaping, really needs a cold overnight proof in the fridge at 38-40ºF.
Thank you for your generous reply. Yes, I guess I have to learn more about all those percentages and how that translates into exact proportions. I have to fess up I was using all purpose flour, not bread flour. For some reason it was stuck in my head that I should not be using bread flour. I will the next time.
Not a problem. Good luck on the next go and let me know how it goes! If you have any Q’s feel free to post here or shoot me an email through the Contact link at the top. Happy baking!
Maurizio, I followed this recipe exactly and was never able to get the dough to hold its shape. It slumped, even after plenty of folding and overnight rise, etc. It also failed to rise much at all.
Hey there! Hmm, it sounds like your dough might have been over hydrated. This has happened plenty of times to me, just a little too much water can sometimes push the dough/flour too far, and no matter how many folds I do I can’t ever seem to bring it back into shape. I’d suggest trying with reduced water next time, perhaps 10% from my formula above. Once you do get some structure in the dough you can slowly work the water back up (if desired).
Also, make sure your starter is healthy and predictable. This recipe relies on strong fermentation in the dough to add strength!
Sorry about the lack of performance that last bake, I’m sure we can get some nice bread with a few tweaks!
Hi maurizio
I was wondering, have you got any idea about the humidity and how much it affects the dough? I live in quite a humid country here in borneo and was wondering if I were to achieve 86% hydration, how much water would i need to put in as conpared to yours (assuming its quite dry where you are)?
and also how do you know how much water a flour can actually take on?
regards
Humidity will affect the flour, and dough, significantly. I live in a very dry climate so my levels of water added to the dough will almost certainly need to be lowered for your climate. This is one of the reasons why I always say hold back some water until later in mixing, and only add it in to the dough if it looks like it can take it.
If you’re experimenting with new flour it’s best to always be conservative with the amount of water you add to the dough. Start at a conservative percentage (for me that’s 75%) and add it in through mixing until it seems like the dough is to your desired consistency (determining this level takes practice and observation!).
I hope this helps!
Thank you for getting back Maurizio. I highly appreciate the quick response.
Would like to ask a few more questions as I am still not able to obtain a perfect loaf like yours 🙁
1. Just a thought, the water content in the starter adds to the overall hydration right? Maybe that is why previously I was getting a very wet dough when I was using 235g 100% starter and a 70% hydration for my dough. Is this right?
2. When kneading the bread, how do you know when to stop? I usually use the window pane test but this takes about 25-30mins to achieve sometimes and at times its not “window paney” enough. Not sure but what the best method of kneading the dough (by hand? by a normal kitchen mixer?)
3.Why does my bread texture inside feels gummy and it doesn’t look fluffy enough to represent bread? looks more like a dense bread? I came across someones comment where you have mentioned about overproofing (does this mean at the bulk fermentation stage or the proofing in the fridge stage?) and what does overproofing do to the bread?
4. In terms of baking in the oven, my bread seems to brown and blacken abit too quick. I use a DO with lid for 20min at 230C then take the lid off and continue at the same temperature for 15mins and the crust looks like it cant take anymore time in the oven. Why is this because I noticed your temperatures using steam is 250C then turned down to 230C with a total time in the oven at 45-55mins whereas mine is only 35min? (NB. I am using the two line option, top and bottom heat, no fan on my oven setting)
5. Why is it that we have to wait until the bread cools completely before being able to cut into it?
Kind regards
Aaron
Aaron:
1. Yes, the water content in the starter should be accounted for in the final dough. If you use a 100% hydration starter in a recipe that calls for a 65% hydration starter you’ll likely have to reduce the water in the final dough mix so things line up.
2. There are many points at which you can stop kneading, it depends on what you’re after. For example, I usually knead (using the slap and fold, or French fold, method) for about 5-6 minutes for a moderately high hydration dough. I do this until the dough is cohesive and has a smooth exterior to it. It might start catching some air in the dough and show little bubbles. After this I’m usually setup for doing 3-4 sets of stretch and folds during bulk. You can do more kneading if you want to do less sets, or less kneading if you want to do more. The end goal is a dough that’s strong enough to trap gasses and hold its shape but not overly strong, otherwise it won’t expand fully in the oven.
3. There are many, many reasons your dough could be more dense/gummy inside. It’s possible your dough has over proofed but it’s also possible it’s underproofed! Unfortunately it’s hard to diagnose without more details and pictures.
4. I find my dough colors faster when I use a Dutch oven as well. If you’re using a DO I’d recommend reducing the preheat temperature by 25ºF from what I list here. The DO retains and radiates heat pretty well and it gets a little too hot.
5. You don’t have to wait to cut if you don’t want to — there’s nothing more delicious than cutting warm bread from the oven! However, if you wait it gives the crumb a little more time to “set” and firm up.
Hope that helps!
I followed your sourdough recipe and my bread looks and tastes wonderful. However, the crust is semi-soft and makes slicing difficult. This has been a recurring problem for me lately regardless of recipe. Any suggestions? Thanks!
That’s great! A soft crust could be caused by too much steam in the oven, make sure you vent the steam after 20 minutes. You could also try cracking the oven door for the last 5 minutes of your bake to really crisp up the bread and remove all humidity while it finishes cooking.
Another cause could be simply insufficient heat or overall bake time. Make sure your oven is super hot when you start the bake and keep baking until the bread really turns a nice golden color.
Hope that helps!
I’ve been making sourdough for a few months now and have had pretty good success. My only issue is that I don’t have the super large and consistent crumb structure that we all want. Giving this recipe a go today. Fingers crossed I get that beautiful crumb structure in your photos.
I use King Arthur Bread flour and wonder if you would recommend to use King Arthur all purpose flour instead? their ap is at 11.7% vs their bread flour at 12.7%. Thanks!
It definitely takes practice! The increased water in this recipe helps open things up some and the flour, while at a lower protein percentage, is fairly strong. I’d say give it a try with all KAF Bread Flour and see how it turns out. That flour should pair well with the hydration level in this recipe (but as always, be conservative during mixing and add in if it shows it can take it). I usually like to do a blend of AP and BF, especially since KAF’s BF is pretty strong, but try that out and let me know how it goes!
OH. MY. GOD. The tallest, most beautiful boules I’ve ever made just emerged out of my oven this morning. I’ve yet to crack em open, but they’re so pretty, happy ugly crying is to be had. I’m so glad I gave your method a stab. I think this will be my main process from now on. It really helped having the times and temps listed as reference. Like being given landmarks to look out for when you’re trying to get somewhere. Sorta like; If you’re driving at 65mph, you’ll see this statue in 30 mins, thats when you make a right. There was no getting lost. I was finding with the Tartine recipe that I was either overestimating or underestimating my proofing and bulking. I’ll try a blend of KA BF and AP next time.
Thank you so much Maurizio! Your blog is so awesome. I look forward to your new entries.
That’s fantastic, really great to hear this!! It’s so gratifying to pull awesome bread right from your home oven, right!? I can’t get enough.
I hope you enjoy the bread and here’s to more awesome bakes!
Thank You, this was the first time my bread actually tasted like sourdough! This was also the first time I used a levain. I really had no issues with any of the directions. The only problem I encountered was that the bottom of the breads burnt a little. I used a baking steel and a Staub dutch oven. Do you have any suggestions on how to prevent it?
Super glad to hear that, Caesar! If you’re using a DO (like a Staub) I’d recommend reducing the temps listed here in my post by 25ºF. Preheat around 475ºF and start your bake at 450ºF. I find a DO radiates and retains heat so well it can burn just a bit more on the bottom than you’d want.
Hope that helps and happy baking!
This past weekend I tried both methods of cooking the bread. The first was with the Staub dutch oven and second was with Lava rocks on top of Lodge grill pan. The D.O method was really simple; pre heat to 475 and cook for 20 minutes ,then take lid off and cook for 20 @ 450. Second method was to pre heat oven to 500 and put lodge grill pan with lava rocks and pour 1 cup of boiling water after putting bread in. Then after 10 minutes spay some water to get more steam. Both methods produced nice rises ,but the lava rocks method had a better crust. Thanks for the help.
You’re very welcome, thanks so much for the update on your results!
Hello again Maurizio. I’ve been baking this recipe consistently (and successfully) at 80% hydration. Thanks so much for all the advice you’ve given me! Recently, I’ve been thinking about increasing the whole wheat percentage in this recipe to around 20% (just to boost the health benefits) and to use white whole wheat instead of the traditional red for a milder flavor (either 20% all white whole wheat or 10% red whole wheat + 10% white whole wheat). Any recommendations on the whole wheat blend, and any thoughts on how this might change how the bread turns out? Thank you again as always.
That’s great to hear, Diana! With higher percentages of whole wheat it’s possible you could increase hydration even further but I’d suggest sticking to the hydration you’re using for the first trial and then increase if it feels like the dough can handle it. I feel like any combination of red/white would work really well! Since it’s still a relatively low percentage of whole wheat you could go with all red if you want more flavor in the dough.
Hope that helps and happy baking!
Thanks Maurizio! I’ll give that a try. Best to you!
Hello, I would like to know what is the grinding of the Malted Bread Flour? Is it a kind of white T60 flour? Also can you tell me f you bake the loaf right after the fridge time? Thanks for your work it is really much inspiring!
The malted bread flour I use here is low extraction, “white flour.” So I’m guessing something like T60 would work well. Yes, I bake the loaves straight from the fridge!
Hope that helps and happy baking!
Thank you for your reply! That helps, I have made a “perfect” loaf 😉
When I touch the dough after the first fermentation and I shape it I feel like the dough miss som elasticity! Can you try to tell me why?
Thank you in advance for your good advices!
Romina
That’s great to hear! If you feel like the dough needs more elasticity (resistance to stretching) you could either reduce the hydration of the dough, add in more sets of stretch and folds during bulk or it could even be you’re dividing the dough a little early. You could try one, or a combination, of these things until the dough feels like what you’d expect 🙂
Hi Maurizio! Just wanted to say thank you! I’ve been trying my hand at making sourdough every week for the last couple of months – following your blog like it’s the bible. I’d been having moderate success up to this point, but today I finally took the plunge and tried this recipe. Voila! I finally achieved the oh-so-desired oven spring that’s been lacking in my previous attempts. Can’t wait to cut into it! Thanks again!
Ahhh really glad to hear that, Taylor! Happy to be a small part of your awesome bake 🙂 Enjoy!
Hi Maurizio, just wonder, what would make the crumbs into wet spongy instead of dry spongy? I have followed two recipes of yours, 50/50 & this best sourdough, but every time the crumbs is just like a wet sponge, my father even thinks they were undercooked. Would flour be a problem? Some suggested that I should lower the hydration level.. Thanks in advance.
I’d agree, try reducing the hydration 5-10% and see if that helps. It’s very possible your flour isn’t able to take on the same hydration levels mine is — and that’s not a bad thing, each flour and environment is different!
It’s also possible your loaves are under-baked. If you have an instant read thermometer put it into the center of the loaf when you think they are done and make sure the interior reads at least 210ºF.
Hope that helps, happy baking!
Another thing Maurizio, that bread makes the best toast. I will try again and not be disappointed if it doesn’t look like yours cause it is still worth it.
I have to agree with you, it makes amazing toast! Thank you 🙂
Will my bread every look like this.
I can bake Chad Robertson (looks like his photos), ken forkish (looks like his photos) and several others. Beautiful open crumb etc.
I have tried twice now, only difference is I use Dutch ovens. Colour same, taste amazing, just doesn’t throw its crust apart. Semi open crumb, not like yours. 😐
Anyway, will try again.
When I master this will try your other recipes.
Love your blog.
Janet
Janet — yes it’s totally possible! If I can do it you can do it 🙂 There’s no problem at all with using a Dutch oven to bake, it will produce similar results if everything else was equal.
Keep at it and happy baking!
Maurizio- I notice that at Stage 6 (bench rest) you don’t appear to do as much pre-shaping as Chad R. does in the Tartine approach where he looks to build tension in the dough. Am I reading that wrong or is it simply that with a dough hydration of 87% compared to 70% (I think) for the basic loaf in the Tartine Book that building tension in the dough just prior to bench rest is pretty difficult? Oh, and tremendous blog, thank you.
Thanks, Brian! The amount of tension imparted during preshape is kind of relative to how the dough feels when dividing. If the dough feels overly slack (which is usually the case at a hydration level like this) then I will actually preshape it relatively tight — but not overly tight. The key is we’re taking that mass of dough and breaking it down into smaller more manageable pieces to prep for shaping. At the same time, though, we have an opportunity to add a little more strength to the dough if necessary, but being gentle here is key. I like to add just enough strength to the dough during preshape so that it takes between 20-30 minutes to relax out before shaping. If after 30 minutes the dough is still super tight and balled up next time you can preshape more gently, and conversely, if the dough spreads out very fast you might need to add more strength to your dough and/or preshape tighter.
Hope that helps!
Hi Maurizio, I’m quite new to sourdough baking and had some limited success, do you think it’s possible to autolyse overnight in the fridge say 12 hrs? I tend to feed my starter after work around 5pm then make the leaven overnight. Its just starting to get cooler here overnight ( New Zealand ) like 50F/ 15 c and so even in the kitchen the temperature drops quickly after sunset. Love this site it’s inspirational & a great source of information thank you
Thanks Rod, appreciate that! I’ve never done a super long autolyse with a mostly-white dough like this. I would say try it out and see how the dough reacts. Keep in mind the dough will be super cold when you take it out so you’ll need to let it come up to room temp (or warmer) before proceeding otherwise your final dough temperature will be quite cold.
My inclination would be if you’re short on time in the morning or when you need to get the dough mixed, just skip the autolyse step and see if your dough still bakes up nicely (I’m sure it will).
Hope that helps!
Hi, I’ve tried this recipe twice and both times the dough does not rise at all after 15 hours of proofing in the fridge. Is it suppose to rise after that step and by how much? The last time I made it, I left it at room temperature for a few hours so it could rise and then baked and it turned out great, but just wondering what I’m doing wrong.
You’re not doing anything wrong at all, Hannah! The very cold temps of a normal home fridge won’t really let your dough rise a whole lot — in fact it’s pretty normal to not see much rise at all from when you first put it in. What you did is exactly correct: leave the dough out on the counter for a little extra time if you notice it could use more fermentation time at room temperature. Glad the recipe worked out for ya!
Hi Maurizio, I have baked this recipe or a variation of this recipe several times.. every time it yields excellent bread. What I sort of struggle with is your FDT. After the long autolyse, I mix in the levain and the salt, and my FDT is roughly 73 on average. And that is with 90 degree water for the autolyse.
I know I can adjust things for ambient temperature, but how do you adjust your dough temp to compensate for that long autolyse?
That’s awesome, Eric! Glad to hear it. This is very true, the long autolyse will cool the dough over time. What I do is I keep that dough warm during the autolyse just like if I were to keep it warm during the entirety of bulk fermentation. I keep it in my dough proofer or in my oven (turned off) with the light on.
Hope that helps!
Maurizio today I baked this bread for the first time, it´s awesome! now I know why you call it your best sourdough recipe. I thoroughly followed all your instructions and the result was incredible. I´m a little disappointed to read that I may have different breads every time because I´d like to have this same one, delicious
Thanks so much for the feedback, Anna! Really glad to hear that. Well, there will be some variability with each bake (isn’t that true with anything truly handmade, though?) but the more you do it the better the consistency. Happy baking!
I’ve made this recipe many times. The first few times were a great success, but recently when I flip the dough out of the banneton right before baking it falls flat and I end up with a very thin bread resembling a flat bread 🙁 I’ve tried reducing the water amount for a firmer dough but still end up with the same result. What could be the problem?
Your problem is your gluten was not developed properly. Google “window pane test”.
It could be the dough was still over hydrated, the dough didn’t have enough strength to it, or the dough was over proofed. If you’ve already reduced hydration, I’d suggest you try to add a little more strength to the dough during mixing/kneading or you could add one or two more sets of stretch and folds during bulk. Since this recipe already has quite a few stretch and fold sets I’d say a little more mixing/kneading time upfront will help quite a bit.
Try adding more strength first and if you still have issues then pull back on your proof a bit, perhaps a couple hours during your overnight cold retard.
Let me know how it goes!
Hi! This is my favorite recipe, and I’ve made it successfully twice now! Thanks for all the advice you gave me previously, which really helped me with achieving a nice crumb!
Any tips on how to make the bread LESS sour? Throughout the process, I’ve been using the higher temperatures in the ranges you provided (in my proofing box), I think because I’ve been afraid that the lower temperatures will cause the dough to not rise/ferment. But I’m now considering using the lower temp ranges to control the sourness of the bread. Some ideas I have are to build the leaven and autolyse at 77 degrees, use a younger leaven (so right at peak or slightly before), bulk at 78 degrees, to put shaped dough directly into the refrigerator (instead of having it rest on the counter for 20 min), and to reduce final fridge proofing to 8-12 hours.
Any thoughts about those ideas? Would this lead to under-proofing (which has been my problem for the past 3 months!).
Thanks again!
The sourness comes from your starter, not your dough.
Are you storing your starter in the fridge? If so… leave it at room temperature. You will not gain muchsourness during delayed fermentation in the fridge of your dough.
Fantastic, really great to hear that Diana! I think all of your adjustments will help reduce the sourness. However, as @Wartface:disqus said below, you should also focus on your starter. Make sure to feed your starter in a timely fashion, when it starts to fall in your jar it needs a feeding. If you leave it to sit too long in an overly acidic situation this will eventually transfer over to your dough.
After your starter there are a few things you can help reduce the acidity in your dough: reduce overall proof time (especially in the fridge), reduce whole grains (which contribute to increased acid production in your dough) and I’ve also noticed a slightly cooler bulk temperature (78ºF should be perfect) can help as well.
It’s hard to say whether your suggestions would lead to an underproofed dough, it’s all very relative to how the rest of the process is going. You want to bulk and proof just to the right point but not much further. I would say try your adjustments and see how the bake tastes/looks and then adjust the bulk and proof times up or down from there.
I hope that helps, let me know how it goes! And sorry for the late reply!
Is the Central Milling Type 70 flour that you use in this recipe the malted or unmalted type? Thanks! Want to make a big order soon!
Hey! It’s the malted version: Organic Type 70 Malted. Happy baking!
After using another recipe for years, I made this one. It made amazing bread, close to the photos, and I actually skipped most of the early stretch and folds. A good starter, the right moisture and the autolyze I think made the difference. Would have liked more sourness but that’s the trade off for the higher temps which keep the yeast active. This will definitely be my new go to method. Thank you!
Super glad to hear that, Winston! Yes, proper fermentation with a strong starter/levain is pretty key with my recipe. You can add in some rye or more whole grains into this and perhaps lengthen the proof just a tad longer as well, to try and pull out some more sour notes.
Thanks again and happy baking!
Keep your starter in your fridge… it will become more sour.👍