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maurizio
The Perfect Loaf
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Today’s lunch: red lentil hummus with scallions/Aleppo/evoo, my fresh rye/spelt/wheat sourdough toast, and avocado. Recipe from @cannellevanille new book, which is beautifully shot, written, and styled. And the hummus is mighty good 👌🏼 2K 16
The outside and inside of a couple of the loaves baked yesterday: rye/spelt/whole wheat. Such a deep, wonderful flavor. Might have been able to push the water a bit higher, but happy with the fermentation in these. #baking #bread #sourdough 2K 63
From easy score to oven to cooling. Baked my spelt/rye/whole wheat recipe (at my website in profile) this morning as the light just came in through the windows and the chill creeped into the room—even the glowing oven couldn’t contest. #baking #bread #sourdough #morningroutine #theperfectloaf 3K 115
Playing with an off-shoot of my lievito madre: kept this 200g madre, 200g flour, 100g water in the fridge for a little over two weeks bound tight (the Italian method for maintaining a sourdough starter, particularly when used for panettone). Over this time, it formed a solid layer on the outside with soft interior — obviously left far too long between refreshments. Smelled like sharp vinegar. Chances are it would come back after several days of timely refreshments, but there’s no need for me since this was a bit of a fun test. I did this method for a week last month and it worked just fine, I’d likely not go too much more than this without the expectation of a long cycle to bring it back to “life.” #testing #sourdough #baking #panettone #fermentation #lievitomadre 1K 58
Frothy and ready to go. #sourdough #starter #bread #baking #ritual 3K 57
The magic of rising bread strictly confined to a covered tin. Golden pain de mie from my website, always a hit with the kiddos (and me, to be honest). Perhaps the best bread for butter and jelly, perhaps. #sourdough #baking #bread #theperfectloaf 3K 59

My Baking Tools

I’ve spent a long time testing baking tools one at a time to make baking more efficient and consistent at home. The list below is the result of all those tests, and nothing else. If you’re new to baking, start with the tools listed below in Sourdough Starter Creation & Management and The Beginning Baker. Once you become more serious about baking, head down to the Nice to Haves section.

I’ve also compiled a list of all the tools below, and my favorite baking books, at my Amazon storefront. Note that some of the links below are affiliate links, which means I earn a small amount on each sale (you’re not charged over normal price). These small earnings help keep this site up and running, so thank you and happy baking!

Sourdough Starter

These are the best tools to help create and maintain your sourdough starter.

Store your natural sourdough starter in this Weck jar

3/4 liter weck jars

My starter lives in these wonderful glass jars.

baker’s scale

A good scale is essential in baking. This is the best one I’ve found.
oxo spatula

silicone spatula

The best spatula for mixing your starter: easy to clean and durable.
Create a starter with reliable consistency using whole grain rye flour

dark rye flour

Whole grain rye flour is key to making an active sourdough starter.

The Beginning Baker

Lodge Cast Iron Dutch Oven Combo Cooker

lodge combo cooker

Cast iron and built to last. This pot traps steam to encourage maximum dough rise.
Dough Bench Knife

bench knife

A must-have. Used to cut, lift & move your dough.
Plastic Dough Scraper

plastic scraper

Easily remove sticky dough from containers, the bench, and off your fingers.
Ambient thermometer

ambient thermometer

Monitoring temperature when baking is incredibly important.
White Rice Flour for dusting proofing baskets

rice flour

Dust your proofing baskets with this to help your dough remove cleanly.
Lame for scoring dough pre-bake

lame

A pack of razors and a coffee stirrer constructed as you see. Used to score your bread before baking.
Wide mixing bowl to mix flour, water, etc.

wide mixing bowl

A wide bowl makes hand mixing dough much more manageable.
Cambro plastic bulk container

bulk container

Clear sides let you see fermentation first-hand.
Digital Thermometer

digital thermometer

Monitoring dough temperature is critical throughout the baking process.

Nice to Haves

Thermapen thermometer

thermapen

Reads temperatures extremely fast and accurate. Highly recommended.
Banneton for boules

10″ banneton (boule)

A bowl used to hold proofing dough.
Banneton for batard

banneton (batard)

A smaller basket that will let you load dough in the Lodge combo cooker listed above.
Dough Proofer via @theperfectloaf

dough proofer

Keeps my starter, levain, and dough at the perfect temperature. Highly recommended.
Bread box

large bulk tub

The perfect rectangular tub for 4kg+ batches of dough.
Flour sifter

flour sifter

Some recipes here call for “high extraction flour,” this helps sift out some bran/germ to get there.

baking steel

This steel gets incredibly hot with no risk of cracking. It also cooks pizza incredibly well.
Plastic flour scoop

flour scoop

I keep these in my flour canisters, they make transferring and measuring super easy.
Razor sharp bread knife

bread knife

The best, and most cost-effective, bread knife I have yet to use.
tools_baking_stones

proofing liners

Cut these to fit your proofing baskets for easy dough removal.
Plastic bowl covers CoverMate Stretch-to-fit

plastic bowl covers

Reusable bowl-sized covers to keep dough moist.
Bread box

breadbox

Keep your bread fresh for up to a week in this box.

Flour

Ideally, you’d want locally milled flour for freshness and to support local farmers & millers, but sometimes that is not an option. Central Milling and Guisto’s both provide flour that I’ve found to be excellent.

Central Milling Artisan Bakers Craft Plus Organic Flour

central milling artisan baker’s craft plus

CM has some incredible flour; this is a workhorse flour for any bread.
Giusto's Artisan Bread Flour

giusto’s artisan malted bread

I love this flour; it’s my current top choice.

Pans & Storage

USA Pan Pullman Pan

USA Pan Pullman 9×4 inch

This pan is perfect for rye bread and sandwich loaves. See my guide to baking pan bread for more.
Large Cambro Storage Container

cambro storage 18 quart

These, with lid, are quite large and perfect for storing 25 lbs. of dry grain or flour.
XO Good Grips POP Container Big Square (4.0 Qt)

OXO good grips 4 quart

I use these to store all my flour (they hold 5 pounds). They are airtight, light, and solid — just the best.

Grain Mills

Below is a list of my favorite grain mills used to mill fresh flour in my home kitchen regularly. They are all built extremely well and are capable of producing excellent flour.

Mockmill Grain Mill

Mockmill 100 Grain Mill

A beautiful mill capable of producing very fine flour at a fantastic price (get 5% off with my link).
KoMo Classic Grain Mill

KoMo Classic Grain Mill

A workhorse mill that produces very fine flour. Built by hand in Austria.
GrainMaker 116

GrainMaker 116 Grain Mill

A hand-operated, well-built mill that’s capable of producing extremely fine flour at low temperatures.

Other Equipment

Rofco B40 Brick Bread Oven

Rofco B40 Brick Oven

This sealed oven lets me bake 4 or more loaves at a time from home.