Recipes
The Basic Country Loaf: A Recipe Worth Mastering
One recipe, baked carefully, teaches more than ten recipes baked carelessly. Here it is.
If you only learn one sourdough recipe, learn this one. It's flexible, forgiving, and scales up cleanly. Bake it twenty times before you bake anything else.
Recipe
- 450g bread flour (90%)
- 50g whole wheat flour (10%)
- 350g water (70%)
- 100g active starter (20%)
- 10g salt (2%)
Total dough weight: 960g. One large boule.
Schedule
| Time | Step |
|---|---|
| Day 1, 8 AM | Feed starter |
| Day 1, 1 PM | Mix dough, autolyse |
| Day 1, 1:30 PM | Add salt |
| Day 1, 2–6 PM | Bulk fermentation, 4 folds |
| Day 1, 6 PM | Pre-shape, bench rest 30 min |
| Day 1, 6:30 PM | Final shape, into banneton |
| Day 1, 7 PM | Refrigerate |
| Day 2, 7 AM | Preheat oven |
| Day 2, 8 AM | Bake |
Method
Mix
Combine 350g water and 100g active starter. Stir to disperse.
Add 500g of total flour. Mix with your hand until shaggy. No dry flour should remain.
Cover. Autolyse 30 minutes.
Salt
Sprinkle 10g salt over the dough. Pinch and squeeze to incorporate. The dough will tighten up.
Bulk fermentation
Place dough in a clear container. Mark the starting level.
Set 4 timers, 30 minutes apart.
After each: wet hands, do a set of stretch-and-folds. Pull one side up, fold over, rotate 90°, repeat 3 more times.
After the 4th fold, leave the dough to bulk. Total bulk time should be 4–6 hours, depending on temperature. Look for 50–70% rise.
Pre-shape
Lightly flour your counter. Tip dough out gently.
Use a bench scraper to shape into a loose round. Don't fight it. Cover with a clean towel. Bench rest 30 minutes.
Final shape
Lightly flour the top of the dough.
Flip it floured-side down. Stretch each edge to the center, working around the dough.
Flip it back over (smooth side up). Use the bench scraper to drag the dough across the counter, building tension under the surface.
Place seam-side up in a flour-dusted banneton.
Cold proof
Cover with plastic. Refrigerate 10–14 hours.
Bake
Preheat oven with Dutch oven inside, 500°F, 45 minutes.
Tip dough out onto parchment paper. Score with a sharp blade — one confident slash across the top, blade angled at 30°.
Use the parchment as a sling to lower into the hot Dutch oven. Cover.
Bake covered 20 minutes at 475°F.
Uncover. Drop to 450°F. Bake 25 more minutes.
Internal temperature should be 207–210°F.
Remove. Cool on a wire rack at least 90 minutes before cutting.
What you should see
- Doubled in oven (good oven spring)
- Crisp, deep mahogany crust
- A clean ear at the score
- Open but balanced crumb
- Slightly tangy, sweet flavor
When it goes wrong
- Flat — over-fermented or under-shaped. Reduce bulk time or shape with more tension.
- Dense — under-fermented or weak starter. Wait longer for bulk; rebuild starter strength.
- Pale crust — oven too cool or didn't preheat long enough. Verify with thermometer.
- Gummy interior — under-baked. Check internal temp; bake longer.
- Tight crumb — under-fermented. Look for the 50–70% rise mark.
Variations to try later
- Replace 50g bread flour with 50g rye for tang
- Add 50g toasted sunflower seeds for texture
- Increase hydration to 78% for a more open crumb (master 70% first)
- Cold proof 24 hours instead of 12 for deeper flavor