Universal
Master Sourdough Loaf
Your active mother, a day of patient folding, a night in the fridge, twenty minutes in a screaming-hot Dutch oven. 75% hydration, open crumb, deep mahogany crust. The bread that makes every meal better — pa amb tomàquet, bocadillos, avocado toast, the sandwich for the rabo leftovers.
- Staple · Bread
- None
- 1 large loaf (~800 g) · 8–10 servings · keeps 4–5 days
- ~22 h (levain 6–8 h + bulk 3–4 h + cold retard 8–14 h + bake 45 min + cool 1 h)
The Living Jar Earns Its Keep
Pablo has had an active sourdough mother for as long as the workspace has been tracking him. It gets fed. It gets named in meetings. It gets mentioned when the menu calls for bread. But it has never had a recipe of its own — until now.
A sourdough loaf is the slowest fast food you will ever make. Twenty-two hours, start to finish. Of those, maybe 90 minutes are active — the rest is the microbes doing their work while you live your life. The schedule maps naturally onto a Saturday morning to Sunday brunch: feed the levain Saturday breakfast, mix the dough Saturday evening, shape and cold-retard before bed, bake Sunday morning. The bread comes out of the oven while the coffee is brewing.
The craft is in the folds and the fridge. Four sets of stretch-and-fold during bulk fermentation build gluten without kneading — wet hands, grab an edge, stretch up, fold over, rotate, repeat. The overnight cold retard is the single biggest flavor lever. Acetic acid develops at cold temperatures; lactic acid at warm. The long cold phase after a warm bulk gives you both — complex, tangy, alive. Skip the cold retard and you get a bread. Include it and you get sourdough.
The finish is a screaming-hot Dutch oven, twenty minutes covered (the trapped steam is what makes oven spring possible), twenty minutes uncovered (the Maillard is where the crust-flavor lives). Dark crust. Open crumb. Slightly chewy. Tangy. Alive.
Method
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Day 1 Morning — Feed the Levain
Check your starter. It should have been fed within the last 24 hours and show signs of activity (bubbles, risen, slightly domed). If it has been more than 48 hours since the last feed, feed it the day before and wait for full activity before starting this recipe.
In a clean 1-quart jar or bowl: combine 1 tbsp (~15 g) mature starter with 100 g bread flour + 100 g whole wheat flour + 200 g water at 28 °C. Mix with a spoon until no dry flour remains.
Cover loosely (plastic wrap with a hole poked in, or a coffee filter with a rubber band). Do not seal airtight — CO2 needs to escape.
Mark the side of the jar with a rubber band at the current dough level. This lets you track the rise.
Leave at room temperature (ideally 24–26 °C) for 6–8 hours.
When ready: levain should have roughly doubled, be visibly bubbly throughout, smell pleasantly yeasty-sour, and pass the float test — drop a small spoonful into a glass of water. If it floats, it's ready. If it sinks, wait another hour and test again.
Day 1 Evening — Autolyse + Mix
In a large mixing bowl, combine 450 g bread flour + 50 g whole wheat flour + 350 g water (save the remaining 25 g for later). Mix by hand until no dry flour remains — should look like a shaggy wet mass, not a smooth dough. 2–3 minutes of rough mixing.
Cover the bowl with a plate or damp towel. Rest 30–60 minutes . This is the autolyse. During this rest, the flour fully hydrates, enzymes begin breaking down starches into simpler sugars, and gluten structures begin forming passively — reducing the kneading required.
After autolyse: dough should feel softer, smoother. Add 100 g of active levain to the bowl. Using wet fingers, pinch and fold the levain into the dough until fully incorporated — 2 to 3 minutes. No visible streaks.
Cover. Rest 30 minutes — lets the levain start its work before salt.
Add 10 g salt + remaining 25 g water. Squeeze and fold until salt is fully dissolved into the dough. The water makes salt distribution easier. 1 to 2 minutes.
Day 1 Evening — Bulk Fermentation with Stretch and Folds
Bulk fermentation starts NOW, the moment salt is incorporated. Total target: 3–4 hours at 24–26 °C room temp. In Miami with AC at 22-24 °C, expect 3.5–4 hours.
Stretch and fold set 1 (at T+30 min from salt). Wet your hand with water. Reach down one side of the bowl, grab a corner of dough, stretch it UP, fold it OVER the center. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees. Repeat. 4 total stretches per set.
S&F set 2 at T+60 min . Dough should feel slightly stronger, holding its shape better after each fold.
S&F set 3 at T+90 min . Surface getting smoother, dough more elastic.
S&F set 4 at T+120 min (final set). Dough should be smooth, domed, jiggle like Jell-O when you shake the bowl. If it still feels slack, add one more S&F at T+150.
After final S&F: let dough rest undisturbed for the remaining 60-90 minutes of bulk. Do not touch it again until pre-shape.
Bulk is DONE when: (1) volume has increased roughly 50% from start, (2) surface is smooth and slightly domed, (3) bubbles are visible below the surface, (4) the dough feels airy and jiggly rather than dense. If in doubt at 3.5 hours, check again at 4 hours. Over-fermented dough (past peak) goes flat and sour — under-fermented produces a dense loaf with tight crumb.
Day 1 Late — Pre-Shape, Shape, Cold Retard
Turn dough out onto a clean, unfloured work surface. Using a bench scraper, tuck the edges under to form a loose round, rotating as you go. The surface tension that develops is what gives oven spring. Do not manipulate hard — gentle is correct.
Rest the pre-shaped round uncovered 20–25 minutes on the counter. This is the bench rest — dough relaxes and becomes easier to final-shape.
Lightly flour the top of the dough. Using a bench scraper, flip the dough onto its floured top. The sticky bottom now faces up.
Final shape: pull the bottom edge up over the center. Pull the left edge over. Pull the right edge over. Roll the whole mass toward yourself, sealing as you go. You should end with a round, smooth ball with a taut outer surface.
Transfer the shaped dough SEAM-SIDE UP into a floured banneton, or into a kitchen-towel-lined bowl heavily dusted with rice flour.
Cover with plastic wrap or place the entire banneton inside a large plastic bag. Put into the refrigerator. Minimum 8 hours, maximum 14 hours. Overnight is the natural schedule.
Day 2 Morning — Bake
Place the Dutch oven with its lid on the middle rack of your oven. Preheat to 250 °C / 480 °F. This requires 45-60 minutes — the Dutch oven must be fully heated through, not just the oven.
While preheating, prepare your scoring setup: tear a sheet of parchment paper slightly larger than the dough round. Have the lame or razor blade ready.
Remove the banneton from the fridge. Place the parchment on top of the banneton, then flip the banneton upside down — the dough falls gently onto the parchment. Lift the banneton off. The dough is now seam-side down on parchment.
Score the dough with ONE decisive motion. Hold the blade at a 30 degree angle to the surface. Cut 1 cm deep. A single long slash across the top works. The angled cut creates an ear — the flap that peels up during oven spring and produces the characteristic artisan crust feature.
Using the parchment as a sling, lift the dough into the screaming-hot Dutch oven. Put the lid on immediately. Close oven. Do NOT lift the lid for the next 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes: lift the lid off. Reduce oven to 230 °C / 450 °F. Continue baking UNCOVERED for 20-25 minutes until the crust is DEEP mahogany brown — darker than you think is safe. Pale crust equals pale flavor.
Test doneness: internal temperature should be 95-100 °C / 205-210 °F. Or tap the bottom — a hollow thump means done.
Transfer to a wire cooling rack. DO NOT slice for at least 1 hour. Cutting while hot produces a gummy interior because the starches have not yet set and steam is still redistributing through the crumb.
Timeline
- Day 1, 7:00 — Feed levain Mix 1 tbsp starter + 100 g bread flour + 100 g whole wheat + 200 g warm water. Cover loosely. Leave on counter. 6–8 h until peak.
- Day 1, 14:00 — Check levain float Drop a spoonful in water. If it floats, ready. Bubbly, domed, slightly sour smell.
- Day 1, 14:00 — Autolyse Mix 450 g bread flour + 50 g whole wheat + 350 g water (save 25 g). Rough shaggy mass, no dry spots. Rest 30–60 min.
- Day 1, 15:00 — Add levain Squeeze 100 g levain into dough. Pinch and fold until incorporated. Rest 30 min.
- Day 1, 15:30 — Add salt + bulk start Add 10 g salt + remaining 25 g water. Squeeze to dissolve. Bulk ferment starts now.
- Day 1, 16:00 — S&F set 1 First stretch-and-fold. Wet hands, grab edge, stretch up, fold over, rotate 90°, repeat x4.
- Day 1, 16:30 — S&F set 2 Second set. Dough should feel stronger, holding shape better.
- Day 1, 17:00 — S&F set 3 Third set. Surface getting smoother.
- Day 1, 17:30 — S&F set 4 (final) Fourth set. Dough should be smooth, domed, and jiggle when shaken.
- Day 1, 19:00 — Bulk done Total bulk 3.5 hours. Dough volume ~50% increase. Bubbles visible below surface. Smooth domed top.
- Day 1, 19:15 — Pre-shape Gentle turn onto clean unfloured surface. Bench scraper to loose round. Rest 25 min uncovered.
- Day 1, 19:40 — Final shape Flour top. Flip. Pull edges in: bottom up, left over, right over, roll toward self for taut surface. Seam-side UP in banneton.
- Day 1, 20:00 — Into fridge Cover banneton with plastic bag. Refrigerate 8–14 h. Sleep.
- Day 2, 7:00 — Preheat Dutch oven + lid, middle rack, oven to 250 °C. 45–60 min preheat — thermal mass must fully heat.
- Day 2, 7:45 — Score + load Invert banneton onto parchment. Score 1 cm deep at 30° angle. Lift parchment into hot Dutch oven. Lid on.
- Day 2, 7:45 — Bake covered 250 °C, 20 minutes. Do not lift lid.
- Day 2, 8:05 — Uncover + reduce Remove lid. Drop oven to 230 °C. Bake uncovered 20–25 min until DEEPLY brown — darker than you think.
- Day 2, 8:30 — Cool To wire rack. Do not slice for at least 1 hour. Cutting too early = gummy.
- Day 2, 9:30 — Eat Slice with serrated knife. Butter, or EVOO + Maldon, or top with ripe tomato and garlic for pa amb tomàquet.