Comments on: About The Perfect Loaf

By: Maurizio Leo

Maurizio Leo — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 15:27:31 +0000

In reply to Lenny Mayor. Yes, that's correct, sorry about that, Lenny. I'll fix the example!

By: Maurizio Leo

Maurizio Leo — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 15:26:58 +0000

I like the idea there, Bill, but I would be hesitant to try and add oil that much later in the process, unfortunately. It won't absorb well into the dough and you'll have to really work to get it in.

What I'd do instead, though, is mix the same dough without olive oil. Then at the very end, take out some of the dough to use as the lean (without OO) loaves and put that into a bulk container. Then add the OO to the other dough and mix it through. You'll have two different doughs in bulk fermentation, but at least you save a lot of time by mixing only a single dough.

Hope that helps!

By: Maurizio Leo

Maurizio Leo — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 15:25:24 +0000

In reply to Irina. Means SO much to read that Irina, thank you! Sorry for the delay. I'm not a huge fan of using lard in bread, to be honest. I've tried it many times over the years and don't really like the flavor profile. Instead I choose to use butter or oil more often than not. It sounds like the dough needs more water to me, especially if it's dry and dense!

By: Irina

Irina — Wed, 14 May 2025 12:46:42 +0000

Hi Maurizio…I am your biggest fun and you are my inspiration from day one on my Sourdough journey for past 5 years. I go back and forth to different bakers, books, websites, etc. but then again ending up using your recipes and your suggestions. The outcome is always amazing, thank you!!!
I was challenged to make Italian prosciutto provolone bread. I did my home work and found some recipes. I like to combine recipes and come up with my own one, but this one looks very challenging. I don't like the dough consistency. All recipes call for lard and lager. But final bread is more like a scone than bread.
Do you have any suggestions or maybe a recipe for it? I will really appreciate your help:)

By: Lenny Mayor

Lenny Mayor — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 11:27:32 +0000

Hi Maurizio, Thanks for such a great website. I've baked bread for a long time and I'm just getting into sourdough bread. I've been reading tons of information on your site and have my starter stable and ready to go. I have a question, or comment, about the "Starter And Levain Calculator" page. It is confusing because there seems to be a discrepancy in the example provided. The writeup says "The desired starter can be made by mixing the outputs below in the grey boxes (50g starter, 25g flour, 25g water)." But the grey boxes show different numbers (20g starter, 40g flour, 40g water). Using Bakers Percentages, I believe the calculator numbers (20, 40, 40) are correct. Yes?

By: Bill Scotcher

Bill Scotcher — Sat, 12 Apr 2025 10:04:37 +0000

Hello Maurizio – I tried your Simple Focaccia recipe – it was excellent first time! I see the flour, levain and water quantities are the same combination as the normal sourdough loaves I bake! Instead of adding the Olive Oil to the autolyse stage – can I add this in only when going into the bulk fermentation i.e. AFTER the 4 * 20 min turn intervals.

If yes I can then combine my normal sourdough loaves and the Focaccia in the same bake prep!

Thanks
Bill

By: Maurizio Leo

Maurizio Leo — Sat, 12 Apr 2025 00:59:03 +0000

In reply to Suzan Harvey. Hey Suzan, really great to have you here! I'll sometimes blend the two flours depending what I'm after. With aged flour I tend to get more rise and a lighter texture (but less flavor!). So I see it as the best of both worlds using both. But there is magic in a 100% freshly milled flour loaf, too. You'll find those recipes here as well. If you haven't yet, check out my guide to working with fresh flour . Again, great to have you here!

By: Kelly

Kelly — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 16:40:47 +0000

In reply to Odfan. I would like to see my discard recipes. I love your cookbook, I used it to make my starter from scratch. I have had the best luck with any bread using your recipes.

By: Sabrina lebron

Sabrina lebron — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 17:55:10 +0000

In reply to Maurizio Leo. I recently bought your book from Amazon and there’s not an errata sheet on page 1

By: Suzan Harvey

Suzan Harvey — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 00:31:31 +0000

Hello Mauizio,
I’m new to your site and I am loving the information, especially about your home milled grains. I use a Komo mill and am relearning to make sourdough bread with the home milled flour.I have a question about milling your flour. Is there a reason that you include factory milled bread in combination with your home milled flour.
Thank you,
Suzan