Every baker has one loaf they could make half asleep. This is mine. It is not the most open crumb on the internet and it will not win a scoring contest, but it is reliable, it keeps for four days, and it makes toast that tastes like it came from somewhere with a wood oven and a waiting list.
The formula is deliberately boring: mostly bread flour, a tenth whole wheat for flavour, 75% water, 2% salt and 20% levain. Boring is the point. When the formula stays still, you can finally see what the dough is doing.
Everyday country loaf
One 900 g boule · about 26 hours start to finish, 30 minutes of actual work
| Ingredient | Grams | Baker’s % |
|---|---|---|
| Bread flour (12–13% protein) | 450 | 90% |
| Whole wheat flour | 50 | 10% |
| Water, about 30 °C | 375 | 75% |
| Ripe levain (100% hydration) | 100 | 20% |
| Fine sea salt | 10 | 2% |
Timeline
- Evening, day 1: feed the levain 1:5:5 and leave it at room temperature overnight.
- 08:00: mix flour and 350 g water; rest 45 minutes (autolyse).
- 08:45: add levain, salt and the remaining 25 g water. Squeeze until it comes together.
- 09:15–11:15: four sets of stretch and folds, thirty minutes apart.
- Until 14:00-ish: bulk ferment until the dough has grown about 50% and jiggles.
- Pre-shape, rest 20 minutes, shape, then into a floured banneton.
- Overnight: cold retard in the fridge, 12–16 hours.
- Day 3: bake straight from the fridge at 250 °C, lid on 20 minutes, lid off 20–25 minutes.
Why 75%?
Below 70% the dough is easy to handle but the crumb tightens up and the crust gets thick. Above 80% you get drama: spectacular holes some days, a pancake on others. Seventy-five sits in the middle, where flour from the supermarket behaves and mistakes are forgiven.
If your flour is weaker (under 11.5% protein), start at 70% and add water in later bakes. The right hydration is the highest one you can still shape without swearing.
The bulk ferment is the whole recipe
Times in recipes are guesses. Your kitchen is not my kitchen. Watch for these instead:
- The dough has grown by roughly half (a straight-sided container helps).
- The surface is domed, not flat, with a few bubbles at the edges.
- It jiggles like set custard when you shake the tub.
- It smells pleasantly sour, like yoghurt, not like nail polish.
Under-proofed bread is a much more common problem than over-proofed bread. When in doubt, wait another thirty minutes.
Notes after a few hundred bakes
Can I skip the autolyse?
Yes. It makes the dough smoother earlier, but four sets of folds get you to the same place. If you skip it, add the levain with all the water.
My bottom crust burns.
Put a baking sheet on the rack below the pot. It shields the base from the element and costs nothing.
Can I bake it the same day?
You can: shape, proof at room temperature for 1–2 hours and bake. You lose some flavour and the score opens less dramatically from warm dough.
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