Caputo Artisan Sourdough
My go-to artisan sourdough recipe made with Caputo bread flour for a beautifully caramelized crust, soft open crumb, and incredible flavor. Follow my step to step method for mixing, bulk fermentation, shaping, cold proofing, scoring and baking two delicious sourdough loaves at home.
- Yield: 2 x 1100 gram sourdough loaves
- Prep Time: 45 min
- Cook Time: 35-40 min
Ingredients
Instructions
Day One
9:00 AM — Feed your starter at a 1:2:2 ratio and keep at approximately 73°F.
6:00 PM — Once your starter has peaked, it’s time to mix the dough. Add the starter and 820 grams of water to a large bowl and mix until the starter is mostly dissolved.
6:05 PM — Add the flour and mix for 10 minutes. Cover and allow the dough to rest.
7:00 PM — Add the salt and 30 grams of reserved water. Work into the dough until fully incorporated.
7:30–9:30 PM — Perform coil folds approximately every 30 minutes, as needed. Continue until the dough develops strength and retains its shape between folds.
Overnight — Allow the dough to continue bulk fermenting at 60–65°F. I place mine in our cold basement overnight. Remember, the warmer the dough, the faster it will ferment.
Day Two
8:00 AM — Check the dough for signs that bulk fermentation is complete. It should be jiggly and domed with bubbles throughout, feel tacky without sticking heavily to your hand, and begin pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough onto a clean work surface and divide evenly.
8:05 AM — Preshape each piece of dough. Cover with a tea towel and allow to rest.
8:30 AM — Final shape each loaf and place into floured bannetons. Stitch the dough closed, cover, and refrigerate for the final cold proof.
3:00 PM — Preheat oven and baking steel to 450°F.
4:00 PM — Place the covered loaves in the freezer for 30 minutes to make scoring easier.
4:30 PM — Remove the loaves from the freezer. Score and heavily mist each loaf with water.
4:40 PM — Bake on a preheated baking steel with a baking shell for 25 minutes. Remove the shell and bake uncovered for another 10–15 minutes, until deeply caramelized. The internal temperature of the bread should reach approximately 205°F.
5:15–5:20 PM — Remove from the oven and allow the loaves to cool for at least 1 hour before slicing.
Notes
As with all sourdough recipes and methods, use this as a guide, not a strict timeline. Starter peak times and bulk fermentation times will vary based on your environment, temperature, location, and other factors. Learning to read your dough rather than relying solely on the clock will help you bake beautiful bread throughout your sourdough journey!
Products Used In The Recipe
About the Chef
Meet Lindsay Galusha
I’m a self-taught baker who fell completely in love with sourdough—the science, the creativity, and the fact that there is always something new to learn. In a world that moves so quickly, sourdough asks you to slow down, pay attention, and trust yourself.
As a teacher, I love helping home bakers understand their dough rather than simply follow a recipe. My goal is to keep learning and inspiring others to slow down, get their hands in some dough, and discover just how rewarding and therapeutic baking really good bread can be. And the best part? Getting to share something you made with the people you love.