An open-crumb country loaf built on a mature levain and a long cold retard for deep, tangy flavour — this is the Classic Sourdough Mother Boule, a bake that rewards patience with a shattering crust and a lacy, well-fermented interior.
It’s one of the 20 recipes inside our Sourdough & Fermentation Cookbook, and we’re sharing it in full so you can taste the standard before you buy the book. The hands-on time is short; the flavour comes from time and a peaked starter doing the work.
Why this recipe works
The structure is built in stages: a 45-minute autolyse hydrates the flour and pre-organises the gluten, four sets of stretch-and-folds during a 25°C bulk build strength without kneading, and a 12–16 hour cold retard at 4°C deepens the sour, tangy flavour while firming the skin so it scores cleanly. Baking covered in a screaming-hot Dutch oven traps steam for that open crumb and blistered, mahogany crust.
Ingredients
Dough
- 400 g bread flour (12% protein)
- 100 g whole wheat flour
- 350 g filtered water (70% hydration)
- 10 g fine sea salt
Levain & finishing
- 100 g active sourdough starter (100% hydration, peaked)
- 25 g additional warm water (for salt mix)
- Rice flour, for dusting the banneton
- Semolina, for the peel
Optional garnish
- Flaky sea salt scattered on the crust after scoring
Serves 10 · Prep 45 min · Cook 50 min · 185 kcal per serving
Instructions
- Autolyse. Whisk bread and whole wheat flours with 350 g water until no dry pockets remain. Cover and rest 45 minutes so the flour fully hydrates and gluten begins to organise.
- Mix and bulk ferment. Add peaked levain and pinch in; rest 20 min, then add salt with the extra 25 g water. Bulk at 25°C for 4–5 hours, performing 4 sets of stretch-and-folds in the first 2 hours until the dough is domed, jiggly and 50% risen.
- Shape and cold retard. Pre-shape into a loose round, bench rest 25 min, then shape tightly into a boule. Place seam-up in a rice-floured banneton and cold retard at 4°C for 12–16 hours to develop flavour and a workable skin.
- Score and bake. Preheat a Dutch oven at 250°C for 45 min. Flip the cold dough onto parchment, score a single confident ear at a 30-degree angle, bake covered 20 min, uncover and bake 25–30 min more at 230°C until deeply mahogany and hollow-sounding. Cool fully on a rack before slicing.
Chef’s tip
Use your starter at peak (doubled, domed, just past the float test). A sluggish levain equals a tight, gummy crumb — feed it and wait.
Get the full Sourdough & Fermentation Cookbook
Loved this loaf? It’s a single recipe from a 20-strong collection of sourdough and fermentation builds made the same way — clear ingredients, exact timings and temperatures, no guesswork. Grab the full Sourdough & Fermentation Cookbook below.
