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Sometimes, I don't listen to myself.

This week I found myself ignoring my own advice to other bakers

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Making bread is interesting that way. Sometimes, you fall into routines and lock certain parts of the process in place, thinking they're just how they should be and need no further adjustment.

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This time, it was my mixing time & dough development.

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I talk about it a lot in my cookbook: how many beginning bakers (and experienced bakers, as it turns out 🙂) tend to under-mix their dough.

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There's a whole bunch of reasons why bakers do this:

• they're afraid of over-mixing and getting tough bread
• they're not sure what the dough should look and feel like when properly developed
• they're stuck in a routine and don't adjust to suit new flour or a new mixer (hey, that's me!)

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Let's look at a before and after.

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So with this little fix, I went from this:

To this with a little more mixing:

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Okay, yes, there are a lot of other details here I'm glossing over. But honestly, mixing was the biggie this time around.

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Now, I'm not saying more mixing is going to fix all troubles, but it's a great example of how I wasn't taking a step back to look at all parts of the process and evaluate them for what they are:

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Each a stepping stone to a great loaf.

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(If you're curious, I'll put my dough mixing timing and speeds at the end of the email.)

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In this week's newsletter:

• Recipes: Cinnamon rolls, Banana/zucchini bread (yes, again)
• New Baking Tool: Starter and levain calculator
• Introducing: The Baker's Corner ✨
• Baking Help: I can't get a good score and curves on my bread!
• Sourdough Links: Climate change and grain to flour to bread

🔧 New Tool: Starter and Levain Calculator

Have you ever needed to make a levain (or a starter) that's a specific weight and hydration, but you weren't sure how much of each ingredient to add?

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I've got you covered.

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Input your desired levain weight, hydration percentage (from stiff to liquid), and the amount of ripe starter you have, and it'll tell you exactly what to add to your jar to make a levain to meet your desired weight.

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USE STARTER CALCULATOR →

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🌀 Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

This morning, I could feel it in my bones: fall is coming, my friends.

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Fall is the best season here in New Mexico: cool, crisp, and dry days, no wind, and a return to baking.

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The (slightly) cooler weather has me eyeing my sourdough cinnamon rolls. They are one of my longstanding favorites at The Perfect Loaf and are perfect for a weekend indoors.

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GET CINNAMON ROLL RECIPE →

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🍌 Sourdough discard banana (or zucchini!) bread—AGAIN!

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Okay, I sent this out last week, but here I am making it again.

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Also, many of you asked if you could read this on its own page (and print it!). So, I spent the week setting it up so the banana bread is on its recipe page.

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If you haven't made this yet, it'll make your weekend, I promise.

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GET BANANA BREAD RECIPE →

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Introducing: The Baker's Corner (Our community)

I recently rebranded the membership here at The Perfect Loaf, now called
​The Baker's Corner!

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I think this is the perfect name for the ​community​ at The Perfect Loaf: a group of passionate bread bakers gathered in this little corner of the internet.

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It's a place to chat about anything and everything bread, from sharing photos of successes to less-than-successes—and a place to help each other along the way.

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But wait, there's more!

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It's more than just our private chat. Join and get all my baking tools, discounts, the recipe archive (with scalable recipes), and the removal of all ads on the website.

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I've met some incredible people in the past 6 years (!!) I've had this group going, and it's really my privilege to have you all in this corner of the 'net. Thank you for your support!

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Want to come talk bread?

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JOIN US IN THE COMMUNITY →

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💬 Member Discussion of the Week

Here's a few tips:

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If your dough is slightly overproofed, it can spring less in the oven, which causes the crust to "rupture" less where you scored it.

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If you don't cut in deep enough, the score won't be able to open correctly (conversely, if you cut too deep, the dough can collapse).

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If you don't shape the dough tightly enough (with a smooth enough surface), your cut will fuse back together or stay how it is.

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If the top heat is too high in your oven, it can cause the crust to harden off and prevent expansion prematurely.

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If there's not enough steam in the oven, the same thing can happen as above.

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Finally, if your dough has a high percentage of whole grains, there will inherently be less spring in the oven (and that's okay!).

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🛟 2 Ways I Can Help You Today

• The dough featured at the start of this email called for a nice and lengthy 1-hour autolyse. See my guide to how an autolyse can help in your baking.
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• I used my go-to gentle batard (oval) shaping method for the loaves at the start of this email.

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📙 What I'm Reading and Listening To

• Better bread could be a climate change solution — some bakers think so. (podcast; npr) I recently found out about Chimacum Valley Grainery, and it's really inspiring what they're up to in the Pacific Northwest! (LINK)​

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Happy baking, everyone!

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Maurizio Leo

P.S. My improved mixing setup is now this. Keep in mind this was mixed in a spiral mixer with a breaker bar and the dough is 85% hydration!

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Autolyse: Add flour and Water 1, mix low until incorporated.

Rest: 1 hour

Mix: 3 min 100rpm with levain and splash of water 2

Rest: 5 min

Mix: 2 min 100rpm with salt and remainder of water 2

Mix: 7-8 min 200 rpm (this is the longer bit!)

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