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The Perfect Loaf: The Craft and Science of Sourdough Breads, Sweets, and More: A Baking Book

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JAMES BEARD AWARD WINNER • IACP AWARD WINNER • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A dynamic, authoritative sourdough baking bible for those looking to build confidence in the craft with a wide range of foolproof recipes, from pan loaves to pizza to doughnuts, by the beloved blogger and resident bread baker at Food52 “Maurizio Leo has given all bread-heads, whether newbies or experienced bakers, the ideal gift.”—Peter Reinhart, author of The Bread Baker’s Apprentice and host of Pizza Quest ONE OF SAVEUR'S BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR Maurizio Leo’s blog The Perfect Loaf is the go-to destination on the internet for beginner sourdough bakers. He now brings his impeccably detailed techniques, foolproof recipes, and generous teaching style to a groundbreaking debut cookbook that delves into the absolute fundamentals of sourdough—plus the tools and confidence to explore beyond. Recipes cover flavorful, crowd- pleasing favorites: Essential freeform loaves: Simple Sourdough, Rosemary & Olive Oil, Extra-Sour Sourdough, Cranberry & Walnut, Demi BaguettesPan loaves: Everyday Sandwich Bread, Naturally Leavened Brioche, German Whole Rye, Honey Whole Wheat Sandwich BreadPizza and flatbread: Roman-Style Pan Pizza, Focaccia, Naan, Flour Tortillas, PitaBuns, rolls, and more: Soft Dinner Rolls, Potato Buns, Ciabatta Rolls, English Muffins, BagelsSweets: Weekend Cinnamon Rolls, Italian Doughnuts, Summer Fruit Sourdough Crostata, Banana Bread, Cinnamon Babka Beginner bakers will have their hands held the entire way, with troubleshooting sections and numerous sidebars answering almost every question they may have—like how to store a sourdough starter long-term, how bakers’ percentages actually work, and a visual guide to common “bread fails” and how to remedy them. Seasoned bakers will relish deep dives into the science behind baking processes and expert information on how to build their “baker’s intuition” and level up by experimenting with hydration, ingredient ratios, freshly milled grains, and specialty flours. Whether you're new to bread baking or a pro, The Perfect Loaf will be your indispensable guide in the kitchen. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Clarkson Potter


Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 8, 2022


Edition ‏ : ‎ First Edition


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Print length ‏ : ‎ 432 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593138414


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 10


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.27 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.32 x 1.34 x 10.56 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #638 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #1 in Bread Baking (Books) #5 in Cooking Encyclopedias #6 in Cooking, Food & Wine Reference (Books)


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Top Amazon Reviews

    • It's a sourdough encyclopedia with great photography and easy to read.
I bought this book 8 months ago (and a sourdough starter kit) to take up sourdough baking in anticipation of retirement and move my retirement home...it's happened! I made my first bread loaves recently, and pancakes from Discard. This book has been my guide all the way. It's much easier than Googling everything. It's an encyclopedia of everything sourdough with a large part of the book containing recipes, which is a huge plus IMO. My favorite part of the book is that no detail is left unexplained (great for beginners like me) and Maurizio always denotes the page number of a step or process he may refer to in a paragraph. It's easy to navigate. You don't have to read the book from start to finish if you don't want to. You can go to the topic that interests you using the Index. I am also a (former) software engineer like the author turned baker, which I didn't know when I purchased the book. That's cool. I highly recommend this book for all levels of bakers, and I thank my BFF for suggesting this gem!! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2025 by D. Oakes
    • BEST COMPLETE BOOK ON EVERYTHING SOURDOUGH BREAD
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I bought a couple of top line leading books in sourdough making. But this book was the best of them all. Maurizio breaks everything down and isolates the problem for each situation. Every page is full of wisdom and clear photos, timelines, and diagrams for both beginner and advanced bakers to understand. My breads were coming out pretty good but when I started really getting the breakdown with his detailed instructions and troubleshooting, problems went away! I am getting nice crumb and excellent crust and excellent taste in my breads. The book is easy to read and easy to follow. And yeah if you are a professional, which I am not, it is full of excellent material. Every page is full of beautiful photos as well. 431 pages, lots of photos, and even QR codes to scan with your phone that takes you right over to YouTube to see a demonstration of exactly what he is referring to in the book! The book is loaded with these instructional videos along with the text and photos for step-by-step and you cannot go wrong. I highly recommend this book as a top notch number one must-have if you are into sourdough bread making! Maurizio Leo has such a passion for his work. He troubleshoots and breaks everything down and provides remedies and solutions to the sourdough process. If you've been baking sourdough for any length of time, you come to the conclusion that it is a continual moving target. Since atmosphere, room temperature, strength of your levain, types of flour, quantity of water, and time - have everything to do with the end results. Maurizio takes you through the process in detail but also makes it easy to follow. Yes, there is an intuitive part to this as well which comes with experience. The book has 431 pages including a very minimal index in the back. The content page in the front is also limited but the but has an sensible progression whereby you can find what you are looking for. My only crit would be that it needs a more extensive index, more thorough, so that there is less time flipping to find the content but between the index and the front content, you should be able to find your answers. The book has many other sourdough recipes including pizza, flatbread, buns, rolls, sweets, and so on. It is my go-to book for everything sourdough. Plus Maurizio is so good about answering questions, emails and so on. He is an amazing person full of goodwill and good heart. You cannot go wrong with this book and it is worth far more than the price in my opinion! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2023 by Reviewer Reviewer
    • My favorite sourdough bible
OMG! This book is incredible! It is not only filled with recipes, but it explains the science behind the ingredients and the steps in sourdough baking. It is my go to Bible! It is very well written and easy to understand for both beginners and experienced bakers. I have other sourdough baking books, but this is my absolute favorite! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2025 by Debbie B.
    • It'll be your new best friend
I saw a review that this was a good beginner book. It really goes into details and teaches techniques, tools, style, etc. I've since purchased some other books, but keep coming back to this one. Use this to learn the basics and it will also give solutions on how to address any problems as well as ways to tinker and make the recipes your own. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2025 by Heidi E Woldhuis
    • Instructions to make the perfect loaf
I have followed Maurizio online for quite awhile. I have his book. I like his timelines for prepping and baking. There is good information for beginners regarding sourdough starter (which can be daunting for a beginner). I like the pictures and the scannable QR codes for instructions online. Once you make a basic sourdough loaf, you want to venture out and make rolls, mixed grains, pizza, etc. You will have many recipes to try. My friend is beginning and I lent her the book. She said she will have questions for me on Monday. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2025 by MamaZ
    • A Comprehensive Handbook of Sourdough Techniques and Recipes
Review Image by Susan Pletkovich Susan Pletkovich
I came across Maurizio Leo’s website as I was searching online for information on baking sourdough bread. His website has a veritable wealth of information on all things sourdough. It was here that I discovered that Maurizio Leo had also written a book entitled, “The Perfect Loaf.” I decided to order it and immerse myself in learning about sourdough. The book is beautifully written with wonderful photography, charts and tables that help define the process of crafting sourdough bread. The author has written in amazing detail such that a novice like me can understand and put into practice the techniques required to produce beautiful and delicious sourdough. Scattered through the book are QR codes which link you to videos where the author shows you in detail how to handle and shape bread dough for various recipes. It makes the reader feel like they are in a personalized class and that you have been shown exactly how to accomplish what the recipe is telling you to do. As a retired teacher, I very much appreciate Mr. Leo’s gift for teaching the craft of sourdough via the written word as well as through auditory and visual means. If you want to learn all about sourdough this book will be invaluable! Do not hesitate to buy it! This book is quickly becoming one of the most used and valued cookbooks in my kitchen! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2024 by Susan Pletkovich Susan Pletkovich
    • good info but too detailed
I know that sounds weird, but this was like a textbook on sourdough. Some people would love that, but I just needed a bit of info to improve my starter to get better rise from my sandwich loaves - this was just way too involved for me, but if you take sourdough seriously you will probably love this book ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2024 by roxi

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