Though it begins with sourdough starter, this lovely bread's rich flavor is only mildly tangy. With its wonderfully tender crumb, it's great alongside soup, stew, or pasta; and also makes a delicious sandwich. Bonus: This loaf uses no commercially produced yeast, for those of you who enjoy baking with starter alone.
To make the levain: Knead together the levain ingredients to make a smooth, stiff dough. Place the levain in a lightly oiled bowl, cover it, and allow it to ferment overnight at room temperature (65°F to 75°F). It should take the levain about 12 hours to mature. The mature levain will have doubled in size and be domed on top, or just beginning to sink in the middle.
To make the dough: Tear the levain into small pieces and add it to the dough water. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until the dough is homogenous and there are no remaining dry pockets of flour. If mixing by hand, use a dough scraper to blend the dough and break down the levain. In a stand mixer, mix the dough on the lowest speed for 2 minutes using the hook attachment.
Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes.
Knead the dough by hand for 3 minutes, or in a stand mixer for 1 1/2 minutes on speed 2.
Allow the dough to rise for 60 minutes in an oiled and covered bowl.
Give the dough a fold and return it to the bowl to rise for another 1 to 2 hours, until the dough is puffy and soft but not necessarily doubled in size.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, gently deflate, and divide in half (about 700g each). Pre-shape it into two rounds. (For details, check out this video: Dividing dough and shaping loaves.) Place the rounds seam side up on a floured surface, covered well. Let the rounds relax for 20 minutes.
Shape the loaves into either bâtards (football shape) or boules (rounds) depending on how you plan to bake them.
Transfer the loaves to two flour-dusted, towel lined brotforms or bowls; alternatively, the loaves can rise in a Dutch oven or cloche that's been lightly greased or lined with a 9" parchment round. Cover the bannetons with a bowl cover or plastic wrap (or place the lid on the Dutch oven or cloche) and allow the loaves to rise for approximately 2 hours at room temperature or up to 24 hours in the refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to 500°F. If you’re not using a Dutch oven or cloche, preheat a baking stone or steel on the center rack and a cast iron pan on a rack below for 1 hour. (If you're using a baking shell, preheat the steel, but no need to preheat the shell.)
Just before baking, turn the loaves out onto a piece of parchment and trim the parchment to fit. Score the loaves with one long angled cut down the center of the loaf. (If you need to bake one loaf at a time, allow one loaf to rest in the brotform at cool room temperature or in the refrigerator while the first one bakes, and then turn out and score before baking.)
When baking on a stone or steel with steam, slide the parchment and loaf onto the hot stone. Pour 1 1/2 cups boiling water into the cast iron pan (wear good oven mitts to prevent a steam burn). If using a baking shell, slide the parchment and loaf to the hot steel and immediately cover with the shell. If baking in a Dutch oven or cloche, transfer the baking vessel to the hot oven (see "tips" below for starting in a cold oven).
Immediately lower the oven temperature to 450°F. Bake the bread for 35 to 40 minutes total. If using a baking shell, Dutch oven, or cloche, remove the lid after the first 20 minutes and allow the loaf to finish baking, uncovered, for the final 15 to 20 minutes. The finished loaves should be a rich brown, firm on the sides, and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Their internal temperature should be 195°F.
Remove the loaves from the oven and allow them to cool completely on a rack. Store at room temperature, lightly wrapped, for a day or so; freeze for longer storage.
If baking a second loaf, allow the baking steel or stone or Dutch oven to come back up to temperature for about 20 minutes before loading the dough into the oven.
Don’t have any starter? Here’s a recipe for homemade sourdough starter. If you're making it from scratch, you'll need to feed it for 5 to 7 days before it’s ready for baking. Want a head start? Purchase our classic fresh sourdough starter — it’ll be ready for baking soon after it arrives at your door. Looking for tips, techniques, and all kinds of great information about sourdough baking? Find what you need in our sourdough baking guide.
Join King Arthur baker Martin Philip and his family as they bake Pain au Levain together, start to finish. Watch Martin Bakes at Home — Pain au Levain now.
When baking in a Dutch oven or cloche, you can either preheat the vessel in the oven and transfer the dough to the hot pot, or you can start baking in a cold oven (which will allow you to proof the shaped loaf directly in the vessel). Remove the lid after 20 minutes when baking in a preheated oven, and 30 minutes when starting in a cold oven. Overall baking time will be a bit longer with the cold start (more like 50 to 60 minutes).
