Equipment needed:

• Stand Mixer
• Small mixing bowl for soaking bread cubes
• Strainer for squeezing out excess liquid
• Two 9×5-inch metal loaf pans

Day One

Feed starter. The day before you plan to make the dough, feed your sourdough starter. Let it rest for 4-6 hours.

Note: I typically feed mine with 30 grams of sourdough, 65 grams of water, and 65 grams of flour. I’ve tested feeding my sourdough the night before and leaving it on the counter for longer than 6 hours, but it gets too acidic and the bread doesn’t rise very well. So, depending on my baking schedule, after 6 hours, I will place it in the refrigerator overnight so it’s ready for baking the next day. If you want to prepare the dough in the evening, feed your sourdough in the morning and it should be ready to go in late afternoon or early evening.

Soak bread cubes. The evening before you plan to make the bread, cut the bread into cubes and place them in a small bowl. Pour boiling water over the cubes. Cover and let the bread cubes soak overnight.

Day Two

The next day, squeeze out the excess liquid from the bread cubes until it becomes a smooth mixture.

Place the bread cube mixture in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the cooled milk. Add the flours and mix on low speed until thoroughly combined. Try not to incorporate any additional hydration or flour at this point.

Cover and let the flour mixture autolyze for 30 minutes.

Add the sourdough starter and mix on low speed until thoroughly incorporated throughout the dough. Cover and let the mixture rest for 30 minutes.

Sprinkle the salt over the dough. Mix thoroughly. Cover and let the dough rest for 10-15 minutes.

Mix in the butter and honey. Sprinkle in additional flour, one tablespoon at a time to form a workable dough. Don’t add too much flour. It should be a soft, but not too sticky dough. The dough will strengthen as it ferments.

Cover and let the dough ferment for 3-4 hours. Perform 2-3 stretch and fold sequences every 30 minutes for the first hour and a half. After the final stretch and fold, cover the dough and let it rest for an additional 1- 2 hours.

In the meantime, grease one 9×5-inch loaf pan with butter.

Shape the dough into a loaf and place it seam-side down in the prepared pan. Let the loaf proof for 1 hour at warm room temperature, then cover and place in the refrigerator to cold ferment overnight. Note: During the cold ferment, it helps to uncover the loaf for at least a few hours to develop a skin on top. This makes it easier to score.

Day Three

Remove the loaf from the refrigerator and allow it to rest on the counter at warm room temperature for 1- 1 ½ hours.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. and position a rack in the lower third of the oven.

When the loaf is proofed, brush it with milk and score it straight down the middle using a bread lame. Brush with additional milk, if desired.

Carefully place the loaf in the preheated oven and invert the other (empty) loaf pan on top. Note: If you don’t have two metal loaf pans, you can bake the loaf without the pan on top; you just might not get as much oven spring.

Bake the loaf on the lower shelf, with the pan on top, for 25 minutes.

Remove the top pan, and move the shelf up to the middle rack. Rotate the loaf, and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes until the loaf is golden brown and the internal temperature is at least 195 degrees F.

Remove the pan to a wire rack. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove the loaf and let it cool completely on the wire rack.