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100% Semolina Sourdough Loaf

100% Semolina Sourdough Bread

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Prep 45 minutes
Cook 35 minutes
Rise & Rest Time 1 day 2 hours 15 minutes
Total 1 day 3 hours 5 minutes
This artisan loaf features an incredibly unique, beautiful yellow color, a rich flavorful profile, and a surprisingly soft, light interior. Because semolina flour from durum wheat naturally carries a coarser, grainier texture, this recipe leverages a slow, cold overnight autolyse to perfectly hydrate the grains, yielding excellent structural elasticity and a spectacularly crunchy crust.
Cuisine Italian

Ingredients

Sourdough Starter Levain (Night Before)
  • 5 g Sourdough starter culture
  • 35 g Water
  • 30 g All-purpose flour or bread flour
  • 5 g Rye flour
The Overnight Cold Autolyse (Night Before)
The Main Dough Final Adjustments
  • 60 g Active sourdough starter levain (20% - From the stage above)
  • 6 g Salt (2%)

Equipment

  • Stand Mixer (A KitchenAid or standard mixing machine handles the initial flour and high-hydration integration)
  • Proofing Basket (Banneton or a clean loaf pan lined with a dry kitchen towel)
  • Cast Iron Pan with Lid (Or a heavy Dutch oven to capture pressurized steam for maximum oven spring)
  • Sharp Scoring Lame (Or a fresh razor blade for making clean expansion cuts)
  • Parchment Paper
  • Kitchen Scale

Method

Night Before – Levain Optimization & Cold Autolyse
  1. 10:00 PM – Starter Build: In a small glass jar, add your 5g of starter culture to 35g of water and whisk together cleanly. Stir in 30g of all-purpose or bread flour and 5g of rye flour. Mix thoroughly, cover loosely, and let it sit at room temperature 74–78°F (23–26°C) overnight for 8 to 10 hours until the starter reaches its peak and at least triples in volume.
  2. 10:00 PM – Overnight Cold Autolyse: In your stand mixer bowl, combine all 300g of semolina flour and 240g of water. Mix thoroughly with a spoon just until all dry flour patches entirely disappear. Cover tightly and place the bowl into a chilled environment kept at 50°F (9°C) to rest overnight. (Note: If your refrigerator lacks space, a wine cooler or a cold vegetable crisper section works perfectly; alternatively, a standard warm counter autolyse can be used). During this extended rest, the coarse durum semolina grains slowly absorb the water, becoming fully hydrated to safely activate gluten development.
Day 2 – Core Mixing & Bulk Fermentation Folds
  1. 7:00 AM – Temperature Equalization: Remove your cold autolysed dough from the refrigerator and let it sit undisturbed on your counter for 1 full hour to warm back up cleanly to room temperature.
  2. 8:00 AM – Sourdough Starter Integration: Add 60g of your active overnight starter peak directly into the warmed autolysed dough mass. Turn your mixing machine on low speed for 2 to 3 minutes (or use a KitchenAid mixer on speed 3 for 3 to 4 minutes) until the starter is completely incorporated. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
  3. 8:30 AM – Salt Incorporation: Add your 6g of salt directly into the bowl. Mix on low speed for 2 to 3 minutes (or on a KitchenAid on speed 3 for 5 to 6 minutes) until the salt granules dissolve completely. The dough should gather cleanly into a uniform mass but will still remain sticky on the bottom of the mixing bowl. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes at a stable warm temperature of 74–78°F (23–26°C).
  4. 9:00 AM – Table Stretch and Fold: Spray your clean work surface lightly with water and wet your hands. Gently tip the sticky dough out and execute one large stretch and fold on the table to organize early gluten elasticity. Fold the dough cleanly over onto itself, place it into a bulk proofing container, cover, and let rest for 45 minutes.
  5. 9:45 AM – 1st Stretch & Fold: Wet your hands slightly. Lift one side of the dough up cleanly from the container edge and fold it directly over the center. Repeat this action for all four quadrants of the dough mass to build structured vertical strength. Cover and let rest for 45 minutes.
  6. 10:30 AM – 2nd Stretch & Fold: Execute your second structured round of quadrant folds to continue organizing the expanding gluten network. Cover and let rest for 45 minutes.
  7. 11:15 AM – 3rd Stretch & Fold: Execute the third and final stretch-and-fold round. Cover and let the dough proof completely untouched for 30 minutes at a warm 76–80°F (24–27°C). The dough should look visibly lighter, show distinct surface bubbles, and hit a clean 50% volume rise.
Preshaping, Tension Rolling, and Cold Retard
  1. 11:45 AM – Preshaping: Gently tip the expanded dough out onto your work surface and dust the top lightly with flour. Flip the mass over so the floured side faces directly down. Fold the outer edges cleanly onto itself so that the raw flour coating remains entirely on the outside of the loaf. Round the dough into a loose ball and let it rest on your counter completely uncovered for 30 minutes to relax the gluten network.
  2. 12:15 PM – Final Shaping: Dust the top of the resting dough round with flour. Use a dough scraper to flip it over onto your counter so the floured side faces down. Starting at the edge closest to you, pull the two right corners of the dough outward and fold them up into the center. Repeat this exact matching movement across the left side. Roll the dough tightly away from you, shaping it into a perfectly smooth, taut, uniform log.
  3. Basket Stabilization & Fridge Retard: Transfer the shaped roll seam-side up into your well-floured proofing basket. Cover with plastic wrap and return the basket to a warm 80°F (27°C) spot for exactly 15 minutes to stabilize. Slide the basket directly into your refrigerator to rise slowly for 14 to 24 hours of cold fermentation retard.
Day 3 – Blazing Cast Iron Bake
  1. Next Morning – Preheating: Preheat your oven to 500°F (260°C). Place your cast iron pan and lid onto the middle rack to heat up thoroughly for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
  2. Scoring & Loading: Remove the cold dough basket from the fridge. Flip it over gently onto a sheet of parchment paper and score the smooth surface with one clean, long, deep cut using a sharp lame or razor blade.
  3. The Steam Bake: Transfer the dough carefully onto the smoking hot cast iron pan base, drop the heavy lid down tightly to lock in the steam, and bake at 500°F (260°C) with the lid on for exactly 15 minutes.
  4. The Open Bake: Carefully lift the hot lid off to expose the loaf, lower the oven temperature to 450°F (232°C), and continue baking bare for an additional 20 minutes until the crust turns an incredibly deep, crispy golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack for 2 full hours before slicing!

Notes

  • The Physics of the Failed Windowpane Test: If you perform a windowpane test immediately following your overnight cold autolyse (Step 3), do not panic when the dough tears instantly. Because semolina flour is made from hard durum wheat grains, its gluten matrix behaves very differently from standard bread flour. The dough builds its core elasticity and vertical strength later during the active warm stretch-and-fold sequences.  
     
  • Why the 50°F Overnight Chilled Autolyse is Crucial: Skipping straight to mixing without an autolyse will reward you with a heavy, dense loaf full of unpleasantly grainy starch pockets. Durum wheat requires significantly more time to absorb water. Giving it a 9-hour soak at a cool 50°F (9°C) ensures complete hydration while preventing the dough's enzyme activity from breaking down prematurely. 
     
  • Alternative Hand Kneading Integration: If you do not own a stand mixer to complete steps 4 and 5, you can easily execute them by hand. Swap out the mechanical hook for the traditional Rubaud mixing method or standard slap-and-folds on your counter for roughly 5 to 7 minutes to integrate the starter, and about 10 minutes to finish the salt step. Be sure to pause for a couple of quick stops mid-knead to naturally tighten the gluten matrix.   
     

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