Pain de Campagne (French Sourdough)

Pain de Campagne, or "country bread," is the heart of French rustic baking. This sourdough loaf is known for its thick, chewy crust, an open and airy crumb, and a wonderfully complex, tangy flavor that comes from natural leavening. This recipe uses a sourdough starter and a long, cold fermentation to develop those deep flavors. While it requires time and patience, the process is incredibly rewarding. There’s nothing quite like pulling a beautiful, artisan-style loaf from your own oven. It’s perfect for serving with cheese, making sandwiches, or simply enjoying with a good-quality butter. The beauty of sourdough baking is that you are working with a living culture. Your sourdough starter is a symbiotic mix of wild yeasts and bacteria that will leaven and flavor your bread. The long, cold fermentation in the refrigerator (also known as "retarding") is a key step that allows the bacteria to produce the lactic and acetic acids that give sourdough its characteristic tangy flavor, without the dough over-proofing. The use of a Dutch oven is highly recommended as it traps steam, mimicking the environment of a professional baker's steam-injected oven. This steam allows the crust to stay soft for the first part of the bake, enabling the bread to expand fully (the "oven spring") before the crust sets and becomes crisp and golden.