French Country Sourdough Bread Recipe | Pain de Campagne (Step-by-Step Guide)

In this video, I’ll show you how to make a classic Pain de Campagne — a rustic French country sourdough bread with a crisp crust, open crumb, and subtle tang.
This step-by-step guide walks you through feeding the starter, mixing, bulk fermentation, stretch and folds, shaping, scoring, and baking to golden perfection.

🍞 Ingredients:
• 100g active levain (20g starter, 50g water, 48g bread flour, 2g whole wheat)
• 350g water
• 450g bread flour
• 25g rye flour
• 50g whole wheat flour
• 10g salt
• 1 tbsp extra water for salt mixing

Bake covered at 475°F (245°C) for 20 minutes
Uncover and reduce to 450°F (232°C), then bake for another 20–25 minutes

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0:00 Intro
0:24 Feeding the Starter
0:45 Mixing the Dough & Autolyse
1:46 Adding Salt & Kneading
2:52 First Stretch and Fold
3:28 Second Stretch and Fold
3:51 Third Stretch and Fold
4:14 Fourth Stretch and Fold
4:52 Pre-shape
5:35 Final Shaping
7:08 Preheating the Oven
7:17 Scoring
8:45 Baking
9:15 Cooling & Final Reveal

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Hey there and welcome back to my kitchen.
Today we’re baking a beautiful Pain de Campagne loaf — also known as French country bread.
It’s a rustic sourdough with a crisp crust, a tender crumb, and just the right hint of tang.
Perfect for everyday meals, and once you try it, I think you’ll want to bake it again and again.
So, let’s get started. The night before baking, I mix together 
20 grams of active sourdough starter, 50 grams of water, 2 grams whole wheat 
flour and 48 grams of bread flour. Stir it well, cover it loosely, 
and let it sit in a warm spot for 8 to 12 hours — or until it’s 
bubbly and has doubled in size. In the morning, once the levain is ready, I grab a big bowl and pour in 350 grams of 
water, along with 100 grams of the starter. I mix it well until the 
starter is fully dissolved. Next, I add 25 grams of rye flour, 50 grams of 
whole wheat flour, and 450 grams of bread flour. I start mixing slowly with a Danish whisk, then 
switch to my hands to bring the dough together. It might feel a bit rough and shaggy at 
this point — that’s totally fine. Just keep kneading gently until everything is combined.
I also use the slap and fold technique here, as you can see in the video, 
to help develop the dough. Now I cover the bowl and let 
it rest for about 30 minutes. This gives the flour time to hydrate and 
lets the gluten start forming naturally. After the rest, I sprinkle 10 grams of 
salt over the dough and add 1 tablespoon of water to help it dissolve.
Then I gently mix everything together — first using the pinch-and-fold 
method, then moving into squeezing the dough. Once the salt and water are fully combined, 
I switch to a fold-and-slap technique, kneading the dough until it 
becomes smoother and more elastic. You’ll know the dough is ready when it feels 
stronger, stretches easily, and starts to pass the gluten window test — it should gently stretch 
into a thin, translucent layer without tearing. It might feel sticky at first, but don’t 
worry — it will come together beautifully. Now I cover the bowl again and place it somewhere 
warm, around 80°F, to rest for 30 minutes. Now it’s time to build strength in 
the dough with stretch and folds. Every 30 minutes, I do one set. I wet my hands 
to prevent sticking, then reach under the dough, gently stretch it up, and fold it over itself.
Then I rotate the bowl and repeat on all four sides.
At this stage, the dough is still pretty loose and sticky, but that’s totally 
normal — we’re just beginning to build structure. Between each set, I keep the dough warm in 
my smart oven set to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. After 30 minutes, it’s time for the second set.
The dough already feels a bit stronger and more cohesive.
Same technique — stretch gently, fold it over, and turn the bowl.
You can see it’s starting to hold its shape a little better now. Then I cover it 
again and let it rest for another 30 minutes. Here’s the third stretch 
and fold, 30 minutes later. Now the dough is noticeably 
more elastic and smooth. It stretches more easily without tearing, and you 
can feel the strength building with each fold. This is where it starts to 
come together. Once again, I cover the bowl and let it 
rest for another 30 minutes. Now take a look at your dough — if it still feels 
sticky and your kitchen is on the cooler side, you can do one more stretch and fold.
I’m going ahead with a fourth fold to help develop a more open crumb, but 
if your dough already feels strong and elastic, you can skip this step.
After this set, I cover the bowl and let the dough rest undisturbed until it rises and 
domes — about 60 to 70 percent more in volume. This usually takes around 2 hours, depending 
on the temperature in your kitchen. Once the dough has risen and feels light 
and airy, I lightly flour the top with whole wheat flour and gently turn it out 
onto my work surface, floured side down. You can use your fingers or a bench scraper 
to help, but let the dough mostly fall on its own so you don’t deflate it too much.
Then I gently tuck the sides toward the center, flip it over, and rotate it 
into a loose round shape. This is the pre-shape — it 
doesn’t need to be perfect. I cover it and let it rest for about 20 minutes 
to let the gluten relax before final shaping. After the rest, the dough is 
more relaxed and easier to shape. I lightly flour the surface again, then flip the 
dough over so the smooth side is facing down. To shape, I gently stretch the dough, 
then fold the bottom up to the center. Next, I fold the sides like a letter, 
then the top to the center, sides again, and finally all the edges toward the 
center to tighten the dough nicely. Then I roll it up from the bottom, creating 
surface tension as I go, and seal the edges. Once it’s shaped, I place it seam-side 
up into a well-floured proofing basket. I press it down gently with my hand to help it fit 
the shape of the basket — more oval in this case. Then I finish by stretching and pinching the edges toward the center one last time to 
keep the shape tight and secure. Now I don’t cover the basket — 
I just place it directly into the fridge for an overnight cold 
proof, anywhere from 8 to 16 hours. In the morning, we’ll bake it straight from the 
fridge — no need to bring it to room temperature. In the morning, I start by preheating my 
oven to 475°F with a Dutch oven inside. Once it’s fully heated, I take the dough out of the fridge and gently flip it 
onto a piece of parchment paper. Then I dust a little flour on 
top to help highlight the score. Now I’ll show you one scoring method — but 
feel free to keep it simple or use this time to practice your own scoring style. 
There’s no wrong way to make it your own. First, I use a piece of twine to lightly 
mark where I want to score — this helps me plan the pattern before cutting.
Then I use a sharp razor blade, or lame, to follow those lines and 
score the dough with confidence. For this loaf, I’m doing a simple 
wheat stalk pattern along one side To finish the design, I use a toothpick 
to gently mark wave shapes along the top where I’ll do the main score.
This extra step adds a beautiful decorative touch and helps guide 
the bread as it expands in the oven. I score it three times: first with a deep cut, 
then a second lighter score right above it, and finally a shallow one just 
under the dough’s surface — this layering helps control the way 
the crust opens up as it bakes. Now I carefully transfer the dough into the preheated Dutch oven — just 
be careful, it’s very hot. I cover it with the lid and 
bake at 475°F for 20 minutes. Then I remove the lid, reduce the temperature 
to 450°F, and continue baking for another 20 to 25 minutes, or until the crust 
is deep golden brown and crisp. Once it’s done baking, I carefully 
lift the bread out of the Dutch oven, give it a quick tap to check that it sounds 
hollow, and place it on a wire rack to cool.
As tempting as it is to cut into it right away, 
it’s best to let it cool completely — this helps set the crumb and finish the bake inside.
Let it 
rest for about an hour.
And that’s it!
The crust is beautifully crisp, the scoring opened 
up just the way we planned, and the loaf feels light and airy.
Now it’s ready to enjoy.
Thank you so much for baking with me today — if you liked this video, don’t forget to 
give it a thumbs up, leave a comment, and subscribe for more sourdough recipes 
like this one.
See you in the next video!