This makes excellent, basic bread. I use a variety of grains in the starter, usually rye, whole wheat, and some rolled oats. I also throw all the yeast in. It doesn't seem to make a difference.

This was my first time making a yeast bread, and it turned out great! I fretted over the amount of flour needed - I ended up needing at least 2 extra cups. I used all white flour as I had no wheat on hand, and it tastes great, just like bread from a nice restaurant. I brushed the tops with melted butter and sprinkled on some wheat germ for a nice pretty effect. Overall my first shot was pretty great! Thanks for the recipe!

I thought this recipe was a 3, but my boyfriend liked it and gave it a 4. I guess I don't really care for wheat breads. Aesthetically, I'd say this was a 5, but it was somewhat lacking in taste. I upped the salt (only to 4 tsp), like other reviewers, but it came out too salty for my liking. I had to add an add'l 1.5-2 cups of flour.. Thanks for the recipe.

Lots of fun to make! Although this was my first time making bread by following the instructions I was able to make great tasting bread. I added a tablespoon of sugar, more salt. Just before cooking I lightly covered the tops with the mixture of an egg yolk (+ 1tablespoon water) to get a crunchy crust. In addition, instead of 1/2 wheat I used 2 cups white whole wheat flour that I made on a VitaMix blender. Because of the wheat it came out tighter but great tasting and looking. Pictures will be uploaded. My picky hubby and kids all loved it!

I really enjoyed this bread. It has a nice mild sourdough-y flavor to it. I've never worked with a starter before- it was fun. In addition to the one cup of whole wheat, I used one cup of King Arthur White whole wheat flour. This rose so nicely and was pretty easy to work with. I was going to do an eggwash but I forgot, so after they came out of the oven I brushed them with melted butter. I also increased the salt to 1.5 TBS like LadyJapPee. Great idea! Perfect. Had this for dinner with Potato and Cheddar Soup. The kids loved this bread- they couldn't stay away from it before dinner! I made one round loaf and one regular loaf.

I made the recipe as stated. It was a little bland and I will go over the reviews and add some extra salt as I felt it was lacking something. But it is good and I will try again.

This was my first time making an overnight starter and it was fun to wake up to having part of the job done! As other reviewers suggested, I increased the salt to 1.5T and even though I'm big on reducing salt normally, I am glad I did; this bread has very nice flavor. Used King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour, so my bread came out looking like a white loaf, but has the health benefits of containing whole wheat. I mixed this in my electric stand mixer and did have to add about 1.5c more flour before the dough pulled together in the bowl; added maybe another cup+ while I kneaded it to keep it from sticking. I let it rise for 45 minutes as stated, on the 2nd rising, but probably could have decreased that as my loaves came out pretty large! I didn't use loaf pans, but just turned the loaves out as baguettes onto an oiled baking sheet sprinkled with a little cornmeal; topped the loaves with an eggwhite wash, and black & white sesame seeds. We really liked this bread! Thank you, Stephen.

I thought this had a great flavor and produced a rustic looking nice loaf of bread. Thanks to the reviewers that suggested to up the salt. I used 1 1/2 tbsp. of Kosher salt. Although I did both proofings according to the time stated in the instructions, I felt that it was a bit underproofed. I would take the advice of the reviewer that proofed hers for longer. This has a nice crumb, although I think with proofing a bit longer, one would get more of a light airy lacy looking texture. Since this is a rustic bread, I added some sesame, poppy, kosher salt, caraway, and anise seed atop the loaves. This added to the flavor nicely. Egg washed the tops and spritzed my oven with a mister for the first 7-8 minutes; this produced a nice crusty crust. Will definitely make again with the change to the salt and will proof a bit longer on the second rising.

I've never made bread before and I decided to try this recipe for my first bread making venture. It was very easy to make and it tasted great.

This was a new experience for me as I've never made bread wth a starter before. I did let the dough rise for much longer than stated on the frst rising about 2 hours. We all enjoyed this with garlic butter also from this site. Thanks

This bread is delicious with great texture... After reading reviews, I upped the salt to 2.5 tablespoons, and I baked them in two 8 inch round cake pans. Turned out great!

I loved this. I really liked leaving the yeast mixture overnight - I am sometimes so impatient to start the recipe that I don't let it proof properly. The combination of bread flour and wheat flour was superb. I used my bread machine for the kneading and rising steps, and ended up with two perfect loaves. Thanks so much, Stephen!

Very good. I used my sweet sourdough starter mixed with 1 c flour and let sit overnight instead of the starter as written. It rose very nicely and has a nice taste and consistency.

The bread had a great crumb and is really moist. Unfortunately it had absolutely no flavor, which I found out after baking the first loaf. For the second loaf, I tried to remedy it by brushing the unbaked loaf with a salt solution then sprinkling the top of the bread with kosher salt. This gave it some flavor and supported toppings well. If you're looking for a good everyday bread, add some salt to the recipe and go with this one. But if you are looking for a French pain levain, or that bread you had in that brasserie in Dijon, you will be disappointed.

What a wonderful bread. I once used a sourdough starter instead of the overnite version and that worked very well too. Crispy outside and very light and fluffy inside, while still hearty thanks to the whole wheat. I've also tried adding wheat bran and found that even tastier. Enjoy!