Ep 33: Maurizio Leo (Software Developer & Sourdough Blogger/Writer at The Perfect Loaf

Maurizio Leo is a software engineer-turned-baker from Albuquerque, Mexico whose blog, The Perfect Loaf, remains one of the most authoritative sources when it comes to all things sourdough! To date, The Perfect Loaf is a two-time Saveur Magazine Blog Award winner. In 2016 The Perfect Loaf won both Editors' and Readers' Choice Awards in The Food Obsessive category and the 2018 Readers' Choice Award for Best Special Interest Blog. In addition, The Perfect Loaf was a 2019 Webby Award nominee. Maurizio is a regular contributor to the King Arthur Baking blog and is the Resident Bread Baker at Food52. Maurizio has written articles on bread baking for Edible Magazine, the Bread Baker's Guild of America, and Bread Magazine. But how did it all begin? 3:21: Growing up with Italian cooking 6:27: Latching onto things obsessively 8:07: Entering the world of computers & softwares 11:41: Founding Terminal Eleven & creating the stargazing app, Skyview 17:02: Seeing Skyview go viral (it’s achieved over 10 million downloads!) 18:21: How Maurizio first got into the sourdough making world through the book, the Tartine Bread by Chad Robinson 20:37: Meticulously planning for his first sourdough bake (and how it turned out) 23:25: Using the same starter from 10 years ago 25:14: How The Perfect Loaf blog started 29:06: The biggest challenges Maurizio faced from a baking & business perspective 34:46: How Maurizio experiments to create the perfect sourdough recipes 36:01: Impact of baking at high altitude in Albuquerque 37:27: Why Maurizio mills his own flour 39:14: Learning from Jeffrey Handelman 40:19: Being known in the sourdough community 46:04: Best places to find & get plugged into sourdough communities 50:04: Maurizio’s favourite baking techniques 51:17: Whether he uses high hydration to achieve open crumb 52:08: A recipe that Maurizio makes over and over again 53:40: Impact of COVID-19 on sourdough making 55:23: Why Maurizio uses so much rye flour in his baking 59:10: The best investment Maurizio made in his baking journey Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/33