Maurizio Leo is the software engineer-turned-baker behind the award-winning sourdough website, The Perfect Loaf. He grew up in an Italian household and spent summers visiting family in Italy and the back kitchen of his family's Italian restaurant, learning the importance of making food by hand. He holds a master's degree in computer science and co-created the stargazing app, SkyView, before circling back to food and discovering the craft of baking sourdough bread. Since that first loaf of bread, he's been obsessed with adjusting the balance between yeast and bacteria, tinkering with dough strength and hydration, and exploring everything sourdough. His debut cookbook, The Perfect Loaf (Clarkson Potter, 2022), is now available wherever books are sold. In this episode we discuss: Maurizio’s first career as a software engineer and as co-creator of the Skyview app How he became obsessed with sourdough baking Why he started his blog, The Perfect Loaf Maurizio’s take on fermentation and tips for maintaining a successful sourdough starter The importance of hydration in sourdough Why dough temperature is a key to making a perfect loaf What it was like to write his first book (which is over 400 pages long) His tips on home flour milling and storing wheat berries And much more!   Episode Sponsored by The Perfect Purée of Napa Valley Get complimentary samples of The Perfect Purée to experience flavor first-hand delivered directly to your business. Samples are available to foodservice professionals in the United States to sample the robust flavor line-up of fruit purees, concentrates, zests and blends. Visit www.perfectpuree.com/pastryarts to request your samples now.