Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread

I was amazed when I tried this bread first time, perfectly moist and fluffy inside and perfectly crunchy outside . But I was scared to cook my own starter and I thought it was time and human consuming. But it more words then you are doing ,and my friend was telling me that to make a bread is much easier then sound, so I made a deep breath and started my starter; in 7 days it was ready and I couldn’t wait to bake my first loaf.

Print Pin

Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword bread, Sourdough, sourdoughbread

Servings 7

Equipment

• oven dutch oven

Ingredients

• 200 grams fresh sourdough starter
• 600 grams whole wheat flour
• 400 grams all purpose flour or bread flour
• 18 grams salt
• 30 grams water for salt
• 650-700 grams water( chlorine free works best)

Instructions

• Start with sourdough leaven that has been fed 8 hours before and risen completely. Add 200 grams sourdough starter to a large bowl.
• Add wheat flour, all purpose flour, and water in the same bowl as the sourdough starter.
• Mix until it comes together. Let this mixture sit for 1 hour
• Mix together the 30 grams water and 20 grams salt in a small bowl or cup.
• Add to the dough and fold in. Pull from the outside of the dough ball, stretch and fold into the middle. Do this until the salt is incorporated. I go all the way around the dough ball, stretching and folding and then once it's done I flip it over so it looks like a smooth round ball. Then cover the bowl so the bread doesn't dry out.
• Let sit 2 hours. Do another stretch and fold session of the dough. Cover.

  Let sit 2 hours. Do another stretch and fold session of the dough. Cover. After the time is up, this time put a little flour on the counter and place the dough on it.
• Split into two dough balls. A bench knife works best for this job. And stretch and fold them into round balls.
• Let sit on counter with a towel over them for 1 hour.
• Stretch out each dough ball into a rectangle shape. Then, fold the top down a third, the bottom up a third, and then it forms a long folded log, sort of like a hot dog shape. Or the way you would fold a letter in an envelop. At this point the way you fold it again depends on what your bread pan looks like. For a round loaf, fold in thirds again pulling the short sides in so it resembles a hamburger shape. For a longer loaf, tuck in the shorter ends just enough so it fits your loaf pan.
• Lightly flour your bread pan or proofing basket with rice flour or cornmeal.
• Put in a proofing basket to rise for artisan bread
• Place proofing baskets with bread in a refrigerator for 12 hours or overnight. At this step I've been keeping them covered in the refrigerator.
• Preheat oven to 450ºF for artisan bread. About 30 minutes before cooking place your pan in the the oven to warm up.
• Artisan Bread: Flip loaf from proofing basket into the hot bread pan and score the loaf. Place on lid and cook 450ºF with the lid on for 30 minutes. After the time is up, remove the lid, turn the temperature down to 350ºF and cook for another 15-20 minutes.

Notes