I’ve been thinking about this recipe for some time, and I’ve been tinkering with it for just about as long. I wanted to create a whole wheat sourdough bread that wasn’t all the way 100% whole grain, but still enough to bring out that assertive wheat flavor, gentle yet complex sourness, and also one that packs a nutritious punch. I wanted it to be light in hand, soft of texture, and be the right starting place for those who might not have had much experience with bread boasting a majority of whole grains.
This recipe is a beginner’s sourdough recipe but with more whole grains than not. A fifty-fifty whole wheat sourdough bread to get you and your family on the whole-grain train without them missing the characteristics of white flour. Typically, bread with a significant amount of white flour is lighter, more open, and loftier.
As you might know, I always like to experiment. To tinker. To change. Even when things are already working well I seem to dig in and just have to adjust. My previous work with whole wheat almost always utilized a stiff levain (around 65% hydration) but here I opted for 100% hydration liquid levain. I made this change mostly to see if the result would be all that different, but also because I wanted to add flexibility to this bread—knowing that I, or you out there, could make it with a stiff or liquid levain just the same. I find there are advantages and disadvantages to both but when it comes down to it as long as you adjust the total water in your recipe you’ll get a great result no matter which type of starter you maintain or levain you use.
Instead of a long levain build period, this formula calls for a shorter time from levain mix to using it in the dough. This is a handy thing to be comfortable with, it means you can get a strong, reliable levain ready to go in a shorter time period (about 3-4 hours instead of 6-7). Nothing groundbreaking here, but I like to highlight it upfront as something to add to your baking toolbox. The ability to adjust your levain to suit your schedule is handy and it means baking can revolve around our busy schedules and hectic weekends.
And finally, I played with baking this bread at a much higher temperature for a shorter period overall—I baked these fast and hot (and you can see that in the image above, a little more color all around and especially on top). Instead of baking on thick baking stones, I opted for a Baking Steel as my “deck,” which gets incredibly hot. More on this later, and before we delve into these things any further, let’s talk about flour.
Flour Selection
My whole wheat selection here is pretty straightforward, just a good quality stoneground whole wheat (and it’s actually the whole wheat flour I use most often here in my kitchen). In experimenting between stoneground and roller milled whole wheat flour I’ve found the flavor of stoneground whole wheat to be more assertive, deep and much tastier overall. Due to the method of milling, stoneground whole wheat preserves more of the bran and germ and these particles are clearly evident when passing the raw flour through your fingers. If you don’t have stoneground whole wheat a roller milled whole wheat (this is typically what you’ll find at the market) will work just as well, perhaps with a slightly different flavor profile and less assertive whole wheat taste overall.
Generally, I prefer the texture of lower protein white flour like Giusto’s or Central Milling Artisan Baker’s Craft (both which are around 11-12% protein). To me, these generally have less of a gummy texture and perform very well for extended fermentation times. If you don’t have access to this flour any “all-purpose” flour would work well here, including King Arthur all-purpose.
Fifty-Fifty Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread Formula
Vitals
| Total Dough Weight | 1,800 grams |
| Pre-fermented Flour | 5.00% |
| Hydration | 82.00% |
| Yield | 2 x 900g loaves |
Total Formula
Target final dough temperature (FDT) is 78°F (26°C).
This recipe is highly hydrated because there’s a high percentage of whole grains, which require more water in the mix (the bran and germ present in the flour can take on quite a bit more). If this is your first time trying this loaf, reserve 100g of the mixing water and only add it in if the dough feels like it can handle the addition.
| Weight | Ingredient | Baker’s Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 476g | Whole wheat flour (Giusto’s whole wheat) | 50.00% |
| 238g | Medium-protein bread flour or All-purpose flour (~11% protein, Giusto’s Artisan Bread Flour) | 25.00% |
| 238g | High protein flour (~12% protein, King Arthur Bread Flour) | 25.00% |
| 781g | Water | 82.00% |
| 18g | Salt | 1.90% |
| 48g | Sourdough starter (100% hydration) | 5.00% |
Method
1. Levain – 12:30 p.m.
| Weight | Ingredient | Baker’s Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 48g | Ripe starter | 100% |
| 24g | Giusto’s Stoneground Whole Wheat | 50% |
| 24g | Giusto’s Artisan Bread Flour | 50% |
| 48g | Water | 100% |
As mentioned earlier, I worked with a shorter levain build for this bread. To adjust for the reduced build time, we’ll increase our inoculation of ripe starter and the water temperature. This gets the whole process moving faster, and by the time you’re ready to use this levain, you’ll notice some significant activity. See my post on the importance of dough temperature for more information.
Build the liquid levain (everything listed in the Levain Build section above) in the morning or afternoon and store somewhere around 78°F (26°C) ambient for 3 hours.
2. Autolyse – 1:30 p.m.
Usually, with high percentages of whole wheat and/or bread flour, I lengthen the autolyse time, sometimes up to 5-6 hours. The two-hour autolyse in this recipe, while not as long as 5-6 hours, helps the high percentage of whole grains fully hydrate and starts the gluten development process without mixing. This will help reduce the total mix time required later in the process.
See my guide to the autolyse technique for more information on its benefits and why I used this technique in this recipe.
| Weight | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 453g | Whole wheat flour |
| 214g | Medium-protein bread flour or all-purpose flour |
| 238g | High protein flour (“bread” flour) |
| 634g | Water (100g was held back until Mix) |
Mix the above ingredients in a bowl until all dry bits are hydrated. Cover the bowl and store somewhere warm for 2 hours.
3. Mix – 3:30 p.m.
| Weight | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 143g | Ripe levain |
| 18g | Salt |
| 100g | Water (reserved from Autolyse step) |
Add the called for ripe levain to your autolysed dough and using about half of the reserved 100g of water mix thoroughly with your hands. You want the levain to be pretty well mixed through the dough and the added water absorbed.
Let’s mix/knead. I chose to do slap and fold for about 4 minutes, just until the dough started to show signs of a smooth surface and it was catching some air. If you aren’t comfortable with slap/fold method or don’t like it, you can do stretch and folds in the bowl until your dough tightens up and becomes slightly hard to stretch out and fold over. Medium development.
When finished mixing spread the salt on top of the dough and the remaining water to help dissolve. Pinch through the dough thoroughly and fold the dough over itself to help incorporate and absorb the remaining water. When finished transfer the dough to a tub or thick-walled bowl for our first rise, or bulk fermentation.
4. Bulk Fermentation – 3:40 p.m. to 7:10 p.m.
At 78-80°F (25-26°C) ambient temperature, bulk fermentation should go for about 3 hours and 30 minutes. Give the dough 5 sets of stretch and folds during this time, spaced out by 30 minutes. Keep an eye on the dough as it approaches the three-hour mark. It will rise a bit and be quite active! See my sequence of images below to get a feel for how the dough should look and feel during the 3.5-hour rise.
Above is a picture of my dough after mixing and right at the beginning of bulk. You can see how shaggy the dough is, how wet and lifeless—it’s just sitting there in a single flat layer. There’s no rounding between the edges of the dough and the bowl, no bubbles anywhere, and if you jiggled the bowl you wouldn’t see much movement.
Above is my dough after the fifth, and last, set of stretch and folds. Look how strong the dough has become compared to the picture above. It’s holding its shape in the bowl extremely well—this is a sign for me that the dough is now strong enough and no further strengthening is needed. I will now let the dough rest, relax and rise the remainder of the time specified for bulk fermentation.
I called bulk fermentation quits when I saw the dough reach the point seen in the picture above. You can see it’s risen significantly, there are plenty of bubbles on top and just below the surface, and most importantly, the edge where the dough meets the bowl is domed & convex.
If I were to wet my hand and tug on the dough a little I’d feel much more resistance and elasticity—the ability of an object or material to resume its normal shape after being stretched or compressed. It’s gained strength and can hold its shape much more than at the beginning of bulk. These are all good signs your dough is strong enough and ready to be divided.
5. Divide & Pre-shape – 7:10 p.m.
Gently dump out the dough from your bulk container onto an un-floured work surface. Divide in half and pre-shape the dough into two round boules. Let the rounds rest 20 minutes uncovered.
6. Shape – 7:30 p.m.
Prepare two baskets that will hold your dough during its long cold proof overnight. If you decide to shape the dough as two boules (rounds), find two round kitchen bowls, and if you decide to shape it as a batard (ovals), use two bread baskets. Line the baskets with cotton or canvas liners if you have them, clean kitchen towels if not, and dust them lightly with white rice flour to prevent the dough from sticking during the proof.
Moderately flour the top of the dough and flour the work surface. Flip one resting round over, so the floured side is down on the work surface. Fold the dough’s top up and over to the middle and repeat for the bottom (you’ll now have a long slender rectangle in front of you). Pickup the rectangle and rotate it 90º, so it’s now lengthwise facing you. Grab the dough at the very top and fold over a little way, press to seal with the dough’s central mass. Now grab this rolled over the top and gently continue to roll it down towards the bottom, tucking in the dough as you go (imagine rolling down a beach towel). At the end of this, you’ll have a tube that has essentially been rolled downward. Once shaped, transfer each to their floured shaping basket with the seam side facing up.
For an in-depth guide to shaping like this, see my batard shaping guide.
Repeat with the other round.
7. Rest & Proof – 7:35 p.m.
Cover your baskets with plastic and then place them in the refrigerator to proof at 39°F (4°C).
8. Bake – Next Morning: Preheat oven at 8:30 a.m., Bake at 9:00 a.m.
Place your Baking Steel in your oven and preheat for one hour at 450°F (230°C). Once preheated, take out both of the baskets from the fridge and remove the plastic wrap.
You’ll notice my dough has risen somewhat but not a significant amount. Instead, the dough has relaxed to fill my proofing baskets and is perhaps a little puffier (the loaf on the right was a slightly higher final dough weight and will result in a larger loaf).
Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit over the top, place it over the basket, and then place a pizza peel or small cutting board over the top. Quickly invert each basket onto the parchment and peel/board. Using a sharp razor blade fastened to a stick, scissors, or a very sharp knife, carefully score the top of each loaf at a shallow angle to the dough, just deep enough to cut below the top skin created at shape time. I like to score whole wheat loaves with my bread lame at a very shallow angle; this helps the loaf attain maximal rise when in the oven. If you score at a straight 90° angle with the dough, then as the dough rises, it sort of splits open instead of peeling back.
I steamed my oven in my usual way, described here in my post how to steam your home oven for baking. I baked these loaves hot and fast. The goal was to bake the exterior to a nice dark color, and also bake the interior, but take the loaves out before they completely dried out inside. I like my loaves with whole wheat to be much more tender and moist, and I found this baking schedule achieves that.
Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the steaming pans from inside the oven. Then, bake for an additional 30 minutes until the internal temperature registers around 206-210°F (96-98°C). Keep an eye on these from the middle of the bake all the way to the end as the prolonged high temperature can quickly scorch the outside of the loaves.
Note: these times and temperatures work well when baking here at a high altitude (about 5280 ft. above sea level) and in my environment. The first time you try this recipe, keep a close watch over the dough in the oven to adjust as necessary.
For an alternative to baking on a hot surface, check out the Challenger Bread Pan, which is a large cast-iron pan able to bake these batards with no problem.
Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack for at least 2 hours. Be sure to store the bread properly to keep it fresh for a week or longer.
Conclusion
With this much whole wheat, it’s always a challenge to get a tall and airy loaf, but the addition of the bread flour, high hydration, and relatively tight shaping have helped achieve that. Along with the nice rise, the soft and tender interior and dark, crunchy crust play off each other to create a balanced bread that is flavorful and light in hand.
One modification I’d love to try is to use white wheat instead of red wheat for the 50% whole wheat portion. White wheat is one of my favorites to use, mainly because of its mild, laid-back flavor, but also I conveniently have a new 25-pound bag of raw white wheat berries sitting in my pantry ready to go (and nowadays it’s almost always used in my weekly sourdough sandwich bread). This change might reduce this bread’s overall assertiveness, but it would be exciting to see the flavor profile difference.
Crust
I love this dark crust, and because of the hot bake, the interior did not dry out in the slightest. Sometimes it can be hard to achieve this, but a minor tweak to the baking schedule really did the trick. I plan to try this in the future with my other recipes. The crust results speak for themselves!
I almost always prefer the batard shape over a boule, mainly because of how the bread slices up (not too wide and a little taller), and this bread is no exception. I enjoy how the crust peels back as the bread opens in the oven. It contributes to that tall loaf with a really pleasing aesthetic.
Crumb
For 50% whole wheat, I couldn’t be happier with the crumb. As you know, the higher you go in whole grains, usually, the denser your bread will be, but I think the relatively high hydration and a mix of flours have helped achieve a really light loaf that has uniform openness throughout.
Taste
This bread has an assertive wheat flavor but not so much that it’s overpowering; it really showcases the stoneground wheat and doesn’t let it play the second role here. There’s a tad more sourness peeking through, but it’s actually a very complimentary flavor to the wheat, adding a touch more complexity and depth. I’m not big on overly sour bread, and for me, this was just right.
If you’d like more sourness, try to proof a bit longer or add even more whole grains, and if you’d like less, do the opposite. Just be wary of the timetable I’ve laid out here when modifying the whole grain percentage. As you know, more whole grains means increased fermentation activity.
I like the idea that this recipe is a starting point for those who might not have a lot of experience working with whole grains (or even if you do!). With this gateway bread, you can adjust the whole wheat percentage up or down to suit you and your family’s tastes. It’s a good jumping-off point with a majority of whole grains and a base formula for our endless tweaking and testing in search of that perfect loaf.
Buon appetito!
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Fifty-Fifty Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread
- Prep Time: 24 hours
- Total Time: 24 hours
- Yield: Two 900g loaves
Description
A delicious loaf of sourdough bread with 50% whole grains. This bread is airy, light in hand, and it has a deep, complex flavor profile from the assertive wheat and fermentation flavor.
Ingredients
Levain
- 24g medium protein bread flour (or all-purpose flour)
- 24g whole wheat flour
- 48g water
- 48g ripe sourdough starter
Autolyse
- 453g whole wheat flour
- 214g medium-protein flour (or all-purpose flour)
- 238g high-protein bread flour
- 634g water
Main Dough
- 18g salt
- 143g ripe levain
- 100g water
Instructions
- Levain (12:30 p.m.)
In a small container, mix the Levain ingredients and keep it at a warm temperature for 3 hours. - Autolyse (1:30 p.m)
In a medium mixing bowl, add the autolyse ingredients and mix until no dry bits remain. Cover the bowl and let rest for 2 hours. - Mix (3:30 p.m.)
To the mixing bowl holding your dough, add the levain and a splash of water. Mix thoroughly and strengthen the dough for about 4-5 minutes. Add the salt, another splash of water, and mix until incorporated. Strengthen the dough further if necessary until it’s elastic and smooth. Transfer the dough to a bulk fermentation container and cover. - Bulk Fermentation (3:40 p.m. to 7:10 p.m.)
This dough will need 5 sets of stretch and folds during bulk fermentation, at 30-minute intervals. After the last set, let the dough rest for the remaining time in bulk fermentation. - Divide and Preshape (7:10 p.m.)
Lightly flour your work surface and scrape out your dough. Using your bench knife, divide the dough in half. Lightly shape each half into a round shape. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes, uncovered. - Shape (7:30 p.m.)
Shape each piece of dough into a round (boule) or oval (batard) and place the dough in proofing baskets. - Proof (7:35 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. the next day)
Cover proofing baskets with reusable plastic and seal shut. Then, place both baskets into the refrigerator and proof overnight. - Bake (The next day, bake at 9:00 a.m.)
Preheat your oven with a baking surface or combo cooker/Dutch oven inside to 450°F (230°C).When the oven is preheated, remove your dough from the fridge, score it, and transfer it to the preheated baking surface or combo cooker. Bake for 20 minutes with steam. After this time, vent the steam in the oven or remove the lid (you can keep it in the oven or remove it) and continue to bake for 30 minutes longer. When done, the internal temperature should be around 206°F (96°C).
Let the loaves cool for 2 hours on a wire rack before slicing.
If you use this recipe, tag @maurizio on Instagram so I can take a look!
646 Comments
Hey Maurizio, I tried making this recipe, sans malt as well, this is my result, any idea what I could be doing wrong? Another question is, any substitute for rice flour as I have a hard time finding that in Honduras, central america, my makeshift banneton is a colander with a cheese cloth, but no matter the amount of flour it always stuck to the cheese cloth.
photo of failure:
https://i.imgur.com/ttoRMCe.jpg
Antonio — it’s ok if you’re not using malt. I’d say based on your image it looks like your dough is probably under proofed. Make sure your starter is strong and fermenting fully before you use it. From there, you want a mature levain to build your dough. Focus on keeping your dough warm through bulk and let it go until your dough looks similar to mine in the images in this post (and others across my site). You want the dough to have risen well and be nice and bubbly/jiggly in your bulk container — it should look alive and active.
I wouldn’t recommend using cheese cloth to line your baskets. Do you have a fine kitchen towel you could use? I feel like this would provide better non-stick properties since there won’t be holes as large as with cheesecloth. Aside from that rice flour really helps because it has a high scorch temperature and won’t burn in the oven as easily. You could use wheat bran for this as well!
Hi Maurizio! I’m planning on making this this weekend. I just got some freshly milled hard red spring flour from Seylou bakery here in D.C. Anything I should be aware of when using freshly milled whole wheat flour over store bought? Also, I’m not sure I can get my hands on the malt on time – should I make any adjustments as a result?
Hey! It’s ok to skip the malt for this recipe, especially since you’ll be using fresh milled flour. Just keep an eye on two things: the hydration of the dough (usually fresh milled can take on more water, not always, but usually), and also fresh milled flour tends to speed up fermentation so keep an eye on the progress of the dough during bulk. Have fun and enjoy, the taste is going to be great!
Thanks for your reply! Decided to do your beginner sourdough again today instead, as I needed to get it done in the morning and was worried about how sour this would get if I ended up retarding it for 18 hours or so. Do you think it would have been ok? I’ll try and make this one after these loaves get eaten!
It might have been just fine. It really depends on your preference to the taste, and it might have not been all that sour — really depends on how the dough was progressing.
Thanks! I prefer a more subtle sour flavor, and my starter is really active at the moment. Will definitely give this a go next!
Hi Maurizio! I’m planning to make this loaf soon but only have a Dutch oven. I was wondering if the baking times would still be the same and after how long to take the lid off and reduce the oven temperature? Thanks.
Hey there! This will bake up just fine in a Dutch oven. times would be similar but I would reduce the preheat temperature to 475°F. Then when you load the preheated DO turn the oven down to 450°F. Keep an eye on the loaf near the end of the bake, it might bake up slightly faster. Enjoy!
I was thinking of also using a dutch oven. I was thinking of keeping the cover on for 20 mins at 450, and then removing the cover and reducing temp to 425ish for the rest of the bake. What are your thoughts? I know the best course of action is experimentation.
I feel like those times and temps will definitely work, and I know a Dutch oven will also. 425°F is a little low for that second half, so keep an eye on it and bake till it’s done. Go for it!
Hello!! I’m sorry if you’ve answered this before. I’m new to bread baking (as in I’ve never done it beforebut I’m inspired and want to try baking the majority of the bread we eat from now on). I’m so confused when you talk about % hydration. Like 100% hydration. That to me seems like that would mean a liquid, right?? Could you comment on what you mean about % hydration? Thanks!
Emily — not a problem. Have a look at my Beginner’s Sourdough Bread recipe, on that page there’s a full explanation of hydration and how to calculate it!
I bet it was still quite delicious! Large percentages of spelt, while very tasty, most likely won’t have the same aesthetic as a loaf with bread flour — this is mostly due to the nature of spelt and the effect it has on a dough (increased extensibility). I’d suggest trying a 40% spelt, 55% all purpose, and 5% rye and see how that goes. The alternative would be a fifty-fifty with spelt / all purpose — it might not have the same height but it would taste very good!
Just baked the 50:50 wheat bread today at 86% hydration, fresh milled whole grains. Turned out quite nicely baked in both a DO and clay vessel. Wasn’t as tangy as I usually like so I’ll probably increase fridge time a bit. But as you say, I don’t want to over ferment/over proof. Had a blast working with this dough. Sticky but enough gluten development to make it workable. May add some lemon zest next time…a favorite add in my wheat breads. This is probably my most successful higher % wheat bread yet. Thank you!
That’s great! I do love this recipe, it’s a great flour blend and has a subtle sour flavor at each bite — a longer cold proof should bring out some more of that acidity for you.
Thanks for the update and happy baking!
Hi,,, impressive work. I would like to know if i can use my 50% hydration sourdough in your recepies and how to change the water and flour amounts.. thanks alot
Thanks, Lina! Hydration is definitely relative to your flour and your environment. If your dough mixes up fine with that amount of water then by all means, go for it! This recipe, as all of mine are, really, are just guidelines — feel free to adjust them to suit your preference and your environment.
What is didastic malt…tried to find it in the notes below. What does it do to the bread? Could I leave it out? Love the instructions and times when to do everything. I want to make this recipe for this weekend to wow everyone.
Hey there! Thanks for the kind words. Diastatic malt is essentially ground, sprouted barley. It helps add color to the crust and increase enzymatic activity in the dough (I find it adds a little flavor as well). You can find some diastatic malt here for order online. That said, you can also leave it out if you don’t have any, up to you. Hope this helps — happy baking!
In this recipe you add the salt after slap and fold, where as in your “best sourdough” recipe you add the salt before. Is there a reason for this?
I’ve tested both ways over time and really, it’s just a personal preference either way. Sometimes I like to hold back and add it in later in mixing, especially if I plan on doing several stages of mixing as I add water (bassinage), as the salt can tighten up the dough (and scratch my hands, sometimes!).
Do keep in mind, though, that adding salt does inhibit fermentation. So if you’re trying to give the dough extra time to get fermentation kick started that will effect that.
Hope that helps!
Very helpful thanks. A couple more questions about salt…
Do you notice any difference when adding salt directly compared to dissolving in water first then adding?
How much does the salt inhibit fermentation? I was thinking I could add a bit more salt to bring out flavour, but how much? If I double the salt (apart from maybe tasting too salty) is that going to be way too much and the fermentation will take twice as long? Stop entirely?
I’ve not noticed a difference between dissolving the salt in water and just adding it to the dough. Just note that if you’re using salt that’s very coarse you probably should dissolve it before adding it to your dough. I always use fine sea salt so distribution is easier.
I’ve personally never seen a bread formula go over 3% salt — in fact, about 2.4% is the highest I’ve ever done myself. I wouldn’t recommend going too high, but if you were eager to test, go for it 🙂 My recommendation there would be to just watch the dough, since it will ferment slower overall it’ll likely just need much more time before it gets to each milestone in the process.
Hope that helps!
Hi! Thank you so much for all the detailed recipes! I have tried this recipe twice, once with 87% hydration which i got few big holes but very little to no oven spring… after consulting other baking experts on fb, I decided to attempt this again but with a lower hydration of 80% and tried to control the temperature as much as possible. I haven’t been getting much oven spring for both times…what could go wrong? Thank you once again!
Hey, Sandra! Sorry to hear about that. There are a few places where things could go awry. Reducing the hydration was a good move and is what I usually recommend when first trying a recipe — especially since this one has a relatively high amount of water.
First and foremost it’s imperative your sourdough starter is strong and rising and falling predictably. It all begins there, as you know! From there, I’d make sure the dough has enough time (at a warm enough temp) to really rise up during bulk fermentation. Try to nail that Final Dough Temp I list above! You want to see some percentage of rise by the end of bulk and the dough should be smoother and sort of “jiggle” in the container when you shake it. It should not be firm, totally flat, or lifeless looking when you divide. Usually the number one issue I find with people trying this recipe is that they did not let bulk fermentation go long enough. If your final dough temperature is lower than what I list above you’ll need more time in bulk.
However the converse is also true: we don’t want to let bulk go so far that the dough is essentially over proofed. Finding that perfect point for when to divide the dough is a hard thing to do in baking, but the times, dough temperatures, and pictures in my post above should really help you dial this in.
After bulk, make sure to shape the dough tight enough so you develop a nice, taut surface on the dough. The dough should relax during the cold, overnight proof but it should not spread out and feel “weak” or look lifeless.
I’d say focus on nailing that final dough temp, timing the bulk fermentation right, and then shaping nice and tight — this should help get you back on track. Feel free to send me an email through the Contact link at top and send over a few photos of your baked result (exterior and interior) and I’ll see if I can help further!
Hope this helps and happy baking, Sandra!
Thank you so so much for the detailed reply!! Since I usually bake once a week, I keep my starter, which I started this August, in the fridge. And whenever I’m baking a new loaf I’ll take the starter out the night before and feed it once, so during the morning after that I’ll start building the levain. Is that time sufficient for the starter to “wake up”?
I’m going to attempt this recipe again soon and I shall send you some more picture till then! Thank you once again:))))
and I did try to monitor the FDT to ~79F by using the formula given, but since I live in HK where it gets quite hot during this time of year I actually put the flour in the fridge and use ice water to make the dough..so it could actually hit 79F t the very end…
It’s possible only a single feeding will be enough, but I prefer two. Cooling the flour and water is exactly the way to cool down that final dough temp! Great job.
Hopefully the next bake works out better!
Do you have a link to the stoneground whole wheat? I can’t seem to find it on Giusto’s website..
Unfortunately it looks like they are not currently carrying that whole wheat. I’d say sub in any stoneground whole wheat you can find or even their other whole wheat options!
Ahhh, okay. I’m just worried to try something different because I got a bag of central millings high protein fine ground flour, but it still seems like it refuses to make an open bread at all, nothing like following this recipe with red mill.. any other suggestions for whole wheat?
Giusto’s other whole wheat options are also really nice, you could give their Organic Whole Wheat a try!
M – I have been using your recipes and have customized them as well as the baking time/temp because I live at over 7000ft elevation. Recently I switched to using bannetons, and have baked three loaves so far. Every single time, my dough sticks to the banneton. The dough consistency is similar to what I have seen on here. Much of my baking is either with 100% hard spring wheat I get from a North Dakota farmer or with 50/50 of this wheat and KA bread flour. Is my dough too wet? It certainly does not appear to be so. For prepping the banneton, I always mist it, then coat it with KA bread flour. Must I have bread flour here?
Hey! Sounds like you’re prepping your bannetons properly by misting them, but you could try using a 50/50 mix of white flour (bread flour is ok) and white rice flour. I find that white rice flour absorbs quite a bit of moisture and it helps the dough release from the sides more readily.
If that still doesn’t work you’ll either have to use more dusting flour mixture or liners for your bannetons. When I have a very wet dough I do prefer to use liners, it makes cleanup easier, anyways!
Maurizio: Thanks for taking the time to respond. I did manage to get the dough to free itself from the banneton using rice flour. If you get a few minutes, please take a look at my blog (http://crypticlineage.wordpress.com). I would appreciate some feedback on where I can improve my technique.
The fermentation in your dough looks great. I think your thought on over hydration might be right on — I’d try reducing the water a bit and see if that helps get some more rise out of the dough. It could also be that the extra water is making the dough more weak/slack and reducing the water will help bring strength to the dough. I’d give that a shot, otherwise it still looks delicious!
Hi Maurizio,
I’ve made this recipe many times and it has worked out fantastic. I’ve recently got myself 3 x 10 pound bags of local, freshly milled Type 75, Type 85 and Whole Wheat flour. I decided to substitute all the flour in this recipe for the Type 85 (milled a couple days before baking), and followed the same hydration as this recipe. The autolysed dough was certainly wetter than normal, and by the time I came to the slap and fold it was a big, sloppy mess that I could not strengthen. I added a few more folds in fermentation but at this point I realized the hydration was too high for the flour.
I have two questions. Firstly, if I realize I have put too much water in, is there any way to save it once it gets to the slap and fold stage? Can I add more flour or is it too late?
Second, can you think of any reason why there would be such a difference in hydration? By my understand Type 85 is basically half and half – but I am thinking because every flour is different particularly with fresh versus store bought, it’s all something you need to experiment with.
Thank you for all of your wonderful recipes Maurizio!
Great to hear that, Courteney! I don’t like to add flour in once the dough is in bulk fermentation, at that point I feel it’s a bit too late. However, before that I find it’s not a problem at all. I’ve talked with some bakers in the past who have added flour at the first fold during bulk but to me this would be difficult — if your dough really doesn’t seem salvageable you could try it and see how it works!
Each miller can have a different specification for what “type 85” means. It might not be exactly like 50/50 to your miller, you can try asking them what percentage extraction their type 85 is to give you an idea of how much bran/germ is left in the final product. When a miller specifies something as “type 85” they are indicating the ash content of the flour.
One note I’d say is with fresh milled flour you could try reducing the autolyse time all the way to zero and see if that helps. With some fresh flour I’ve noticed auto really works against me and it becomes hard to strengthen the dough back up after it slackens out.
Hope this helps and happy baking!
Hey, Tim! You can definitely change things up so they better fit your schedule. Just push everything in the timeline out a few hours and it’s all good. Also, if you need to speed things up (within reason) keeping things warmer will help, and conversely, if you need to slow things down keeping them cooler will work in that situation. Finally, if you want to proof the dough a little bit longer in the fridge overnight you probably have at least 1-2 hours leeway on when you can get it into the oven and still be safe. Home fridges are really cold at 38-40°F!
Hope that helps and so glad to hear your bakes have turned out so well!
Thanks! I’ll try and extend the fridge time a bit then.
Is this supposed to go straight from the fridge to the oven? I had trouble following the instructions. Usually I let it come up to room temperature but this recipe initially seemed to suggest going straight from the refrigerator. I had great gluten development yesterday but this morning I didn’t get much oven spring. Just wondering if cold dough was the culprit. Thanks!
Yes, I almost always go straight from fridge to oven. Baking cold dough like this wouldn’t cause an issue with oven spring (in my experience), but of course it’s all very dependent on how your dough is fermented when you remove it from the fridge. If the dough has fermented too much by the time it cools down in the fridge this could cause a lack of oven spring (essentially over proofed dough). You can usually tell this is the case if the dough has some visible weak areas to it before baking, it spreads instead of springs up, and the interior shows signs of intense fermentation with lots and lots of small holes throughout. Those are general things to look for but typically the case.
Conversely, if the dough is drastically under fermented you could let it sit out on the counter in the morning for a bit to get some more warm proof time to further fermentation. I don’t often do this because i like to score cold, tight dough for a clean “ear” but if the dough needs it, it needs it.
Sorry, I know these are vary vague suggestions but it’s hard to provide concrete steps for you to take to achieve more oven spring. I can say that typically a lack of oven spring is either due to over proofed dough or dough that’s not been shaped sufficiently tight and thus spreads instead of springs up.
I hope this helps, Andy!
Yes, thank you! I’m still relatively new to sourdough, and I’ll admit I’ve been a little loose with timing and the signs of properly proofed dough. It’s one of those things that I know makes a big difference but still seems a bit mysterious to me. Thanks!
I am absolutely in love with your blog! Your descriptions and pictures are spot on for teaching and helping me figure out this new sourdough obsession. Thank you! This is the third recipie I have tried and I think one of my best bakes! I switched up my flours (brands), but I think I need to make more changes as it doesn’t seem “right” yet. I can’t seem to get that crackly/blistery crust yet. But that isn’t my main issue. This bake worked, but the bottom crust was really tough. It wasn’t burnt, but it was really tough and hard to chew, in a bad way. Any ideas? I also feel like my breads keep seeming “gummy”. They don’t have that……dry (??).. Interior like bread usually has. It seems really moist and gummy in a not quite right way. Any idea as to what I can do for the tough bottom crust and gummy interiors? I haven’t tried bread flours yet. So far I have subbed the white bread flours with all purpose white and have used whole wheat flours as well. I was using a Dutch oven and just got a combo cooker and used that for this latest bake. Thank you!!
Thanks so much Brooke! Really glad to hear this bake turned out well for ya. Make sure you preheat your oven for at least one hour at full temp, it kind of sounds like your loaf might be under baked and there might not be enough bottom heat when you’re loading your dough. I’ve seen a really thick bottom crust when I didn’t heat my Baking Steel enough and it just didn’t get sufficient heat transfer from the steel to the dough. However, with a Dutch oven I do typically see a thicker crust no matter what I do, it’s that hot steel sitting in contact with the dough for so long. You could try sprinkling the bottom of the loaves with coarse wheat bran or cornmeal to help provide some insulation. Additionally, try moving your oven rack up one or two notches if the heating element of your oven is at the bottom.
A gummy interior could also be under baked dough, make sure you bake the loaf until the interior reaches at least 205ºF.
I hope these suggestions help!!
Thank you for the suggestions! This is perfect timing as I JUST mixed up my levain to try to make this again today. I’ll try moving up the oven rack and cornmeal for sure and double check the interior temp when the loaves are supposed to be done. I’ll use my combo cooker and maybe put them on the bottom rack when preheating to maybe get a little hotter. I’ll move them higher for the actual bake. Fingers crossed it ends up as the best yet. These are for my parents and it’s always nice to impress parents. Thank you!!
Hello Maurizio, great website!
I have a problem with after the cold proof. After bulk fermentation my dough looks like your’s with the bubbles and it has no problem rising in the oven with the nice open crumb. But after the cold fermentation, when I dump the dough out from the container it doesn’t hold its shape as well as your’s, much more relaxed and spreads more and it’s difficult slicing it to get the ear. I have been cooking it in a bread pan as a result as my pizza stone is small and I don’t want it spilling in the oven.
I used stretch and folds instead of the slap and folds. And I don’t have baskets so I use the bread loaf pans as a basket for the cold proof. Not sure if those changes make a difference.
What am I doing wrong? Thanks.
Thanks, Belinda! It sounds like your dough could use a little more strengthening. You could add in 1-2 more sets of stretch and folds during bulk to help strengthen the dough up just a bit more. Also, ensure you’re shaping your dough tight enough. You want a nice taut surface to the dough so it holds its shape through the proof and into the oven.
Hope that helps!
Hi, I have a super tiny kitchen and I’m trying really hard to keep my flour count to two.
If I used 50% whole wheat, is there any single flour that could work as a sub for your two different bread flours?
Or would it work to sub a whole wheat bread flour for the central milling bread flour and the whole wheat and then sub all purpose for the Giusto’s artisan bread? If so, would I want to maintain my starter with the same mix, or just keep one? My plan would be to try and just make this one bread regularly, so the starter wouldn’t have to be super versatile.
Hi! Yes, you could definitely just use a single white flour for the two bread flours. You could really get away with not using higher protein flour at all, and just use a white flour that’s of medium protein, like 11-12%. Giusto’s Artisan Bread Flour is an excellent choice or Central Milling Artisan Baker’s Craft. Those are both medium protein but still are great for bread. If you wanted to use a market flour King Arthur All Purpose would work well also.
You can feed your starter whatever flour you’d like, I do tend to like to feed it lower protein flour for the white component, if there is one.
Hope that helps and happy baking!
Thanks!!
I had one quick question about this particular recipe. I don’t have any whole wheat flour on hand but I do have a large amount of whole grain rye. Could I replace the whole wheat with rye and keep the recipe the same since they are both whole grains? I’m not sure if rye will soak up more of the hydration compared to the whole wheat flour.
Rye has very different characteristics than whole wheat flour. With 50% rye flour you’ll end up with a loaf that’ll be more dense and squat than what you see here. You can certainly do this, and it’ll taste delicious, just be aware of that! Usually whole grain rye flour will take on more water than whole wheat, so you might also want to increase the hydration. Check how the dough feels when you’re mixing it and add in more water if it feels too stiff or dry.
Happy baking!
I have a question about the slap and folds during the bulking process. Are we supposed to slap and fold for 4 minutes each time? Like the same amount of time as after mixing?
I’m experiencing the dough starts off nice and begins to form a “ball”, but after about the 6-7th slap and fold it seems to “melt” and loses its strengh. I water my hands slightly when this happens, but the dough just gets more and more gooey as I go.
Is this normal? It doesn’t look like this happens to you in your insta video. Any thoughts?
Jacqueline — there’s a difference in the two phases of baking: one is “slap and fold” and the other is “stretch and fold.” They are two different techniques used at different times. The slap/fold is used during mixing & kneading in the beginning of the process before bulk fermentation begins. During bulk the stretch and fold process leaves the dough in the bulk container and you will pick up a side of the dough, stretch it up and over to the other side of the dough in the bowl. This is done 4 times per set.
Stretch and folds don’t work the dough quite the same way, and vigor, as slap/fold at the beginning and this is a good thing. It sounds like your dough is getting pretty strong through bulk (good) but we don’t want to over strengthen it.
Hope this helps and sorry if there was any confusion in my post!
Ahh. Thanks Maurizio, that may explain the difficulty I had. I will give it another try next weekend! 🙂
First off, thanks so much for the site! I had never baked any kind of bread before, and from getting my starter going up to my first actual bake, everything went pretty well. Right from the start I had very good bread. It’s not GREAT bread yet, but it’s very good bread. I’ve settled on a recipe based off this one, but with 50g dark rye and 50g buckwheat substituted for 100g of the white flour. I’m going to work that recipe until I work all the bugs out and get the shaping down better.
Anyway, I just have a question about the steaming part. I use the Lodge cast iron combo cooker, with parchment paper. My question is whether I should trim the parchment paper to fit inside the cooker. Right now it sticks out the sides. I just wonder if that does anything to the seal. I could see it going either way…it might create a better seal, or it might be allowing more steam to escape.
What do you think? Doesn’t matter? Helps keep steam in? Is letting more out?
Thanks!
That’s really great to hear you have had such nice bakes! Good idea sticking to a single recipe and working on that, helps to reduce guesswork if you were to switch around too much. Lots of variables in baking!
I do trim the parchment a little bit but it’s hard not to have any paper sneak out the sides of the combo cooker. I think there should still be plenty of a seal there and it really shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve been baking this way for a long while now and I haven’t had any issues!
Hope that helps and happy baking!
This recipe didn’t work for me at all.
From the beginning it was doomed – I used wholegrain stoneground rye flour which took all the water that the recipe called for.
And since then it became just a gloopy, ugly mess that made me clean the kitchen counter for hours. It was completely unmanageable dough that never developed any strength in the initial kneading (even though I battled it for 10 minutes +). During shaping I had to wet my hands so many times it completely changed the structure… Anyway, now its in the fridge proofing and I will bake it tomorrow, but I doubt there will be any result. Just wasted a lot of time/effort/ingredients.. I might as well discontinue sourdough for now, because I lost faith completely… No clue what I’m doing wrong. And since I’m SO bad with math all the % and numbers are confusing me even more… 🙁 Nevermind, I still enjoy your lovely photos and tips 🙂 Thank you!
Ah, sorry to hear that Dimana! Rye flour is very, very different than wheat. It does not have the same gluten (and other) properties and so it will be very difficult to do 50% rye in a recipe like this which calls for wheat. Rye won’t every mix up into a cohesive mass like wheat will (the higher percentage of rye you use in a formula the more pronounced this will be). Additionally, whole grain rye flour can take on a lot, lot more water than wheat.
Sorry the bake didnt work out well for ya! I’d say give this recipe a shot with the flour called for here (wheat), you’ll be surprised by the difference!
This is my favorite recipe of yours so far, it turns out fantastic. I am in a bit of a pickle for tomorrow and need to attempt to get the entire (levain to bake) done in a day. Is there a way to not put it in the fridge overnight for the rest and proof and instead shorten the proofing process and leave it out on the bench or in a warmer place and bake that same day?
Awesome, glad to hear that! Yes, you can definitely proof the dough on the counter. Just be aware that the dough will be less firm overall when you go to bake it so it helps to shape a little bit tighter than usual (or use a proofing basket that wont let the dough spread too much). Give it the time it needs on the bench!
Awesome. Thank you so much Maurizio! And just as a general idea, for this recipe how long do you think it will take until it’s ready to go in the oven on the bench?
Really hard to say. When I’ve been doing 100% ww on the counter at 72F it only takes 2.5 hours or so, but this is very relative to how the dough is doing. You can wet a hand and use the “poke test” reliably (check out google for videos)!
Got it, thank you for the help 🙂
Hi Maurizio,
Thank you for this wonderful site. Similar to the question above, I am on a time restraint. I travel a lot and will be getting home this afternoon, then leaving again tomorrow early evening. Is it possible to extend the levain to an overnight one – (So I make it tonight, and then continue the process in the morning and bake before leaving)?
Laura: you’re very welcome!
Yes, you can definitely do that. Just use a smaller amount of mature starter to create your levain, perhaps 15-20%, to slow things down so it will last overnight.
Maurizio, I recently discovered your blog, and it’s wonderful! I’m a longtime hearth bread baker, but you’re rekindled my interest in sourdough, and this is a great breadmaking romp. One question: do you have any idea of the volume that your bannetons hold? I’d like to match my dough weight to yours in the banneton, as they come in various sizes and shapes. I’m thinking of lining the basket with a sturdy plastic bag, filling to near the top, and then measuring the water. Have you ever done that?
Thanks so much, Carol! I’ve never measured the volume my baskets will hold. I kind of gauge the amount of dough they’ll hold by the length, the baskets seen here are 14″ long and easily hold 1kg of dough — you could probably push it to 1.5kg and I think that’s what they are rated for. I picked them up at the SFBI.com website a while back!
Hope that helps and happy baking!
Thank you. My musing is more related to baking smaller loaves…thinking how to choose a basket sized for say, 1/3 or 1/5 of a loaf you would put in one of yours. There’s always good old fashioned trial and error!
It’s a very good question. I’d go by the specs listed at the vendor, they will almost always indicate the max dough weight a basket can hold. From there, yes, trial and error to see if it’s what you’re looking for. When I bake I usually like for there to be plenty of room at the top and bottom of my loaves so the dough can relax and expand fully.
Thank you again! I followed two of your recipes to the ‘t’ recently, and the results have been outstanding. Your love for the process is quite apparent, and you are so generous to share as comprehensively as you do.
Fantastic, really glad to hear that Carol! I’m glad to help 🙂
Hi there,
I am at the exactly on the equator, And I have trying sourdoughs for a while now..I bake cakes, baguettes, and brioches for my cafe and and I am all self taught..But sourdoughs are so hard to make…I will throw away my starter and try yours (as it doesn’t work and as i read on your instruction it doesn’t do anything yours does..haha) you explain the ways so well…I love eating sourdough breads..I want to make one..Wish me luck..Thank you for your blog…I truly am thankful! will it prove in any fridge at the last stage?
Sure you can use any type of fridge for the overnight, cold proof. I keep mine at 38ºF.
Thanks so much for the kind words and good luck on your sourdough journey, I’m sure you will make it happen!