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!
Print
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
Hi Maurizo, I wonder if I can reduce the ingredients by half to just make one loaf?
I’ve done that and got a great result
Yes, exactly! Check out my guide to baker’s percentages for an in depth walk through of that.
Hi Maurizio! Did something change in this recipe? I’m seeing 50% of the flour as A-P and then 25% as whole wheat and 25% as bread flour. Which doesn’t seem like 50-50 whole wheat. Also, after the autolyze step, it says 3:30 instead of 4:30 (which would be 2 hours). Anyway, just wanted to make sure this was all accurate, love the blog!
Hey, Jeremy! Yes, I’ve reverted the recipe back to what it was prior to a recent update. It still is 50/50 (50% whole grain, 50% white flour). It’s exactly the same, I just put back in a little bread flour for strength and volume. Fixed the typo regarding the autolyse, should start at 130 for the 2 hour auto!
Ah ok, thank you. I made this one a while back and something seemed a little different. Appreciate the response and clarification!
Hi Maurizio — agree that something is a bit weird with this update. It’s only 25% wheat!
Sorry about that, for some reason the rows were flipped. It’s now fixed!
Love your blog!!
I do have a question though. It’s not near 26º in my house anywhere and my oven unfortunately won’t let me turn on the light without actually heating it. So my question would be, what to do if it’s around 20/21º C, I guess proof longer but for how long?
Thanks! First, be sure the temperature of your mixing water is enough to get the dough’s final dough temp to 26/27C, that way you’ll start off with a nice and warm dough. If you use a well-insulated container, it should take a while for that dough to cool, which will help. But it’s hard for me to say how long because it really depends on how fast that dough cools down. But generally, yes you’ll have to extend bulk to compensate for the cooler temps. At 20°C, and assuming the dough was that temp from the start, I’d expect a really long bulk, like 6 hours or more. But keep an eye on your dough and adjust as necessary!
Thank you so much for the quick response! I’ll give it another shot tomorrow! Maybe I’ll even invest in a fermentation station, we shall see…
Maurizio: I made this recipe successfully with boules a few months ago. I tried baking it in batards this morning. It was a little weird — both of the loaves had a bump that came out of the side, and neither was in proper batard shape (one of them was almost round ….)
Trying to figure out why.
– Did I not make the exteriors tight enough when I shaped the batards? I read your webpage and watched your YouTube video on shaping batards, but it seems hard to achieve the same tightness as I can do with boules.
– Did I score it insufficiently? I just made one line down the middle.
– Could steaming be an issue? I do my boules in a dutch oven one at a time, but that doesn’t fit a boule. This morning, I put both boules on my pizza stone, with a pan-with-towels-and-boiling-water in the bottom rack, and sprayed them. (This is what I do for my bagels, and that works out great.)
– I also forgot to score it at first, but it was probably in the oven for maybe 30 seconds before I realized that (and freaked out) and removed it from the oven to quickly score. I re-sprayed when I put it back in the oven.
– Was the dough not strong enough? It didn’t seem as strong as I’ve been used to. I did an extra slap and fold at the end, and also did some folds when I pre-shaped the bread. I struggled with ambient temperature because it’s COLD. My proofing area alternated between being a little cooler and a little warmer than specified (but I was hoping that would just even things out.) Could a less-strong dough contribute to the bulge?
I wonder if it’s a combination — perhaps a slightly less strong dough made it harder for me to make a tight batard, and then without the right shape, a single score wasn’t enough to prevent the bumps. (Also, batards are hard!)
OK, done overthinking, but very interested in your thoughts on why the bumps happened, and any tips to avoid it in the future. The bread still tasted delicious, which I suppose is the most important part …. 🙂
It’s hard to say. It could be a combination of insufficient scoring, a slight shaping issue, and an under proofed dough. But, it could also be you have too hot a top heating element in your oven, which forced the top to harden before the sides. My guess would be scoring!
I tried this again — I shaped it longer and tighter, and scored it better. Success!
Hi!! Could you add a “print” option like you do for other recipes? TIA 🙂 – Big fan (Kamren)
Yes, working on it, Kamren! 🙂
Any recommendations for getting more vertical rise rather than horizontal spread when I start baking my dough? I get a decent, open, crumb and great flavor, but I lust after the higher rising loaves I see in photos on Facebook and Instagram!
Did you try steaming?
Might be your dough needs more strength or tighter shaping!
I baked this using all Type 85 rather than mixing 100% whole wheat with white flour last night giving it 24 hours of slow, refrigerated fermentation after making sure the bulk fermentation was going strong. They look beautiful from the outside! Have cut into them yet as I still have a couple other loaves we are eating and these are destined for my neighbors.
Excellent, Peter! I hope they turned out awesome 🙂
I feel like I read somewhere that this was one of your favorite loaves, so I tried it this weekend and I love it! So far my hands down fave is the walnut cranberry, but this might just come in a close second! I even screwed up the timing (rather significantly) with a few steps because, well, in a pandemic, with little kids, life kind of happens, but the dough was very forgiving and I feel like I’m starting to get a hang of texture, feel, look, and when it’s time to do things. 🙂 All from reading your site. Anyway, I do have a question, I think my oven runs a little cold, and the loaves (even after waiting for two hours for them to cool) were a little tacky inside, and didn’t have the loft and big bubbles like yours. Maybe my bad timing could be the culprit for the bubbles, but I’m still struggling with why they were tacky inside. I even left them in for an extra 10 minutes since I ran into this same problem with the walnut cranberry the first time I made it. Any ideas? P.s. I did use my dutch oven and did 20 with lid on, and 30 (+10) with lid off.
It’s absolutely one of my favs—yes! Glad to hear it went well for you, I bake a variant of this just about every week here in my kitchen. If the hydration is too high for your dough it can lead to an overly wet or gummy interior. If the dough feels “soupy” or very “slack” then try pulling back the water percentage by 5% and see if that helps.
Make sure to bake your loaves completely. The interior should register around 204-206°F (95-96°C) or higher.
If your loaf is under proofed then this will typically lead to a gummy or “wet” textured interior. Make sure your starter and levain are very vigorous and strong when you use them. This is very important! From there, make sure to bulk ferment your dough fully (use the images you see in my posts to guide you on what the dough should look/feel like). You want the dough to be alive and aerated before you divide and shape. From there, a full and complete proof is also very important.
My feeling is, your loaf likely just needed more time to bake. I hope that helps and keep me posted on how your bakes are going!
Thanks! I’m making it again tomorrow morning and just got a baking steel for my birthday (so excited!!!), so I’m going to try that method even though I’m nervous. There’s a first time for everything, right? I’ll let you know how it turns out. Also just bought a batard banneton and a thermapen that are on their way, so those will surely help out greatly with my next 50/50 whole wheat adventure. Wish me luck. 🙂
I hope it turned out well, Kiki!
So I have basic question about the cold ferment. I typically make bake one loaf after an overnight retard and get a nice rise and then the second loaf on the following day. Invariably the second loaf is overproofed so it doesn’t have the same spring, but the flavors are much better developed. Any suggestions on how to get the longer ferment for more flavor without overproofing?
That increased flavor you’re seeing is why I prefer to over proof a dough than under proof it 🙂As fermentation continues more and more organic acids are produced (flavoring compounds), but as you said, the dough will also be weaker and won’t garner the same rise. It’s a balancing act to find: proof it just long enough to have loads of flavor, but not so long rise begins to suffer. I have a post coming soon that will help illustrate what a baker can do to increase sourness in their loaves (and this recipe does many of them), which will mean more flavor.
Flat
Sorry something went wrong there. I followed this recipe in detail, including temperature, but the dough just won’t build strength during bulk ferment. I stays flat, although just after stretch and fold it appears stronger. I’m not able to shape it properly afterwards (which normally is fine). Any thoughts why this might happen?
It sounds like your sourdough culture is not active enough. You could try developing your culture until it is more active (frequent feedings), use more starter in your levain, or add a small amount of commercial yeast when you mix your dough.
It’s possible your dough was over hydrated or your starter/levain wasn’t fully ripe when used!
Hi, could I bake this in a Dutch oven? Also could I use wholemeal bread flour for this recipe?
Yes, this can be baked in a Dutch oven! Wholemeal bread flour will work well for the whole wheat portion of the recipe.
Is there a way to make this in 12 hours?! Possible skip the overnight cold bulk?
Yes, you can definitely do that. Let it proof out on the counter (covered) for 1-3 hours until ready to bake!
Hi Maurizio! I’ve been working on the “Best loaf” for a month or so and wanted to branch out into more whole grain. This 50-50 was a great success, but it raised one question: I had a pretty big air pocket (not a bubble, in the familiar sense) right along what I think was the seam from shaping, so in the corner of the loaf. Is this something your other followers have encountered, and if so is there something extra I can do in shaping to prevent it? I am thinking of “stitching” or really getting the seam to hold while it proofs overnight but am not sure..
Glad to hear that, Hank! Usually large holes like that are due to a shaping misstep, but it’s not a huge problem—it happens to us all. If your dough is very “gassy” give it a light pat down when you’re shaping to even out those large pockets.
I refresh my starter around 9:30am / 9:30pm each day. Given the levain build here asks for mature starter, I suppose it’s best to keep some of the levain from the 9:30am discard around until 12:30, rather than using the refreshed starter? Though later at the 12:30pm step it suggests this could be built in the morning or afternoon. A little lost as to the best approach here, any guidance much appreciated! Thanks for the great blog.
Never mind! 🙂 Sifted through the comments and found your advice under and identical question:
This bread bakes beautifully and tastes amazing, thanks Maurizio! I added 20g wheat gluten and reduced the amount of each flour by 10 g. After struggling with dough that didn’t rise much in overnight proof and then had an explosive rise in the oven, I realized my flours (both all purpose and whole wheat) had only 10% protein content as opposed to the ones in the recipes which are closer to 13%. This was probably leading to an underdeveloped gluten structure which wasn’t supporting the hydration level in the dough. The wheat gluten addition worked BEAUTIFULLY, along with reducing hydration a little. The batard especially rises really well and yields a tall, appealing loaf.
So glad to hear your loaf baked up well, Ashima! Happy baking 🙂
Can I use my fresh milled whole wheat. I have the white whole wheat. This Is what the guy in the bakers stotr recommend; over the red wheat. Whaat aaree thee differences between the two.?
Yes, you certainly can!
I have learned soft white wheat is more of a an AP pastry/cake type flour and hard white wheat is more of a bread flour with higher protein content.
Hi! I experimented with this levain build today before I tackled the recipe in earnest. The levain appears to be more slippery and loose ~ not exactly liquid. It looks like the picture and smells like your description. When I tip the jar, I can see the gluten strands are more “stretched” and less tight. Is this all correct? I guess I was actually expecting a liquid.
Shirley—it sounds correct, and yes, it should be a liquid levain but because there is 50% whole wheat flour in the levain, it might not be as loose as a 100% hydration white flour levain.
Hi! I baked this loaf a few days ago. It had an excellent flavour profile, it was chewy and not at all dense. However, the holes in my loaf were a lot smaller/tinier. It was not like the big holes that we see in your loaf. Can you suggest why that may be? And what I can do in order to get larger holes in the bread?
Hi Maurizio,
I baked the 50/50 this week and had a question. Is there a reason that my finished loaves would bitter tasting? Bread shaping and baking went well but the loaves just don’t have a very good flavor. I used KA Whole Wheat and Graincraft Morbread flours.
I baked in LaCloche clay baker with oven preheated to 475 and then changed to 450 at start of baking. Baked for 20 minutes with dome on and 30 minutes dome off. Final temp of bread was 210. My starter is 15% rye and 85% bread flour.
Thanks for your help in advance.
Bruce
Whole wheat flour can have a slightly stronger flavor, but it shouldn’t be heavily “bitter” by any means. Is it fresh flour (purchased w/in the last 6 months or so)? Whole wheat can start to take on bitter and off flavors if kept for too long!
Is the old version of this recipe still available somewhere? It was my favorite of all time!
I have the file for it saved on u phone but not sure how to send it to you.
I’ve made three of the recipes {all-all-purpose, weekday, and beginners}. I live in New Haven, CT where the summer is warm and humid. I’ve found that the recommended proportions of water result in soupy dough. I’m hypothesizing that the flour already has more water in it compared to dry climate, and when I weigh it, I am weighing water as well. That means less flour and more water for me than for someone baking in my hometown of Albuquerque. 😉 I still use the same recipes, but only add water until things seem about right. The videos really help with that.
Your adjustments sound right on, Jeremy. It’s always very relative to your environment! And as you know, ABQ is super dry, and my flour tends to be this way as well.
Hi Maurizio, what modifications should I make to this when I only have type 85 flour (equivalent)? Lower the hydration?
It was nearly soupy with the full amount, but flavour and crust were insane despite accidentally turning oven OFF for first 20min (!!)
Yes, if you’re using T85 flour, you might see the need to lower the hydration. I’ve found, at least with the T85 I source from Central Milling, it’s more like 33% whole wheat to 66% white flour.
Mine is inverse 75-85% wholemeal, so might be a small adjustment. What do you think maybe hold back 50-100ml water? Thank you so much for replying. I really appreciate what a huge job you have to reply to comments. Bless you
You’re very welcome, Janelle. If you’re going with 100% of that flour, I’d stick to the hydration listed in the recipe — you’re using more whole grains than I have, which typically requires additional water. So, stick to the same hydration, but as always, hold back 50g or so while mixing and add it in slowly when you’re mixing things together to avoid over hydration. The dough should certainly be plenty wet, but not soupy! Let me know how it goes 🙂
I have made this recipe several times before the revisions (I didn’t save what was there before) and they worked mostly fine for me. I’ve now made it twice and I get soup. I grind my own wheat, so I don’t get it.
Very strange, Melissa! Has your grain changed? Sometimes, even if using the same source, changes in grain can cause a need for hydration adjustment. It sounds like you definitely do need a drop in hydration, I’d try going down by 10% and see if that helps. It certainly is a wet dough but I didn’t increase the hydration percentage, it’s the same!
I’m a little confused, in the description of the process, it seems that there are two white flours in equal amounts but the grain bill shows just the AP, in addition to the WW. Am I missing something? Thanks, love and use the site.
Felice
Sorry for the confusion, Felice! You’re right, just two different flour types in this recipe.
Could you fix the text? it is very confusing.
Fixed!
Hello there!!! I find this recipe versatile. Substituted 100g of Whole Wheat with Dark Rye, and used 50/50 KA AP and Bread flours. Increased autolyse and bulk fermentation times (as per your best sourdough bread recipe). Slap and fold works well in this recipe. Baked twice with great result. Definitely a keeper! Thank you!
Super glad to hear that, RK! Thank you for the feedback and happy baking.
Hello Mauricio! This was my first attempt at a dough with whole wheat. Everything was great during the process, the dough proofs really fast! So fast after bulk fermentation that I overproofed it. So what I did was reshape it and let if proof again. I baked it in a Dutch oven but I didn’t get the rise I expected and the crumb only had a few big holes. The rest of the crumb was tight like your sandwich recipe. It wasn’t gummy, just tight. The flavor is great, but I ended up burning the bottom, even by using cornmeal and double parchment. How can I ensure better rise next time? Does it have to do with the strength of the dough? I did slap and folds as directed by only 3 stretch and folds during bulk fermentation. Last question: would adding honey to the recipe work? Thank you!