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
Hi, I would like to try this recipe but I do not have a bake stone, is there any reason this would not work in a Dutch oven?
It’ll work just fine in a Dutch oven!
Hello Maurizio, greetings from Quebec, Canada ! Just tried that recipe yesterday and cooked it this morning. I have replaced the whole wheat flour with Khorasan (kamut). Taste was really great ! Unfortunately my bread structure was uneven, what I mean is that there was huge holes and that the rest has a more compact structure. Do you have any idea or advice to give about that ? Thanks anyway for the nice recipes ! (Just pre-ordered your book !)
Thanks for preordering, Michel! Those holes could be due to over or under proofing. If the rest of the crumb was *super* dense and gummy, it was likely under proofing (give the dough more time in bulk fermentation and/or proof to reduce this). If the rest of the interior had a bunch of really small holes, try pulling back the fermentation time in proof to help even things out!
Thank you for your reply ! I will try that.
Hi Maurizio,
I have been using your site for a few years now (already pre-ordered cook book) and love the recipes. I have a question on this one though. I source my flour from a local mill and have been having issues with dough strength and I suspect it is a result of the autolyse or not enough water. Since I am using ‘fresh’ flour, I cut the autolyse time in half. However, when I went to mix with the levain, the dough was already ‘formed’ (i.e. not shaggy at all – made slap and fold super easy). Is this an issue at all or should I make adjustments (e.g. 5% more water, no autolyse, shorter flap/fold time, fewer bulk stretch/folds)?
Thanks,
Spencer
Glad to have you along for such a long while, Spencer! Sorry for the delay. If the dough feels strong/smooth/elastic enough, you can reduce the mix time to compensate. Alternatively, you could skip the autolyse if you wanted and just mix by hand. But really, this doesn’t sound like an issue at all.
FWIW, I typically don’t do a long autolyse with fresh flour, I find it’s not super helpful, but a longer mix is.
I’ve tried baking this a few times now, and each time the loaves come out relatively flat. I’m wondering if it’s overproofing overnight? My starter was very active, during bulk fermentation I noticed all the signs to look for, i.e. smooth/elastic, rounded at the edges of the bowl. When splitting the dough and half, they remained domed on the board. When shaping, I made sure it was nice and tight. I’ve tried your beginner’s loaf and had more luck when I skipped the overnight fridge portion and just let it proof on the counter for a few hours. I’m wondering if I should do the same here or cut back on my bulk time. Thoughts?
It sounds like yes, the dough might be over proofing. You can *always* bake straight away and skip the overnight proof if that works for you, I do this often. When doing an overnight proof, try cutting the bulk fermentation time short, maybe 15-30m, and then keep everything else in the recipe the same. That may seem like a short cut, but it’ll have large implications further down the line in the process.
Just baked this for the first time today…I was worried the dough didn’t rise much in fermentation but two great delicious loaves…the batard may be my best looking batard yet with a great ear. And nice dark loaf, …(also I realized they are a bit smaller loaf than I’ve usually baked using the Tartine country loaf ) I did add walnuts and a bit of walnut oil as well. Great flavor.
Your recipes and videos and instructions are so well done and appreciated
So glad to hear they worked out well for you! Happy to have helped–enjoy 🙂
Greetings, I have been baking with sourdough for many years but still have plenty to learn. I have an odd question. I live in the northern US and my home is old. I do not keep it anywhere near 70°F/21°C in the winter. Furthermore, in the winter time, I sometimes use passive refrigeration meaning leaving things protected outdoors for chilling (not freezing) in the winter. I wonder what expectations I should have for adjusting fermenting and proofing times. The space is usually around 65°F most winter days with areas of sun for additional passive warming.
Hey, Barbara! That’s cold, but definitely not as cold as a home fridge. This means if you’re proofing your dough overnight at cold temps, it likely won’t make it the entire 12-14 hours. In other words, because it’s warmer, the proof will happen faster. As long as you plan for this you can adjust your baking schedule. For instance, you could start mixing and such early in the day and then proof it outside at those cold temps in the evening, then bake at night.
Hello Maurizio, thank you so so much for sharing all your insights and recipes. I only started baking with sourdough 2 weeks ago and your page has been a tremendous help. I was wondering, if my dough still looks “soupy and lifeless” after the 4th stretch and fold set, what could be going wrong? I cut a bit of the water because so far all my doughs (except the focaccia) have been insanely sticky and very difficult to shape but it still came out soupy. It looked very much like yours when it came out of the mix, but even after 4 sets of stretch & fold it hasn’t gained any strength. I keep it in my oven with the light on during bulk. And I wet my hands generously before each set because otherwise half the dough sticks on my hands. Any suggestions?
It sounds like your dough is most likely over hydrated—your flour likely isn’t able to take on quite a much water, and that’s ok! Try reducing the hydration by 5% and give it another go—the reduced water should bring strength to the dough and you’ll feel it immediately. Once you find a suitable hydration, you can try to push it back up (if desired), but as you do, take note of how the consistency of the dough changes: the dough will start to slacken out as you add more and more water, this means you’ll likely have to mix more upfront or add another set or two of stretch and folds during bulk fermentation.
Generally, with an increased hydration, you need to mix longer to develop the gluten in the dough to sufficiently support the water added, but this only goes so far. At some point, the flour you’re using just isn’t able to take on any more water and you’ll essentially have a weak and slack dough. It’s always best to start conservatively and work your way up with hydration as you feel out your flour. This is typically why I recommend holding back water during mixing, adding it in as the dough handles it.
Try to keep everything else as consistent as possible and let me know how the next attempt goes!
Thank you so much Maurizio, for taking the time to reply. It seems I was both over-hydrating and over-proofing my dough. Last week, as I was preparing my bread dough, our oven was occupied and I had to leave the bulk fermentation bowl on my counter and everything turned out SO much better, even though the temperature in our kitchen doesn’t surpass 21/22 degrees Celsius . The dough was much less sticky and I could work markedly better with it during pre-shaping and shaping. My crust still sort of folds outwardly while baking (do you possibly have a post on how to score the bread properly?) but other than that my last 3 bakes have seen much improvement. Thank you loads!
So glad to hear all the improvements! Working on a detailed post on scoring as we speak 🙂
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all your wonderful help! It’s been such a joy learning to beak with sourdough, thanks to you and your amazing recipes and detailed instructions. I truly can’t thank you enough 🙂 Excitedly looking forward to your post on scoring.
I’m a little confused on how long the cold fermentation should last. In step 7 it says 7:35 pm to 9 am. In step 8 it then says bake at 7:45 am. Is it saying to start baking at 7:45 and it will be finished at 9 am? Would love some clarification thanks!:)
Sorry, bake should be next morning at around 9am (or whenever you’d like)!
Clarification–the dough is baked directly after removing from the refrigerator? I don’t need to let it warm up for a while?
Correct!
I’ve used this recipe and my loaf turned out delicious! As someone still fairly new to sourdough/bread making, what is the purpose in using 25% bread flour and 25% all purpose? Would using 50% bread flour result in a more chewy texture?
Glad to hear that, Kai! I like using as little bread flour as possible to reduce that chewy texture, but if you wanted more, yes, increase it.
Little too sour for my liking If making in a humid environment should considering lower the hydration.
Hi Maurizio! Do you think it’s possible to adapt this recipe so it can be baked during the work week, like your simple weekday recipe, bij using a 10 hour levain? Or won’t it be strong enough?
Thanks!
Yes, that’ll work for sure. Just be sure to reduce the starter added to the levain so it ripens in 10 hrs instead of a shorter period. I’d say somewhere near 10% starter to total flour in the levain?
Great! Thank you for the reply:)
Lovely recipe. Just a small clarification. Can we bake the SD bread on a tray since I’m a new bee and don’t have DO?
That’ll work but I’d try to get steam into the oven somehow! Check out my guides page where I have a method for baking without a Dutch oven.
Hello–Thanks for this recipe. I’m pretty new to this, so sorry for the possibly obvious question, but I am confused about the starter. Do I feed my starter at 7am like normal, and then, because I’ve doubled in size do the levain at 12:30, or do I just skip my 7am feeding in favor of the 12:30? Thanks.
Hey, Meghan. Use your starter when it’s ripe and you’d normally give it a refreshment (feeding) to make the levain. So I typically refresh my starter at night around 9pm, then use it in the morning at 9am when ripe (before feeding) to make my levain. After making the levain, I then feed my starter.
I love your recipes and have been successful with most of them. But this fifty fifty whole wheat one I just can’t get it to work well! The loaves taste good but they are relatively flat. At first I thought the problem was that the dough needed more folds or more shaping but neither seem to help. The dough seems very droopy and it is hard to get it strong enough to hold its shape when baked. I would love some suggestions! Thanks so much,
Glad to hear that, Christopher! My feeling is try dropping the water just a bit, see if that helps bring strength to the dough. Even just 2-5% should bring quite a bit of strength and help get you more volume in the loaf.
I’m in the middle of my autolyse/levain build and excited to see how the bread turns out. However, I think I found a discrepancy between the ingredients list and instructions of the short recipe at the bottom of the page. The first calls for 453g whole wheat flour and 214g med protein flour, and the second calls for the reverse (453g med protein flour and 214g whole wheat). I followed the instructions without looking at the quantities in the ingredients list first (which I assume lists the correct amounts, given that this is a 50/50 recipe), so I’ll end up with a whiter bread than intended. I’m sure it’ll still be great though, given the quality of the other recipes on this site 🙂
Glad to hear you’re trying this one! That’s really strange, I do not see a flip in the ingredients—they look correct over here. I’ll see if I can republish this to fix that error. I hope your bake turns out great, sorry for the confusion!
Hi Maurizio – I see it in step 2 of the gray recipe box:
“Autolyse (1:30 p.m)
In a medium mixing bowl, add the 453g medium-protein bread flour, 214g whole wheat flour, 238g high protein flour, and 634g water and mix until no dry bits remain. Cover the bowl and let rest for 2 hours.”
(Also, it’s in the oven now and looks/smells great)
Ok, fixed again! Should push out soon. I missed that one, I actually caught it elsewhere. Thank you!
Excellent, I hope it comes out great—have that butter ready (wait to cut until fully cool, though!) 🙂
You’re absolutely right, sorry about that! Fixed 🙂
It’ll update soon! Have a great weekend, Angelo.
I know better than to ask if there’s a simple solution for a problem with sourdough…but here goes: My loaves are looking really good but the crumb is more open on the outer edges than the inside, i.e. cutting a slice down the middle vs. a third of the way in. Does it just need to rise more? Thanks!
Key, Kim! You’re right, it could be several things. Usually with that I find it comes down to shaping and how you’re tightening the dough. If you tighten too much, exerting too much pressure on the inside especially, this can happen. It could also be from the dough getting close to over proofing, but I think you’d likely see other issues there as well. My best guess: shaping!
That makes sense! Thanks so much Maurizio!
Hi,
Thank you for so many good recipes.
I’m trying this one now, and in the part of mixing the levaine with the autolysed dough,
The dough is just not coming together, full of hard clumps, it’s tearing apart, I added water maybe to 90% hydration and it doesn’t help.
The only thing I can think about is that in the autolyse bowl I accidently put 50g less water so maybe it was not well hydrated.
I’m a newbie correct, baked only 20 loafs, but this didn’t happen yet.
Any insights?
Thabk you for your help, see ya in the next loaf 🙂
Hmm, very strange! When doing the autolyse you definitely want all of the flour to be completely hydrated—add more water as necessary there!
Hi Maurizio!
I must thank you for such a great site and providing these recipes and sharing tips with us. This specific loaf has become my go to for sandwich bread, following the procedure then chucking it into 2 loaf pans. It comes out great!
I also want to point out a discrepancy in the posted directions in the grey box. It swaps the amounts for the whole wheat flour and medium protein flour compared to what’s listed for the ingredients.
Thanks again for being such a great baking resource!
You’re very welcome, Darnell! Oops, sorry for that typo, will fix it now 🙂
What time and temp do you bake your loaf pans Darnell? Any steam involved?
I want to follow the baking schedule, but how you do you mix a levain at 12:30 ( at peak) if you feed starter around 10am ? This may be a dumb question, I am just trying to figure out what i have done wrong, I LOVE your recipes but my last time making this my loaves came out flat and i’m wondering what I am doing wrong, maybe it was my shaping? But I have been curious about how to follow this schedule if feeding starter earlier in morning and at night. Thank you!
Hey there! Don’t feed your starter in the morning, wait to use it to make a levain or mix directly into a dough. You want to make your levain from a stater that’s ripe and has fermented for some number of hours (your typical refreshment interval).
Hey Maurizio
I’ve made this bread a couple of times using stone ground whole wheat flour (it’s the standard type I can find here) but am finding the dough to be very sticky to work with, and not holding as much strength at the pre shape and shape stages as in your pictures. I’ve given the dough a good bash when combining the levain and the autolysed dough. At pre shape, the dough tends to spread out on my counter. However I still end up with a good open crumb, and excellent taste but the rise is not quite as spectacular as yours. I’m in a humid climate (ireland) and have reduced the volume of total water by 50g, but without much difference to the end product. Can you suggest anything?
All the best
Colm
Hey, Colm! I’d say continue dropping the hydration a bit more to see if that helps. The lower you go the more strength you should see in the dough. If you have a strong dough that then turns very slack and weak by shape time, it’s also possible your bulk fermenting the dough too far, you can pull the time back there as well to help.
Hi! Excited to make this loaf! If you were going to use a stand mixer with a dough hook how long and at what level would you recommend for this dough?
Hey, Kelsey! I’d probably do 3 min speed 1, 2-3 min speed 2.
Hi Maurizio,
I actually tried this recipe when you had it written for a combo of whole wheat, AP, and bread flour. I added a bit more water but it came out fantastic! Do you have a recipe for that combo?
Ah! I’ve gone back and forth with this recipe over the years. To swap back, just change the “bread flour” to all-purpose and you’re good. Normally, I’d say drop the water just a bit, perhaps 2%, but if you increased the water, then do as you did! Everything else should be the same.
Ok, I can try that! I think most recently though it was more like 1/4 whole wheat and the rest was a combo of AP and Bread flour. Any measurements for that combination?
Let me know how it goes. No, this recipe has always been 50% whole wheat (hence the name, fifty-fifty!). But before it was 50% ww and 50% ap flour. Now I reverted back to the very original which uses bread flour for a little more strength, to give the loaf additional volume.
Hi Maurizio – I’ve gotten some really great results with your recipes, thank you! But there is one thing that seems pretty consistent when I make your recipes, and that is that my bulk proof always takes about 1-2 hours longer than yours, and my final proof usually always takes 1 or 1.5 hours longer. I have been careful with measuring the temperature of the dough when it’s just mixed to get it about 79-80 and then maintain throughout bulk. My starter is about 9 months old, I maintain it very regularly, and it is vigorous and always triples in about 5-6 hours at 50% hydration when I refresh it. I thought maybe it was the iodized salt I’ve been using – so I switched up and used fine sea salt in this recipe yesterday, with no improvement. Also I slap/folded the dough longer/earlier so as to do only 3 sets of folds instead of the 5 called for, thinking that maybe too many folds impeded the rising. This didn’t make a difference. Do you have any suggestions of other things to try? I got great bread so I’m not complaining that much – except I was doing the final shaping at midnight last night!
Awesome to hear that, Deidre! That’s very interesting. It sounds like you’re making all the right steps there with temperature and everything else. I’d say perhaps let’s try increasing your levain percentage in the dough by 5-10% over what I call for in a recipe and see if that speeds up the timeline appropriately—well, I know it will 🙂 Let’s see how that goes for your next bake!