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Sourdough Loaf--50% Whole Wheat

Beautiful, well-risen sourdough loaf made from high-quality white bread flour and organic stone-ground whole wheat.
Prep Time2 days
Active Time40 minutes

Equipment

  • Large Bowl --You can use glass, stainless steel, or stoneware. The stoneware bowl does keep the dough a bit cooler (desirable) and (IMHO) sticks less to the dough, and is easier to clean.
  • 9" or so round basket for final proof --Any wicker basket will do, and can be found at your local Michaels or Hobby Lobby for a dollar or two. The "official" choice for sourdough baking is a "Banneton" basket, available on Amazon and elsewhere.
  • 3 18-24" squares of muslin (cheesecloth) or 3 tea towels
  • 1 Cast iron Dutch oven, five-quartish, with a lid
  • 1 "Lame" (pronounced "lahm"), or a single-edged razor blade. --This is for slashing the top of the dough before baking. You can use a really sharp knife, but a razor blade does the job much more effectively. "Lames" for sourdough are inexpensive and are available on Amazon and elsewhere.
  • 1 Silicone "bread sling" --Optional, but makes transferring the dough, and the fully-baked loaf, into and out of the Dutch oven much easier. See Amazon and elsewhere. If you don't have one, or you're just trying things out, then some kitchen parchment paper will work almost as well.
  • 1 Dough whisk --Optional. Hands work just as well. But if you're doing this time and time again, a dough hook just makes things a bit less messy. Here's the one I chose, mainly because it's a single piece of stainless steel and doesn't have any nooks and crannies into which stuff can get and be difficult to clean: https://www.amazon.com/OYV-Seamless-Dough-Whisk-Stainless/dp/B0FG7M8ZDW?th=1

Materials

  • 105 grams Active sourdough starter
  • 250 grams Good quality bread flour. I've obtained good results from Kirkland (Central Milling, USA, ), and King Arthur (Vermont, USA)
  • 250 grams Stone-ground whole wheat flour
  • 346 grams Water
  • 10 grams Sea salt, fine crystals

Instructions

  • Follow your usual procedure for feeding your sourdough starter before using it in a recipe. You will need 105 grams of the starter for this recipe, so make sure you'll have enough to add to the recipe, as well as some left over to feed before you refrigerate it again.
  • When your starter is active and bubbly, and in a large (preferably stoneware) bowl, add 105 grams of the starter, 250 grams of high-protein white bread flour, 250 grams of stone-ground whole wheat flour, 346 grams of water, and 10 grams of salt.
  • Leave to rest for ten minutes. (This allows the coarser stone-ground whole wheat flour a little extra time to absorb the water before forming the dough.
  • Mix, using your hands, or a dough whisk, the ingredients to form a loose, "shaggy" dough.
  • Cover bowl with cloth, rest for 30 minutes.
  • Perform four sets of "stretch and folds," 30 minutes apart.
  • After the last stretch and fold, cover the bowl with a cloth, begin the bulk ferment and allow the dough to approximately double in size. (Mine takes about 61/2 hours at a room temperature of around 72F).
  • Flour the counter or a cutting board, and gently turn the bowl upside down, releasing the dough.
  • Allow a ten minute rest, then shape the dough, flattening it a bit, and then rolling it up into a fairly tight ball, pinching it together at the base.
  • Give it another ten minutes or so to rest, sitting on the pinched together "base."
  • Place a piece of cheesecloth, or a tea towel, into your basket, if it isn't already cloth-lined. Dust with flour.
  • Gently turn your dough ball into the basket, with the smooth side down, and the "pinched-together" base upwards. (I have my dough on a flexible cutting board, and I upend the basket over the dough and then turn the whole thing over).
  • Cover the basket with a dry cloth, either a muslin square or a tea towel. Take another cloth, wet it, wring it out, and put it over the top. Put everything in the fridge to rest, for anywhere from 12 to 36 hours. Do not fold the cloths under the basket, or otherwise constrict, the dough's ability to rise. Leave everything open and floppy, so that the dough can rise without hindrance.
  • When ready to bake: Preheat oven to 500F, with the dutch oven inside. After the temperature is reached, wait about another 30 minutes before proceeding, just to make sure things are good and hot. (I turn the oven on to preheat, and set my phone timer for 60 minutes.)
  • When all is ready, remove the dough from the fridge. Place it on the bread sling (or a large piece of parchment paper). Using the lame, razor blade, or very sharp knife, slash the top in a "cross" pattern. Do not be timid! You need to slash at least a 1/4", or slightly more, deep. See the image accompanying the post. That slash is what has allowed the bread to puff up and expand, resulting in an open and delicious texture after baking.
  • Open the oven door and (wearing ovenproof mitts or similar) remove the lid from the Dutch oven. Deposit the dough inside. Put the lid back on.
  • Reduce the oven temperature to 450F. Bake for 25 minutes.
  • Remove the lid from the Dutch oven and bake a further fifteen minutes.
  • Take out your fully-baked loaf, and place on rack to cool. Wait at least ten minutes before slicing, if you can bear to wait that long.