Basic Sourdough with Whole Grain Flour

A basic sourdough recipe that you can use with any whole grain hard wheat or spelt flour!

Prep: give or take 2 days between the levain to bake, but only about 25 minutes hands on effort.

Cook: 45 min

Makes 2 loaves, 850g each

INGREDIENTS:

• 785-800 g Whole Grain hard wheat flour (hard red, hard white, or spelt)
• 600 g water
• 200 g active sourdough starter/levain
• 18 g salt
• Oil of choice, parchment paper, or breadmat for the Loaf Pans

DIRECTIONS:

In the evening; 

• Start by mixing a levain from your starter by combining 112g each flour, water and 55g sourdough starter. This should give you approx. 285g levain to work with in your dough the following morning.
  

The next morning;

• In a large bowl, mix the 800g whole grain flour and 600g water to fully incorporate and hydrate the flour. Cover, and let sit 30-45 minutes hours.

• After the flour has hydrated, add in the 285g leaven and let sit for another 15-30 minutes.
• Add in 18g salt and again, mix until fully incorporated. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
• After resting, perform the first set of stretch and folds. Cover the bowl and rest for 15-30 more minutes, repeating this step two to three more times for a total of three stretch and folds. You're looking for the dough to hold it's structure, but not stay too tense that you can't work with the dough - you'll need some extensibility for shaping.
• Allow the dough to rest another 1-3 hours until it rises almost double in size. It is best to air on the side of early with whole grain flours as the added enzyme activity can result in faster fermentation. It is much easier to wait a little longer in the next step, than it is to take away time if you over-ferment your dough.

Mid-Day;

• Preshape the dough by placing it on un-floured surface, being careful not to de-gas the dough. Letting the dough fall gently out of the bowl instead of grabbing it and pulling it out of the bowl, removing all those gas bubbles that have built during proofing. Then, split into two halves, each approx 850g and shaping each half into a round. Allow to bench rest for 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile lightly oil two loaf pans.
• After resting, add a dusting of flour on your countertop for shaping. Then shape each of the two halves into a log and place seam side down in the prepared loaf pans.
• Cover and proof at room temperature either for another hour if you plan to bake same day. You're wanting that dough to rise again to just under double in size. Going into a warm oven allows fermentation to continue until that dough is cooked, so allowing a little extra rise time in the oven is beneficial so as not to overproof your loaves to where the gluten lets go of the gas and you end up with loaves that go into the over looking beautiful - but coming out of the oven flat.
• Alternatively, you can leave them only for a few minutes on your counter, then place both loaves in the fridge for an overnight cold ferment.

The following morning;

• Preheat oven to 450°F with two Challenger Breadpans or Cast Iron Dutch Ovens inside.
• Once oven temperature is reached, remove both loaf pans from the fridge and remove their coverings, scoring 2-3 cuts in the top of each loaf.
• Place your loaf pans inside your Challenger Breadpans or Dutch Ovens, and toss 2-3 ice cubes into the bottom of each Dutch Oven. Place the lid on each Dutch Oven and let cook, covered for 20 minutes at 450°F.
• Remove the lids from Dutch Ovens and allow bread to cook another 20-25 minutes uncovered at 450°F, or until desired crust is obtained.
• Once cooked, remove the loaves from your pans and allow to cool on a wire rack for at minimum 30-45 minutes to allow flavors to fully develop.
• Thoroughly Enjoy all your hard work!!