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How to Make 50% Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread

Using 50% whole wheat flour and 50% bread flour, learn how to make this simple and incredibly flavorful sourdough bread.
Keyword Artisan bread, Sourdough bread, whole wheat bread
Author Stephanie K

Equipment

  • Kitchen Scale
  • Lame or sharp knife
  • Dutch oven or oven-proof combo cooker

Ingredients

For the Levain

  • 15 g sourdough starter
  • 17 g whole wheat flour
  • 17 g bread flour
  • 35 g water

For the Bread

  • 272 g whole wheat flour
  • 228 g bread flour
  • 430 g water
  • 75 g sourdough levain
  • 12 g salt

Instructions

  • Prepare the levain: combine your starter, flours and water and place in a tall jar or container to track the growth. It is ready to use when it has doubled in size (or just about).
    Temperature note: If you’ve got cold temps in your kitchen, leave it somewhere a bit warmer in the house ( about 25C/75F).
  • Autolyse: Combine both flours together with the water in a bowl until no dry bits of flour are left. Cover your bowl (with a lid, wet towel, plastic wrap, etc.) and let that sit in a warm place (25C/75F) for about an hour.
  • Add in your levain: Pour the sourdough starter on top of your dough and with wet hands dimple and pinch it into your dough until it is all combined. You can mix it in various ways (rubaud method, slap and fold, etc.). Once it has been incorporated, cover your dough again and leave for 10 minutes.
  • Add in the salt: combine the salt with just 1 tsp of water and pour over the top of your loaf. Once again, dimple and pinch to mix it in until it is all combined. If you find your dough is really dry, you can add another 2 tsp of water to pinch in the salt.
    After it is all incorporated, cover your bowl and set it in a warm place. For me, that means making sure the temperature is between 22C-27C (the warmer the temperature the faster it will ferment).
  • Bulk Fermentation: Let your dough sit to continue fermenting. Perform 3 sets of stretch and folds at 30 minute intervals to help give your dough structure and help to further develop the gluten. If you only have time to do 1, that’s not a problem.
    In total, the bulk fermentation can last from 3.5 to 6 hours or more.
    Note: In my kitchen, when the temp is 27C or warmer I need to watch it because it might ferment as quickly as 3 hours. Whereas, if the temp is 23-25C it might take anywhere from 4-6 hours to ferment. It’s all about measuring the temperature of your atmosphere and seeing how your dough is affected.
  • Pre-shape: Pre-shaping helps to give your dough even more structure and a bit of tension. If I am making just one loaf, my preferred method is to give the dough one last coil fold in the bowl and let it sit again covered for about 20 minutes. You can also do this on the counter. Wet the counter with a spray bottle or just drop water down.  Turn it out of the bowl onto the counter and fold the outside into the middle and form it into a ball.
  • Final Shape: Dry off your counter space and sprinkle a bit of flour down to prevent sticking. Fold your dough and place in your banneton. Here you have two options, you can leave it to proof or you can let it sit and proof in the refrigerator to let the flavors develop even more.
    Note: leaving it in the fridge also makes it easier to score and helps it to have more oven spring. If you choose to leave it in the fridge, you can leave it anywhere from 2 to 48 hours.
  • Bake: Preheat the oven 30 minutes, with the dutch oven inside, at 250C. Once the oven is hot enough, take the dough out of the fridge, turn it out onto parchment paper and give the dough a slice on the top (score) and place it in the dutch oven. Bake for 20 minutes with the lid on, then take the lid off to release the steam and get your crust crispy for 15 minutes and reduce the temp to 225C. Then take it out of the dutch oven, and place it alone on the rack for 15 minutes at 180C.
    The dough is finished cooking when the internal temperature reaches 95C/190-200F.
    Important: After taking it out of the oven, make sure to let your dough sit for at least 30 minutes to reduce a gummy interior.

Notes

After baking, let your dough sit for at least 30 minutes to an hour or more! That is because the steam on the inside needs to move through the dough. So if you cut too soon the inside will be gummy and not as perfect as you’d hoped it would be, especially with whole grain bread.