Delectably Mine

Back in October I felt like I was in a rut with my sourdough bread. I had been working on trying to improve a basic sourdough bread recipe, making the same bread every 1-2 weeks for months. My bread would turn out good, but my goal was to achieve a beautiful “open crumb”, instagram style. Week after week I would be some level of disappointed (just in the crumb, never with the flavor! A tighter crumb is still delicious!). I finally decided to just try something different. Instead of doing the same thing over and over again I decided to switch it up and try a different recipe.

I’m a fan of whole wheat bread, the higher the percentage of whole grains the better, but they can be tricky for sure. I admire my local bakery’s 100% whole wheat breads. I’m not sure I’ll ever get to that point, but I decided to go for a 50/50 loaf, 50% whole grains, 50% refined grains.

I used The Perfect Loaf’s Fifty Fifty Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread recipe as my base recipe, but tweaked the technique a little, using Fullproof Baking’s instructions for her Open Crumb Sourdough Bread instead (laminating the dough, coil folds, etc).

Verdict? I’ve really like this recipe and method. I’ve made it 5 or 6 times now and it has turned out really well each time. I like the increased percentage of whole grains for nuttiness, chew, and a touch more nutrition. It rises well and the crumb is lovely. No, it’s not a super “open crumb”, but I didn’t expect that, and there is nothing wrong with a little tighter crumb. And, as per usual, I haven’t followed this exact recipe each time. I’ve replaced some of the whole wheat flour with spelt flour, I’ve replaced some of the whole wheat flour with fresh ground whole wheat, I’ve added flax, and sunflower seeds, I’ve added walnuts and dates. They’ve all been delicious! Can’t wait to see what happens next!

My 50/50 Whole Wheat Bread
Ingredients
Levain

26 grams active sourdough starter
13 grams bread flour
13 grams whole wheat flour
26 grams water

Dough

226 grams whole wheat flour
226 grams bread flour
367 grams water
8.5 grams salt (1 1/8-1 1/4 teaspoon)
71 grams Levain (from above)

Directions:
Build the liquid levain by mixing the starter, flours, and water in a small bowl and until everything is hydrated. Let sit somewhere around 78°F for about 5-6 hours, or until about tripled in volume.

Autolyse: Mix the flour and water from the “dough” section above, reserving 50 g water for later, in a bowl until all dry bits are hydrated. Cover the bowl and store somewhere nice and warm (around 80) for 2-3 hours.

When the levain is ready, add the called for ripe levain to your autolysed dough along with about half of the reserved 50g of water and mix thoroughly with your hands. Mix/knead the dough for about 4 minutes in the bowl just until the dough started to show signs of a smooth surface. Cover and let sit at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes. Next, spread the salt on top of the dough with 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. Let rest 30 minutes.

Next perform a fold: Lightly mist the counter with water. Wet your hands with water and flip the dough out onto the counter. Using a bench scraper, pull the dough from the top down folding the dough onto itself. Repeat this process on all four sides of the dough. Flip the dough over, round it up and return to the bowl. Cover and let rest 30 minutes.

Lamination: Mist the counter with water again. Transfer dough to counter. Lift and gently stretch the dough out from the center with wet hands. Form a large, thin rectangle of dough. Pick up one edge of the dough and fold into the center approximately ⅓ of the way across, then fold the other side into the center over the first section. Finish by folding the top down halfway and then the bottom over the top forming a square in the end. Move your dough to a small square Pyrex-type dish. Let rest 45 minutes.

Stretch and Folds: For each stretch and fold, use wet hands to reach under the dough and pull it up slowly and evenly, detaching the dough on the side farther away from you. The dough will naturally wrap itself under. Rotate the dish and perform the same coil fold again on the other three sides. The top part of the dough is the part detaching from the dish and coiling under. 4 total coil folds. While doing this be sure to pop and large air pockets as these are not signs of fermentation, they are pockets introduced during mixing and lamination. Cover and let rest until time for the next stretch and fold.

The number and frequency of the folds is dependent on the length of bulk as well as your dough’s extensibility and how the dough develops over the course of the bulk. For this recipe I did 4 stretch and folds separated by about 45 minutes each and around 72 degrees F. My total bulk fermentation was about 6-6.5 hours this time.

Shaping:
When the dough is ready to shape it should appear puffy and somewhat light, with some roundness at the edges. Flour the counter top with flour. Release dough from top of dish and flip the dish over and allow it to release from the dish onto the counter. Use a bench scraper to tuck flour under the edges of the dough. Then remove the excess flour from the workspace.

Use the scraper to help pick up the side (top) flap of your dough and gently pull out just a bit before folding up on top of the center of the dough (about ⅓ of the way in, like a letter). Gently pat the dough during this stage to remove any large air bubbles to ensure a more even crumb. Repeat the fold with the other side of the dough, folding it into the center. Then lift the top of the dough and begin to roll down onto itself. Use your thumbs to gently but firmly tuck the dough in creating a more taught surface on top of the dough. Once you roll fully up and get to the seam, seal the edge using your fingers. The use your fingers to pinch the edges to seal.

Dust the top of your dough with brown rice flour (this is ideal to prevent sticking to your banneton) and keeps the dough dry and prevents the surface from getting tacky. Use your scraper to flip over the dough so the seam side is up and the top of the dough is facing down. Gently lift and transfer the dough to the banneton. Cover and move on to the proofing stage.

Proof:
Let the dough sit at room temperature for an initial short proof (15-20 mins), then move to the fridge for an overnight retard for approximately 12-16 hours.

Bake:
The next day it’s time to bake. Preheat oven with Dutch Oven in it for 1 hour at 450 degrees. Transfer dough, cold from fridge, to piece of parchment paper. Score at 45 degree angle. Transfer to preheated Dutch oven and put the lid on. Place in oven and bake, covered, for 20 minutes. Remove the lid and return the bread to the oven and continue baking another 30 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 206-210 degrees F. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.