Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread Recipes

Steps:

• Measure the culture into bread machine pan.
• Add remaining ingredients, with flour being last.
• Set machine for dough cycle and start.
• At end of cycle, remove dough from machine and shape into desired loaf.
• Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled--this can take as little as 1 hour or several hours, depending on what type of starter you use and how active it is.
• Top of loaf can be slashed at this stage, if desired.
• Uncover and bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, or until done.
• Remove from baking pan and cool on wire rack.
• NOTE: I don't let my dough rise in the dough cycle; I just remove it after the kneading is completed and shape my loaf, then let loaf rise.

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast in 1 cup warm water.
• Mix yeast, starter, honey, salt and shortening with 3 cups flour.
• Add more flour as needed to make a stiff dough.
• Knead 150 strokes on a floured surface and place in a greased bowl.
• Cover and let rise 1 to 1 1/2 hours until doubled in size.
• Punch down, let double again.
• Punch down and roll into tight loaf.
• Grease and place in bread pan.
• Let double in pan and bake at 400 degrees F. for 35 to 40 minutes or until very dark golden brown, and it sounds hollow when thumped.

Steps:

• Combine all of the ingredients, mixing until a shaggy dough forms.
• Let the dough rest, covered, for 20 minutes, then knead until fairly smooth and slightly sticky.
• Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover it, and let it rise until almost doubled, about 60 to 90 minutes.
• Gently fold the dough over a few times on a lightly floured work surface.
• FOR SANDWICH STYLE LOAF:.
• Shape it into an 8" log, and place it in a 9" x 5" loaf pan.
• Cover the loaf and let it rise until it's crowned 1" over the rim of the pan, about 60 to 90 minutes.
• Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Bake the bread for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the loaf is golden brown and a digital thermometer inserted into the center registers 205°F to 210°F.
• Remove the bread from the oven, let it sit in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack to cool.
• FOR ARTISAN STYLE LOAF:.
• Shape the dough into a rough oval and gently wrap it in a clean, floured dishtowel. Allow to rise about 60-90 minutes.
• After about 60 minutes place a flat aluminum baking tray, baking stone or large seasoned cast iron skillet in the oven. Pre-heat the oven to 450F and continue preheating the baking surface for 20 minutes or so.
• Dust the hot baking sheet/stone with cornmeal. Then carefully roll the risen dough out of the towel and onto the baking sheet/stone.
• Bake at 450 for ~15 minutes, then lower temp to 400 and bake another 15 minutes or until temperature inside the loaf measures ~ 200 degrees F.
• 16. Enjoy.

Steps:

• Combine salt with flour in a mixing bowl, then add water and mix either by hand or with a dough whisk until fully incorporated into a "shaggy mass."
• Add starter and mix / squish by hand until fully incorporated. The process of incorporating the starter is a bit of primary kneading and should result in the dough smoothing out some, but don't go nuts. As soon as the starter is fully incorporated, you're done.
• Cover mixing bowl and let sit.
• First Bulk Fermentation Period
• The first (of three) bulk fermentation period is at room temperature which for me is 73 - 75 degrees F, and lasts about 10 hours.
• At about an hour in, do 5-10 minutes of hand kneading (see notes and video below) until the dough develops some strength and elasticity and becomes noticeably smoother. Cover and let sit.
• Every 1-2 hours (exact timing is not important - really!) do a short round of stretching and folding to re-develop the dough's elasticity (see notes and video below). Then re-cover and let sit.
• Second Bulk Fermentation Period
• After about 10 hours, or whenever the dough has risen to about 1.5 times its original volume, put the covered bowl of dough into a cold (~40 F) refrigerator and let sit (for me, this is overnight) for about 10 hours.
• Third Bulk Fermentation Period
• Remove dough from refrigerator and let sit at room temperature again.
• As the dough warms up, resume periodic stretch and folds. Dough should be feeling progressively more lively, developing a bit of sour aroma, and eventually starting to bubble some.
• This final bulk fermentation period is the hardest to put a time length on. Getting it right matters, and it will totally depend on how active your starter is, how warm your kitchen is, and a whole host of other mostly invisible things. You are shooting to finish this period when the dough has risen to 2 - 2.5 times its original volume and ideally is actively blowing a few bubbles. I've had this take anywhere from 4 - 8 hours depending on this and that. Your mileage may vary. Try not to overshoot this - you'll probably have a better result erring on the too soon side than the too late side.
• Shaping and Proofing
• (See notes and video below)
• Prepare a lined proofing basket by generously flouring the inside and set it aside.
• Lightly flour a large work surface and turn the dough out onto it.
• Wet your hands, punch down the dough and then stretch and flatten it into a large thin rectangle.
• Fold dough in half from top to bottom and press top into bottom, flattening again but not as big as the initial rectangle. At this point, you want the height of the dough rectangle to be right about the length of your proofing basket (no more than that).
• [Optional] Lightly flour the top of the dough (and your hands).
• Start at one end and roll the dough rectangle into a cylinder.
• Keep track of the seam and transfer the dough cylinder into the lined, floured proofing basket seam-side up.
• Cover and let sit for 1 - 1.5 hours.
• Baking
• From 30 - 60 minutes after transferring dough into proofing basket, pre-heat oven and clay baker to 450 degrees F ~ about 20 - 30 minutes.
• Uncover dough and transfer from proofing basket into base of clay baker, score top of dough, cover and bake at 450 F for 25 minutes.
• Uncover clay baker, reduce oven temperature to 400 F and bake uncovered for another 20-25 minutes (or until desired crust color develops).
• Remove bread and place on cooling rack for at least a couple hours before cutting.

Steps:

• The afternoon before you want bread, feed your starter 1 cup distilled water and 1 cup flour (not included in recipe ingredients).
• That evening, when it is all bubbly and active, combine the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl, cover loosely, and allow to get bubbly like a fed starter does but not at it's peak yet (about 5 hours). This is essentially a sponge.
• That evening, add remaining ingredients.
• Knead until the gluten is developed and it passes the windowpane test (when a golf sized ball of it is worked and stretched thin, you can see light through it and it doesn't rip), about 6-8 min in a Kitchen Aid.
• Divide into 2 loaves and shape, placing them into 8.5 x 4.5 greased bread pans (they will be smallish loaves). It would probably make 1 very large loaf in a 9 x 5 pan.
• Cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap.
• Allow to rise until doubled (not very tall, just doubled). This went much faster than I anticipated (6-7 hours). If you have a fast rising starter, I would suggest placing the unrisen loaves in the fridge or a cool place to slow it down a little. This will also develop a more sour flavor.
• Bake at 350 for 30-40 minute.
• Remove from pans immediately and cool on a wire rack.