50% Whole Wheat

Hello everyone,

Lately, I've been trying to incorporate a lot more whole grain in my bread, as since my hobby became an obsession, I've been having a lot more bread in my diet.  

100% whole wheat gave me a beating.  It was very unpredictable.  I'll go back to trying to master it soon.  But until then, I have a fallback in this 50% loaf I've taken the time of troubleshooting so that I can recreate it anytime. 

The recipe is Maurizio's, check his blog for that and the basic method.  What I will say is how important fractional hydration is.  When you add all the water at once, you ruin your chance to develop the gluten properly. 

This bread was fermented at 77 degrees for 3.5 hours with S+F every half hour for the first 2 hours.  Preshaped and rest 20 min, then shaped with a stitching.  

The crumb came out really nice, open but still lacy, spongy textured, just what I'd want in sourdough crumb.  And the crust was excellent too.  The burnt molasses flavor of the dark whole wheat is an endorsement for using it instead of my usual whitewheat.