Whole Wheat Sourdough attempt #1

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fairycakes309 on 22 Apr 2025 at 21:16
Whole wheat sourdough, KA basic sourdough with yeast, Laurel’s potato bread
Finally had a few days off to try a 100% whole wheat sourdough. I had sadly neglected my Jane Dough, so used the method recommended on the Bread Code channel, 1:5:5 ratios for 3 days with fresh milled Bronze Chief. In the meantime I made a mini loaf of yeasted potato bread from Laurel’s, and used some of my discard in the KA recipe for whole wheat sourdough which includes yeast. I also substituted 25% of the flour in the KA recipe with old breadcrumbs. Did not notice much difference in texture in the finished product but they were definitely palpable when kneading. Once Jane was pretty active I followed the recipe on the Bread Code whole wheat sourdough masterclass video, and a mix of Bronze Chief and Prairie Gold flour. I had difficulty using the technique to increase dough strength. I ended up kneading for close to 30 minutes not including 2 breaks of 5-10 minutes to let the dough hydrate more. It was still quite sticky but I did have a good windowpane at the end. Bulk fermentation at room temperature for about 10 hrs with doubling in size. However, just as I was getting ready to shape it I was called into to work to cover a callout. I quickly shaped it still in the bowl with a bowl scraper, covered it and threw it in the fridge before leaving. When I returned 14 hours later I preheated the Dutch oven, but when it came time to add the loaf I wasn’t able to turn it neatly into the pot. Since I didn’t use a floured banneton the dough stuck to the bowl, hit the side of the hot Dutch oven and slid down the side leaving a streak of dough down the side. I didn’t try to reposition it for fear of burning myself on the hot oven and deflating the dough further. Baked covered for 25 min at 490, then removed the lid and dropped the temp to 450. But he never says how long to bake it after dropping the temp! I ended up baking for about 30 min more to internal temp of 190. I only have an analog thermometer so it took a minute to get the temperature every time I checked. The result: a frisbee! The crust was thick and chewy but the crumb was pretty good. Definitely softer and les crumbly than my other loaves have been. It is edible at least! So goes the first attempt at whole wheat sourdough…

Way way less messing and great success by everyone whose tried it. You don’t need a Pullman can use any buttered bread pan. Can use 100% whole wheats without any of the kneading etc. I have plenty of pictures on the most recent posting. 

After you get it working well which actually should happen with the first bake you can branch out. Follow all the weights and measurements. There’s no reason for such a long rising . Good luck. c

I’ve used my Dutch oven for sourdough before, using white flour and following Emilie Raffa’s sourdough recipe. That calls for doing the last rise in the Dutch oven rather than pre-heating the Dutch oven then adding the dough. She does not have a recipe for 100% whole wheat sourdough, which is why I tried the Bread Code recipe. He uses a bread cloche but I just have a regular pot. I considered not preheating the pot but was trying to follow the recipe before making changes. I’ll try one of your recipes when I bake next week!

I baked with the covered Dutch oven for more than 10 yrs and then I started using my Grandmothers graniteware roasters. It’s a GAME CHANGER. They preheat in minutes and are light weight. 

That’s actually what you want . The idea of the extremely hot cloche/ Dutch oven isn’t actually beneficial. It’s the closed container with the breads moisture giving off the steam. You want something that heats quickly   , is closed and then cools down quicker as you reduce the temp. Light weight also for safety. 

I’ve been baking all our  breads since the 70’s so I’ve tried about everything lol! 

The method I’ve put together now using ideas from others on here is staggeringly easy and very limited hands on as well as being fool proof. 

You never need such long rise times for bulk fermentation or anytime. You don’t need retarding in the fridge . My latest formula is for the 13” Pullman and is 700g of flour making 1400 g of dough. It uses very active starter, mine triples in a couple hours. You can reduce the amount of dough by half to fit a 9” pan. You don’t have to use a Pullman. If you want to use a banneton add a bit more flour and increase the 2% salt accordingly but I’d do the pan loaf just to see the whole idea working so easily. 

You don’t need to knead! Gluten development is time and a bit of hands on 🙏😊

I would not use the old starter. See what happens with the usual formula first. You should notice a difference. Go from there. Enjoy!

I used ripe starter when following the Bread Code recipe, it rose well before it went into the oven! The mini loaf I used ripe starter but it wasn’t as active hence using yeast as well, it was a bit crumbly but delicious.