Homemade sourdough bread with whole grain wheat flour

Step-by-step preparation

Cooking time: 4 hr

1. STEP 1

   

   Preparatory stage: in the evening we put the dough on (in essence, we revive the “eternal” rye sourdough, but feed it with wheat flour). For details on preparing and storing sourdough, read the description below the steps. For the dough, I take the rye eternal sourdough from the refrigerator, stir it in a container with water at room temperature and add whole grain wheat flour. I stir, cover loosely and put away in a warm place until the morning. By morning the dough will increase approximately 3 times

2. STEP 2

   

   Let's start kneading the dough. To do this, sift the flour into a separate container, I use 1st grade wheat, the dough with it behaves better when kneading due to a much larger amount of gluten. You can also use regular premium wheat flour, preferably not bleached. The flavor of the bread will change slightly, but will still be rich due to the addition of whole wheat flour. Next, add whole wheat flour.

3. STEP 3

   

   In another container (it should be wide and large enough for easy mixing), add water for the dough at room temperature, place our dough in it and mix. At the same stage, add salt and sugar, stir until dissolved. If you use ground coriander like I did, add it to the mixture and stir.

4. STEP 4

   

   Add flour in parts. Stir as much as possible with a spoon.

5. STEP 5

   

   Then knead roughly with your hands. This process doesn't have to be long - just combine all the ingredients.

6. STEP 6

   

   Now cover the container with cling film and leave for 20 minutes for autolysis. Thanks to this procedure, the dough will become more flexible and smooth, and the baked goods will be more fluffy.

7. STEP 7

   

   Knead the settled dough thoroughly. It should become plastic, gather into a bun and not stick to your hands.

8. STEP 8

   

   Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. My bun did not stick to the countertop, so I did not sprinkle it with flour.

9. STEP 9

   

   Now we need to perform an action called stretch-fold. To do this, stretch the dough with your hands in different directions to form an approximate rectangle. Important! The dough is stretched, and not rolled out into a layer with a rolling pin.

10. STEP 10

    

    Mentally divide the rectangle into three equal parts. Now fold: first the left third to the middle.

11. STEP 11

    

    Then the right third to the center.

12. STEP 12

    

    Do the same with the top and bottom parts, folding them towards the center. Due to such simple manipulations, gluten is developed in flour, which improves the quality of baking. Our bread will definitely be fluffy!

13. STEP 13

    

    Do not crush the resulting bun under any circumstances! The difference between sourdough bread and yeast bread is that in yeast bread we periodically release gas bubbles by kneading the bread to speed up the fermentation process, while in unleavened bread all actions are aimed at preserving precious bubbles.

14. STEP 14

    

    Place the dough in a proofing container (about 2 hours, but everything will depend on the temperature in the room and the strength of the starter, so the time may increase or decrease). The container should be large enough, as the dough will rise about 2-3 times. Cover the container with cling film, or, as I did, close with an airtight lid. During proofing, repeat the “stretch-fold” procedure at least twice.

15. STEP 15

    

    As soon as you see that the dough has noticeably increased in volume, you can proceed to the next step.

16. STEP 16

    

    Remove the dough from the container and place it on the table surface.

17. STEP 17

    

    Divide into two parts.

18. STEP 18

    

    Stretch each part a little and carefully fold the edges towards the center. The next step will be shaping the bread, so now we are adjusting the dough to the future shape. There are special forms for such bread, but you can use any baskets, colanders, or take a sieve of a suitable size. The main thing is that there are holes in the pan, since the bread needs to “breathe”.

19. STEP 19

    

    I bake round bread and shape it in two colanders. So I just fold the edges towards the center. If, for example, your molding container is oblong and the bread resembles a loaf, then the dough needs to be stretched into a rectangle and rolled into a loose “roll”.

20. STEP 20

    

    These are the colanders I have. One is larger, which means I left a larger piece of dough for it.

21. STEP 21

    

    We line the molds with clean towels, be sure to sprinkle the fabric with flour so that the dough does not stick when standing.

22. STEP 22

    

    Place the prepared rounded pieces into molds, cover the top loosely with another towel. This way the dough “breathes” but does not dry out. Leave to rise for 1.5 to 3 hours.

23. STEP 23

    

    My dough rested for 2.5 hours. During this time, it rose 2-3 times and, with light pressure with a finger, straightened out quickly enough (if the hole does not straighten back when pressed, then the dough has already been over-stood). 10-20 minutes in advance, turn on the oven at 240 degrees. I set the mode to "Top and Bottom Heat". Be sure to plan how you will create steam during the first 10 minutes of baking. I pour a glass of water onto the empty baking sheet at the bottom of the oven.

24. STEP 24

    

    Now place a sheet of baking paper in a colander and a cutting board on top...

25. STEP 25

    

    and holding it, turn it over. The molded dough will end up lying on the paper, on the board.

26. STEP 26

    

    Carefully remove the mold (colander) and towel.

27. STEP 27

    

    This is the rounded piece we got. Do not shake off the flour, otherwise the loaf may fall off.

28. STEP 28

    

    Now use a sharp knife to make cuts.

29. STEP 29

    

    The drawing can be arbitrary.

30. STEP 30

    

    Now carefully move the bread and paper from the cutting board to a baking sheet or oven rack. If you have a baking tray for water on the lower tier in advance, pour a glass of water into it (you can just put a container with water) Close and bake for 10 minutes with steam at 240 degrees, then open the oven for 5 seconds, releasing the steam and bake for about 40 more -45 minutes without steam at 200 degrees.

31. STEP 31

    

    When the bread is browned, remove from the oven! The wonderful aroma of homemade bread will fill your apartment. This bread cannot be called “white” in the usual sense. First grade flour and whole grain flour make its crumb more beige. But it really tastes amazing. Bon appetit!

Comments on the recipe

Anastasia

13.12.2023

4.7

Prepared. I experimented in two ways: like you did in a colander and in a glass form. The photo shows: there is no difference. The mold didn't crack. Everything was baked, it was baked with a bang)) my husband really liked the bread. The recipe works. I'm putting it in my piggy bank. The only thing is I didn’t add coriander. Next time I'll try

juli

13.12.2023

4.6

Wonderful bread, thank you very much! I was specifically looking for a recipe for whole grain wheat bread with the addition of white wheat flour, and with rye sourdough)) There weren’t that many of them, so I had to do some digging. And your recipe is perfect, exactly what I need! My white wheat flour is Kazakh with high gluten, it takes a lot of water, so I added 450g instead of 550g. The dough works great, the bread rises well, and is very, very tasty!!!

Hope

13.12.2023

4.6

The perfect recipe for Homemade sourdough bread with whole grain wheat flour! The process is certainly not fast, but the result is worth it. Just the smell gives me such an appetite.... mmm! I didn’t leave the dough overnight, it took three hours to rise, I was afraid that it would peroxidize. I didn't add sweetener, and I didn't add sugar either. Coriander was replaced with flax seeds. The bread turns out porous, with a barely perceptible sourness. Thanks to the author for the detailed and clear description.

Hope

13.12.2023

4.7

I really love sourdough bread. It turns out tender, with a slight sourness and does not crumble at all. I used “Makfa” wheat flour, since it has a high protein level (what I was able to find in the store) and whole grain “French Thing”. Instead of coriander, I added cardamom, but only because I like it more in light bread. Coriander, in my opinion, is more suitable for malt, rye bread. The author of the recipe describes in detail all the stages of making bread, special thanks for this! Even how to make sourdough!

Tanuska-ps

13.12.2023

4.9

I did everything according to the recipe, the dough turned out great, it just took a long time to rise, 3.5 hours. I think it's because it's cool in the apartment. I was pleased with the result. The bread is delicious and aromatic!

BLUE-EYED

13.12.2023

4.8

Just now I saw your recipe. Admin Rina, thank you for taking the time to film. Very informative, simple but labor intensive. Maybe thanks to such detailed step-by-step instructions, more housewives will decide to bake homemade bread. It’s just scary at first, but how tasty and healthy it is! And the second recipe is how to prepare the sourdough itself, you don’t even need to look for anything - take it and cook! Very comfortably!

Ropotushka

13.12.2023

5

Just took it out of the oven. The bread is very tasty and the crust is amazing, crispy and aromatic. I’m so proud that I baked such beauty and deliciousness myself))) I made it with rye sourdough with wheat flour and added a little corn. But you don't feel it at all. I baked it with steam for 10 minutes and 25 minutes without - everything baked perfectly. I will experiment more. Thanks for the recipe. Everything is written in detail and clearly.