50% Whole Wheat Sourdough

I like to grind my own grains so my whole grain flour is fresh. Before the grain is ground, the whole grain is called a berry. So you might have wheat, spelt or rye berries. One of my favorites is hard white wheat berries. “Hard” because the berry is high in gluten and used for making bread with. “White” because the outer layer of the berry is lighter than the usual dark “red” wheat berry and it tastes milder. You can also blend it with other flour types, like white bread flour, to encourage your family to try wholegrains.

For this formula, I used an all white flour sourdough starter and then used a blend of bread flour and white wheat flour in the dough, which ended up as 50% whole wheat of the total flour.

When using more wholegrains, it’s a good idea to increase the water in the dough. You’ll also need to monitor the dough fermentation more closely because wholegrains will ferment more quickly. The higher the ratio of wholegrains in your dough, the more fragile the dough is as well. So go easy on your dough when shaping to avoid tearing the dough.

This formula will make four large loaves. The dough is 78% hydration and the dough total is 3450 grams.

Follow formula below: