White Sourdough

My sourdough starter needed to be fed, and rather than discard the extra reasonably well-fed sourdough, I planned ahead and started an experiment with white sourdough bread. My goto sourdough recipe is my “Every Day Bread”, but this time I wanted to see what I can do with just wheat flour. Because I almost never bake with pure white flour, I mixed in a good amount of white whole wheat.

Here is the recipe:

The night before, start the sourdough preferment:

50g reasonably well-fed sourdough starter
300g White whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur)
300g water

Mix the starter with the water and then work in the flour. Do this in a bowl that is big enough to hold at least three to four times the amount of dough you end up with. Cover the bowl and let sit overnight.

The next morning, the preferment should have increased in size and be full of small gas bubbles.

In a mixer bowl add the following ingredients:

650g preferment (see above)
800g AP flour (again, I use King Arthur)
470g warm water (about 80F)
22g salt
1g yeast (just as an insurance policy)

The yeast was just to make sure that something would happen. The next time I’ll leave it out. Bring the dough together on the low mixer setting for a minute or two, then increase the speed to medium and work for five minutes. Place the dough in a bowl and stretch and fold three to four times every five to ten minutes. You should get a nice “windowpane” after the third or fourth stretch and fold round.

Let the dough rise for about two hours (my kitchen was fairly warm, so it may take a bit longer in the winter), it should at least double in size. Divide into two equal parts and form two loafs. Place the loafs into floured bannetons and let proof for another hour or so. Again, the exact time depends on the temperature the dough is exposed to. While the loafs are proofing, put a baking stone in your oven (I put it on a rack about 1/3 up from the bottom) and preheat to 500F. Before you turn on the heat, place a cast iron pan on the bottom of the oven. The preheating will take longer than your oven will make you believe. Even when the oven indicates that it is preheated, that does not necessarily mean that the stone is at the right temperature yet. I usually let it come up to temperature for at least 45 minutes.

Flour a bread peel and place the loaf (one at a time) on the peel, score and transfer it to the baking stone. Do this for the second loaf as well. Close the oven, put on a pair of oven mitts and dump about a cup of hot water into the cast iron pan and close the door again. This will provide a humid environment that will allow the loafs to develop some serious oven spring. Bake for about 35 minutes. Move the loafs to a cooling rack and let cool for at least an hour before cutting into them. When you take them out of the oven, they are not done yet, the baking process continues while they cool down.

This was my first wheat sourdough bread, and I have to say that this experiment was a total success. This recipe will be added to my regular baking rotation.