I started using this recipe with mostly white flour and only a little whole wheat flour. The above picture shows this bread. But gradually I've been using more and more whole wheat flour until now I'm using all whole wheat. The photo below is 100% whole wheat. The crust is not as crispy when using whole wheat, neither do I get as large of holes in the interior, but we still love it. If you choose to use all or some white flour, you will probably need slightly more flour.
6 cup whole wheat flour (or white if you prefer)
2 1/2 cup water
1 1/4 cup active starter
1 T honey
3 tsp salt
Mix all ingredients except salt just until combined. Allow dough to rest for 30 minutes.
Add salt and mix on low or medium speed for 5 minutes.
Transfer to oiled bowl. Allow to rise for 3 hours. During rise, at each hour, stretch and fold the dough.
After rise, turn onto counter and divide into loaves. Make two large or four small loaves. Shape into round or oblong loaves and allow to rise for 2-3 hours.
Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Slash loaves, mist with water, place in oven, turn heat down to 450 degrees, and bake for about 30 minutes. The crust should be a deep brown.
For even better crust and oven spring, cover loaf with roasting pan lid for the first 12 minutes of baking time to add humidity.
If you wish, you may allow the shaped dough to rise for about 1 1/2 hours and then refrigerate for 2 hours or up until a day. Bake directly out of the refrigerator with no warm up time needed.
I like to form the dough into a round loaf and place it seam side up in a VERY well greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. When taking out of the fridge, the dough will be risen to fill the bowl. Turn out of bowl onto a baking sheet, score and bake immediately. This gives a lovely golden blistered crust.
I like the refrigerator method especially when we are having guests. It is nice to have all the prep work done the day before but still have fresh hot bread out of the oven.
To find more sourdough information and recipes, check out the sourdough page.
What type of bakeware are you using? My current baking sheets are wearing out and I want to invest in good quality ones for whatever I buy next I've never seen anything like I see in your last 2 pictures
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Why is it called 'wild yeast'? Thanks for all of the recipes that you post. I love them.
ReplyDeleteIt's not store-bought. A yeast starter will inoculate with many wild strains of yeast and lactobacillus (the bacteria that helps give sourdough its flavor) if it's just kept moist and fed with flour. Wild yeast, as opposed to instant yeast, which is only one species of fast-rising yeast, or an inoculated yeast from somewhere else, such as San Francisco, etc (I.e. San Francisco sourdough).
DeleteSimone-
ReplyDeleteI use a stainless steel baking sheet. What you see in the photo is the silicone mat. I love using the mat. I don't need to grease the pan or use parchment paper. It is easy to clean and rolls for storage.
Melissa -
"Wild yeast" is another name for "sourdough."
Gina
I've been interested in this type of bread for a long time, but the recipes I've seen all call for it to be baked in a Dutch oven. I like that this will still hold it's shape without needing a Dutch oven to bake it in. I'm definitely bookmarking this one.
ReplyDeleteThe bread looks delicious! Every homemade bread recipe I have ever tried has always tasted ok, had a great crust, but the inside always has a shiny appearance. Any idea what I may be doing wrong? Also, how do you make sourdough starter or did you buy it somewhere? I would like to start making sourdough bread because I heard that it is healthier.
ReplyDeleteYour blog has helped me so much with gardening, homeschool, and so much more. Love it!
Thanks for your help!
Nicole -
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what you mean by your bread having a shiny appearance. Is the dough raw?
As for getting a sourdough starter, I wrote all about that here. http://homejoys.blogspot.com/2011/05/starting-sourdough.html
Happy Baking,
Gina
Good evening, Gina~
ReplyDeleteThis recipe sounds absolutely WONDERFUL! Thank you so much for sharing it!
Blessings~
Laura
Thanks for the link to the sourdough starter!
ReplyDeleteWhen I bake my bread, the dough gets cooked (I have even tested with a skewer like you would when you bake a cake-comes out clean), it just has a shiny appearance. Like a table that has shellac or polyurethane on it is shiny, that's what the insides of my bread look like. I didn't know if it was a problem with kneading (too much or not enough), my oven, liquid content or what.
Thanks!
Nicole -
ReplyDeleteBread can't be tested with a skewer like a cake. You know bread is finished when it sounds hollow when tapped, when it is nicely browned all over, or when the interior reaches a certain temperature. Is the bread dry inside, or is it gummy? You may need to bake it longer.
Gina
this looks good and do-able.
ReplyDeleteYour breads are stunning! These recipes make me so excited to start experimenting with sourdough!
ReplyDeleteWhat is the difference between a starter and an active starter? I have a sourdough starter from Cultures For Health but have yet to start it because it all looks so confusing it with feeding it, etc.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous -
ReplyDeleteAn active starter is one that is being fed regularly and is bubbly. I'd encourage you to jump into sourdough. Once you do it, it isn't near as complicated as it appears!
You can check the sourdough tab at the top of my blog to find more info.
Gina
Hi Gina,
ReplyDeleteI'm new to the sourdough game, and my first attempts have been kind of embarrassing. I just made this recipe of yours for the second time, the first time was so-so and this second time tasted...oh, words can't describe how delicious it was, but it did not rise well, which was my issue the first time. I don't have a mixer, and the dough is SO wet (my starter is probably 80% hydration?) I use the stretch and fold method instead of kneading prior to rise, as well as every hour like you say. I bake the bread in a preheated, parchment-lined dutch oven, but seriously it's so wet I can't even score it before baking. Needless to say it has very little oven spring! I don't know what I'm doing wrong. My starter is a couple of months old and seems boisterous, and I live in San Diego and it's summertime so it isn't the weather, I'm sure. Do you have any advice for me?
Melissa-
DeleteIt think that you need to add more flour if it is too wet to score. Keep working at it and hopefully you'll find the bread of your dreams!
Gina
We will be making the English muffins with a cast iron griddle oN campiing trips. Easy bread to make on the road.
ReplyDeleteHi Gina! I baked this bread today and it looks beautiful! I did it in the bread machine, whole wheat dough cycle, then turned it off before the baking part started and left the dough in there to rise. Boy, did it rise! I was tempted to bake in the machine but my kids love the crust if casserole baked bread very much, so I put the dough in a cane basket and baked in a casserole. It's beautiful!
ReplyDeleteSo I wanted to say thank you for showing me this method, previously I had only tried no knead sourdough. Next time I will try baking in the machine. What a pity I can't upload picture of the bread, it looks quite different from yours. My sourdough makes the top crack but it just makes it look more rustic!
ReplyDeleteWhat size are the bowls you are using to let this rise? I want to try this recipe, but don't want to put it in either too large or too small of a bowl. Thank you!
ReplyDelete- Jennifer
Jennifer -
DeleteUse a bowl that is about twice the size as your ball of dough. This will give room for expansion.
Happy Baking,
Gina
I'm glad I stumbled across your blog. Your sourdough posts provide lots of practical information and I'm happy to learn all I can. I have been baking sourdough for a couple of weeks now but feel very unsure of what I'm doing and want to get better! Blessings to you and yours, ~Stacy www.withgreatjoy.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI use a meat thermometer and temp my breads at 200 , is the dough dense and wet ? I think that maybe your shiny bread just a thought great baking to all
ReplyDeleteThank you for an easy but delicious recipe, I love that I can refrigerate the dough until the next day. Everyone I talk to about homemade sourdough says they are too lazy to make it but I can't wait to give them a loaf of your recipe, it'll change their mind! The starter is the arduous part, the dough is simple! 👌🏻
ReplyDeleteHi Gina, I use many of your recipes with delight. I still have one question. Sometimes recipes call for starter. Others call for 'active' starter. Do some recipes use starter straight from the refrigerator without having added to it first?
ReplyDeleteGreat question. I usually try to specify "active" starter for recipes that must have the starter recently fed and bubbly. But some recipes such as crackers, English muffins, and waffles - it is okay to have cold dormant starter. Of course, active starter is always preferred, but it will work with discarded starter as well.
DeleteHope that makes sense.
Happy Baking,
Gina
Hi Gina! Why is it that you suggest in many of your recipes to add the salt at the end? Also, what is the purpose of the 20 minute rest time?
ReplyDeleteHi Bekah,
DeleteThe salt is added at the end by many professional bakers to help in the gluten formation. But I often add it all together because I'm so scatterbrained that I forget to add it later.
You can read this post to learn about the rest time.
http://homejoys.blogspot.com/2011/01/rest.html
Happy Baking,
Gina
Also the salt may retard the yeast a bit so the 30 minutes is giving it a chance to start growing before the salt slows it down. You want the salt for flavor.
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI have a question about my bread. It is rising beautifully and when I go to dump it out to bake it, it deflates into this flat piece of dough. Not sure what I am doing wrong. This is all new to me. I am using regular bowls and I oiled and floured them, the dough does seem to be a little more wet, wet enough that I couldn't score it, but not so wet that I can't work with it if that makes sense. Thank you for your help!
There is a couple things you could try. Not allowing the dough to rise as long. Adding slightly more flour. Or placing it in a loaf pan and baking it in the pan so you are not moving it.
DeleteHappy Baking,
Gina
Hello, I am making this bread today and my dough seems to be very hard. Is this suppose to be a dry dough recipe as opposed to a high or medium hydration dough? Just wondering because your dough in the photos looks like a medium to high hydration and mine is very stiff. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI would consider this a medium hydration dough. Sorry that you are having problems with it. Maybe add less flour next time.
DeleteGina
Hi Gina, I was wondering if there was any other way I could progress the dough with manual kneading? I don't have a mixer. Also, should the starter be fed a few hours prior to use? Let me know. My first try did not turn out and is like to try it again! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteAlly
Sure. It takes some energy but you can certainly knead by hand. I like to feed my starter about six or eight hours before using it to bake bread.
DeleteHappy Baking,
Gina
Hello,
ReplyDeleteHope all is well.
Would adjustments to time and temperature be needed if making four small loaves rather then two large? Thank you
It may take less time to bake smaller loaves.
DeleteHappy Baking,
Gina
did you preheat the bakeware
ReplyDeleteI do sometimes. Not always.
DeleteGina
Gina,
ReplyDeleteAre you able to give your recipe using grams and milliliters, please?
Thank You.
Kevin
You can find a converter online for recipes.
DeleteGina
Gina I’ve been following you for years and find your energy and strength amazing. I make many of your recipes and they are the reason I didn’t give up on sour dough bread! I just put the wild yeast loaves in the oven and have a question or two. How the heck do you get the loaves for an overnight rise out of the bowl without deflating? Yes I oiled the bowl well. Also I used Pyrex bowls, could I just have baked it in those? Thank you…sue
ReplyDeleteMy dough deflates sometimes, but it jumps back in the oven.
DeleteI'm afraid if you baked it in the bowl, you'd really have difficulty getting it out of the bowl after baking.
Gina
I tried this recipe but substituted some
ReplyDeleteOf the wheat flour with white all purpose flour with a starter 2 days old and and it still turned out fabulous! I had not had dough not fall on me , so the refrigerating part was helpful to know. I slashed the dough the night before and refrigerated for about 8 hours and the rise wa the best I have ever seen on any bread I’ve made. It held its shape and the slashes were more pronounced when I did them and the refrigerated the dough. Thank you for sharing this recipe!