A 100% Whole Wheat Loaf
Really proud of the rise and crumb on this one - I had been on a quest for a light, springy whole wheat loaf as I remained stubbornly opposed to the fact that 100% whole wheat meant necessarily dense and heavy crumbs.
Pleased to say this recipe worked out well (adapted from Full Proof Baking's wonderful blog) - she recommended doing a cold, overnight bulk fermentation and I think that really did the trick here. Very minimally handled overall.
Recipe as follows:
50% Red Fife
50% Whole Wheat White Flour
8% Whole Wheat Levain (fed at a 1:5:4 ratio so a bit stiffer than usual)
2.2% sea salt
95% hydration
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Mixed levain 4 hours ahead of autolyse, which sat for another 2 hours until levain was peaked and flour was fully hydrated. I used cool water here as recommended to slow the dough down. Added levain to dough along with salt, and then did a quick stretch and fold on the counter top to form a ball and transferred to bulking dish.
I don't have a proofing box, so I used a cooler box with a freezer pack or two to make a cooler environment than my kitchen. She recommended 68F but I couldn't get it quite there so mine sat at ~54F overnight for about 12 hours.
In the morning the dough was fluffy and airy and very soft, but had seemed to rise well. I let it sit for an hour longer at ~68F (cooler warmed up) since it was colder overnight, then did 1 coil fold to pre-shape. Waited another hour then final shaped into batard and popped it into the fridge for another 5 hours.
Baked 20 min covered at 450 then 25 min uncovered at 425.
Comments
That is a huge success, bravo. What great open crumb and oven spring for 100% whole grain sourdough. Kristen’s methods are excellent aren’t they?
Benny
And with such great video instructions as well. I've had the most success with many of her methods relative to other sources especially as it relates to oven spring and crumb :)
Home-milled? or could you please give brand or source of flour?
and not home-milled, so the red fife is from Anson Mills and the white whole wheat is King Arthur
I just looked up "coil fold" as I had not heard that term before. It is amazing how many things I do that actually have a name! I have used that technique forever but never knew it had a name.
Lovely loaf for 100% WW. That is how it is done!
That is quite an accomplishment, you are deservedly proud!
Your crumb looks fantastic for such a high % of Whole Wheat.
Nice job!
Yes! Never let someone tell you that WW can't rise and shine. I learned with WW only! However, I do love every grain.