I have been making excelent sourdough from my own starter for about 5 months now.  I have been using the recipe from KAF which you can find here http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/extra-tangy-sourdough-bread-recipe [1].  I have been omiting the sour salt as it is optional and my starter is mature enough that it does not need any help to get the proper ammount of sour.  Now for this weekend's experiment I wanted to make a double batch so I could give away a few loaves.  I also wanted to integrate some whole wheat flour into the mix for a more rustic flavor.  What I did was double the KAF recipe and substitute 2 cups of Bob's Red Mill whole wheat flour for 2 cups of the KAF All Purpose.  I ended up with 8 cups KAF 2 cups BRM Whole Wheat.  From the first mixing the bread felt very dry.  I added an additional 1/2 cup of water and the dough came together.  I let it rest for 1/2 hour before kneeding. I kneeded for about 10 minutes and the bread, while soft, was extreamly stiff.  I decided to put the dough in my proofing bucket and let it retard over night in the refrigerator.  I hoped this would allow the water to completly hydrate the dough and give it some elasticity.  I did get about a 50% rise out fo the dough overnight and it filled my bucket the next day after sitting on the counter for about 4 hours.  When I turned it out of the bucket the dough had absolutly no streach to it.  It was dry and tore rather than streaching and was impossible to shape.  I ended up just tossing the batch and baking my tried a true sourdough that afternoon instead.  The question Is how much water should I have added to compensate for the addition of the whole wheat flour.  I would like to try this recipe again but spectacular failures like this one can get expensive.

Thanks,

Erik