Sourdough bread is so fascinating to me. I love to experiment with different ways, methods, and with my large family, they eat it right up. This method is very easy and the gluten is developed by the stretch and folds. It is a simple recipe that only uses 5 ingredients and is just stirred together using a large spatula or spoon. I found my clay baker at a thrift store for just a few dollars and I love it.
The key to a successful sourdough baking day is a mature starter. I do send small jars of starter for the cost of $6 for packing/shipping. Message me if you are interested in starter. You will find many more sourdough recipes in the spiral bound 600+ page Around the Family Table Cookbook. All recipes are sugar-free and label with the correct fuel. Books can be purchased using this link. Buy It Now.
No-Knead Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread THM-E
- 1 1/4 cups active sourdough starter
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 3 cups White Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten
In a large mixing bowl, stir all ingredients together until combined. You will have a rough, sticky dough. Cover and allow it to rise for 1 hour. Remove lid and gently pick up one side of the dough, fold it in half. Repeat with all four sides of dough. Cover and allow to rise for another hour. Repeat 2 more times for a total of 4 folding times. Allow to ferment for 5 1/2 hours at room temperature from the time you mix it until you put the dough in the fridge. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 12 hours or longer. Remove dough from the refrigerator. Fold dough in 3rds, pinching the edges together to seal the edges. Turn dough and fold in 3rds, pinching to seal edges. Line the bottom of the clay baker with parchment paper or foil. Place loaf seam side down in a clay baker. Cover. Allow loaf to warm to room temperature for 1 1/2 hours. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Remove the lid from the baker and fill with water. Allow the water to soak the lid for 10 minutes. Slash the loaf with a sharp knife. Empty the water from the lid and place it on the clay baker. Place the covered baker into the hot oven. Set the timer for 35 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees. Remove the lid and bake for an additional 12-15 minutes. Remove clay baker from oven. Remove loaf to a wire rack to cool. 12-14 slices.
2 slices of bread are considered an E category and 1 slice an S-helper under THM guidelines.
I found my clay baker at a thrift store for just a few dollars. I love it.
If you would like helpful tips on taking care of your starter; this article may be of interest to you…Sourdough Starter.
This article explains what flours can be used and why they are used in sourdough bread.
This post has affiliated links, if you purchase items through these links, I receive a small commission but your price doesn’t change. Your purchase help support this blog, keeps new recipes coming, and assist with our move to a mission outreach of our church. Below are a few of my favorites listed under the affiliate store I purchase them. I love the spatulas to mix my sourdough starter and no-knead bread dough..
I love my Princess House Fantasia Bowls with lids to use when making sourdough bread. Also, after using many kinds of knives, I am sold on the Princess House serrated bread knife. It is awesome!! My friend Kirsten is a great person to contact for Princess House. www.princesshouse.com/Kbrubaker
No-Knead Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread THM-E
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups active sourdough starter
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 3 cups White Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten
Instructions
-
In a large mixing bowl, stir all ingredients together until combined. You will have a rough, sticky dough. Cover and allow it to rise for 1 hour. Remove lid and gently pick up one side of the dough, fold it in half. Repeat with all four sides of dough. Cover and allow to rise for another hour. Repeat 2 more times for a total of 4 folding times. Allow to ferment for 5 1/2 hours at room temperature from the time you mix it until you put the dough in the fridge.
Cover and place in the refrigerator for 12 hours. Remove dough from the refrigerator. Fold dough in 3rds, pinching the dough together to seal the edges. Turn dough and fold in 3rds, pinching to seal edges. Line the bottom of the clay baker with parchment paper or foil. Place loaf seam side down in a clay baker. Cover. Allow loaf to warm to room temperature for 2 hours. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Remove the lid from the baker and fill with water. Allow the water to soak the lid for 10 minutes. Slash the loaf with a sharp knife. Empty the water from the lid and place it on the clay baker. Place the covered baker into the hot oven. Set the timer for 35 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees. Remove the lid and bake for an additional 12-15 minutes. Remove clay baker from oven. Remove loaf to a wire rack to cool. 12-14 slices.
You will find many more recipes in the spiral bound 600+ page Around the Family Table Cookbook. All recipes are sugar-free and label with the correct fuel. Books can be purchased using this link. I do send small jars of mature sourdough starter at your request and I ask that you cover the cost of shipping/packing. PM me if you would like to receive a small jar of mature starter. You may also request a small jar of free sourdough starter with the purchase of a cookbook. Buy It Now.
I was an avid bread baker a few years ago, and this definitely takes me back! I adore sourdough, but was never brave enough to try it myself. The Princess House comments also sent me down memory lane, as I have many of their pieces. Sadly, not those gorgeous bowls! I’m heading over to your FAQ’s on types of flour to see if sprouted wheat will work. Thanks for a great recipe!
Like Shirley Moore, I used to bake bread, but it wasn’t healthy at all and I didn’t know better until four years ago (2015), when I learned about proper eating from a nutritional therapist specialising in Standard Process (SP) plans and supplements. At that time I was closing in rapidly on 90 kilograms (200 lbs) and was prediabetic. Three months later I was around 60kg (135 lbs) and have stayed in the 60-65 kg (135-145 lbs) range ever since. The keys for me were no processed sugars and no grains. Until recently, the only grain I ate was quinoa (which is technically not a grain).
But many potential clients just could not imagine a menu without any bread, so I decided at the beginning of spring of this year (2019) to build a bridge to better eating by returning to bread making, this time focussing exclusively on fermented sourdough and sprouted grains.
So far I have concentrated on sourdough using the Tartine Bakery of San Francisco’s recipes found in their books “Tartine” (2010) and “Tartine Book No.3” (2013) with a century-old San Francisco starter purchased from Alpine Bakery of Corvallis, Oregon where I currently live. The results with non-organic, non-whole wheat white bread flour were lovely, but still not very nutritious or healthy. So I took the plunge into organic white flour, which still produced good results without much improvement on the health/nutrition side.
When I began to try Tartine recipes that contained organic whole grain red wheat, I ran into serious trouble. The results were overly dense breads with little rise that tasted fine but were virtual jaw-breakers! Definitely not the way to go.
Tinkering with the starter and leaven (i.e. the developed starter) produced no better results. I was at a standstill until I discovered your “Around the Family Table” website just last week. The notion of adding vital wheat gluten was new to me. Fortunately my health food co-op had bags of it for sale, and I tried your no-kneed whole-wheat sourdough recipe for the first time this weekend (actually, preparations began back on Wednesday with accelerated feeds for the starter).
The result was dramatically better! The bread rose properly, and had a reasonably good structure. The taste was fine. While definitely denser than a loaf made with white bread flour, it was soft enough to consume without a serious risk of breaking a tooth or cutting gum tissue. Even though the dough didn’t expand in the refrigerator during final finishing as much as the recipe called for, it still rose nicely while baking. I would definitely call it a success! Next weekend I’ll find out if it was just beginner’s luck, or if I’ve discovered how to make really healthy sourdough bread to lure clients over to better eating habits.
I also added 2 tablespoons of vital wheat gluten to a Tartine Bakery half-size recipe for a single 50% whole wheat loaf, while otherwise following the standard directions in the book. Once again, the bread rose nicely, had good structure and retained its taste. This was another indication that vital wheat gluten can greatly ease the struggle to home-bake sourdough bread that people will find attractive.
Thanks ever so much for sharing your recipes and experience with various types of flour. I will be looking further into other recipes you offer, and will likely purchase your cookbook soon!
– Be Wise & Well!
Kirk S, Wellness Coach
4 Strong Legs Wellness
I am thankful I was able to help you with your bread making.
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Thank you so much. I made this recipe and it is everything I want in a bread. THM or not, it is amazing and has that classic tangy smell and taste that I LOVE. I have made a lot of THM friendly breads, and this take the prize. I love that I don’t have to buy sprouted wheat flour. I used Wheat Montana Prairie Gold whole wheat flour (available from Walmart on line). Amazing, Amazing bread. It looks as good as yours, only I have a long clay baker, rather than a round. It came out perfect. THANKS. You have made my life better. 🙂
I am so glad you are enjoying the bread recipe. Our family loves it and it is so easy to mix up.
I don’t have any vital wheat gluten, can I bake this bread without it? Thank you!
Yes, you can. I forgot to add it one day so I did an extra set of stretch and folds and it got nice for me.
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What if you don’t have a clay baker? Any substitutes?
You can use a cast iron pot or a covered casserole dish. Just be sure it can handle the heat.
No clay baker so I plan to use a heavy casserole. Should I put a pan of water in the oven when I remove the lid? Thank you!
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Do you reduce oven temp to 400 when you put bread in oven or when you remove lid?
I reduce the temperature to 400 when I remove the lid.
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Hello Glenda, May I ask how you confirm that the bread is THM
friendly? Is it because you know that once the flour has been fermented so many hours, most of the sugar is broken down? Some sourdough recipes that I’ve seen say at the top of the recipe what percentage of the bread is prefermented. I haven’t seen any numbers higher than 35%, which wouldn’t be a THM E, in my mind. So what makes this recipe E friendly?
Thanks so much!
For sourdough bread to be THM approved it must be made with whole grain and fermented 7 hours at room temperature. This recipe is at room temperature for 5 hours and then refrigerated for 12+ hours. It meets the requirements for THM-E. The pre-fermenting you all talking about is the sourdough starter that they use in the bread dough.
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Hi Glenda-I’ve had this site tagged and have come back to this recipe multiple times for weeks now. I just can’t seem to jump in! I think my biggest confusion is the timing. I need to time to be home (I guess four hours the first day) for all the rising, and then time it so after the 12 hour fridge sit and 2 hours on the counter. I’m struggling. Any easier way to simplify this for a newbie like me? Also, once it does the 12 hours can it stay in the fridge longer if need be? Thanks!
1.You can shorten the rising time to 3 hours if that works better for you.
2.You can keep it in the fridge up to 36 hours.
3.The recipe is easier than it looks 🙂
Yay! Ding, ding, ding. Right answer! LOL! Thank you so much!
One more question; my dough didn’t rise. I’m getting ready to bake so we’ll see what happens. This has always been a problem for me my entire life. It’s like I’m incapable of having bread that rises. Any guesses to what I could be doing wrong? I did exactly everything as written. Maybe it’s my starter? I got one from a family member who had it sent from San Francisco. It was made with white KAF and I’ve been feeding it with wheat. Could that be the problem? Or am I maybe not catching it at the peak time?
If you had your dough in the fridge overnight it will not have risen much at all. I would try feeding your starter a different flour or a mixture of flours.
Mine came out perfectly! So delicious! One more question; how do you store your bread and approximately how long does it keep? I did a Ziploc and I’d say I got a good week and then a couple pieces started getting moldy.
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Do you have any suggestions for how to modify this recipe for spelt? Can I use the same amount as the white whole wheat? Thank you so much for this recipe!!
Spelt will make a more sticky dough–you will not use the same amount of flour.
Spelt needs 25% less liquid, so you’ll need more spelt flour in this recipe. I’m not sure how much, as I haven’t worked that out yet. 😉
What do you feed your starter that you use to make this bread?
You can feed it a mix of white whole wheat and white bread flour.
Can i bake this bread in a bread pan? What would be the oven temperature and length if baking time if using a metal bread pan?
Yes, You can. Bake for 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
Hi, Glenda!!! I can’t wait to try this recipe! I’ve had a starter (that I’ve tried a few recipes with) since November of last year, but I haven’t been able to bring myself to buy all that rye and spelt flour the THM cookbook calls for… The only issue I have is that I have a glass loaf pan (with a lid) and two lidless metal pans. Which would work better for this bread? Or should I just settle for the round loaf I could make in my Dutch oven? I honestly just want to be able to make bread for my husband’s sandwiches. 🙈
You can use regular bread pans. I have several recipes in the cookbook that call for regular bread pans.
Hi Glenda! I don’t have the 5.5hrs plus 12 hours fridge time to ferment this recipe. I realize because of the nature of the dough, the 12 hour fridge time finishes the 7 hour ferment plus allows the dough to be more workable. If I counter ferment for 6-7 hours and then fridge ferment for a couple (to get the dough more workable) would that work do you think? I have enough for 2 loaves so I may try this on one and do it for the right amount of time on the other (or fridge ferment longer) and see if there is any major diffeeence. I would love your input though! Thanks!
I have done the loaves both ways. If you bake it in the covered baker, they will both have a crust chewy crust.
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Looking forward to making this. 🙂 Was wondering what size of a baker do you use?
12 by 10 and about 10 inches high
Glenda, thank you for your detailed recipe! I have a question… can I bake this bread in a glass bread loaf pan? If so, how long and at what temp would you recommend? I am desperate to make a good sandwich bread for my family but I don’t like to use metal pans and I don’t have any cast iron! Trying to just use what I have! Thanks so much!
Yes, you an use 2 glass bread pans. Reduce the heat to 375 and bake for 28-30 minutes.