Even though I have been baking sourdough for years…I still get a smile of satisfaction when I lift the lid of my baker and see another gorgeous loaf!
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.
You will find many more recipes in the spiral bound 600+ page Around the Family Table Cookbook and the hard cover spiral bound It’s all About Sourdough. All recipes are sugar-free and label with the correct fuel. Books can be purchased using this link. We have now added additional items to our store… Sourdough Starter Kits and more. Buy It Now. Follow my blog, Facebook, and Instagram pages.
The key to a successful sourdough baking day is a mature starter. My starter, pictured below, is over 8 years old. From this jar, I have sent our thousands of jars/packs of starter to help others begin their journey into this intriguing world of baking. If you would like to purchase a mature starter to give you a jumpstart into baking you can purchase one on the “Buy it Now” page.
If you have been following my blog you will know that I love to bake with sourdough. Fermenting the dough makes it easier for your body to digest. Some people who are sensitive to gluten can eat sourdough bread since it has been fermented which breaks the phytic acids down. To me, there is something special about taking flour and water and turning it into a bubbling starter.
Sourdough bread is made by fermenting the dough naturally using occurring lactobacilli and wild yeast. This was the usual form of leavening bread down into the Middle Ages until it was replaced by other products. French Bakers brought sourdough techniques to California during the Gold Rush where it remains large part of the culture today.
If you want to score your loaf of bread before baking, I highly recommend a Wire Monkey Lame. They are the absolute best. They fit perfectly in your hand and you can score with east. You can purchase one at this link. Wire Monkey Lame.
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
- 2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten
- 1 teaspoon salt
In a large mixing bowl, whisk starter, water, flour, and vital wheat gluten together until combined. You will have a rough, sticky dough. Allow dough to rest 20 minutes. Add salt. Mix well. 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 3 more times for a total of 4 folding times. Refrigerating ferment: Allow the dough to ferment for a total of 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. Shape following the directions below. Room temperature ferment: Allow the dough to ferment at room temperature for a total of 7 hours from the time you mix it until you shape it to be baked. Shaping. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. I place my clay baker in the oven. The lid and the base on the oven rack to preheat. Press the dough out in a large rectangle. Fold dough in 3rds, pinching the edges together to seal the edges. Turn dough and fold in 3rds, pinching to seal edges. Lay the loaf on parchment paper. Score the loaf with a lame. When the oven is preheated, place loaf and parchment paper in a clay baker. Cover baker with lid. Set the timer for 35 minutes. When the baking time is complete, reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Remove the lid. Bake for an additional 12 minutes. Remove clay baker from oven. Remove loaf to a wire rack to cool. 12-14 slices
I will at times use this rectangle baker for a longer loaf.
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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 starter, water, flour and gluten together until combined. You will have a rough, sticky dough. Allow dough to rest 20 minutes. Add salt. Mix well.. 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 3 more times for a total of 4 folding times. Refrigerating ferment: Allow the dough to ferment for a total of 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. Shape following the directions below. Room temperature ferment: Allow the dough to ferment at room temperature for a total of 7 hours from the time you mix it until you shape it to be baked. Shaping. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. I place my clay baker in the oven. The lid and the base on the oven rack to preheat. Press the dough out in a large rectangle. Fold dough in 3rds, pinching the edges together to seal the edges. Turn dough and fold in 3rds, pinching to seal edges. Lay the loaf on parchment paper. Slash the loaf with a sharp knife. When the oven is preheated, place loaf and parchment paper in a clay baker. Cover baker with lid. Set the timer for 35 minutes. When the baking time is complete, reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Remove the lid. Bake for an additional 12 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 and the hard cover spiral bound It’s all About Sourdough. All recipes are sugar-free and label with the correct fuel. Books can be purchased using this link. We have now added additional items to our store… Sourdough Starter Kits and more. Buy It Now. Follow my blog, Facebook, and Instagram pages.
Your video says to lower the oven temperature to 350 but your directions they lower it to 400°. Which is correct?
I edited the blog post. I have reduced the temperature so they don’t get too dark but still bake through.
I’m getting ready to let my dough sit in the frig overnight and realized I don’t have a Dutch Oven. Any suggestions on what I can use? I don’t really have anything with a lid.
You can bake it in a regular bread pan or even on a cookie sheet with a metal bowl upside down over the bread.
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I don’t have a clay baker, would a cast iron baker be as good? Or would a stoneware bread pan be better than the cast iron?
Yes, I have used cast iron pots already.
I believe I over proofed my dough using room temperature method or maybe it was because I missed the part of proofing the dough for 30-45min after shaping and before slashing. Next time I will try the fridge ferment method. It taste like sourdough, just had lost some size by the 7th hour and came out with more of a dense texture when done baking. I was wanting to know if the bread loses any of it nutritious benefits/digestibility’s when this happens? I did enjoy this whole new process and taking everything as a learning experience.
It will have the same nutritional value.
What flour do you use to feed your starter to keep it in line with THM? Same white whole wheat, or something else? Thank you! – A Newbie
I feed it King Arthur Bread flour. TH does allow for a bit of white flour in bread items.
I made a sourdough starter following your instructions and made your no knead whole wheat sourdough bread. My first 2 loaves turned out pretty good. The third time my dough was very sticky and I ended up having to add more flour and maybe overworking to shape the dough. It stuck to everything, including the parchment paper. The loaf turned out much heavier than the first 2 and didn’t get a nice rise. I did have to substitute 1 cup of the white whole wheat flour with King Arthur bread flour as I ran low on my white whole wheat flour….would that cause the sticky problem?
that should not be the problem. How was your starter?
My starter had been forgotten in the back of the fridge for probably 6 weeks. I pulled it out and fed it 3 times the day before and it looked good and smelled good (yeasty and a little sweet)
My dough never actually comes together into a ball it’s more of just like a sticky dough should I add more flour in the beginning.
You don’t want it too stiff. Mine is often just a sticky mass until I do the stretch and folds to develop the gluten.
Does the total room temperature fermenting time have to be 7 hours, so from when you first mix the starter, flour, water, etc. or is it 7 hours after the last stretching? Thanks.
Seven hours from the time you mix it until you bake it.
Does it matter how thick or thin my starter is? I think mine is some thinner than yours…
If your starter is thinner..it could need slightly more flour.
Ok thanks, and do you slash your loaf of bread as soon as you shape it or do you let it rise first? And if you let it rise how long do you let it rise?
I slash the bread just before I put it in the oven.
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Glenda, your no knead whole wheat sourdough bread recipe does not ask for honey…someone told me you have to use honey to activate the starter…
You dont have to use honey if your starter is very active.
Do I need honey to activate the starter for the bread recipe for the no knead whole wheat sourdough bread recipe?
No!
i was wondering if you have a timeline from start to finish (first feed to baking) – how does it work with your schedule?
I feed the starter in the morning, lunchtime, and in the evening. The next morning Imix the bread and bake it after 7 hours. About 36 hours.
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Do you soak your clay baker every time you bake with it?
Hello Glenda,
I am coming back to sour dough after about 3 years off. My started is a 30 year-old starter, which was in my fridge the whole time. It revived wonderfully after about a week or so of loving care.
I am doing the No Knead Bread. I do not have white whole wheat flour at the moment, and used Montana Wheat whole Wheat flour. It seems drier than your video. I know the Regular whole wheat will have a heavier constiancy. Should I have added more water?
Thank you!
Yes, what you can do is dip your hands in water every time you do a set if stretch and folds. That will soften the bread dough.
Thank you for your reply. I will give this a go!
Hi I am in Canada and have never seen the white whole wheat flour, is it ok to use use straight whole wheat flour? That is what my sourdough starter is made up of and sometimes I have a hard time finding vital wheat gluten, if I can’t find it is there something else I can use? Thanks 😊
You can use regular whole wheat flour as for vital wheat gluten it can be bought off of Amazon, too.
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After the 7 hour rise on the counter and forming the loaf, do you then let the loaf rest the 30 minutes before cutting it and baking it? Or do you just put it straight into the oven? Also, do you soak your clay baker before using? Thank you!
I often put it right into the oven. I will at times soak the lid of the baker.
Thanks for your quick response! Love your recipes!
I received your starter and cookbook a few weeks ago and have loved your recipes! I just wanted to see how you recommend storing the bread once it’s cooled? I get a nice crust when it comes out, but I feel like when I wrap it in plastic it gets soft. Is there a way to store it and keep the nice crust? Thank you!
you can wrap it in a clean tea towel.
Thank you so much for this recipe. I just started THM and then a week later found out I was diabetic. I was hating that I couldn’t eat my sourdough bread since it wasn’t whole wheat sourdough, so your recipe can at the perfect time for me. At first I was confused by the recipebut I think I’ve got it now. You either do a refrigerated rise or a room temperature rise, not both, right?
yes, you can pick which ferment you want to do to fit into your schedule.
yes
The first time my mom made sourdough with this recipe, it came out very dense and with a small crumb. On her next attempt, I had her try without the added gluten, given that gluten structure develops naturally with stretch and folding methods and the addition seemed unnecessary. We ended up with a sloppy goop, so obviously the added gluten was necessary. However in my few years of breadmaking, I’ve never had to add gluten. I am curious why it is necessary.
Do you know your baker’s ratios or hydration level? Should we add more flour? I tried stretching and folding many more times and even tried putting it back in the mixer to develop natural gluten structure.
in your previous bread baking were you using all whole groan flour?
Is there any flour I can use in place of the white whole wheat?
I can’t seem to find white whole wheat here in western Canada for an affordable price.
You can use any whole grain flour.
Glenda, You mention using a regular bread pan in one of the previous comments. Could you expand on that please and thank you?
what size pan?
what type pan (metal, glass, stone)?
what temp?
how much time?
would the loaf have to be covered for part of the baking?
does the temp need to be reduced after a certain amount of time?
Anything else you might think helpful that I missed.
Maribeth
I would shape the loaf and place it into a well-greased bread pan. Allow it to rise for 1 hour. preheat over to 350 degrees. Bake bread for 35 minutes or until an internal temp of 200.
I’m confused. I put my dough into the refrigerator after 5 1/2 hours on the counter. Now it’s time to shape it. Then score it. Then bake it. Doesn’t it need to rise again since I just flattened it out in the shaping?
Thank you for all the information! Newbie here. I have watched your YouTube video on this recipe as well as the stretch and fold method. My dough isn’t nearly as “stretchy” as your, but will rip instead of stretching like that. Do you have any ideas why that might be? My measurements are correct. I am using an established stater from a friend, and I am using the ingredients you recommend. My vital wheat gluten is over a year old; could that be it?
I would try fresh wheat gluten. One questiion, what flour are you using to feed your starter?
I am using the King Arthur bread flour you recommended. I am now into my third baking day and it is much more stretchy and similar to your – plus oh so tasty. Thank you!