100% Whole Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread

With this simple recipe you will always make amazing fluffy whole wheat sourdough sandwich bread. I'll show you step by step how to make this delicious masterpiece, definitely one of my favorites.
Recipe:
- 500g of strong whole wheat flour
- 450g of water (room temperature) = 90%
- 50g of sourdough starter = 10%
- 10g of salt = 2%
The flour that I was using for this recipe is coming from Mulino Padano. You can use the coupon code "TheBreadCode" to get 5% off on your order. You find it here: thbrco.io/whole-wheat-flour
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Below is a list of all the tools and flour that I am using. Some of the links contain an affiliate code, feel free to use them if you like my work. This way you support my dream to become a full time Breadmaker ❤️.
My tools:
Banneton proofing basket (25cm length, 15cm width, 8.5cm height): thbrco.io/banneton
Cooling rack: thbrco.io/cooling-rack
Digital kitchen scale: thbrco.io/kitchen-scale
Dough scraper: thbrco.io/dough-scraper
Dough scraper golden: thbrco.io/dough-scraper-gold
Dutch oven for batards (Challenger Bread Pan): thbrco.io/dutch-oven-batards
Dutch oven round (Lodge): thbrco.io/dutch-oven-round
Dutch oven with glas lid (Brovn) - (Coupon BREADCODE for 5% off): thbrco.io/dutch-oven-glas-lid
Infrared thermometer: thbrco.io/infared-meter
Loaf pan (30cm length x 12cm width x 9cm height): thbrco.io/loaf-pan-regular
Loaf pan with lid (34cm length, 13cm width, 12cm height): thbrco.io/loaf-pan-lid
No stick spray (vegetable based): thbrco.io/non-stick-spray
Ooni pizza oven: thbrco.io/ooni-pizza-oven
Oven gloves: thbrco.io/oven-gloves
Oven thermometer: thbrco.io/oven-thermometer
pH meter to check acidity (advanced): thbrco.io/ph-meter-advanced
pH meter to check acidity (basic): thbrco.io/ph-meter
Rolling pin (Coupon BREADCODE for 10% off): thbrco.io/rolling-pin
Scoring Knife Schnittholz Olive: thbrco.io/scoring-knife-schni...
Scoring Knife Zatoba Walnut (Coupon BREADCODE for 10% off): thbrco.io/scoring-knife-zatoba
The best bread knife (made in Germany): thbrco.io/bread-knife
Weck starter jars: thbrco.io/weck-jars
The flour that I am using:
Drax Mühle Manitoba flour 14% protein: thbrco.io/drax-flour
For ze Germans: Which flour in Germany?: thbrco.io/blog-flour
Mulino Padano Bread flour 15% protein (Coupon TheBreadCode for 5% off): thbrco.io/mulino-flour
Strong whole wheat flour (Coupon TheBreadCode for 5% off): thbrco.io/whole-wheat-flour
Baking merchandise:
All my custom designed shirts/hoodies: thbrco.io/bread-shirts-hoodies
Get some of my starter Bread Pit: thbrco.io/my-starter
Happy sourdough shirt: thbrco.io/happy-opencrumb-shirt
Neapolitan pizza shirt: thbrco.io/neapolitan-pizza-shirt
The perfect batard sourdough: thbrco.io/batard-shirt
Recommended videos:
Debaked ep. 1 - Pizza journey to Napoli: thbrco.io/debaked-napoli
Debaked ep. 2 - Journey to a flour mill: thbrco.io/debaked-flour-mill
Discard starter bread: thbrco.io/discard-starter-bread
Fermentation time table: thbrco.io/fermentation-time-t...
Make a sourdough starter: thbrco.io/make-sourdough-starter
Make your starter more active: thbrco.io/more-active-starter
Recommend sourdough bread recipe: thbrco.io/sourdough-recipe
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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:50 Process
1:50 Recipe
8:20 Baking
12:30 Tasting
#sourdough #sandwichbread

[@finneh6145]

A little tip for baking with steam and loafpans: Excessive steam can be very bad for your oven and corrode components over time. Instead of your method, I place an inverted loafpan on top of the other one for half the baking time. This mimics the effect of a dutch oven, just without the thermal mass. If you don't have enough loafpans for this, you can get some cheap ones which you just use on top for like 5 bucks each :)

[@udishomer5852]

Great advice :) I just bought two loaf pans for $4.5 each.

[@dobiebloke9311]

finneh - I like that idea. I dumb-lucked into two cast iron loaf pans. I wonder if I should preheat the 'roof' one? I'll be starting this recipe tomorrow or the next day, so I guess I'll find out soon enough. Anyway, great idea.

[@nickisabelle724]

​@@dobiebloke9311I'd like to know if you tested preheating the top half. I'll have to buy more soon to try it, but I know mine slide around, would be hard to balance it with mits while it's hot

[@dobiebloke9311]

@@nickisabelle724 - I haven't tried it yet, but I have tried Henrique's (sp?) recipe & procedures, twice now, both boule tho. Not perfect yet, but even tho flawed, it's wonderful bread. I plan on doing the loaf version later this week, so I'll get back to you. I've got two, modern era Lodge pans, and the short dimensions have a handle, with about a half inch of a flat iron shelf, probably for structural reasons. I have tried mounting the top one when everything was cold, and it went easily and seemed pretty stable. Of course, handling hot pans, while bending over, would be scarier, but if left undisturbed, I'm confident it won't slide around. We'll see. Btw, what kind of cast pans are you using?

[@dobiebloke9311]

@@nickisabelle724 - I did try it with the cast iron bread pans (Lodge, about $20 ea. on Amazon), and it worked fine, with the upper one pre-heated, being very stable. I haven't tried with any of my other loaf pans (glass, non-stick, etc), as they are far too precarious, even when just attempting it 'cold'. If you were inclined, I would highly recommend the cast iron pans, regardless.

[@mariaprawdzinska8650]

You're spuring my ambition with this incredibly beautiful bread. I gotta bake one like this for my family.

[@billrobertson]

I love your sense of humor! And I'm definitely going to make a whole wheat loaf next!

[@jgtutors]

I learned so much from this, and yes, w/w sourdough sandwich bread is hard to find! I used your starter directions and measurements and blended your process with someone else’s (because I like to live dangerously). My loaf is delicious! And it’s my first attempt at w/w sourdough. Thanks as always for your enthusiasm and coaching!

[@anicole5206]

Oh boy, I can't wait to try this one, thank you.

[@judywilson5784]

Wow; it looks amazing!

[@TheJamesOutlaw]

I am trying this now and doing the bulk fermentation. Hope it goes well. Can't wait!

[@dianalieskovsky8729]

Ahhhh thanks looks great I’m definitely going to make this bread. 👩‍🍳

[@user-cv2pd8yi2h]

Du bist großartig, weil du nicht nur ein Brotrezept hochlädst, sondern das machst, was nur wenige tun würden, du teilst auch dein Wissen im Bereich Brot, aber du teilst auch deine Geheimnisse. Ich liebe deutsches Brot, sehr gutes Rezept Entschuldigung für meine deutschen Grüße aus Hellas.

[@JustinKingma]

This is gorgeous, definitely going to try this. Thank you!!!

[@the_bread_code]

Thank you too!

[@truongbuugiam405]

Very good I will try it, thank you for the video

[@neelamsharma2117]

You always inspire me.Great recipe like always.

[@dietmargoppert1583]

It is so nice to see your passion in baking and you definitely are still have that nice German way of been particular. Regards from Ireland from a nother passionate hobby baker 🤗

[@rollingstone3017]

Gorgeous. I'm drooling.😋🤤

[@vinodrana2775]

Wonderful... thanks for sharing this recipe. 👍👍

[@JoeKaye959]

This loaf is so beautiful I almost cried

[@the_bread_code]

Thanks!

[@irisming9056]

Love this !!!

[@the_bread_code]

Thank you!

[@user-cv2pd8yi2h]

Ich liebe dieses Lachen, es macht mich auch glücklich

[@malinayicruzpena2327]

I made this bread yesterday and it is the most tasty sourdough bread I have ever made. I used tons of olive oil and it took me a while to get the bread out because it got stuck in the bottom of the dish. BUT the olive oil added so much flavor to the crust that I will risk it and use it again. Fermentation time for me was about 9 hours and baking about 30min with steam and 30 without. It was perfection. Thanks a lot for this recipe, you are a star :)

[@namitachordiapittie9307]

Can you tell me for how long did you mix the dough after mixing all the ingredients?

[@ranulfolopez2723]

Ty,looking forward trying his recipe, I just hope that I would be successful as you are.😊😊

[@eduarddavidescu119]

Well done sir. I would like to see more wholemeal flour contents, because I believe this is the only flour humans should eat.

[@the_bread_code]

Noted

[@udishomer5852]

Or rye bread, which is also healthy

[@culturallydifferent]

And rye 😍

[@rosielettuce2721]

A flow chart. Bless you

[@CookbooksonRepeat]

I am DEFINITELY trying this! I’m amazed you got such a beautiful crumb without stretch and folds!!

[@the_bread_code]

It's all about the fermentation :-)

[@user-cv2pd8yi2h]

für mich gibt es in Griechenland und in DEUTSCHLAND das beste Brot. Hier in Griechenland haben wir einige Sauerteigbrote, die 2 Kilo wiegen und sie sind auch Vollkornbrot, meine Mutter macht sie viele Male und sie sind einfach perfekt, jetzt hat mein Sohn auch angefangen, Brot nach Ihrem Rat zu backen, vielen Dank

[@michaelbolen2118]

Great stuff. I am having good results w Anova steam oven - 30 m total bake time, not much preheat (cast iron pan on stove for a few min) you could consider giving that a try.

[@catharinepizzarello4784]

Gonna take a bite out of my phone! I have learned so much from you!😋😎

[@mcknaecke]

Great Video, I was able to reproduce the bread with caputo Integrale at 81% hydration.

[@lindatobias1798]

Exactly what I'm looking for.

[@johncushing1987]

The music at the end is so emotional! 😭

[@devil88bg62]

As a software engineer, I really like your approach to the "bread game"

[@hu.man.771]

Hi! Love your channel so much, thank you for all the work and sharing! A question here: could a rye starter be used here? And very important: on what ratio you feed your start before you use it in bread making (1:1:1)? I believe you fed it with the whole wheat here? Would love to hear from you! Danke!

[@bikeyman1701]

"too much oven spring" I find it hard to believe that could ever be a problem 😂😂

[@asderven]

it is, especially if you don't account for how high the bread will rise vertically. Especially if you commercial yeast vs wild yeast. Sometimes there is not enough room left at the bottom to use steaming

[@Jillstodds]

@@asderven krr

[@JoeKaye959]

I so much relate

[@asderven]

​@@JoeKaye959 during my first incident, the bread hit the gas grill at the top of the oven and I had a v shape in my bread with a flat landing patch. Moving down the oven tray with baking steel on it was no fun. But now things are better, just got to live with your equipment.

[@JoeKaye959]

@@asderven my bread never has oven spring, l'm so frustrated

[@Nini-zm7rl]

Amazing video!! I’ll try this recipe soon! Your channel has been my sourdough school 😂😂🤎🤎 the length of your pan is 30cm??

[@Strevale]

Thank you for this! I can't tell you how many times I've tried looking up a recipe/guide for this. Most of the results are mostly refined white flour with a little whole wheat flour. We can only use turkey red wheat flour that we grind ourselves. That's the only one we've found our children don't have too many issues digesting. Could you go this loaf with weak gluten whole wheat? I find our turkey red wheat is very weak.

[@szkribi]

Next test idea: shaping vs. not shaping at all / putting the dough as is after mixing and doing 100% of fermentation in the the loaf pan

[@the_bread_code]

Great idea!

[@kdstoffel7574]

I’ve done that. Be prepared to dig the loaf out of the pan. I had better luck when I lined the pan with parchment paper, but then the paper stuck to the loaf. My best luck is to spray the pan, line it with the parchment, then spray the parchment before adding the dough. Good luck!

[@mattiavettorato1867]

Super bread :) I have a question: after you take it out from the fridge, how long did you wait before to bake it?

[@paulamero9335]

This bread looks amazing. I wish I was able to print out the full ingredient and instructions list. :-) Thanks for making these breads look the least complicated for a newbie bread maker.

[@the_bread_code]

Good point. Maybe at some point :-)

[@trijezdci4588]

With wholewheat, you should not judge the consistency of the dough *after mixing*. Instead, you need to aim for the right consistency *after resting* the dough for at least 5-6 hours, better still 10-12 hours. The fibre in the bran will take up a lot more water but it takes much longer than the starch and protein, so you need to incorporate a long dough rest. The finer the bran particles, the more water the bran can absorb. This is so because the total surface area increases with smaller particle size and the water cannot penetrate into the centre of coarse bran particles. Ideally, you sift out the bran and remill it, if only with a coffee mill. The smaller the bran particles, the fluffier and juicier the bread, provided that you add sufficient water and let the dough rest long enough to absorb that water.

[@Tomseigneur]

Hello! Short question, I was wondering why you wouldn't use any butter in this sandwich bread's dough? Something like 15g of butter for 500g of flour. Thanks!

[@chrisevola9504]

Hi. I have a simple question...I hope. The small jar that you used to determine when the dough is ready. genius! Does any jar work or is there a particular size? I have a couple empty spice jars that look about the same size as the jar that you used. Thank you in advance!

[@klaskristian1]

Can you do a video where you bake Pumpernickel? It is an old favourite bread!

[@the_bread_code]

Took a note!

[@charyea1]

Do you have any recommendations if your sourdough starter does double in size overnight, but will not pass the float test? It’s a new starter. I grew it for 8 days. Then refreshed after being in the fridge a couple days. It doubled. But sinks.

[@yarnexpress]

I make whole wheat sourdough sandwich loaf all the time using a standard sourdough process--combine flour & water, autolyse, ferment with stretch & fold, preshape, shape, into the fridge overnight proof. Proof at about 90%.Variation bake at the typical oven temperature for yeasted bread--350F/375F for about 50 minutes or until bread temps between 195F & 200F--it will coast higher. What I like about my method is that I can do both sandwich loaves & a Dutch Oven loaf from the same batch--flour at 1000 grms. If I'm only making sandwich loaves or loaves & rolls I will add some sugar & maybe dry milk solids. No steam. No slashing. Get excellent oven spring. Crust is very nice for sandwiches just a bit crispy. Toast for more crisp. Sandwich loaves are not just artisan bread in a different pan they are a different animal.

[@monica4200]

Thanks for the great video. Without a stand mixer, for how long would you have to knead the dough?

[@the_bread_code]

Until you see that the gluten network nicely developed. That's typically 10 minutes for me 🤗

[@galinagotesman1137]

Does the dough go from the fridge straight into the oven or should it be brought to room temperature?

[@NancyAnneMartin]

You should make some kind of contest where you really DO mail someone a loaf of bread! 😁

[@marycogo]

Yes please!

[@robpersons]

This I will try to do. What was the wheat flour you were using? I have been experimenting with Spelt and really love it. I have some Elkhorn as well along with some grocery store King Arthur whole wheat. Really becoming a fan of Spelt. It would have been nice to show just a bit of the mixing process. I have struggled with using a stand mixer and hook to know what is the right finish.

[@the_bread_code]

Thanks! Linked it in the description :-). For spelt the recipe is very similar.

[@jennyw2006]

Hi, what should my kneading process be if I don’t have a stand mixer?

[@johnbailey2933]

I got 'teary eyed' at the result :-). How long after the bake did you wait to slice it? Is there a particular reason you used a baking pan vs. a banneton, other than to have a 'sandwich' loaf?

[@the_bread_code]

I'd say the baking pan makes it easier in general. Plus, even if you overferment, you will still get a decent bread.

[@jasminekohli8615]

Hello, in your lazy overnight bread making, you suggest folding once in morning. Why is that folding not required here? because of the whole wheat flour?

[@planinehuzrtel7663]

yes!

[@the_bread_code]

Thanks!

[@planinehuzrtel7663]

I made it it is very easy and delicious!

[@PushkarJoshi7]

Microwave the butter a bit 😋 beautiful bread, thanks for the recipe!

[@the_bread_code]

Good idea!

[@sunshineseaandvitamind8620]

@@the_bread_code just leave it at room temperature in a butter dish unless there's a heatwave.

[@TwiztedMatt1007]

*Shakes for 10 seconds* That's enough sports. I died. 🤣

[@tomarse84]

Hey Hendrik, thanks again for another great video and recipe! I have just one question... the 50 g of starter. Is it an old unfed one straight out of the fridge or did you feed it before?

[@the_bread_code]

Unfed out of the fridge :-)

[@tomarse84]

@@the_bread_code Great! Thank you for your answer. I have made the dough this morning and used unfed starter out of the fridge... and then, I was wondering, if I was doing it right :D The bread is now just finishing in the oven... I don't know why, but there was almost no oven spring. Let's see what the crumb looks like. Greetings from Vienna!

[@paulinnaGD]

@@tomarse84 i was also wondering if I sud use unfeed starter . Thanks for asking that question :) and how was the bread ?

[@tomarse84]

@@paulinnaGD It is okay, but nothing like the one Hendrik made. Not much oven spring, so the crumb is very compact and the holes are very small, though regular. I don't know what's the reason... but I guess, fermentation.

[@MasterCrambY]

Grüße gehen raus an Schmiedeglut ✌️ sehr schönes Messer und sehr leckeres Brot.

[@sophiesharkey3612]

Very interested but new to making bread . How do I get a starter? I don’t have a stand mixer so should I knead ? Thank you and look forward to watching your videos .

[@christopherlee7334]

You can make your own! Just look up whole wheat sourdough starter instructions

[@joefarmer7727]

Great bread. Can you tell me why you skipped SF or coil folds entirely this time? I thought for WW bread dough strength is even more important. One reason to skip stretch and fold can be the loaf pan I think, but you had other reasons I am sure.

[@the_bread_code]

You are right! So the oven spring here is not as important, that's why stretch and folds are not necessary. There will be another video out on the topic soon!

[@jzagaja]

how strong is flour? 12-13%?

[@SSMinds]

Could you mix wholewheat flour and rye flour ?

[@robertacasey5204]

Just started bulk fermentation with this. Used King Arthur white whole wheat 12.2% protein and the 450 grams water was great. But URGENT question. What size is the loaf pan? I have 2 different US loaf pans and am trying to work out if it will all fit in one pan. This German one looks longer. Thanks so much for any ideas.

[@the_bread_code]

It should work regardless. It's always a little hard to find the perfect loaf pan 😅. I linked mine in the description.

[@robertacasey5204]

Just for any Americans. Standard loaf pan in the USA is 9x5 inches (roughly 23x13x6 cm) so this will NOT fit in one loaf pan. I have some smaller ones (21x11x6 cm) so split it in two. In the oven now but looks good.

[@yashikabhamawat2874]

Hey! Amazing recipe! I tried following this recipe today. The outer crust of the bread turned out great, but the inside was gummy. I dont know what went wrong. Can you please help me out.

[@ddiancrain]

Hi! Thanks so much for this recipe! I’m trying it out as I write this - how long did you knead it for in your stand mixer? I went for a long time but haven’t been able to get it to pass the windowpane test. Thanks for the help!

[@the_bread_code]

It must have been around 15 minutes at relatively high speed. I like to do batches of 5 minutes then do a small pause :-)

[@ddiancrain]

Thank you! I got paranoid and added too much extra flour (I used whole wheat King Arthur brand flour for a total of 575 g) because it wasn’t coming together, but I didn’t try kneading in my stand mixer for that long. Bread still came out okay, but I’ll try again with a higher hydration and more kneading (it was a bit dense, but still surprisingly good oven spring!)

[@flofi4397]

I also have Trouble to knead the whole wheat at all by Hand. Its so sticky, kneading ist Not really an Option by Hand. It just wont come together either after 30min sticky punshing

[@jordanmercier3616]

@@flofi4397 have you tried the slap and fold technique?

[@Melosigas]

I tried this today, my dough had NO glutendevelopment at all. I used a whole wheat flower as you.

[@Qwteru]

THANKS FOR SHARING!! how do we know that first fermentation should done while the increasing 50% volume of dough in jar ? or is there other video show that experiments thanks.

[@the_bread_code]

Yep. 50% is a good value that works with most flour! If your flour has more gluten, it can be even more.

[@Qwteru]

@@the_bread_codethanks : )

[@helenjohnson7583]

(Yay KAISER!!!) Please detail your starter on this! How mature was it & how many times was it fed, PLEASE?

[@the_bread_code]

I just used a ripe starter that I didn't feed for a day. It's risky. So the best way is probably to use a fresh starter. Because it was so ripe, I used less of it :-)

[@helenjohnson7583]

@@the_bread_code Well, I think you said that it was hangry so maybe it ate faster and accelerated the process. (You seem to have a way with bread making.)

[@mbrodoff]

So I am confused. I thought a ripe starter was a well fed and active starter. An unfed ripe starter seems to be a contradiction in terms. Can you clarify? Also what is the difference between a ripe and a fresh starter?

[@plamenborisov7252]

Hi Hendrik! Thanks for this amazing recipe.Can i use a little bit of milk instead of only water or the dough might become sour during the bulk fermentation?

[@the_bread_code]

Yes! That's doable.

[@plamenborisov7252]

@@the_bread_code Thanks a lot

[@anh420]

I want to try this but with my sourdough discard 🤔 probably trying to activated a little before with one % of water and flour wish me luck 🤞

[@Ghozyalfarizy]

hey man i started to make a sourdough starter after watching your videos. but i found my starter smell a bit like .. tupperware? and a bit runny/slush. can you help me point out where i might go wrong? thanks a lot. love your videos

[@the_bread_code]

New video on that topic coming soon. Hope it will help.

[@debbiepinto3718]

What a wonderful loaf!!!! Can this bread also be made using instant dry yeast and if yes, how much?

[@the_bread_code]

Yep. Try using very little instant dry yeast. For 400g of flour 1g or ideally 0.5. It will take a while, but it will make you a really nice dough.

[@debbiepinto3718]

Thank you Bread Code for your v prompt response and for the answer to my query. God bless you.

[@robertadellaperuta8436]

Hello, one question: what´s the difference then in recipe/steps between a standard sourdough loaf and a sourdough sandwich bread?

[@the_bread_code]

Great question. Less stretch and folds. Plus it's easier, even if you ferment too long it will still be good 🙏🏻

[@vital20]

Sometimes people will put butter, milk, and/or sugar in as well to make it more tender and like store bought sandwich bread.

[@UKPete]

That looks so good well done, but for me it's gotta be toasted Oh Yeah!. When I was little I used to go and visit my Aunt in Kassel and I used to love a bread which I think was called Land Bread, is that right ? if so is that a sour dough rye bread type mix is there a recipe for that?.

[@the_bread_code]

You could replace the whole wheat with rye. That will definitely work. No need to shape then, directly into the loaf pan.

[@UKPete]

@@the_bread_code Thanks for the reply and info. I actually just did that so fingers crossed. thanks once again!.

[@martinjonsson9702]

Do you think the addition of fat (either oil, e.g. canola or fat) or using milk (or its plant substitutes) to increase the browning when toasted in a toaster? Whenever I've been toasting my sourdough bread it's always turned out hardened but not browned and delicious :( Any tips? I guess the enzymatic process during an autolysis would increase browning? Any other ideas? :D

[@the_bread_code]

Correct! A longer autolysis would help you :-D

[@lenamahayni6216]

Thks 4 the demo How much time interval there R from Out Of overnight fridge to hot oven? Pls reply

[@the_bread_code]

Directly in the oven :-)

[@lenamahayni6216]

The Bread Code Thks so much

[@klarazaczkowska2237]

Hi! I have a questions. What does it mean if the dough sample does not increase in size as much as it should? (I know that it depends on how much protein my flour has.) It should be around 20-40%, but it was only 10%. Even though I waited many hours.. At some point I realised that I can't wait longer, because it would get overfermented. So after almost 11hours! (week earlier in the same temperature it was about 7h until 20-40%) I shaped it, proofed overnight and it came out not bad. Slightly overfermented I think - it was a little bit too heavy? dense? But it definitely wasn't a frisbee ;) So, was the starter not strong enough? It doubled in size easily for several days before baking.. 🤔 I would really appreciate if you could help. I love your channel! ❤️

[@the_bread_code]

Hey Klara. Yep. I think your starter for some reason wasn't so active. That explains the big difference :-)

[@klarazaczkowska2237]

@@the_bread_code Thank you! Starters... "I know only that I know nothing" 🙈 But I watched live stream with Karl. It was sooo interesting! I've learned a lot :) And Karl is so passionate, I love it. May the gluten be with you, Hendrik!

[@trijezdci4588]

How active your starter is doesn't really matter. You can use a three weeks old starter from the fridge and still get excellent results. Protein content is also overrated. The reason why modern bakers believe in these myths is industrialisation of baking over the last 100 years. Hydration has been reduced to make the dough easier to handle, and to make it more machine friendly, and fermentation times have been shortened from days to minutes, resting time is almost entirely absent. With such an industrial process -- it is still industrial even if you do it by hand in your kitchen -- you absolutely need a very active starter and you absolutely need a strong flour. But if you do things truly artisanal, that is to say, throw away all the misconceptions you have about baking, and think like a baker in the medieval ages would have, then everything changes. You do not need a very active starter, and you do not need a strong flour either. Back then people baked once a week in a communal oven (in the country side) or bringing their dough to the baker (in urban places). They didn't have very active starters. The starters weren't fed in between weekly bakes. Also, they had neither chemical fertilisers, nor over-engineered modern wheat. They had whatever wheat mother nature provided. They had to make do with what we would now call imperfect conditions. And yet, they made better bread. Or more accurately, the let mother nature do their bread for them and it turned out better, because nature always outperforms arrogant human efforts to replace nature by orders of magnitude. Use higher hydration in your recipes, try to find out what the absolute limit is that your flour can handle. Add some vinegar to your bulk liquid, about 3-5% (relative to the weight of the flour) this will strengthen your gluten network and slow down enzymatic activity for a very long resting and fermentation process. Then let your dough rest for 5-6, or better still 10-12 hours. Add only very little starter, even an old unfed starter will do, in order to achieve a very long fermentation at room temperature, say 1% starter in summer, 2% in spring and autumn, and 3% in winter. This should give you a fermentation time of about 24 hours. Or use half as much for 48 hours. Use several intervals of stretch and fold with resting in between instead of kneading. Let the dough triple in volume before dividing and shaping it. The dough will be extremely soft and fragile, so it will take time to learn how to handle it but you will get better bread out of this, much better bread. The trickiest thing is to learn how to score the loaf because when it is so soft, any knife will stick to the dough while scoring. Use a serrated sharp knife and clean and wet the blade before each scoring cut. Don't try fancy cuts, just one long half circle cut at an angle, holding the knife almost horizontally but make sure the cut is deep so that the loaf can expand properly. Don't worry if the loaf will collapse as a result and look like a pancake, it will come back to volume in the oven. For baking, use as high an initial temperature as your oven can produce, 250-275 C, and use plenty of steam. If you have an espresso machine with a steam wand, get a heat resistant plastic tube that fits narrowly over the wand, stick the other side into the oven with the door almost closed and inject steam from the espresso machine, then close the door. In a small oven, the steam will cause the temperature to fall in an instant by 25-50 degrees. Wait 15 minutes, which is about the time for the oven spring to finish, open the door to let the steam out and reduce the temperature to ~235 Celsius. During a long slow fermentation with a very wet dough, the wet gel absorbs more CO2 and it is the CO2 that is absorbed, not the bubbles you can see, which will ultimately cause the rise in the oven as the CO2 coalesces into bubbles as the dough heats up. If you find your dough to be too runny, don't reduce the water. Instead, add more fibre. Either by adding bran, but very finely ground bran, not coarse bran, or by adding fleawort (aka psyllium husks), also finely ground. Fleawort absorbs water at a rate of about 20 to 50 times its own weight. Thus 0.5% of fleawort mixed with 20 times its weight in water will increase the hydration of a dough by 10 percentage points. You can also pre-gelatinise a small portion of the flour by scalding it with 2.5 times its own weight in water, let the resulting gel cool and add that to your dough. Or you can make some extra bread, cut it into small cubes, let it dry out, grind it into a powder and scald that in the same way as described. This has the additional advantage that it also adds flavour. All these are techniques used by our ancestors to make excellent bread, better than our modern bread, all without modern industrial processes which are only there to increase profits at scale by reducing production time.

[@jennysoutherington8492]

How do you make the “liquid” starter that you are using?

[@the_bread_code]

Moin and Gluten Tag Jenny Southerington, that's an excellent question, thanks for asking. So I just feed my starter with way more water than flour. That as far as I can tell makes a superb starter :-)

[@Melosigas]

Tried this again. This time half whole wheat, half spelt. Kneadet by hand though, and with autolyse. Same result. No window at all and completely runny dough after fermentation, could not fold at all. What is going wrong?

[@maxim579]

If I use a sourdough starter who is more solid, can I use then 50g aswell?

[@the_bread_code]

Yep 🙏🏻

[@ingamezite]

What is a protein content for this flour?

[@the_bread_code]

It's around 14% :-)

[@michael-mvtd]

"That was enough sports." Too funny! (nearly choked on my coffee) Serious question, roughly how long was the stand mixer kneading?

[@the_bread_code]

Haha, thanks! Around 10 minutes until you see the dough lets go of the container :-)

[@michael-mvtd]

@@the_bread_code I'm 6h into the process but my sample dough (in a champagne flute!) had little to no perceptible rise. But some of the same starter was fed at same time this morning and has doubled volume. I can't figure this out.

[@heyjethy]

I'd probably take the loaf out of the pan at the half-time, steam removal stage. That's alright, isn't it? Hopefully it reaches the ideal temperature and preferred brownness about the same time.

[@Allard9240]

Could you use a sous vide method to bulk ferment your sourdough bread?

[@the_bread_code]

Interesting idea. That should work (I think) haha.

[@iblun]

Would this work with rye whole wheat flour as well ?

[@rlwalker2]

Please experiment with this variation. I'd like to see the results that YOU get and see how it compares with whole wheet.

[@the_bread_code]

Yup. But - you wouldn't get as much oven spring :-). Still it would be delicious. Skip the shaping, directly into the loaf pan.

[@debbiepinto3718]

How long would it take to knead the dough by hand?

[@the_bread_code]

Around 10 minutes, 10 minutes of a break then another 10 minutes :-)

[@feliciacarter1962]

It would be nice if you can show the kneeling process.

[@paris2705]

What is the rationale for the tin? I use the Dutch oven also for whole wheat flour because I find that the it leads to a better crust in comparison with the tin. Admittedly my whole wheat loaves are a bit flatter than the normal wheat loaves and less moist than yours because my hydration is only 82%.

[@the_bread_code]

Both would work 🙏🏻. Not sure if the loaf pan would have fit in the dutch oven. But it would work 👍

[@tpn1110]

I think the tin provides more structure so the whole wheat bread can rise more instead of spreading out when baked free form in a Dutch oven

[@hervva]

can anyone inform me why most reciepes do bulk ferment bread that goes to loaf pan? I tried this reciepe and it's amazing shortcut and i wonder do i miss on something by not bulk fermenting+sitting in fridge but getting dough strait to loafpan and baking just when it doubles

[@the_bread_code]

That works too. If the bread tastes great, perfect. The extra step of shaping will improve dough strength and increase oven spring. The final loaf might look a bit nicer :-)

[@simplybeautifulsourdough8920]

Added note- "bulk ferment" is your first rise in a warm place. "Cold proof" is what happens after you've shaped the dough & put it in the fridge. It is mostly for flavor.

[@thiagod47]

OMFG finally. I've been trying to develop a recipe for this for months now. Edit: now I've checked the ingredients... No butter, no milk? Is it even sandwich bread? I'll give it a try anyway.

[@the_bread_code]

Thanks! Yup. I think it is :-D. Milk would make it a little softer!

[@asderven]

​@@the_bread_code I find that if I use milk or cream, the sourness enters the bread within a day. Just using water help keep that away, but the crumb texture is significantly different to have with my honey. I prefer the cream (from raw milk) and the milk combo. Water keeps for longer.

[@thiagod47]

I've been experimenting with a bit of powdered milk and 5% butter but I'm pretty sure my flour can't take even that much 😂.

[@kakanibalaprasad]

Loved your video (nothing surprising). I could never make bread with whole wheat flour. It turns out either too dry or flowing all over the place. Would you suggest that I start at 75% and then add water? I do understand that each flour has different characteristics, but a ball park estimate would be highly appreciated.

[@asderven]

most whole wheat at the lower end usually take 80% hydration easily, my flour ranges from 85% to 95%. At 80% the dough starts forming into a ball. At 75% the dough is just dried pieces of flour clumps for me. If you find that case, move at 2%~5% increments until you get a good feel. First few times take the longest as you figure out hydration. Doing the flour test with 75%, 80%, 85%, 90% and 95% really help you see which texture you feel comfortable with. I just add the other hydrations into the dough, because they usually average out.

[@kakanibalaprasad]

@@asderven thanks a lot

[@the_bread_code]

Thanks for the great comment. Just like asder said :-)

[@cairncross63]

Had great hopes for this but found it just wouldn't bake properly - internal temp was 98c, so took it out, but when cut it was very "doughy".

[@vinodrana2775]

Can we use dry active yeast in it?

[@simplybeautifulsourdough8920]

If you have an active starter, there really is no need. However, and this may upset some sourdough purists, if you are in a hurry or a beginner and a little unsure of yourself, adding a half teaspoon or so of yeast can help speed things along and ensure you get a nice rise to your bread.

[@jyn5178]

wow! so few steps!

[@victorlee1738]

Hi Sir, I am from Singapore. From where I am, the dough is too wet to work with. The weather must be really dry there to use such high hydration. May I know what will be the hydration level that you will recommend for humid weather?

[@the_bread_code]

Hey Victor, thanks for the great question. The water % really depends on your flour! You can just go a little lower, 70-80% and then it should be okay!

[@victorlee1738]

@@the_bread_code 👍 Thank you for your kind reply and good inputs. Will try it! 😄

[@teohle]

Can I know why the starter is watery ?

[@asderven]

I had a question about the flour. I remember using this flour while I was in Berlin, a bit harder to find in Montreal. Here in Pakistan, when I mill my own flour with Komo, it looks very different. It does not have that elasticity at all. I suspect that things are added to the flour, which would be absent if you mill your own from the grains directly. Are there different flour blends, or additional "things" in the flour. If possible, just mill some flour yourself and bake a bread with that and see if there is a difference in the dough properties. That is something that I find with my home milled flour.

[@hahathatsgreat2]

Home milled flour is delicious for the fresh flavors, but it's not aged like commercial flour which gives an additional note. Some popular flours such as King Arthur include malted barley (or diastatic malt powder) as a sugar to help out the natural yeast and add some browning to the final product. You can add a small quantity of that on your own. You have to be careful though because in my experience even using 0,5% will make your fermentation rate go much quicker and even make the bread gummy if you use too much. Peace to you in Pakistan and your neighbors in India, hope you all stay safe.

[@asderven]

​@@hahathatsgreat2 thank you, this pandemic treats everyone equally, we can only pray and take full precautions. I have thought of using malt, but too much work :D. I also find that commercial flour is often ground finer than what I can get at home.Thank you for the information, might give malt a try after Ramadan. I don't mind fast fermentation, using fresh milled flour I have already lost the battle for slow fermentation.

[@rlwalker2]

So close to perfection BUT: 1. the sample jar was so skinny I didn't see how it would be possible to get the dough out 2. the sample dough, if fermented in your normal jar with the lid, could have been added to the loaf I'll be trying this loaf myself. I tend to get little or no oven spring and was VERY surprised to see the oven spring that this loaf provided. Here's hoping. (I need whole wheat bread as I type.)

[@dahmao]

Why did you skip autolysis and why did you not stretch and fold the dough?

[@the_bread_code]

Based on my experiments whole wheat flour disintegrates too fast. The autolysis has negative impacts on the handling of the dough :-)

[@Ahmedahmed-rb6je]

I made it , but its like gum , is there fan on your oven ?

[@the_bread_code]

Like gum - maybe you pushed the fermentation for a little bit too long!

[@laianchee5116]

Is it taste sour? 12 hrs in fridge!

[@the_bread_code]

It shouldn't :-)

[@Darkmatterdwarf]

Butter comes from the fridge? get a Grinder for Parmesan cheese und you won't have any problems!

[@namitachordiapittie9307]

Do you do autolysis? Pls explain steps initially so we know the entire process

[@GMan80013]

Mmmm. Looks sooo DELICIOUS! A hack for you - If your butter is to cold, use a cheese grater, O. Käse? 😂 #MurderYourBread!

[@the_bread_code]

Good idea!