How to Make 100% Whole Wheat Sourdough | 100% Whole Wheat Sourdough Recipe

Fresh milled, 100% whole wheat sourdough. A challenging yet extremely rewarding and healthy loaf to make. A household staple this loaf is light, hearty and delicious.
Whole grains typically ferment faster, absorb more water and create a loaf with less volume than a standard sourdough loaf. You will often find whole wheat sourdough recipes online calling for 20-30% whole wheat but this is a true 100% whole wheat recipe. In the past, I have made versions of this where I sift or scald the wheat but after lots of testing, I have finally settled on a formula I am happy with.
Flavour, Health and Starter Technique
The bread tastes exceptional and does not have any bitter flavour, something often found in 100% whole wheat sourdough bread. While some of this can be attributed to the grains being used, the formula and fermentation schedule play their part. Because I am around baked goods and bread almost every day of my life, I choose to make bread with higher percentages of whole grains as my go-to daily bread for my family. While many bakers strive to achieve the coveted open crumb loaf, in my opinion, this loaf is more challenging, more rewarding and most importantly healthier.
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▼ ▽ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Introduction
00:23 - Building the levain
03:53 - Autolyse
06:33 - Mixing
10:28 - Removing the dough from the mixer
12:42 - Temperature check
12:59 - Folding
15:13 - Shaping
19:29 - Baking
21:03 - Crumbshot outro
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[@mydear6788]

You have the best explanation of how to make whole wheat sourdough bread.....I am experienced sourdough baker but moved to a new country, new oven, new flour, new caribbean temp, and not experienced with 100 % whole wheat sourdough bread much but have to change because all they got here is bleached crap flour. Wholewheat is organic and 15 % protein. Made 4 loafs of other recipes and came out too dense. Your way of mixing the dough for over 15 min....did gave me beautiful result....love❤❤❤ thank you and keep up the good educational videos....Thank you.

[@glenellynrunner]

Nice job, Matthew!

[@martinev6221]

Mathew, thank you for all these great video’s. You talk about fresh milled flour and I love it. I have my own mill and would love to learn more about milling, sifting, different types of wheat etc. Would you be willing to make a video about your experience?

[@matthewjamesduffy]

Thank you Martine! Really glad you are enjoying the videos. My daughter is currently on vacation and when she goes back i am planning to shoot a series of new videos. This is a great topic and I will definitely cover it in a video. For now I have a guide on my site matthewjamesduffy.com/milling-your-own-fresh-flour/ on how I mill at home.

[@alwynn2233]

Wow! My entire goal on this sourdough journey has been to make a 100% organic whole wheat sourdough bread. Still learning how to manage my starter. I’ve made about 7 bread flour based loaves so far. My last one turned out the best so far even though I was using a weak starter and nearly 80% hydration. I was so happy with the result. I actually gave half a loaf to my brother in law, the first person besides my husband that I let sample one of my attempts, and he said it was the best bread he has tasted in about 15 years. I can’t wait to achieve my ultimate goal. I started thinking about it around seven years ago.

[@JoeyVaracalli]

Neeed to actually mill or buy fresh milled like he had store bought whole wheat won’t come out quite the same

[@blessingbikinyaamidu5224]

Excellent, thank you for the informative video legend

[@matthewjamesduffy]

Pleasure! Actually making this one today!!!

[@isabelab6851]

Beautiful! I am still trying to get regular bread right…today I used a small amount of spelt. Will have to try it when feeling adventurous

[@matthewjamesduffy]

Thanks Isabel, I love working with spelt!

[@thecreativecontessa]

Thank you for providing details on a 100 percent whole wheat loaf! I have been trying to figure this out on my own for a while and not having terribly great success because my bread usually ends up denser than I might like it although still tasty. Question for people working entirely by hand without the aid of machinery, what do you recommend instead of the Spiral mixer? Stretch and fold?

[@matthewjamesduffy]

Yes, do 2-4 folds. You could also decrease the hydration by 2-5% on your first mix to see how the dough comes out. Thanks for watching and I'm so happy that it helps your baking journey!

[@g-man827]

Hi again Matthew, got a mixer now so hand mixing is no longer a problem and I am getting much better results! Would I be able to bake this in a bread form or will it ruin the oven spring?

[@matthewjamesduffy]

Yes you can bake it in a bread tin no problem.

[@sabinewalter9887]

Just watching you makes me think that I'm making this WAY TO COMPLICATED!! I sift half of my flour, then put the sifted-out bran back in the mill with the rest of the grain, sift again, and pour boiling water over the last bit of bran. I add that (I call it Kochstück) to the dough with a lamination after the first coil. I also read a lot of conflicting info re: freshly milled flour - autolyze or not autolyze? So, you autolyze for 2 hours; I need to try that next time. I have only autolyzed 30 minutes or not at all. So far, I'm just slowly inching towards the 100% WG Sourdough; the last ones were 90% - until I run out of purchased flour. ;)

[@matthewjamesduffy]

Yes that does sound very complicated. Hopefully this video helps you out.

[@iswearnotme]

Love your videos. I don’t bake with sour dough but I bake lots of yeasted breads. I’ve struggled with their textures. I can nail a baguette, but for some reason all of my larger loaves turn into pancakes! I plan to try to adapt this recipe to instant yeast. Do you suppose that’s possible?

[@matthewjamesduffy]

Thanks for watching! I don't bake with much yeast at home but for sure its possible.

[@iswearnotme]

@@matthewjamesduffy thanks man. I’ll try to let you know if I pull it off successfully.

[@g-man827]

Dear Matthew, thank you a lot for this recipe. This was second ever attempt at making a sourdough and it turned out far better than my first one. Unfortunately, I don't have a mixer, so I had to mix by hand. I am not sure if I did it right - do you have a video on it? Before putting it in the fridge - I checked and thought that my gluten network was solid. However, when preshaping, it didn't feel or look at strong as yours in the video (it 'relaxed' to the sides). My bread rose, but not as much as yours did. Do you have any recommendations, short of buying a mixer?

[@matthewjamesduffy]

I don't have any hand mixing videos outside of pizza but I will make some in 2024. YOu can do it for sure though. I would start with reducing the hydration a little and maybe make boules (round) for your first few bakes.

[@hu_b]

Very nice loaves. I've been making whole wheat sourdough loaves also. When I score the dough before putting it in the oven I never get that crisp edge to the dough like you did here. Usually it's a bit floppy. This is a chilled dough straight out of the refrigerator. And I usually get a pretty good window pane prior to shaping. This happens at different hydration levels. What would explain the floppiness? Sometimes my loaves are on the flat side, other times I get decent oven spring for whole grain, but the score never has the sharp edge.

[@matthewjamesduffy]

Thank you! What flour are you using? It could be the flour or the milling of the flour. It could also have to do with your fermentation but there are a lot of factors.

[@hu_b]

@@matthewjamesduffy Mostly I use Bob's Red Mill Organic Whole Wheat which I believe is about 14% protein.Levain percentage 20% usually. Long autolyse in the fridge but I've tried a short autolyse too. Stiff levain, around 68% hydration. Dough mixed and worked by hand, usually three or four stretch and fold sets. I shape when the dough reaches anywhere from 25% to 60% increase, depending on the dough temp. Then cold proof overnight...

[@DonnyJ101]

Hey Chef, are you sifting the flour at all? It would be amazing if you could do a video on flour milling process.

[@matthewjamesduffy]

Hey Daniel, I am not sifting this one. It is milled on a New American Stone Mill and is quite fine. I do have an article on milling and plan on filming a new series in the new year. I will add this to my list thanks for the idea.

[@DonnyJ101]

@@matthewjamesduffy thank you so much for all the info. Love the channel.

[@matthewjamesduffy]

@@DonnyJ101 thanks for your kind words. I’m almost done a book manuscript and when done I’ll have more time to grow this channel.

[@IMACTED]

Great bread! What was the hydration?

[@matthewjamesduffy]

Thanks for watching! You can see the formula on my site.

[@IMACTED]

@@matthewjamesduffy I made it with 90% not counting for the 100% hydrated starter and it was hard to work with. Naturally it was flat after baking. But taste is awesome!

[@brendapeter446]

So when you autolyze are you only using part of the water for the whole recipe? GREAT video!

[@matthewjamesduffy]

Yes! Bassinage.

[@brendapeter446]

@@matthewjamesduffy Thank you!

[@ChefLUCIAN]

Hello, what brand is the dough mixer, it is very good in my kitchen. Thank you, Daniel

[@matthewjamesduffy]

Hey Daniel, I an using a Sunmix spiral and a globe planetary mixer - geni.us/TwILAq

[@ChefLUCIAN]

Thanks Matthew for your promptness. Are you from the UK?

[@matthewjamesduffy]

@@ChefLUCIAN I am Canadian ;0

[@ChefLUCIAN]

Sorry for the question, I looked at your description afterwards. Thanks for everything, Daniel's.

[@matthewjamesduffy]

@@ChefLUCIAN No need to apologize 🙂

[@renmuffett]

Beautiful loaf! What percentage is your hydration? You didn't actually say and Im old school, don't weight anything for my sourdough because way too much it depends on the weather and humidity of your environment as well as temperature, dryness, types of wheat and other grains. All of it. This is my experience during my 55 years of baking. Love your method using the mixer since my hands aren't young and painless anymore. Thanks for sharing!

[@matthewjamesduffy]

It’s in the excel you can download I. The description.

[@mattmallecoccio8378]

I'm having an issue with a crust that is too hard and thick. How can I get a thinner crust for my 100% whole wheat sourdough?

[@century1981]

What would you do if the dough temp was too cold/too warm after the mix? How would you adjust?

[@matthewjamesduffy]

Hey Emil, I would put it somewhere warmer or colder depending. If too warm I often try to split the dough into smaller pieces and place it in the fridge before the first fold. Then when you fold it helps regulate the temp. For too cold I try to place it into my proofer or somewhere warm.

[@century1981]

@@matthewjamesduffy Thanks, seems incredibly obvious after reading your response. Haha. We all just need a fridge sized proofer and life would be easier lol

[@matthewjamesduffy]

@@century1981 Haha yes for sure it would be helpful

[@Eddo122979]

Hi what is hydration?thank you

[@matthewjamesduffy]

The recipes available on my site.

[@gmohammed1978]

What brand is your spiral mixer?

[@matthewjamesduffy]

It’s from Sunmix.

[@donbooth9990]

I don't have a mixer so I mix by hand. How do I calculate? Thanks.

[@matthewjamesduffy]

It is difficult to mix it by hand at this hydration I would lower it by 3-5%.

[@barrychambers4047]

Nice One! Really, a nice developed crumb for the W.W. I find it hard to taste the sour in 100% WW, but it does have an awesome taste, way tastier than yeasted 100% WW. I usually grind an equal mix of Wheat Montana's hard red spring kernels and hard white spring wheat kernels for my whole wheat S.D. You're using a Canadian hard red spring, I assume?

[@matthewjamesduffy]

Hey Barry, yes I am using a fresh milled organic Canadian Hard Red Spring.

[@carissajansson]

How important is it to take the dough out of the fridge for the half hour before baking? What does this do for the dough?

[@matthewjamesduffy]

Not important since filming this i've mostly stopped doing that.

[@johndiscala9696]

Most of us new bakers just want to one loaf. I need a recipe for one loaf

[@matthewjamesduffy]

That's why I have also provided an Excel version of the recipe. You can scale it to whatever size you'd like. I have also linked the recipe on my blog where the formula is for 2 loaves. If you want you can cut that in half.

[@user-ys1hw9dx6o]

С переводом было бы супер будет

[@robertosarnataro]

Which hydration has it?

[@matthewjamesduffy]

Check the recipe on the blog its all there

[@robertosarnataro]

@@matthewjamesduffy thank you. Got it! Is it the same 95% hydration instagram recipe? 🙏

[@matthewjamesduffy]

It is the same yes @@robertosarnataro

[@robertosarnataro]

@@matthewjamesduffy thank you so much! Total 90% hydration levain included that’s a hard challenge, i love it 🙏

[@feathercheng4250]

Wowwwwwwwww

[@matthewjamesduffy]

Thank you.

[@johnsweeney619]

I only make 100% whole wheat sourdough. My trick is to always add gluten to the dough. I usually add 20 g per 500 g loaf and it makes the whole process just as easy as using white flour 🥖

[@alexavasquez1992]

Do you include the weight of the added gluten when calculating the hydration percentage?

[@johnsweeney619]

correct, I do include it. I always do 80% hydration for whole wheat flours, but then I usually go up depending on the grain. I just worked with Yecora Rojo, and found I can easily push 90%+ with amazing results and an easy dough!@@alexavasquez1992

[@Emma-my5hc]

👍👍👍🙏❤️🇺🇦