Spelt, Whole Wheat and Rye Sourdough
This traditional sourdough bread gets its wonderful flavor from a mixture of spelt, whole wheat and rye flours.
Ingredients
Levain
- 12 grams ripe starter
- 36 grams water
- 36 grams all purpose flour
Dough
- 230 grams all purpose flour
- 65 grams spelt flour
- 65 grams whole wheat flour
- 40 grams rye flour
- 300 grams water 1
- 84 grams levain
- 10 grams fine sea salt
- 20 grams water 2
Dusting Flour
- 20 grams white rice flour
- 20 grams rye flour
- 1½ teaspoons wheat bran
Instructions
Day 1: Mix Levain
- Before you go to bed, mix the levain ingredients. Cover with plastic wrap and prick 4-5 holes with a toothpick in the plastic wrap to allow some air to flow. (Or just cover the bowl loosely as you normally do when you feed your starter.) Leave the levain to rest at warm room temperature, about 74° F for 12 hours.
Day 2: Mix and Bulk Ferment Dough
- In a large bowl, combine the flours and water 1 (300 grams) at the correct temperature. (See water temperature explanation in above post and in below notes.) Mix just until the water is absorbed by the flour. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 1 hour.
- Add the starter and a splash of water 2 (splash of the 20 grams) and mix in using a Danish dough whisk or your wet hands until fully combined. Cover the dough and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle the salt over the top and drizzle the remaining water 2 over the top. Dimple the salt and water in with your hands, using a clawing motion, until fully combined. Knead the dough in the bowl, folding the dough and using your fist to punch it into the rest of the dough, constantly rotating the bowl, until the dough is not very sticky and uniform. If it is sticky, keep your hands lightly wet while kneading. You can also do several minutes of slap and folds on the countertop.
- Bulk ferment for 3½ hours, during which time do three sets of four folds after the 60, 90 and 120 minute marks.
- On a lightly floured surface, pre-shape the dough and allow it to rest, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
- Dust your banneton with dusting flour mixture.
- Shape the dough, making sure to create tension on the outside of the dough. Place the dough into the prepared banneton. Dust some all purpose flour on the top and allow to rest for 20 minutes.
- Wrap the banneton in plastic wrap and refrigerate it overnight for 12-18 hours.
Day 3 (or 4): Bake
- In the morning, place a Dutch oven in the oven and preheat it 450° F. Move the banneton, still wrapped in plastic wrap, from the refrigerator to the freezer for 45 minutes.
- Remove the plastic and place a piece of parchment paper over the banneton. Place a cutting board on top of the parchment paper. Flip it over and lift up the banneton.
- Score the dough as desired. Remove the Dutch oven from the oven, uncover it, and carefully slide the parchment into the hot Dutch oven. Spray water all over the bread or add 3-4 ice cubes and immediately cover the Dutch oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the Dutch oven lid and bake an additional 30-35 minutes. Allow the bread to cool to room temperature before slicing.
Notes
One mistake many bakers make is to not measure the temperature of the water. This is often times why bakers do not obtain ideal results when baking sourdough bread. This is such an easy thing to do. Here's the formula, based on an ideal dough fermentation temperature of 78° F: goal temperature (78° F) multiplied by 4 = 312° F. From that number, subtract the temperature of your flour, the temperature of your kitchen where the dough will sit, the temperature of your starter, and heat caused by friction from kneading (which is 6° F). The result is the temperature you want your water to be at when you mix it with the dough to autolyse.
Nutrition
Calories: 77kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 0.3g | Saturated Fat: 0.04g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.03g | Sodium: 164mg | Potassium: 32mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 0.1g | Vitamin A: 0.2IU | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 1mg