Half Wheat Sourdough

This time around, I switched things up and used half whole wheat pastry flour and half bread flour.  It has nothing to do with the fact that I ran out of bread flour.  I swear.  I planned it this way.

Fortuitous accident or planned event, what matters is that this bread is different than I've made before, and you know how I like to switch things up.  I'm always growing, always evolving.

Or something like that...

So you've got your refreshed starter.  Now it's time to make the sponge.   Just so you know, this is the exact same recipe I've used before, with the addition of the whole wheat pastry flour.  You can get the printable recipe here.

So you take 4 1/2 ounces or 1/2 cup of your starter.  You'll notice I do a lot of weighing as opposed to measuring.  Not only is it more accurate, but I don't have to wash as many dishes.  It's a win-win situation.

When you weigh your ingredients you can use a coffee mug to warm up your 3-4 ounces of filtered water to 80˚. 

5 ounces of flour:

The sponge supposed to resemble thick pancake batter.  I ended up adding extra water to get the right consistency.  Things are a little dry in New York City these days.

This is about right:

Let that do it's thing wrapped in plastic at room temp until it's doubled in bulk- this will take 2-3 hours.

Now it's dough time.

12 ounces filtered 70˚ water:

12 ounces of bread flour. 

That's alll I had, but we made lemonade with these lemons and added 12 ounces of whole wheat pastry flour. 

When not using a mixer to do your kneading it's best to add the salt at this stage, as it mixes into the dough a little easier.

Get everything incorporated.  Hands are the best tool for this job.

I didn't say baking bread wasn't messy.

Form the dough into a ball and let it rest for 20 minutes.

Then you knead.

I don't know how long to tell you to knead if you're doing it by hand.  I just knead until the dough becomes very springy.

And when you poke it

It springs back.

Using the whole wheat flour made the dough not quite as springy as 100% bread flour, but that's just fine.

Now check if your bread has a fever.

No really, if it's over 78˚ you need to place it in a cooler spot.  If it's under 78˚ place it in a warmer spot.

My dough was warm, so back onto that cool window sill.

Make sure you spray it with nonstick cooking spray and cover it with plastic.  Then let it rise until it doubles in bulk (3-5 hours).

When we meet again, we'll be redistributing the yeast, forming the boules, proofing, slashing, and baking.

Playing,
Meredith