For this Whole Wheat Sourdough Discard Bread I used 60% of T55 flour and 40% of whole wheat flour. T55 is a French flour, but no worries if you cannot find this flour in your grocery store, use regular bread flour instead. The protein content of your bread flour could be less (T55 has 14%), so you might need to adapt the amount of water a little bit. But it should work well.
The way this sourdough bread turned out, makes me very happy. After baking quite some sourdough bread now, I’m still excited and can’t wait to lift the lid of my dutch oven to see how the crust has developed. The best moment for me, because in this moment I can see how well I have worked within the whole process. Every bread is unique and I’m not scared anymore to try different scorings to see what it does with the final result of the bread. I really love this.
When I cut the bread in half an see how the crumb looks like, that’s also exciting for me and finally, of course, the taste. The most important thing, because in the end it’s all about taste.
Tools & Equipment
- Banneton
- Bench scraper
- Deep ceramic dish
- Digital thermometer
- Dutch oven
- Kitchen towel or plastic wrap
- Large bowl
- Parchment paper
- Silicone spatula
- Scoring knife or razor blade
- Wire rack
Recipe Tips
Discard Starter: The flavor of your discard starter can be stronger or weaker depending on the time you have kept it in the fridge. If you think your starter may be too sour, use less. I usually use 20% discard starter based on the amount of flour, but you can reduce the amount to 10%. Keep in mind, though, that the bread won’t taste as sour as the starter smells.
T55 Flour: This flour is a French flour. You should be able to buy it online, if you want use this flour. It has a protein content of 14%. If you do not have this flour handy you and can swap it for any other bread flour.
Room Temperature: For a good dough development, the preferred temperature is 25-27°C/77-80°F. If your room temperature is lower, you need to plan more time for bulk fermentation, mix the dough with warmer water or increase the temperature to speed up fermentation. For this, you can place the container with the dough in a turned-off oven with the control light on.
Bulk Fermentation: Your dough is well developed when it separates easily from the sides of the bowl when turned, the volume has increased by 20-30% and you can see some air bubbles on the sides of the dough. If your dough does not show these signs yet, increase the proofing time. Time is only an indicator, pay more attention to the dough itself to determine if the bulk fermentation is done.
Ingredients for Whole Wheat Sourdough Discard Bread
Directions – How to Make Whole Wheat Sourdough Discard Bread
Autolyse
Pour 350g of cold water into a large mixing bowl, add the discard starter and mix a little. Add T55 flour and whole wheat flour and mix with a silicone spatula first and then with your hands until no bits of dry flour are left. Let the mixture sit for 25-30 minutes.
Add salt and the rest of the water to the bowl and knead for 3-4 minutes. The dough will be sticky. Place the dough in a deep ceramic dish and cover with plastic or a kitchen towel.
Bulk Fermentation
Let the dough sit at 25-27°C/77-80°F for about 30 minutes. Perform 3 sets of stretch-and-folds, every 30 minutes. Slide both wet hands under the dough in the center. Slowly lift the dough up until it releases from the bowl. Lower your hands to fold the dough under itself. Turn the bowl by 180° and do the same on the other side. Turn the bowl by 90° and repeat the process with the remaining sides.
During the 3rd hour, you can see how the dough starts to get billowy, soft, and aerated with gas. You should turn the dough more gently now to avoid pressing gas out of it. By the end of the 3rd hour, the dough will feel more aerated and soft. After 3-4 hours of fermentation, leave the dough untouched for the rest of the time.
Shaping
Transfer the dough to an unfloured work surface. Lightly dust the dough with flour and turn it over. Fold the the dough over on itself so that the flour on the surface of the dough is sealed to the outside of the loaf. Work the dough into a round shape. Let the dough rest for 20-30 minutes. Cover with a kitchen towel. During this resting period, the dough will relax. If your dough spreads too much, it did not develop enough tension during the bulk fermentation. You can shape the round a 2nd time to correct this.
Lightly flour the top of the dough. Slide the bench scraper under the dough to lift it off the work surface and make sure to maintain the round shape. Flip the dough over so the floured side is now on the work surface. Stretch the dough closest to you and fold it up to the center of the loaf.
Next stretch the dough horizontally to the right and fold this 3rd over the center. Stretch the dough to your left and fold this 3rd over the previous fold. Stretch out the the dough farthest from you and fold this to the center.
Grab the dough closest to you and wrap it up and over, while rolling it away from you. Cup your hands around the dough ball and pull it toward you, rounding it against the work surface to tighten the tension. Let the shaped loaf rest for 1 minute. Add a 50/50 mixture of rice flour and whole wheat flour to a small bowl. Dust your banneton with the flour mixture.
Proofing
Lift the loaf from the work surface and place it in the banneton with the smooth side facing down and the seam facing up. For the final rise you have 2 options:
- When you want to bake the loaf the same day let the dough rise at room temperature (25-27°C/77-80°F) for 2-4 hours. After 2 hours the loaf will have a mild flavor.
- If you want to bake the loaf the next day, delay the process by placing the dough in the fridge for up to 12 hours. The cool environment slows down the fermentation, but does not stop it. The dough will develop a more complex and slightly sour taste after 8-12 hours.
Baking
Place a dutch oven with lid inside your oven and preheat it to 260°C/500°F. Dust the top of the loaf with flour and carefully flip it from the banneton onto parchment. Score the loaf as desired, so it can fully develop in the oven.
When your oven reaches 260°C/500°F, carefully remove the dutch oven and place the loaf with the parchment in the dutch oven, then cover with the lid. Return to the oven and reduce the temperature to 230°C/450°F. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the lid. Continue baking until the crust has a deep caramel color, for about 20-25 minutes. It is done when the core temperature reaches 95°C/200°F. Remove from the oven and carefully lift the bread out of the dutch oven. Let the bread cool on a wire rack.
Storing and Freezing Instructions
Storage: Keep your bread at room temperature for 3-5 days. Paper bags or kitchen towels are perfect to protect bread from drying out too much. Do not store bread in the fridge, because then it will get stale faster compared to keeping it at room temperature.
Freezing Instructions: Let the bread cool completely and either freeze the whole loaf or slices of bread in a zipper bag for up to 3 months.
My Summary for Whole Wheat Sourdough Discard Bread
Difficulty: Intermediate.
Taste & Texture: I love this whole wheat sourdough bread, because it has a nice crust with a slightly chewy crumb and holes that are spread out nicely. The bread has a light sour taste, but not too strong. It is fantastic in terms of taste and texture.
Time: Autolyse takes about 30 minutes, bulk fermentation took me 5 ½ hours (it depends on the room temperature, in my kitchen it was about 26°C/79°F). Shaping process is done in about 45 minutes. For the final proofing, I placed the loaf in the fridge overnight (faster option: 2-4 hours at room temperature). Baking takes another 40-45 minutes.
More DISCARD Recipes
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- Country Sourdough Discard Bread
- Pain de Campagne
- Rye Sourdough Discard Bread
- Sourdough Discard Crackers
- Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread