100 % Wholewheat Sourdough Bread

Add water and sourdough to a bowl, as well as more liquid ingredients like skyr / yogurt / cottage cheese and mix well.

Then add the flour, salt, bread spice and any further add-ins like shredded carrot, zucchini, pumpkin puree, soaked seeds and / or nuts or scald and mix well. Add more water tablespoon by tablespoon until there are no more flour nests and everything is well incorporated.

Let the dough proof for 12-24 hours. 24 hours if your dough proofs at a room temperature of 18°-20° C (65°-68° F). If it is 5° C (10° F) warmer, proofing time reduces to 12 hours. You should stretch and fold your dough twice during this time (although your bread will also turn out delicious if you don't get to it). For the first set of stretch & folds I like to use the tradition way, for the second time I like to use the Coil Fold (see video).

To shape your bread, wet your working surface and take the dough out of the bowl. Now make movements of pulling the dough from the outside to the inside, going all around in a circle (see video). Then turn your dough upside down and pull your dough across your working surface with a hand motion to get more tension. Finally, dust your dough with rice flour on this smooth, tense side and put your dough into a proofing basket, called banneton (the floured side should be on the bottom). Here you can pull again the outside of the dough to the inside to create more tension. Then also dust this side of your bread dough with rice flours and place the covered banneton in the fridge.

Put your cast-iron dutch oven, with the lid on, into your oven. Preheat the oven at max temperature (which is 250° C / 480° F for me).

If you prefer to open bake your bread, you can put a pizza stone, instead of the Dutch oven, on a rack in the middle of your oven. Then also place a baking dish at the bottom of your oven and preheat it as well. If you have stainless steel baking beans, you should also put them inside the baking dish and heat them up.

Flip your dough out of the banneton onto a piece of parchment paper and score your bread with a sharp blade (like razor blades). Feel free to express yourself freely and score a beautiful pattern into your bread!

Then, drop your bread carefully into the hot Dutch oven and spray it with water to create more steam. Bake the bread for 25 minutes in the Dutch oven, then lower the temperature to 400 °F (200 °C). Continue baking with the lid removed for another 25 minutes.

You can also open bake the bread in your oven. Carefully place the parchment paper with your bread on the hot pizza stone and add a good splash of water to your baking dish at the bottom of your oven to create as much steam as possible. Then close the oven door as quickly as possible and let your bread bake for 10 minutes. Then reduce the temperatur to 400 °F (200 °C) and open the oven door to let the steam escape. Also, remove the baking dish from the bottom of your oven. Let the bread bake for another 40 minutes.

Carefully remove your bread from the oven and place it on a cooling rack. Let the bread cool down completely before cutting (it continues "baking" while cooling down).