Experimental WW Sourdough loaf with boiled wheat berries

Experimental Sourdough loaf with boiled wheat berries

An experimental loaf.  I was making Nils Schöner's Applejuice soaked rye for my mother in law, and wondered if I could make something similar with wheat kernels.  I've thought of this before.  But since it was a spur of the moment idea, I didn't soak the wheat berries, I just boiled them for 45 minutes.

It was a way to use up today's sourdough discards.  I expect that there will be a couple of days more of discards in this amount -- then I will make some official Tartine Bread.

I had 319g of sourdough, refreshed yesterday, some whole wheat and some 50:50.  The hydration was high, probably >100%, but it wasn't measured.  I used that weight as my standard measure:

• 319g starter
• 319g whole wheat flour
• 106g all purpose flour
• 319g water
• 106g dry weight of wheat kernels, boiled for 45 minutes and cooled.
• 8g salt

Notice that I am using some all purpose flour here, something I rarely do anymore, except for when I'm baking for others.  Of course, some of the starter had some all purpose flour in it already, so I guess I was already assuming it was 'adulterated'.  I think that in the back of my mind I was going to give this bread to my mother-in-law.  But I really shouldn't experiment on her, I should stick to Nils Schöner's recipes, or I might incur her wrath.

The starter and whole wheat flour and water were left to autolyse while I boiled the kernels.

Once cool, salt and kernels were added to the dough.

Thereafter for 3 hours the dough was turned every 30 minutes in its container.

At the end of this time, the dough was poured onto the counter and an attempt was made to form it.  However, it remained very sloppy, very highly hydrated.  The dough was placed in a buttered tin and allowed to rise for 2 hours.

The dough rose well, and deflated a bit when it hit the towel that was covering it.  It might have flopped a bit anyway, beyond the tin's confines, since it seemed highly hydrated.

Then it was baked.  I started with Nils' hot temperature that he uses for rye breads, 480 degrees F, and then reduced it after 10 minutes to 375 degrees F, for another 35 minutes.  Rye seems to take longer to bake than the whole wheat.

Results

I baked a lot of bread this weekend.  It was a blast!  I had a lot of fun!

The crumb shot:

Notes to Myself

• Total flour weight (assuming a 100% hydrated sourdough, and including the flour in it): 160+160+319g = 639g
• Total water weight (including water from what I have assumed is a 100% hydrated sourdough): 479g
• This dough's hydration: 75%   -- it feels more like 80%: perhaps there is some moisture in the kernels still, or perhaps they serve to limit the formation of gluten strands?