When I do a long refrigeration of pizza dough, I flip the dough every 12-24 hours, and sometimes punch it down and fold it to give it a totally new surface.
p.s. I like that TJ Ethiopian coffee I see in your photo : )
Yes, that was my big mistake, Iām sure, trying to be too gentle with it. I will be sure to rough up my dough in future!
The TJ Ethiopian is my favorite! Iām so glad they have a shade-grown coffee - it is not always easy to find. : -)
Hi! I am excited to make this but I prefer to use sprouted freshly milled flour. So, is it possible to make this with freshly milled sprouted rye and sprouted spelt? What can I use in place of whole wheat flour for the starter? Sprouted Red Wheat?
Thank you for any help you cna provide,
Kelly
Hi Eric, I love this bread. I have been making the bread once or twice a week for a month now. Really flavorful and wholesome bread. I am looking for variety and wondering what it would be like if I add kalamata olives or rosemary. Do I have to change any of the flour combination?
Second question: stores have been running low lately of rye flour and Iām wondering if I only have bread flour and spelt flour, what should I substitute the rye flour with? I also have whole wheat and 10 grain. All organic.
After mixing ingredients on day 2, would there be any substitute amount of time to leave out instead of refrigerating for 24 hours, or would that have a big change on how things turn out? What is the thought process behind refrigerating for a period of time and then removing from refrigeration for a period of time? (total beginner, just trying to get a little intuition here).
Thanks!
Dan
I make this recipe frequently and for the past 2 months, Iāve made it almost once a week. I have always done the 24 hour (or more) refrigeration.
The long, cold ferment allows for the flours to absorb the liquid, PLUS particularly with whole grains, it adds to flavor and texture. I much prefer a long, cold ferment of a whole grain dough.
However, there is nothing to say that you canāt get a nice loaf of bread by a shorter, room temp ferment. You can certainly try it. Be aware that the whole grain at room temp might āblow upā very fast and if you try the room temp, you need to keep an eye on it and not let it go too far (overferment which will result in a flat brick potentially, i.e. dough is literally out of gas).
I find the timing of this recipe to work very well for me. But, if you want to try the room temp idea, maybe split the dough in half and refrigerate half, room temp the other half. The recipe quantity makes a LARGE boule. I have a 3.5 quart dutch oven and usually make 80% of the recipe which still makes a good size boule. All to say, halving the dough and treating the bulk ferment both ways is doable.
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Eric, I love your site. We recently moved from WV to the Raleigh, NC area (5 years ago) and have just been hit by this horrible virus. When I left WV I brought my dried sourdough with me and last week I revived it. I thought Iād lost it on day 4; I usually lose mine on day 4 but this time I didnāt give up and today (day 7) it came back to life again. Iāve named it Wizard after our last Old English Sheepdog because he lived so long and even though he was crippled, sometimes he would surprise us and move to a new location when we would come home after running an errand. So Wizard again surprised me and came back to life. I couldnāt believe it.
I love reading your site and today I read about your birthday party and the PoilĆ¢ne bread you ordered from France. Thatās all and good but you didnāt need to go that far for a wonderful, delicious European style bread. I know because as a child I grew up in Germany but we traveled to other sites as well. I love German bread and my daughter worked for a short while at Whole Foods in Apex. So she highly recommended I try their 4 lb loaf. So we bought 1/4 of a loaf and sure enough, I was back in Europe all over again. You can order his bread at www.lafarmbakery.com. You wonāt be sorry, I can assure you. He also has a book called A Passion for Bread by Lionel Vatinet. I guess the name Lionel is a good one to pick for future bakers. He also gives classes when we arenāt restricted to keep our distances. But I donāt know; he might still give them but to smaller classes. So enjoy, hopefully. I am going to be making some of your breads as my starter gets riper. For now, I will be happy with any homemade bread. Stay well!
I donāt have spelt flour. What can I use as a substitute?
Wholegrain khorasan would be a nice, and interesting, substitute. If not then whole wheat flour. What do you have in stock?
I made this recipe as an oval loaf (in my Romertopf baker) instead of a boule and I adjusted the temperature/time to match those of your other oval loaf recipes: 500 degrees, 15 minutes with the lid on and 25 minutes with the lid off. Itās just come out of the oven and the bottom is all burned. How do I keep the bottom from burning? Should I not have adjusted time and temperature?
Thank you for responding so quickly. I wanted to try the whole wheat sourdough bread. I have oat flour, almond flour, dark rye and whole wheat flour. Should I also add some vital gluten to help the bread to rise? I am new to sourdough baking, but just had a success with an overnight, no knead boule. I wanted to try something with whole wheat or rye
I think just go for a straight swap and use whole wheat flour. Nothing else to add or change. All the other ingredients you have will upset the recipe but the whole wheat should be perfect.
Iām new to baking sourdough breadā¦well any bread for that matter. Finally, got it going during Covid quarantine.
This bread is my 4th and the absolute best! It tastes just like the seedless rye bread my parents would get at the Ukrainian American markets on the East Coast. Perfection! It will be my weekly go toā¦thanks for posting and sharing!
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Iām almost 24 hours into the bulk fermentation, and realized I didnāt give this bread the kneading time it should have had before going for the bulk ferment. Not sure if anyone will get this in time to let me know opinions and options, so upset with myself, I just hate to waste. Itās risen well in the refrigerator though!
Donāt worry!!! I never knead this. The recipe does not even call for it ā¦ the 24 hour bulk does all of the gluten development. Mix, refrigerate, shape and bake. I just baked this recipe this morning and have been making this nearly weekly.
Thank you Liz! Itās progressing so nicely I was hoping the bulk ferment would do the work. Will post a pic when done but I donāt have a nice lame at the moment so my scores may be wonky! 
Here it is. I could have scored better - wanted to try for the āearā and sort of got it! Iād score higher up next time.
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That looks great!! I think your score is in the right place. This is a large amount of dough. I usually make 80% of the recipe as my dutch oven is smallish at 3.5 quarts and the full recipe doesnāt really have enough room.
This morning, I baked a mini-loaf: 1/2 of the 80%. I shaped it kind of batard like but baked in my DO with typical slash that I do: the āsmileā and some smaller slashes.
The loaf had a lot of room, plus I shaped it last night and did the final rise after shaping in the refrigerator and then baked from cold. That is another option. I did it this time because yesterday afternoon when I looked at the dough, I thought it was too far along to let it keep going. As a kind of test of my judgement, I split the dough, shaped the half I baked this morning.
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Wow. Youāve really got this loaf nailed. Thatās beautiful. Iāll keep trying - I could have split and proofed in my oval baskets, but decided to proof on the countertop as a boule instead, since itās WW and holds shape a little more. Also donāt have a round brotform or a lame right now, so used a serrated knife. Is your DO cast iron or enamel cast iron? Also interested in your cooking temps and times. Thanks for sharing this!
Well, I donāt think there is a thing wrong with your loaf at all!
My Dutch Oven is a Lodge Enamel Cast Iron, almost vintage at 12-13 years old. I do have a small oval as well as an oblong brotform but I also use a stretched out foil bread pan for shaping ovals. I use a mixing bowl for boule. I put the dough into whatever on top of parchment and use the parchment to move dough into and out of whatever I bake in. I donāt do the flip thing 
Time and Temp: Covered 500F 10 min, 475 25 min, then remove lid and bake 5-7 min more.
Now, this small loaf this morning, I started smelling the bread ā¦ that certain aroma that means done at about 24 min into the 475 covered. When I checked, it was as brown as I wanted it and I knew from aroma that it was done so it had no ālid offā time at all.
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