This bread did come out with a mild, but detectable sourdough tang. The loaves were a little smaller and flatter than I would've liked though. The recipe calls for only 525g of flour (plus 175mL rye sour) rather than the usual 900g of flour called for in the rest of the 2-loaf Laurel's Kitchen recipes that I've made so far. I'd be inclined to increase the amount of flour and water next time to produce the usual amount of dough.

Whole Wheat Sourdough

Adapted from Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

Ingredients

Starter

• 175mL sourdough starter or rye sour
• 225g whole wheat flour
• 175mL water

Dough

• 2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 120mL warm water
• 500g whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 250mL water

Directions

1. Combine all starter ingredients (sourdough starter, flour, and water), cover, and set aside at room temperature for 12-18 hours.
2. The next day, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Set aside for 10 minutes.
3. Combine the flour and salt and mix well.
4. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the starter mixture as well as the additional 250mL of water.
5. Mix the flour into the liquid working from the centre outward.
6. Once mixture comes together into a loose dough, turn it out and begin kneading¹. Knead for 20-40 minutes².
7. If, after 10 minutes of kneading, dough seems too loose, add a little more flour. (Be very sparing with the flour!) If dough is too tight, add more water. Knead a few more strokes and continue to adjust as necessary.
8. Once dough is supple and elastic and gluten is well-developed (usually ~40 minutes for me), form into a ball and place dough in a bowl to rise at room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap, a shower cap, or a damp cloth. Check proof after ~1 hour: Poke a damp finger ~1cm into the dough. If the hole fills in fairly rapidly, the dough is still under-proved and needs to rise for a bit longer. If the hole stays or only fills in a tiny amount/very slowly, it's ready to be knocked back. (If the dough sighs and/or sinks back around the hole, it's over-proved and should've been knocked back a bit earlier.)
9. Knock the dough back. (Sometimes I like to knead it a little bit at this point to help press out the bubbles and move the yeast around.)
10. Set to rise again³.
11. Knock dough back again, pressing out as many bubbles as possible.
12. Divide into two equal portions and shape each one into a ball, stretching and smoothing the gluten across the top. Set aside for 10 minutes to allow gluten to relax.
13. Shape into loaves as desired. (I prefer to bake mine in loaf tins. The recipe recommends making hearth loaves.)
14. Set to rise one final time. This time you're looking for a fingerprint that does fill in, but only slowly.
15. Steam at 450°F (230°C) for 10-15 minutes⁴.
16. Reduce heat to 325°F (160°C) and continue baking for ~40 minutes.

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¹ I actually find it easiest to turn the dough out before all the flour has been completely incorporated. It will be wet and sticky. It likely won't hold together very well. But if you turn it out and start working it, it will take up the rest of the flour as you do and gradually get less sticky and crumbly. I strongly advise against adding any more flour until the dough has had at least 10 minutes of kneading. And, even then, do so with extreme caution. Don't be afraid of dough that's a little wet and loose. In my experience that's probably going to be better than dough that's too tight and dry. ^Back
2 Exact timing will depend on your technique and speed. Aim for 600-1000 strokes. It's nearly impossible to overwork dough when kneading by hand, so err on the side of more rather than less. If kneading by machine, you may need much less time. Check gluten development after 10 minutes. ^Back
3 The recipe advises that the second rise should take about half as long as the first, but mine always seems to take about the same amount of time. Start checking around the 30-45 minute mark, but don't be alarmed if it takes an hour or more. ^Back
4 Steaming can be done a bunch of different ways. I prefer either baking the bread in a covered dish with a few tablespoons of water poured over the top crust before the lid is added or placing a pan of hot water on the rack directly below the baking bread (no lid for this method). ^Back