Sourdough Whole Wheat Bread (Bernard Clayton)

I'm not sure what's up with this recipe, but it was way, way too dry. Overall, the recipe calls for 6-7 c. of flour, 1 c. of starter, and only 1 1/2 c. of water. It doesn't specify a hydration level for the starter but, assuming 100% hydration, that only gives ~50% hydration for the final dough. I managed to incorporate 4 1/2 c. of flour before the dough got so stiff and dry that it wasn't even really dough anymore. I ended up having to work a bunch more water in just to get it back to a useable texture again. I didn't measure, but I think I had probably added another 1/2 c. of water by the end of kneading.

I got a decent loaf of bread out in the end, but just one and not two like the recipe promised. And I had to change the proportions so much that it barely counts as the same recipe anymore.

Sourdough Whole Wheat Bread

Adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

Sponge

• 250g active (fresh/fed) starter @ 100% hydration
• 1 1/2 c. warm water (45°C)
• 300g hard (strong/high grade/bread) whole wheat flour

Dough

• 1/2 Tbsp. instant yeast
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 250g hard (strong/high grade/bread) whole wheat flour

Directions

1. Make sure your starter is well-fed and active. If it's not, feed 50g starter with 100g each of flour and water and let it ferment overnight.
2. Once the starter is active, add the water and flour for the sponge and mix well. Cover and ferment at room temperature for 8-12 hours.
3. Once sponge has fermented, mix in the yeast and the salt.
4. Work in the flour 1/4 c. at a time (either by hand or with the flat beater of a stand mixer).
5. Cover and allow dough to rest for 10-15 minutes.
6. Knead by hand for ~30 minutes or 5-7 minutes with a dough hook. Work in a little more flour or water as necessary to achieve a good consistency.
7. Cover and allow to rise (~1 hour at room temperature or overnight in the fridge).
8. Knock the dough back, knead a few strokes, round, cover, and rest for 10-15 minutes.
9. Grease a 23x13 (9x5") loaf pan.
10. Press the dough flat, letter fold, and roll up to form your loaf. Place, seam-side-down, in prepared pan.
11. Cover and set aside to rise at room temperature. (I didn't time it, but probably ~45 minutes.)
12. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F).
13. Brush loaves with a bit of water and slit tops.
14. Bake at 220°C (425°F) for 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 180°C (350°F) and bake for another 20-30 minutes.
15. Once loaf is done, turn off oven and leave loaf in hot oven for 5-10 minutes.
16. Allow to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before turning out onto wire rack to finish cooling.