Advice please!

jatz13

Hi

Sourdough baking has been going really well lately with some good results using organic white flour and organic spelt flour from Woolies.

So if it aint broke, why did I decide to fix it?!  Anyway, I bought a Kialla Pure Food Wholemeal Flour, organic and stoneground

The dough does not have the elasticity the white flour or even the spelt had ie when I stretch and fold, the dough tears instead of capturing air like the other flours did

I am using a 3:2:1 recipe

My questions will probably sound stupid/simple, sorry, but I could use some advice

Can you get organic stoneground flour that isnt wholegrain? I am aiming for a whiter sourdough but I thought whole wheat was the holy grail of good sourdough

Is there a recipe someone could recommend for a wholewheat sourdough?  My dough looks quite a bit drier than if I used the same 3:2:1 recipe.

 

Thank you in advance

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farinam's picture
farinam 2014 October 14

Hello jatz13,

I would think that you should be able to get white stoneground flour and I imagine that Kialla have such a beast.  Ask at the shop that you got your wholemeal from, they would surely know or be able to find out.

On the subject of whole wheat bread, there are a couple of effects that you need to be aware of.  Firstly, the bran and germ absorb a lot more moisture and so you need to be using a higher hydration.  How high you go depends on your experience and the flour characteristics but I have seen hydration as high as 90% with 100% wholemeal dough.  The second effect is that the bran and germ affect the continuity of the gluten sheets in the developed dough and so you are unlikely to attain a gossamer thin film in the window test and you might be better just to go on the feel and elasticity of the bulk dough.

Hope this helps and let us know how you go.  Good luck with your projects.

Farinam

jatz13 2014 October 15

Thank you Farinam! great advice, I will try different hydrations for the wholewheat flour

I was indeed stressing about the window test with the wholemeal flour, so its good to know that its the flour and not me :)

much appreciated

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