Ingredients
- 500 g hard white wheat berries milled into fresh flour
- 400 g warm water for the autolyse
- 25 g warm water added with the starter and salt
- 100 g active sourdough starter fed and doubled in size
2 teaspoon salt fine, about 12 g- ⅓ cup uncooked rice optional, for the bottom of the Dutch oven
Equipment
Method
- Feed your starter a few hours before you plan to mix your dough, and let it rise on the counter until it's bubbly and doubled in size.
- Mill the hard white wheat berries into flour with your grain mill. Mix the fresh milled flour with the warm water until no dry flour remains. Cover and let it rest for 30 minutes to an hour.500 g hard white wheat berries, 400 g warm water
- Add the active starter, the salt, and the remaining warm water to the rested dough. Work everything in with wet hands, folding the dough onto itself several times until it feels well mixed. Form it into a loose ball, cover, and let it rest for 30 minutes.100 g active sourdough starter, 2 tsp salt, 25 g warm water
- Do four sets of folds, 30 minutes apart: two sets of stretch and folds, then two sets of gentler coil folds. If you prefer, you can do all four sets as stretch and folds instead.
- Let the dough rise until it's increased about 60–70%, not doubled. This took me about 5 to 5½ hours from when I added the starter.
- Shape the dough and place it seam side up in a floured banneton or a bowl lined with a lightly floured kitchen towel.Looking for a shaping method? Check out the post above for a video of how I shape my loaves.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- In the morning, place your cast iron Dutch oven in the oven and preheat to 500°F for about 40 minutes.
- Take the dough out of the fridge, turn it out onto a piece of parchment paper, and gently round it with a light tension build. Score an X across the top.
- Optional: sprinkle the rice over the bottom of the hot Dutch oven to keep the bottom of the loaf from getting too dark. Lift the loaf by its parchment and set it in the Dutch oven. Cover and bake at 500°F for 20 minutes.⅓ cup uncooked rice
- Remove the lid, lower the oven to 450°F, and bake 10–15 minutes more, until the crust is deep golden brown.
- Take the loaf out of the Dutch oven right away and let it cool on a wire rack for about an hour before slicing.
Notes
Tips for fresh milled flour sourdough:
- Use high hydration and a hard wheat. Hard white or hard red wheat with close to 90% hydration gives the best rise and a soft, open crumb.
- Autolyse with just flour and warm water. Resting them 30 minutes to an hour before adding the starter and salt softens the bran and germ.
- Shape tightly. A taut, round loaf scored with an X rises up instead of out.
- Stop the rise at 60–70%, not doubled. Fresh milled dough ferments faster and can't hold as much gas, so waiting for it to double flattens the loaf.
- Keep it warm. Use warm water and let the dough rise somewhere a little warm.
- Cold proof overnight. The chill firms up the wet dough so it holds its shape and scores cleanly.
- Bake in a very hot Dutch oven. A full preheat gives the strongest oven spring.