This bread was my first sourdough bread and will be one of my favorites for quite some time, I think. It has a pleasant tangy/light sour taste and a smell which makes you extremely hungry, even if you ate (too much) five minutes before. The 125% hydratation white wheat flour sourdough starter used contributed to the many holes in this bread. Lovely.
Recipe
This bread requires the usage of 15% preferment, and 15% of the total flour will be wholerye flour. These are the ratios:
preferment
- 150gr bread flour
- 188gr water
- 30gr mature sourdough starter (liquid, 125%)
- 750gr bread flour
- 100gr wholerye flour
- 462gr water
- 19gr salt
- all of the above (preferment)
Variations
The recipe originates from Mr. Hamelman’s book “BREAD” and is originally baked in Vermont, USA. That’s why it’s called “Vermont Sourdough”. But it’s actually a bit silly since I live in Limburg, Belgium and the bacteria in your mother starter are unique to your location, so I should be calling it “Limburg style Sourdough”. There’s a small percentage of rye flour added but the rest is plain white bread flour (not the high protein version).
I also baked it using a special flour mix which contains malted barley and walnuts. You can use a pestle to grind some extra nuts (and keep the skin on to get a darker bread). For this bread I also used more wholewheat flour which results in a denser less open structure. I still think it’s quite airy though.
For Dutch people: the flour I’ve used is called “woudmeel” According to a google search, it contains the following things:
flour, rye flour, sunflower seeds, rolled oats, bran, cracked wheat, millet, roasted malt, soy flakes, flax seed, sesame flour
It’s the roasted malt and soy flakes that give the bread the dark color. Don’t be confused, this is not a wholewheat bread! I’ve added extra wholewheat flour.
I got the flour from Horta Kuringen (Martens)