Lynne Arnold's
Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread

I activate the starter from my stash in the fridge as directed before baking, but use freshly ground hard red winter whole wheat exclusively for all steps.

• 2 ½ cups of active starter at room temperature (between 68° and 85° F.)
• 1 ½ cups of red hard winter whole wheat flour.

Mix and let rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Add:

• 1 ½ cups of the same flour as above.
• 1 ½ - 2 teaspoons of salt, depending on preference.

I use the quick dough cycle of my bread maker which warms the whole thing up to about 82°, kneads for 20 minutes, lets rise for 10 minutes, stirs, and lets rise for another 5 minutes, but you wouldn't have to use a breadmaker machine at all. Mixing and kneading by hand or in a stand mixer would work just as well.

When this is done, I shape it into a round, flat loaf, put it in my warming drawer at about 88 degrees, for 45 minutes. I bake at 400° for 10 minutes on a pizza stone sprinkled with cornmeal with a pan of water in the oven. Then I reduce the heat to 375° and bake another 20 or 25 minutes.