Soft Sourdough Boule Made Entirely with Freshly Milled Flour

Hello, welcome. Thank you so much for being here!

This sourdough boule is made entirely with freshly milled flour. It’s soft and easy to chew and so, so good for you. Did I mention this dough only has 4 ingredients? And this process is less involved for those with time sensitive schedules!

This dough comes together in a stand mixer, and then we set it and forget it for the first rise (or bulk ferment). After a little more work to portion out the dough, it can be baked 2 hours later, or left in the fridge to ferment overnight.

Throughout this post I’m expecting you to have some familiarity with the sourdough bread making process. While this isn’t a complete, beginner sourdough bread making post, it is an informative post that will help you start incorporating freshly milled flour into your sourdough bread making process.

Tools you may need

Stand mixer

Grain mill

Kitchen scale

Large mixing bowl

Proofing basket

Dutch oven

Ingredients

Sourdough starter

Water

Hard wheat berries

Salt

Terms

Sourdough starter: homemade yeast made with flour and water that makes baked goods rise.

Stretch and fold: with wet hands, take one edge of the dough – making sure you’re grabbing from the bottom – and stretch the dough upwards until it’s pulled as thin as it can go before tearing. Then fold that section over the rest of the dough. Rotate the bowl and continue these stretch and folds until you have a nice cohesive shape for the rising process.

Bulk ferment: this takes place after mixing the dough and is the first rise of the dough for it to double in size.

Laminate: gently thin out the dough with damp fingertips while forming it into a slight rectangle shape – similar to making cinnamon rolls.

Second ferment: this takes place after shaping the dough, further fermenting the dough to make it more digestible.

Soft Sourdough Boule Made Entirely with Freshly Milled Flour

Yield: 2 loaves

Prep time: 1 hour, divided

Bulk ferment: 2-4 hours, or until double in size

Second ferment: 2-24 hours

Bake time: 40 minutes, divided

Measurements

750 g water

200 g sourdough starter

850 g hard wheat berries, freshly milled

20 g salt

Directions

Dough

1. Feed your sourdough starter 100 g of freshly milled flour and 150 g filtered water. Set aside until doubled in size. (Placing this in a warm place will hasten rising time.)
2. Once your starter has doubled in size add water, starter, salt and freshly milled flour to your stand mixer bowl.
3. Mix on low (speed 2) until no dry flour remains and you have a shaggy dough. Cover and let sit for 20-30 minutes.
4. Knead in your stand mixer on medium (speed 4) for 8-10 minutes, or until a smooth ball forms that pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
5. Oil a large mixing bowl and transfer dough from your stand mixer into that prepped bowl.
6. To create a cohesive shape for our bulk ferment, perform one set of stretch-and-folds, then cover for the bulk ferment. (Placing this in a warm place will hasten rising time.)
7. Once the dough has doubled in size, divide it in half. Working with one half, laminate the dough and create tension over the surface of the ball of dough by using the countertop as you pull and rotate the dough.
8. Place the ball of dough face-down in a floured and lined proofing basket and insert that basket into a grocery sack to keep in moisture. Then place it into the fridge for the second ferment (anywhere from 2 to 24 hours). 
9. Repeat steps 7 (without diving the dough) and 8 with the second half of the dough.

Baking

1. Place a 5 qt dutch oven in the oven and preheat the oven to 450 F. (Allow the dutch oven to preheat for at least 30 minutes before baking the bread.)
2. Remove the bread from the refrigerator, turn it out on parchment paper and score the surface of the bread deeply with a sharp blade.
3. Place the dough into the piping hot dutch oven and cover. Bake at 450 F for 20 minutes.
4. After that first 20 minutes, reduce the temperature of the oven to 400 F and remove the lid from the dutch oven. Bake the bread for another 20 minutes.
5. Remove the dutch oven from your oven and allow the bread to cool completely before cutting into it. (If your schedule allows, wait at least 2 hours before cutting into it.)
6. Repeat the baking process for the second sourdough boule.

Plan of Action

First Morning: Feed your sourdough starter. (See Dough step 1.)

Afternoon: Mix dough and allow to rise for bulk ferment. (See Dough steps 2-6)

Evening: Shape the dough and prepare for second ferment. (See Dough steps 7-8).

Bake your boule if using a short second ferment stage.

Second Morning: If using a longer second ferment, bake your sourdough boule!

If you appreciate a step-by-step visual guide, here is a video from my youtube channel that takes you through this sourdough boule making process.