A rustic loaf of naturally leavened sourdough bread made with 50% heritage wheat, and bread flour. Makes for an amazingly nutty and flavorful bread. The heritage grain component is red fife flour.

This homemade sourdough bread recipe is sponsored by One Degree Organics, using their red fife flour. You can find more of my sourdough recipes here. 

If you’re new to sourdough, and are looking for a sourdough starter to begin, I ship my 13+ year old starter to anyone in the U.S! You can order it here.

I’ve fallen hard for this rustic loaf of sourdough bread made with 50% red fife flour, a heritage wheat that leads to fantastic flavor without taking away from the texture. A tender interior with small, porous holes, and a crispy crust that breaks the silence in all its glory when cut.

Whole grain flours keep every part of their seed architecture (bran, germ, endosperm) throughout the milling process. That means fiber, micronutrients, nutrition, flavor. These are great things for health, but they can prove a little bit tricky for baking, namely the fiber in the bran, which will interfere with carbon dioxide production in the dough and compromise rise.

Using whole grains in homemade sourdough bread baking takes a bit of practice and experimenting. And luck, if I’m being honest. Because no matter what, the conditions are never going to be exactly the same in your house. But the one thing you can control every time is the flour you use. My go-to brand on whole grain flours are from One Degree Organics. I’ve been experimenting with everything from spelt, rye, khorasan, and red fife.

Not only are all their flours traceable to the farmer who grew them, but they are also sprouted to simplify plant compounds and milled at low temperatures to preserve nutrients.

The foundation seed for One Degree Organics Bernie’s heritage Red Fife wheat is derived from the Keremeos strain that was brought to Canada from Scotland 170 years ago. Often referred to as Faith Red Fife (and also the oldest Canadian wheat), it has a different flavor compared to modern wheat, that of honey overtones and nuttiness. And is a superior bread flour, which attributes to it being the favorite wheat of the baking and milling industry of the 1800’s. 

To keep this homemade sourdough bread soft on the inside, the hydration is pretty high, at 75%. That means you’ll need to build strength in the initial stages of bulk fermentation, incorporating a few sets of stretch and fold. This technique helps develop the gluten and helps it hold its shape later on in the process.

Once the bulk fermentation and shaping is complete, you’re on easy street! Just slide the dough into the refrigerator for up to 12 hours for its second rise and bake when you’re ready. This long, slow rise yields a traditional sourdough taste that I’ve been after for quite some time. A sweet tang with its own unique flavor.

Out of the oven this bread has a crackly crust: rustic fissures with golden brown undertones. The perfect balance between tender interior with HOLES! (sometimes difficult to achieve with whole grains), and substantial exterior structure.

With it being the end of summer, I’ve been enjoying it with these slow roasted cherry tomatoes, and avocado – of course. But it also makes a killer grilled cheese sandwich bread.

If you make this homemade sourdough bread recipe, be sure to tag me on instagram with hashtag #heartbeetkitchen or @heartbeetkitchen!

xo,
Amanda

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