Aug
Scotland The Bread Chairman Andrew Whitley’s unique recipe for fermented bran sourdough wholemeal bread is a way of making a lighter loaf with wholemeal flour without sacrificing any nutritional quality. Indeed, fermenting the bran separately produces valuable by-products of nutritional relevance, not to mention wonderful flavour. Equipped with a sieve and a little skill, you need never buy refined white flour again.
To make one small loaf
Stage 1: Sift the flour
Sift 350g wholemeal flour through a fairly fine sieve to produce 50g bran and 300g sifted flour.
Stage 2: Ferment the bran
| Ingredients | Weight (g) |
|---|---|
| Bran | 50 |
| Rye sourdough starter | 10 |
| Warm water (35°C) | 200 |
| Total | 260 |
Ferment overnight.
Stage 3: Make a production sourdough
| Ingredients | Weight (g) |
|---|---|
| Wheat sourdough starter | 55 |
| Sifted flour | 50 |
| Wholemeal flour (or bran if you have extra) | 15 |
| Warm water (35°C) | 40 |
| Total | 160 |
Ferment for 4 hours at room temp or 12-16 hours in a cool place.
Stage 4: Make the final dough
| Ingredients | Weight (g) |
|---|---|
| Production sourdough | 150 |
| Sifted flour | 250 |
| Salt | 4 |
| Fermented bran water (top up with plain water if necessary) | 150 |
| Drained fermented bran | 70 |
| Total | 624 |
Method
Sift wholemeal flour to produce bran and sifted flour. Ferment the bran as specified.
In the morning, squeeze the bran out of the water. Use the fermented bran water to make the final dough, adding extra water if necessary.
Flatten the dough piece into a rectangle (portrait orientation). Spread the fermented bran evenly over the surface.
Roll up from the top towards your body, trying to keep a reasonable amount of tension in the dough without splitting it. If using a tin, drop the dough piece in with the seam downwards. If using a proving basket, dip the dough piece in rice flour and place in a basket seam upwards.
Prove under cover for 4-6 hours, depending on the vigour of your sourdough. Bake in a fairly hot oven for 10 minutes, then drop the temperature by about 20°C and continue for another 20 minutes or so.
