Sourdough baker John Mundinger has been experimenting with heritage grains for years. For his first Kernza bake, he started with a basic Tartine-style country loaf, substituting Kernza for the whole wheat flour to get a feel for how it performs.
Kountry Kernza®
John Mundinger
1 two-pound loaf of bread
24 hours
A classic sourdough country loaf with Kernza standing in for the whole wheat flour. Long ferment, beautiful crumb.
Ingredients
- 350 grams (1 1/2 C) water
- 100 grams (7/8 C) Kernza Flour
- 400 grams (3 1/4 C) All Purpose flour
- 75 grams (1/3 C) ripe sourdough starter
- 9 grams (1 tsp) sea salt
Directions
- Mix together 350 (1 1/2 C) grams of water, 100 grams (7/8 C) Kernza and 250 grams (2 C) AP flour, let stand for 2 hours (the autolyze).
- Blend 75 grams of ripe sourdough starter into the previous mixture.
- Mix the salt into the remaining AP flour (150 grams/1-1/4 C) and blend into the dough. Mix until the flour is completely incorporated. Cover and let stand for 30 minutes.
- Do a series of 4 or 5 “stretch & folds” at 30 minute intervals, resting the dough in between.
- Cover and let the dough stand at room temperature for an additional 2 to 4 hours. Then refrigerate the dough and bulk ferment for another 12 hours. During the bulk ferment, the dough should about double in volume.*
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator, degas the dough and shape the dough. Place the dough into a proofing basket that has been dusted with rice flour. Cover and let stand for about an hour or until the dough has doubled in volume.
- Place the cloche in the oven. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Remove the pre-heated base of the cloche from the oven, place the dough onto the base, cover and return to the oven for 25 minutes.
- Remove the cloche cover and bake for an additional 20 minutes.** The bread is done when the internal temperature reaches 200 to 205 degrees F.***
John Mundinger
Michael – I did not share a crumb shot for that loaf. But, if I had used that bread for PB&J, I’d have a serious laundry issue. ;)
On the more serious side, I typically only bake the “country loaf” to have bread to eat with a hearty soup and that is how I would use the above recipe.
Michael
I have been making a sourdough loaf with 300 g bread flour, 200 g whole wheat, and 100 g Kernza. With 400 g water and 100 g starter, my hydration is only 70%. Not as airy, but fewer big holes for the peanut butter and jelly to drip through.