Fresh-Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread

5 from 3 votes

Fresh-Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread

This fresh-milled sourdough sandwich bread made in one day using hard red or white wheat and a touch of kamut for a soft, mild-flavored loaf. It’s perfect for slices, spreads, and, of course…sandwiches!

Prep Time15

Cook Time55

Autolyze, Fermentation, and Proofing8

Total Time9 10

Course: Sourdough

Cuisine: American

Servings: loaf (16 slices)

Calories: 145kcal

Author: Rebecca Warfield

Equipment

Grain Mill
Stand Mixer
Paddle attachment
Dough hook
Loaf Pan

Ingredients

390 g hard wheat berries white or red
170 9 kamut wheat berries
258 g water
42 g honey
9 g salt
114 g sourdough starter active and bubbly
1 egg
57 g butter softened and cubed

US - Metric

Instructions

Just before prepping the dough, mill the hard wheat and kamut on the finest setting.
390 g hard wheat berries, 170 9 kamut wheat berries
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the freshly milled flour, water, honey, salt, sourdough starter, egg, and butter.
258 g water, 42 g honey, 9 g salt, 114 g sourdough starter, 1 egg, 57 g butter
Using a paddle attachment, mix the ingredients together on low. Mix until just combined. Cover with a towel and allow the dough to rest (aka autolyze) for 30 minutes to 1 hour
Switch to a dough hook and knead the dough. With fresh-milled flour, I start on low to help it combine and form a ball, stopping once or twice to shape it by hand. Then, I incrementally increase the speed. I’ve found slower speeds work best, so I usually keep my KitchenAid on setting 3 at max.
Knead until the dough is smooth and passes the windowpane test. For me, this usually takes 12-15 minutes.
Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and set it aside to bulk ferment until it has risen 30%-50% and is domed on top. How long this takes depends on the strength of your starter, the temperature, and other factors. Remember to watch the dough, not the clock.
Butter or grease a loaf pan. Then, turn the dough out onto a clean work surface.
Gently stretch the dough into a 6" x 10" rectangle. Fold the long edges toward each other, meeting in the center, and pinch the seams together.
Then, fold the short edges 1" toward the center and pinch the seams together.
Use a bench scraper to turn the bread over so it is seam-side down, and tuck the ends in to create a little tension on the dough's surface.
Lift the dough with a bench scraper and transfer it to the prepared loaf pan.
Cover and allow it to proof until it has risen, looks puffy, and is domed above the top edge of the pan.
I usually use a plastic shopping bag to cover the dough.
Preheat the oven to 375° F. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until it reaches an internal temperature of 200° F.
Let the bread cool in the pan for a few minutes. Then, transfer it to a wire cooling rack and allow it to cool to room temperature before slicing and serving.

Notes

I used white or red wheat, depending on what I'm in the mood for. For the pictures in this post, I used hard red wheat.
I recommend weighing the ingredients in grams for the most accurate, consistent, and repeatable results.
If you want to speed up the fermentation and proofing time, use a proofing box.
In my experience, fresh-milled bread doesn’t have as much oven spring as bread made with white flour. For me, the shape it goes into the oven is the shape it comes out. So, if you want a high rise, proof it until the dough is nicely domed.
Fresh-milled wheat has more natural oils, so the dough hook can slip over it instead of mixing well. Start with the paddle attachment to combine the ingredients, then switch to the dough hook for kneading.
If your dough hook can’t catch the dough, stop the mixer and shape the dough into a ball by hand. I usually do this a couple of times until the hook starts kneading properly.

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