White Kamut Sourdough Bread
White Kamut sourdough bread is a delectable alternative to conventional white bread flour. Enjoy the buttery flavor and hint of sweetness in this ancient golden wheat. Even with a long cold final proof, the resulting bread has minimal-to-no sourness.
- Prep time
- 40 min
- Cook time
- 35 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
- 400 g white Kamut flour (3 cups)
- 300-350 g water (1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups)
- 75 g sourdough starter (1/4 cup)
- 8 g salt (1 1/2 tsp)
Instructions
- 1
Mixing, Gluten Development, Bulk Fermentation
- 2
Thoroughly mix the ingredients in a bowl with measuring marks if possible, or transfer the dough to a straightwalled container--to track dough expansion during the first rise.
- 3
Cover and let the dough rest 20-30 minutes. Do 3-4 rounds of stretching and folding or coil folding of the dough with 20-30 minute rests in between. The higher hydration dough will feel quite wet and leave bits on your hands, but it shouldn't break into pieces when you stretch and fold it. If this happens, add more flour.
- 4
End the bulk fermentation when the dough has expanded by about 75%. This took my doughs 4 hours from mixing time in a warm summer kitchen.
- 5
Shaping, Final Proof
- 6
Flour your work surface and scrape the dough out onto it. If you chose the higher end of hydration range, use a bench scraper and extra flour, and expect to shape the dough twice in a row because the first attempt likely won't hold tight.
- 7
Flour the top of the shaped dough and your proofing basket, then flip the dough into the basket seam-side up.
- 8
Cover and let the dough rise again. If the ambient temperature is over 75°F, refrigerate the dough immediately after shaping. Otherwise let it rise for 20-60 minutes at room temperature, then put it in the refrigerator. The dough can be refrigerated 8-16 hours. You could also bake the dough the same day by only proofing at room temperature for 1-2 hours. I don't recommend this for the high hydration dough because if warm, it will be extra sticky in the basket and splay a lot during scoring. My doughs spent 15-16 hours in the refrigerator.
- 9
Baking
- 10
Preheat your oven and baking vessel to 500°F for 30 minutes.
- 11
Flip the dough out of the proofing basket and onto a sheet of parchment paper, score, and load into your baking vessel and oven.
- 12
Bake at 500°F for 15 minutes with the lid on and 450°F for 15 minutes with the lid off.
- 13
If using cast iron, consider putting a baking sheet under the vessel at the halfway point.
- 14
When the bread is done, it should have an internal temperature over 205°F and sound a bit hollow when you knock on the base.
- 15
Let the bread cool for several hours before you slice it.