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Pumpkin Sourdough Artisan Loaf made with Fresh Milled Flour

This sweet and savory loaf is the perfect fall loaf!
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Prep Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Bulk Fermentation 5 hours
Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine: American, French
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 500 g Wheat berries I use half hard white and half hard red wheat
  • 100 g Bubbly, active sourdough starter
  • 100 g Organic pumpkin puree
  • 300 g Filtered water
  • 3 Tbsp Organic maple or Raw Honey
  • 1 Tbsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
  • 12 g Salt
  • Olive oil for greasing bowl for proofing

Equipment

  • Wheat mill
  • Stand mixer optional - I prefer using a mixer over doing stretch and folds!
  • Stainless steel bowl
  • Danish whisk
  • Banneton for proofing
  • Kitchen scale
  • Cookie sheet
  • Unbleached parchment paper
  • Lame razor for scoring
  • Digital thermometer
  • Organic bakers twine
  • Scissors for cutting twine

Method
 

  1. Feed your sourdough starter 9-10 hours before bake. This time will vary based on your home's temperature, but I like to feed mine before I go to bed, around 10pm. When I wake up my starter is nearly ready to use and hasn't started falling yet. See recipe notes for starter feeding info.
  2. In the morning, weigh your wheat and mill it.
  3. In a large bowl (or in your mixer) add your all ingredients but the salt and starter to your flour. This will make a shaggy dough. Let your dough autolyse for 45mins-1 hour so the water can absorb into the flour.
  4. After autolysing, add in your starter and salt.
    - If you are using your mixer, mix on level 2 until you reach windowpane. In my mixer, this takes 5-7 minutes.
    If you're doing stretch and folds:– Mix salt and starter in well so they're fully mixed in.– Do a stretch and fold every 30 minutes for a total of 3 S&F.
  5. Let your dough bulk ferment. The time for bulk fermentation can vary widely depending on the temperature of your home. With fresh milled flour, you do not want to go by the 'let the dough double in size' rule of thumb. I have found observing the dough and it's feel is a better indicator if the dough is ready. This usually looks like +25-50% of the original dough size. FMF easily overproofs and cause a sticky, messy dough that is hard to keep shape. This will result in flat loaves.
  6. Cut four long strips of bakers twine, about 18" long. In a small bowl, add about 1 Tbsp olive oil and make sure the twine is fully coated in the oil. Let the twine absorb the oil for a few hours before you bake.
  7. After your dough is bulk fermented:
    Line your banneton with a tea towel. Using a round or oval (batard) banneton, shape your loaf for the shape you're using. (there are a ton of tutorials for shaping on youtube!). After shaping, put into the fridge to cold proof. I always cold proof my banneton loaves because they're likely to keep their shape better when it's time to bake. I cold proof for at least 4 hours – this tends to be enough time to bring down the dough temperature enough to bake.
  8. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Fill a stainless pan (I use one of my sandwich loaf pans) with very hot or boiling water. Put the water at the bottom of your oven to create a steamy oven.
  9. On a parchment lined cookie sheet, take your twine and make two + signs to make 8 even sections.
  10. Put loaf centered on the strings, and tie in a knot on the center. You want the twine to be taught but not pulling on the loaf.
  11. Trim the strings to leave 2" at the top.
  12. Sprinkle your loaf with rice flour. Score each section vertically with a 1/4" score. This will make sure none of your sections expands unevenly. Then you can go around and add detailed scoring if you'd like!
  13. Bake your loaf at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Turn it down to 350 for another 40 minutes. Check your loaf's temperature and remove from the oven when the center temperature is 205 degrees.
  14. Let your loaf cool on a wire rack. After about 10 minutes, cut your strings carefully and remove from your loaf. If you wait too long the string will begin to adhere to your bread.
  15. Let fully cool before enjoying your delicious loaf! Enjoy with butter and honey, or alone.

Notes

Sourdough starter tip: I like to feed mine at a 1:5:5 ratio. FMF needs a STRONG, thick starter, and this ratio seems to be the most effective for tall rise.