In early June 2023, I started to make and bake my own 75% whole-wheat sourdough bread − that is, I baked two boules. To my surprise, the ‘experiment’ went pretty well. 

Years ago, a friend had given me Ken Forkish’s book Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast. And in June my spouse encouraged me to pick up bread making as a hobby. I followed the 75% Whole Wheat recipe as described in Ken Forkish’s book starting on page 144. It is a kind of ‘Mischbrot,’ as German-speaking folks would call it.

However, the two boules did not rise or ‘spring’ quite as much as I had wanted, probably because I did not fold the dough well enough after bulk fermentation and before proofing. Regardless, the bread still tasted remarkable. On my first try, I was much encouraged.

Whole wheat bread is both Christine’s and my preferred bread − bread with as much unrefined whole wheat as possible. There are too many empty carbs in bread made with white flour from refined wheat. Refined carbs include mostly sugars and processed grains. They are empty calories and lead to rapid spikes in blood sugar and insulin levels.

Read up on how to make whole wheat sourdough bread

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/high-hydration-whole-wheat-sourdough-bread-recipe

Watch a few instructional videos to get started

Following are some YouTube videos about making whole wheat bread. The first video (37 minutes) by a German guy (in English) describes a fairly detailed way of making whole wheat sourdough bread.

The next video (12 minutes) is for a bit simpler way of making whole wheat sourdough bread.

Getting a loaf to rise takes a bit of practice

I think that paying attention to proper measurements of weights, volumes, or ratios is obviously important. But there is more to it! The tricky thing about getting these loaves of bread to rise is the adequate shaping of the loaves, that is, the folding of the final dough after fermentation and before proofing in the refrigerator overnight. I found it helpful to watch the following video (23 minutes) about particularly folding and shaping the dough.

The following video (12 minutes) explains whole wheat sourdough baking with a detailed timeline. Very helpful!

The following is another good video (22 minutes) explaining some important details of making bread and getting the dough to spring, that is, to rise.

The following video (27 minutes) from Full Proof Baking is very instructive as well.

Enjoy…

YouTube has tons more instructional videos on breadmaking. Baking artisan bread is a nutritional hobby to master, IMHO.