sourdough bread 4 (whole wheat)

I decided to attempt a whole wheat sourdough bread. I modified the basic recipe by using half whole wheat flour and the three tablespoons of wheat gluten introduced last time. This made a noticeably less wet dough and I had to add a little more water in order to incorporate all the flour. It did not rise as much as usual. It was difficult to fold over four times and I ended up kneading for a minute.

At 20 minutes the crust had browned more than usual.

After uncovering I peeked at 15 and 17 minutes and ended up going 19. The internal temperature was only 193 degrees, though. I still haven't done any reading about what final temperatures should be.

Flavor and texture were quite nice, actually, though it was much a much denser loaf. The crust is just right and the interior is very soft but resilient. It's a bit gummy when chewed. The sourdough flavor is evident, and an interesting contrast to the sweetness of the whole wheat. Everyone enjoyed the bread, though I'd like to see whether it's possible to make a less dense and larger loaf. This is a research topic.

The strangeness of my kneading/folding produced a somewhat malformed loaf where the dough didn't quite adhere across one of the folds. This is a far less sticky dough than without the whole wheat flour.

Overall, a good experiment. Next time I might try using more starter and baking for a few more minutes while covered.