Sourdough Bread With Fresh Milled Flour Made EASY

Sourdough Bread With Fresh Milled Flour Made EASY! If I can do it, you can do it. It is ok to fail, as long as you try again! Once you mix up the dough, this is a one day recipe. This recipe makes either 4 small bread bowls, or 1 larger sourdough artisan loaf.

Ok, I had to do it! I am by no means a professional sourdough baker. I am assuming you have also seen those beautiful crusty sourdough loaves that are scored so perfectly that look like a piece of art that should be in an art gallery! Yes, I have seen those too, and they are gorgeous!

Beginner Sourdough Bakers

But, What About the Rest Of Us?

Right? The rest of us home bakers that just want to put healthy food on the table, and don’t have years to perfect a loaf before we can serve it to our family. I hear you! I am one of you! So, I decided to share my recipe.

My Sourdough Journey

In the beginning, I had a beautiful sourdough journey, But, it did start out with 100% commercial white flour. I was lucky to take a class several years ago back in 2017. And, I soaked in all the info I could! The teacher also shared some of her over 100 year old Authentic San Francisco sourdough starter. I was so grateful for this amazing free gift! I cherished it and cared for it for many years.

How I Killed My Original Sourdough Starter

Then…. I killed it. sad day. That is the day I learned that bleached flour can kill your sourdough starter. I tried to no avail to revive him. But, in the long run, it was ok. Because, this forced me to make my own starter from scratch. Which I did, and did again, and did again. Sigh… You know what I mean right? I tried and failed, tried and failed again, and finally success! It is frustrating to mess up so many times, but WOW the satisfaction you feel when it finally works out, and is bubbly and YOURS!

My Sourdough Starter Made With Fresh Milled Flour

Eventually, I had a 100% fresh milled flour sourdough starter, made from scratch, by me! And, you know what? I take so much better care of something that I put so much time and effort on! “Bubbles,” my sourdough starter, is kind of like a pet in our house. He comes out on the counter and makes delicious food for us, then he gets to go on “vacation” in the fridge for a week or so if we have travel days, or a busy schedule, and I know he will get neglected.

Struggling With Fresh Milled Flour Sourdough

I struggled with making a good sourdough loaf once I switched to fresh milled flour. It was very frustrating to me, and I felt like I was wasting so much! Either the loaf was too dense, or way too sour, just completely inedible. I almost gave up! And, I put my sourdough starter, Bubbles in “time out” in my refrigerator for awhile. Oh, I wanted to just cry! How could I have the most beautiful loaves of sourdough bread with regular flour, but not with fresh milled flour.

Don’t Give Up On Sourdough, Try & Learn Until You Succeed!

But, if you know me at all, you know I just could not give up! Every time I opened my fridge, there was “Bubbles” just looking at me, almost begging to give him another try. Well, I am so glad my determination paid off, and I had to give it another try.

Each time I had a failed loaf, I learned something. Actually, I am still learning things. Every time I bake bread, any kind of bread, I learn!

Tricks To Sourdough Bread With Fresh Milled Flour Making It Easy

There are a couple tricks to know when working with fresh milled flour to make Sourdough Bread. I can tell you there are 2 major things I noticed, and once I switched things up, I started having success! Are my sourdough loaves perfect? No, Are they delicious, and nutritious? YES!

The first thing I realized is that Fresh milled flour (the hard wheat varieties) are so much thirstier! I used to make 75% hydration loaves with white flour with no issues. I found that fresh milled flour needs to be at a minimum 80% hydration. Don’t worry, I will cover what the heck hydration level is, and what I am talking about next.

The second important thing I realized was that fresh milled flour seems to ferment much quicker. So, I realized that overnight fermentation that I always did with white flour sourdough wasn’t working with fresh milled flour, it was ending up WAY to sour, and that is coming from family members who love a sour bread. (Not me, I prefer a mild sourness.)

What Is Hydration Level In Sourdough Bread?

Hydration level is the moisture level in the bread dough. Ok, great… what does that mean?

The hydration level in Sourdough Bread (or any bread, really, just more commonly talked about with sourdough) is always based on the weight of the flour, generally in grams. So, for example, if I start with 1000 grams of flour, and I use 800 grams of water, then the bread is 80% hydration. I hope that example makes sense.

Bakers Percentage Made Easy

So, to elaborate more on the hydration level, this also ties into bakers percentages. This will also come up when adding salt. So, let’s take that same 1000 grams of flour, and add 800 grams of water, and 20 grams of salt. These numbers may change with different recipes, but the precents will always go off the weight of the flour. So, with our example loaf, we have 80% hydration, and 2% salt. (this ratio will actually give you 2 nice loafs.)

Why Do I Need To Weigh The Ingredients To Make Sourdough?

Ok, this one can be super controversial (well, sourdough in general seems to be a bit controversial, lol – This is why it took me this long to make a sourdough loaf post, it takes bravery to write a post on sourdough, lol)

Do you need to weigh the ingredients to make sourdough? The answer is yes, and no! How can it be both? Well, if you want a truly successful loaf, that has correct ratios, and the proper procedure, yes. BUT, can you do without measuring in a pinch, sure. (Please sourdough experts, don’t kill me here! lol) I understand not every baker wants to weigh, and was taught to bake exclusively by volume (i.e. cups, etc.) So, for you guys, my recipe has weight and volume.

Measuring your ingredients by weight is still recommended and will give you better results with more accuracy. When measuring by volume, the amounts can vary based on density of flour and how much each persons flour is fluffed, etc.

Kitchen Scale

The great thing is kitchen scales are fairly cheap, and you may find yourself happy to have it for other kitchen projects as well. HERE is a link to a fairly inexpensive kitchen scale like the one I have. I have found many uses for mine over the years!

Ingredients For Sourdough Bread Made With Fresh Milled Flour – Easy

Leaven Ingredients (The Night Before)

• 1 TBSP Sourdough Starter (15-20g) (Active, healthy, and bubbly) This is for the night before to make the leaven.
• 50g of Fresh milled hard wheat flour (about 1/2 cup)
• 50g room temperature filtered water (about 1/4 cup

Dough Ingredients (Next Day)

• 500 g of Fresh Milled Hard White Wheat Flour (I mill by weight, but it should be about 4&1/3 cups of total milled flour)
• 10 g sea salt (1&3/4tsp)
• 425 g room temperature filtered water – Divided (about 1&3/4 cups)
• Dusting of rice flour

Instructions For Easy Sourdough Bread Made With Fresh Milled Flour

I will try to explain this process in the best way possible. It may sound intimidating, but the process is not really as difficult as it may sound. I will put the volume and weight, but I HIGHLY suggest you use a scale and make this by weight! This recipe makes 4 small Bread Bowls, or 1 large sourdough Artisan loaf.

MAKE THE LEAVEN THE NIGHT BEFORE

1. To make the leaven the night before, you use 1 TBSP of a hungry starter and mix it with 50g water(1/4cup) and 50g fresh milled hard white wheat flour (1/2cup). Mix to combine, and let sit covered at room temperature overnight.

THE NEXT MORNING

1. Firstly, pour 400g of the room temperature filtered water into a medium bowl.
2. Then, add all of the leaven you made the night before. Stir to combine. (the leaven may appear to lightly float)
3. Next, add 500 g of fresh milled hard white wheat flour, mix until no dry flour is left. Cover and let sit for 30- 45 minutes. This is called the Autolyse.
4. In a separate small bowl, add 25g room temperature filtered water(1/8cup) and 10g of sea salt(1&3/4 tsp), stir to start dissolving the salt.
5. Then, after it had a chance to absorb the water, now add the salt & water mixture. and mix it in with your hands. You should see that the dough already is softer and not so shaggy. Cover, and let sit for 30-60 minutes. This is the beginning of the Bulk Ferment.
6. Pull & fold dough in the bowl, turning the bowl a few times, Then cover.
7. Repeat this Pull & Fold technique every 30-60 minutes until the dough rises about 20-30%. It should get bubbly, and stretchy over time. This phase should take about 4-6 hours.

Shaping The Loaf

1. Then, take it to a clean flat work surface, start to shape the loaf. Use the cup & turn technique to form a round shape.
2. Let the dough ball rest for 10-20 minutes. This is called the Bench Rest.
3. Repeat shaping 1-2 more times, until the dough ball forms good surface tension. You should notice the dough ball “remembers” better each time you shape it.
4. During this time, preheat oven to 480*F with Dutch Oven or a High Heat Proof Baking Vessel With Lid inside. (If you don’t have one, never fear, check the notes for an alternative.)
5. Place dough on parchment paper, and coat dough ball with a little rice flour and score the loaf however you desire.
6. Place loaf in preheated Dutch oven with lid on.
7. Bake bread 30 minutes at the 480*F covered.
8. Then, decrease oven to 450*F, remove the lid, and continue baking 20-25 more minutes.
9. Check the temperature of the loaf, and bake until the internal temperature of the loaf reaches. 210*F
10. Let the loaf cool completely before slicing into it.

What If I Don’t Have A Dutch Oven?

You don’t HAVE to have a Dutch oven to make Sourdough. It does make your loaf a little better, but I have an alternative method that won’t require you to purchase anything new… yet.

Alternate Sourdough Cooking Method Without A Dutch Oven

If you don’t have a Dutch Oven, the alternative method would be to use a heat save bowl, fill it with water, and preheat the oven with that water inside to create steam. Then, place loaf on parchment paper and on a baking sheet, and bake with the water in the oven for the first 20 minutes. 

What If I Already Have A Sourdough Starter, But It Is Not Fresh Milled Flour?

Well, I have a whole post on how to transform your sourdough starter into 100% Fresh Milled Flour. HERE is that post. I also have a ton of sourdough Discard Recipes you can find HERE

Make Your Own Sourdough Starter From Scratch With Fresh Milled Flour

If you don’t already have a sourdough starter, but are wanting to make one with 100% fresh milled flour from scratch, I am here for you! I have a video resource that goes over how you can make your very own sourdough starter using only freshly milled flour. I also go over troubleshooting issues to help make this process a little easier for you, and I make a brand new sourdough starter right along side you! You can watch that video HERE.

I also have a written blog post that covers this information, if you would like to print it out and have it handy for when you are just getting started. You can do this, it is not as difficult as some on the internet have made it seem! You can checkout my blog post about it HERE.

Simple Way To Level Up Your Sourdough Bread

I have a great dipping oil recipe that tastes amazing with this sourdough bread. I make it with dried herbs and seasonings if that is what I have on hand, but I love to make it with fresh herbs whenever I have access to them. HERE is that recipe.

Shop This Post

Flour Mill

Everyday Grain Storage Bins

Digital Kitchen Scale

Hard White Wheat

Sourdough Whole Grain Recipe Book

Check Out Some Of My Other Recipes

Sourdough Bread Bowls

The BEST Pizza Dough

Sourdough Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

Chocolate Sourdough Swiss Cake Roll

Sourdough Discard Cookies

Pumpkin Roll From Sourdough Discard

Sourdough Discard Recipes

Interested In Learning More About Milling Flour At Home?

I have a great beginner post HERE about Fresh Milled Flour : 101. It is a great place to start. I also have a whole video on Fresh Milled Flour 101 – Learn to mill flour at home video – HERE

More Fresh Milled Flour Recipes

Fresh Milled Flour Recipe list

Sourdough Fresh Milled Flour Made EASY Video

This video is showing the process I use for sourdough bread, I am making smaller bread loafs for bread bowls here, however, the recipe and technique remain the same until it comes time to divide the loaf.

Sourdough Bread Made Easy With 100% Fresh Milled Flour Printable Recipe

*This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. But I will only suggest items I actually Love and Have Used!