Ancient and Heritage Wheat Sourdough Bread

The categories of “ancient” and “heritage” don’t have precise definitions apart from pre-dating the modern dwarf wheats developed during the Green Revolution of the mid-20th century. Ancient wheats are thought to have undergone less genetic change than heritage wheat over the past 10,000 years of cultivation. Yet spelt is often considered an ancient wheat and it has 42 chromosomes like heritage and modern hard red wheats both. (Ancient wheat einkorn has 14 chromosomes; and emmer, durum, and khorasan have 28 chromosomes.) Moreover, all wheat has had significant landrace adaptation and seed selection over the millennia. Essentially, the categories overlap and aren’t scientific labels, but what we can say is that ancient and heritage wheats often have different baking properties compared with modern wheat.

In this recipe, we’re balancing the buttery, slightly sweet flavor of what might be called the “ancient gold wheats” with the fragrant, soft bran flavor of heritage hard red winter wheats. By “ancient gold wheats” I mean durum, khorasan and Kamut (branded khorasan) wheat. These wheats are high in protein, can take on a lot of water, and don’t have very strong gluten. The heritage hard red winter wheats I’m including are red fife, turkey red, and rouge de bordeaux. These wheats are quite aromatic — “baking spice” notes for red fife and rouge de bordeaux, and more grassy notes for turkey red — and they have moderate gluten strength and absorbency that tends to vary by harvest and terroir or growing location.

[Jump to recipe]

Kamut and Turkey Red

Comparing Wheat Flours for Substitution

Understanding the similarities between wheat varieties along with how to test different flours on a small scale opens up a world of possibilities. When you encounter a new wheat flour, rather than mix up an entire dough with it, you can do a slurry test. You mix a small amount of flour and water and assess the mini-dough’s texture, strength, and breakdown over time. If you do this with the new flour and a control flour you’re familiar with, you come away with a good understanding of how the new flour will behave in bread baking.

In the article: Kamut, Khorasan, and Durum Wheats Comparison we compared slurry tests of these gold wheats and how they baked up into breads.

I also did a slurry test on the heritage hard red winter wheats shown in the photos below. The mini doughs in this slurry test were 76% hydration — 50 grams flour, 38 grams water — and the turkey red wheat (TR) felt a little dryer and tighter than the rouge de bordeaux (RdB) and red fife (RF). The stretching of the doughs took place 30 minutes after mixing, when the gluten had a little time to develop. While not identical in appearance, absorbency, or flavor; these wheats were similar enough for easy substitutions.

Don’t forget to check out the photo gallery and recommendations for similar recipes after the recipe instructions below.

Ancient and Heritage Wheat Sourdough Bread

Combining the buttery sweetness of golden wheat with the aromatic nuttiness of a red winter wheat creates an incredibly tasty whole grain bread. Pick flours from the categories outlined below and choose how much sourdough starter to use based on your ambient temperature and desired fermentation speed.    

Ingredients

• 200 grams heirloom whole grain turkey red, red fife or rouge de bordeaux flour (1 1/2 cup – 1 12/3 cups)
• 200 grams ancient Kamut, khorasan, or durum flour (1 1/2 cup – 1 12/3 cups)
• 300 grams water (1 1/4 cups)
• 30-60 grams sourdough starter (2-4 Tbsp) * see the first paragraph of the instructions
• 8 grams salt (1 1/2 tsp)

Baker’s Percentages

• 50% durum/khorasan/Kamut flour
• 50% red fife/turkey red/rouge de bordeaux flour
• 75% water
• 7.5-15% starter
• 2% salt

Instructions

• In a 75°F kitchen, using 60 grams sourdough starter and three rounds of stretching and folding, the first rise of a Kamut and Red Fife dough took 5.5 hours. The final proof was about 1 hour. In a 79°F kitchen, using 30 grams sourdough starter and one round of stretching and folding, the first rise of a Kamut and Turkey Red dough took 7 hours. The final proof was about 1 hour.
• Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Clean the sides of the bowl with a dough scraper and cover. Mark the level on the outside of the container if desired.
• Let the dough rest about 20 minutes then do at least one round of stretching and folding of the dough. If you’d like to do more rounds of stretching and folding, let the dough rest about 20 minutes between each round.
• When the dough has expanded by 50-75%, end the first rise.
• Transfer the fermented dough to a lightly floured work surface, and if the dough feels loose, do a pre-shape. Form it into a ball and cover it with the bowl to rest about 15 minutes.
• Shape the dough into a boule, batard, or oblong loaf shape and place it seam-side up in a floured proofing basket.
• Cover and let the dough rise again until it has expanded but still curves at the edges. You can bake the dough the same day by proofing at room temperature for 1-2 hours. If you want to retard the dough and the ambient temperature is over 75°F, refrigerate the dough immediately after shaping. Otherwise let it rise for 20-60 minutes at room temperature before putting it in the refrigerator. The dough can be refrigerated for up to 16 hours, depending on how cold your refrigerator is.
• Before baking, preheat your oven and baking vessel to 500°F for 30 minutes.
• Flip the dough out of the proofing basket onto a sheet of parchment paper or a silicone bread sling and score. Load the dough into your baking vessel and oven.
• Bake for 20 minutes with the lid on at 500°F and 10 minutes more with the lid off at 450°F. When the bread is done, it should have an internal temperature over 205°F.
• Let the bread cool for several hours before you slice it.

Photo Gallery

Additional recipes you may want to try: