Burrum Farm Wholegrain Sourdough (Farmer Steve’s Bread)
In September 2022 I had the great pleasure of visiting Burrum Biodynamics in north-western Victoria, Australia. I have been milling and baking bread with Burrum farm whole wheat, spelt and oat grain for a couple of years now, so it was very special to visit the farm which grows much of my daily fare at home!
During the visit I had the opportunity to enjoy this wonderful bread baked by Burrum farm co-owner Stephen Walter. Steve was generous in sharing his recipe and technique with me, and was happy for me to share it in a video! I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate the trip.
For the full story including trip highlights and a detailed demonstration of the recipe, please enjoy my video on Elly’s Everyday Wholegrain Sourdough YouTube channel.
The post below provides the written recipe for those of you who would like to try it out.
I purchase Burrum Biodynamics grain for my bread making (along with other pantry staples like lentils, split peas and oats) from Sovereign Foods, here in Brisbane.
For more information about suppliers of whole grains in Australia and my recommended mill for grinding your own flour at home, please visit these resources:
Burrum Farm Wholegrain Sourdough (Farmer Steve’s Bread)
This is a 100% whole grain sourdough bread recipe, made with a rye starter.
This recipe makes two small to medium loaves or one very large loaf.
My two small bread tins are approximately 20cm long x 10cm wide x 7.5cm high (1.5 litre capacity).
Ingredients:
(If you are new to baker’s percentages, this will help)
Total flours 1200g (100%)
720g whole wheat flour (60%)
420g whole spelt flour (35%)
60g whole rye flour (5%)
20g salt (1.7%)
130g rye sourdough starter (11% - the day before mixing the dough I fed a teaspoon of my wheat starter with 70g each of whole rye flour and water, and once activated, placed it in the fridge for storage).
960g to 1020g (80-85%) water (I used the latter amount - you may need to adjust for your particular flours).
Method:
Mill grain or add pre-milled flours into a large mixing bowl.
Add salt to flour and mix well.
Add water and starter to another bowl and whisk to dissolve the starter. If you are unsure of which water level to use, start with the lower amount (960g) and add more if the dough seems dry (which I doubt will be the case, however whole grain flours can vary a lot by region and season, so be prepared to adjust if necessary).
Mix water/starter liquid into the flour until combined. If you would like to use a mechanical mixer, mix on low-medium speed for a few minutes, or until the dough becomes smooth.
If mixing by hand, just mix until the dough comes together and no dry flour remains. Using a dough scraper or flexible plastic spatula can help with mixing. At this stage you can leave the dough to ferment without further handling, or you can add in a few stretch and folds over the next couple of hours.
Ferment the dough for anywhere between 3 - 6 hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen and ingredients. The dough is sufficiently fermented when you can see a 50-70% increase of the original dough volume. You should be able to see some carbon dioxide bubbles when you check under the surface of the dough.
Once fermented, divide the dough in half (by weight if you can) before shaping.
Gently fold the dough pieces, rolling them up into log shapes (see the video) and place into well greased loaf tins.
Sprinkle some whole wheat flour on top of each loaf and place inside re-used/re-usable plastic bags or an airtight container. Place the tins into the fridge for approximately 24 hours, or until you are ready to bake (at least 12-18 hours later, depending on the temperature of the dough and how advanced the initial fermentation was - in warm climates the dough will proof a lot faster in the fridge due to higher initial dough temperature).
When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 240°C / 464°F. Place a metal baking tray on the bottom rack in preparation for the addition of boiling water (for steam).
When the oven is hot, remove the bread tins from the fridge and their coverings, score each loaf lightly down the centre (if desired) and place tins into the oven. Carefully pour about a cup of boiling water into the preheated baking tray and close the door without delay.
If your bread tins are made of steel or aluminium (without non-stick coatings), bake the loaves at 240°C / 464°F for approximately 35 minutes. If you have non-stick tins, lower the oven temperature to 220°C/428°F and bake for about 45 minutes or until the loaves are dark brown and sound hollow when tapped on the base.
Cool the loaves on a rack after baking and enjoy! I leave my bread to cool for at least a few hours before cutting to allow the crumb to completely set.
I hope you enjoy this recipe and give Steve’s bread a try!
Let me know if you have any questions at all, in the comment section below.
Thanks again Steve and Tan for having us on your beautiful farm.
Happy baking!
Elly 🌾
Looking for more?
Find out about my Mockmill 200 and where you can purchase one from just about anywhere in the world!
(There are discounts available in some locations).See my state-by-state listing of grain suppliers in Australia
If you would like to support my work you can ‘buy me a coffee’ here (big thanks to all of you who have 🌼)
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