This rustic, fresh milled sourdough loaf will elevate both your bread-making skills and your health. Its deep, rich flavor is remarkable. Freshly milled flour has completely changed how my family enjoys bread, I hope it does for yours too. Let’s dive into why…

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My love for bread…

After a few years of sourdough baking, I was sure I had cracked the health code. I got really into the science of the natural fermentation. But my gut still couldn’t handle it, or digest it well. So many people told me to go gluten free. All the arguments from the paleo/grain free community did not make sense to me. I’m not into aggressive elimination diets, I just kept thinking there has to be a more natural way to consume this…

Wheat contains 40/44 essential nutrients needed by the body for survival. It has sustained people for a very long time, especially in colder climates where fresh produce was few and far between. So you’re telling me that wheat is healthy, but bread is not? Something in this argument did not make sense to me. A naturally fermented food source as old as time, and somehow I’m just not suppose to eat it?

After much digging, I found the issue. Yes, sourdough is a beautiful process full of health benefits, but the problem was with my flour. Commercial flour has been so far removed and altered from the original form of wheat. It’s severely lacking in the essential vitamins, minerals, fats and fibers. All the beneficial nutrients that aid in digestion.

Cue Fresh Milled Flour…

I’ll spare you my ramblings, but I did an entire in depth post on the difference between fresh milled flour, and your typical all-purpose or bread flour. You can read more about it here. But in summary, the flour we have been conditioned to think is “normal” on our grocery store shelves, is so far from what was actually created for us to consume. And in that, lies the issues and the reason that the “gluten free” or “gluten sensitive” community is now encompassing the vast majority of people.

So what am I saying? Should we never touch all-purpose flour again? No, of course not. I am not an extremist. If you have followed me for any amount of time, you know that I preach balance. Always. Sometimes it is the only option, for a variety of reasons.

My general rule of thumb when it comes to anything we consume is this: Find balance, do the best you can with the resources and information you have, release the guilt, move on. I have personally chosen to do the bulk of our baking with fresh milled flour, so if you’re here for that, let’s jump in!

How can I make my fresh milled sourdough, tall and fluffy, like my all-purpose loaves?

The short answer is this…

You can’t
Find a new dream

Okay… jokes aside, you are comparing apples and oranges. Fresh milled sourdough is amazing and so nutrient dense. However, it will never compare to the white, fluffy all-purpose flour we are used to. Fresh milled flour contains the entire wheat berry, this is a good thing, like the whole reason we switched. However it does make it much heavier, and change a few key components when it comes to baking your bread. I spent the first few months of my fresh milled baking journey in frustration, because I wanted it to be the same as the white fluffy bread, just healthier! That is not how it works, and I did and entire deep dive on why it’s different, and why we switched. Read my full blog post here.

Although it may not be an exact swap, this recipe can get you pretty close! Okay, now that we have properly set our expectations, let’s move on.

Milling your flour

The most costly part of fresh milled sourdough is the mill itself. It can be an investment upfront, but whole grains are overall a cheaper option in the long run. So once you’ve invested in the mill, it will pay off, I promise.

I have chosen the NutriMill “harvest” Grain Mill for my kitchen and it is a work horse, I love everything about it. They also have a very budget friendly option that they recently rolled out. The “Impact” Grain Mill is very cost effective, and they have offered our readers an additional coupon “acresandaprons” to save even more.

I have an entire blog post on choosing your grain, sourcing your grains, storing your grains, and milling your grains. You can read more about it here. And if you’re struggling with converting to fresh milled grains, I have a beginner’s guide to fresh milled flour here.

The Measurements

This is a double recipe, meaning it makes two loaves. This is my personal preference when making my sourdough. If you’d like just 1 loaf, feel free to split this recipe in half.

1000 grams fresh milled, hard white wheat flour
830 grams lukewarm water
200 grams ripe sourdough starter
25 grams salt

The Method:

8-9AM – Mix your fresh milled dough

First, mill your flour on a very fine setting. Using a kitchen scale, measure your flour and water by weight. Mix them together in a medium size mixing bowl. Cover your bowl with a damp tea towel (I like to use these cotton bowl covers) and let the dough rest for 1-2 hours, this is called the autolyse. This step is crucial for giving your flour a chance to absorb all of the liquid and getting the proper consistency.

fresh milled grains in a harvest grain mill

10AM – Add your sourdough starter

Reset your kitchen scale, add 200 grams of ripe sourdough starter. By hand, incorporate the starter into the dough, then let it rest for 30 minutes.

10:30AM – Add your salt

Reset your kitchen scale, add 25 grams of salt. Our personal preference is baja gold sea salt, or Redmond’s real salt. I order all of my favorite salts in bulk from here. By hand, fold in the salt until it is combined, then let it rest for another 30 minutes.

11AM – 1PM – stretch and folds

Starting at 11 am, perform one set of stretch-and-folds every 30 minutes.

To do a stretch-and-fold: Hold the bowl with one hand and, with the other, grab a corner of the dough, stretching it as far as it can go without tearing. Then turn the bowl a quarter turn and stretch the next corner.

Repeat this 4 times, stretching each corner of the dough. Cover the dough with a damp towel or bowl cover and let it rest for 30 minutes before starting the next set.

This step is essential for building gluten. Fresh milled flour is heavier and lower in gluten, so these folds help strengthen the dough, ensuring a good rise and creating an open crumb

1PM – 2PM – coil fold

Beginning at 1 pm, perform two sets of coil folds on your dough over the next two hours.

To do a coil fold, uncover the dough and, with one hand on each side, reach under the center. Lift the dough from the middle, pulling it upward and stretching as far as it will go without tearing.

Repeat this process 2 times over the course of 2 hours, then move on to bulk fermentation.

2PM – Bulk fermentation

After the final coil fold, cover your dough with a damp towel or bowl cover. Place it in a warm spot to bulk ferment until it has risen slightly and is getting bubbly. This usually takes 2-4 hours, but if your kitchen is warm, it may take less time; if it’s cool, it may take longer. This step requires close observation.

4-6PM – Shape your fresh milled dough

After your dough has finished the bulk fermentation, gently turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Use a bench scraper, or a knife, to divide the dough into two even sections.

Starting with the first loaf, begin the shaping. The goal here is creating surface tension, so you get a nice rise and an open crumb when you bake your loaf. I have a whole blog post here on stretching and shaping your loaf.

Working with the edges of your loaf, stretch them out to “laminate” the dough on the floured counter into a large square. Make sure you stop before you see any ripping. Fold the left and right sides of the dough toward the center.

Starting from the bottom, roll the dough into a ball.

Then, build surface tension by gently pushing the dough away, cupping the backside, and pulling it back while dragging against the counter. Make sure to be gentle and stop before you see any ripping.

Repeat 5-6 times until you have a tight ball. with the second loaf, then let both rest for 30 minutes—this is the preshape.

After 30 minutes, repeat the process for the final shape. Place the loaves seam-side up in a floured banneton. If you don’t have a banneton, you can use a regular bowl lined with parchment for a similar effect.

6:30PM – Fridge Ferment

Cover your banneton with something airtight and place it in the fridge. My personal favorite airtight bread cover is some cheap shower caps. Just trust me, they’re incredibly convenient. But I have also stuck them in grocery bags in a pinch! You can also use plastic wrap.

Leave your loaves to fridge ferment for 1-2 hours. You can do less or more based on your schedule, I have done as little as 20 minutes, and as long as 12-16 hours. But I have found the best results when I let my loaves fridge ferment overnight for about 12-14 hours.

Bake your fresh milled bread

When you’re ready to bake your loaves, start by preheating two Dutch ovens to 500°F for one hour. Carefully transfer the loaves onto parchment paper, score the top with a bread lame with the design of your choice. I recommend at least 1 large score to allow the bread to rise, the rest can be decorative. Place it into the preheated Dutch oven with the lid on and place in the oven

If you often find the bottoms of your loaves burning, consider placing some rice or cornmeal underneath the parchment paper to provide a buffer.

Once the loaf is in the oven, immediately reduce the temperature to 475°F and bake for 25 minutes. After that, remove the lid, lower the temperature to 425°F, and continue baking for about 20 more minutes, or until you reach your desired crust color. Finally, remove the bread from the Dutch oven and place it on a cooling rack to cool completely

Cooling your bread

Leave the loaves on the rack allowing them to cool for two hours before slicing. Listen to me. This step is not for the faint of heart. It takes immeasurable self control. I would say I do it 50% of the time. But if you let the loaves cool thoroughly, you will have a better result in the end.

Shop this blog:

My Grain Mill
Where I order all of my bulk grains
My favorite dutch oven
My budget friendly dutch oven
Kitchen Scale
Bowl Covers
Bread proofing baskets
Shower caps. Yes, you need some.
Bread knife