Free Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World by Kelly Coyne, Erik Knutzen Page A

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    INCORPORATION
    The next morning, drain the water off the soaked wheat berries and stir them into the sponge. Add the flaxseed and the sunflower seeds and malt syrup, if using.
    Note: This will be a very moist and sticky bread dough.
    PROOFING
    After incorporating the seeds and soaked berries, allow the dough to sit in the mixing bowl for 3 to 8 hours. This is all proofing means—letting the dough rest undisturbed so that its flavor and texture improves. This flexibility of schedule means you can bake this bread whenever it’s most convenient for you. Cover the proofing bowl with a plate, or a larger upturned bowl, to keep the dough from drying out. The bread will proof best at regular room temperature. If your house is cold, find a warm place for the bowl to sit.
    The dough will not rise much. This proofing period is more about developing flavor than gaining loft. Just trust that it will be done enough after 3 hours. If you poke at it after 3 hours or so, you’ll notice that it has changed a little. The dough will have some air in it, even if it looks sort of inert on the outside.
    BAKING
    Grease a 5 x 9-inch loaf pan very well with butter, being sure to grease the corners of the pan, and sprinkle a single layer of rolled oats across the bottom to prevent sticking. Turn the dough out of the bowl and into the loaf pan. You’ll probably have to use a big wooden spoon to transfer it glob by glob. Smooth the top with the back of the spoon.
    Don’t preheat the oven. Just stick the loaf pan on the center rack of the oven and set the temperature to 425°F.
    Bake for 40 minutes, then pull the pan from the oven and loosely cover it with a piece of aluminum foil to keep the top of the loaf from browning too much. Bake for another 40 to 45 minutes, then pull it out to take a look. When done, the top will be golden brown and the sides of the loaf will pull away slightly from the sides of the pan. What little you can see of the sides should be golden brown. Test the loaf with a knife to determine whether it is finished. Insert the knife in the center; the blade should come out clean (or cleanish—it might have slight traces of dough on it). Even when finished, this bread is damp and dense.
    Remove the finished bread from the pan straight away. Run a butter knife around the edges of the loaf pan to loosen the loaf. Using oven mitts, knock the pan on the countertop, invert it, and give it a shake. The loaf should slide free. Leave it to cool, if you can restrain yourself. This is one bread that is not necessarily better hot out of the oven. It improves somewhat if left alone to cool undisturbed.
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    How to Make and Maintain Sourdough Starter
    To create a sourdough starter, mix 1 cup white flour with 1 cup water. Put this in a lidded glass jar—a quart or pint canning jar works fine—and keep it on the kitchen counter. Each day, pour off half the contents and add ½ cup flour and ½ cup water to replace what you poured off. This is called “feeding the starter”—you are literally giving fresh food to the yeast culture. Without regular feeding, the culture weakens and then spoils.
    Pour off and feed every day for a week. You’ll begin to see some changes in the odor and consistency of the starter as wild yeasts begin to colonize it. Air bubbles are a good thing. If liquid forms at the top, just stir it back in. The only bad sign would be truly nasty smells or outright mold, and this would happen only if you’d neglected your starter. After a week, you’ll have a viable white flour starter that you can use for baking. The starter will become stronger and more flavorful over time.
    To make a whole wheat or rye starter, simply start feeding this white starter with whole wheat or rye flour instead of white flour. Remember to feed your starter every day, especially wheat and rye starters, which can go rancid fast without regular attention. If you go on vacation or know you won’t be baking for a while, put the starter in the