Emmer Sourdough Bread

Trying and experimenting with different flours is one of my favorite ways to add complexity and interest to sourdough breads, especially when using ancient grains. This Emmer Sourdough Bread has a nutty, hearty flavor with a lovely reddish hue from emmer flour (or farro).

Emmer flour tends to be very extensible due to its lower gluten content, so various adjustments to your baking need to be made in order to combat this which I address in the post below.

This detailed recipe will walk through every step of the process and gives lots of tips so you can get the best result possible. If you’re new to baking with emmer flour, it’s a great recipe to start with!

---

🌾 What is Emmer Flour and How to Bake with It?

Emmer, or farro, is an ancient wheat grain that’s been grown and cultivated for thousands of years.

Farro is typically eaten as a whole grain in pilafs, hearty salads, soups, porridges, and even risotto.

Whereas einkorn has 14 chromosomes and is a diploid, emmer has 28 chromosomes and is a tetraloid, which derives from its hybridization from two grasses (in case you’re interested in the genetic makeup of emmer!).

Baking with emmer flour is similar to working with spelt. It’s very extensible due to its slightly lower gluten content, has a nutty flavor, and loaves take on a slightly reddish hue.

It is not a gluten-free flour such as buckwheat and it contains more gluten than rye flour and einkorn. However, it contains less gluten than modern wheat varieties.

Because of its extensibility, it can be challenging to work with in large amounts and performs best with slightly lower hydration levels. Otherwise, the dough can be very sticky, proof quite fast, be hard to shape due to its lower gluten content, and result in flatter loaves.

I tend to find that 25-40% emmer flour in a recipe is a sufficient amount of emmer to taste its flavor without being detrimental to your bread. This recipe is about 30% emmer and I use high-protein bread flour for the remaining makeup of the dough to give it more necessary strength.

---

👨‍🏫 Baker’s Percentage Chart

I include a baker’s percentage chart to scale a recipe up or down easily. With baker’s percentages, the total weight of all flour in the recipe is 100%.

I also include the prefermented flour from the levain in this flour weight. Finally, I note the ingredients proportionally to the total weight of flour (in this case, 430g, which includes 30g from the levain). That’s why the total percentages below will add up to over 100%.

If you want to learn more, the King Arthur website has a more detailed reference page on why and how baker’s percentages are calculated.

Ingredients	Weight	Baker’s Percentage
Bread Flour	286 grams (includes 15g for levain*)	66.5%
Emmer (or farro) Flour	144 grams (includes 15g for levain)	33.5%
Sea Salt	9 grams	2.1%
Water	306 grams (includes 30g for levain)	71.2%
Sourdough starter	30 grams (all for levain)	7%

---

🛠 Tools Needed

View my Sourdough Tools and Equipment guide for a complete list of my favorite bread-baking tools.

• Dutch Oven
  • I love baking with my Challenger Bread Pan. It bakes excellent sourdough bread for a home baker and is heavy-duty cast iron.
  • For more dutch oven information, I list my recommendations with pros and cons here.
• Baking Scale
  • It’s important to measure your ingredients by weight instead of volume so you get a more consistent and accurate bake.
• Bread Lame
  • Can use a sharp razor blade or sharp knife.
• Bench Scraper
  • Assists with shaping and transferring your bread to your banneton or basket.
• Banneton Proofing Basket
  • I use this 10″ oval proofing banneton for baking batards (ovals) and a 9″ round banneton for boules (rounds).
  • A proofing basket will help keep your dough shaped while it proofs overnight and removes easily from the basket with a liner. If you don’t have one, line a mixing bowl with a floured tea towel.
• Optional: Brød and Taylor Folding Bread Proofer
  • This folding proofing box by Brød & Taylor is a game changer to keep your sourdough starter and doughs at the perfect temperature while proofing.
  • The proofer folds up easily, includes a humidity tray, is multifunctional, and can even be a slow cooker.
• Optional: Danish Dough Whisk
  • I really like using a Danish dough whisk to help with mixing with less mess. It’s an optional, but helpful tool.

---

🛒 Ingredients Needed

See below for more information, variations, and possible substitutes.

• Bread Flour
  • I used King Arthur Bread Flour at 12.7% protein for recipe testing this bread. A high-gluten content flour works best for this loaf, but you can use all-purpose flour too.
• Emmer Flour
  • I purchased Emmer Flour from Bluebird Grain Farms based in Washington state. It’s organic, whole grain and very high quality! If you have a home mill, you could grind your own whole berries to make emmer flour too, which they also sell.
  • What I used for developing this loaf is not the same as black emmer flour, but you can substitute black emmer as well.
• Sourdough Starter
  • Use active sourdough starter and not sourdough discard for this bread.
  • Don’t have a sourdough starter? Learn How to Make a Sourdough Starter and make a stronger sourdough starter with my top sourdough starter tips and why I maintain a small sourdough starter.
• Salt
  • There’s just above 2% of salt in this recipe, which helps tighten up the gluten structure a little more in this slack dough.
• Water
  • I typically use warm water for autolyse so the dough is still warm when I add my levain.

---

⏰ Sample Baking Schedule

This is my typical baking schedule for most sourdough breads. This schedule works well for a weekend bake. However, many steps are flexible, depending on your own day-to-day schedule.

For example,  you can make the levain the night before (use 10g of starter and 40g of flour and 40g of water). You can also proof the dough overnight in the refrigerator for up to a day to bake on your own time.

Steps	Time
1. Make the Levain	9:00am
2. Autolyse	1:00-1:30pm
3. Add Levain & Rest	1:30-2:00pm
4. Add Salt & Mix	2:00pm
5. Bulk Fermentation (Includes folds)	2:00-7:00pm (about 5 hours after adding the levain at 78ºF)
6. Shape	7:00pm
7. Overnight Proof	7:00pm-9:00am (or up to a day)
8. Score and Bake	Next Day, 9:00am

---

👨‍🍳 How to Make Emmer Sourdough Bread

Follow this visual and step-by-step detailed guide to help you make this emmer sourdough bread recipe.

1. Make the Levain

Mix 30 grams of sourdough starter, 15 grams of bread flour, 15 grams of emmer flour, and 30 grams of water in an empty jar.

Cover and set it in a warm location (between 75-80ºF) for about 4-5 hours until it’s bubbly and ripe. The levain should at least double in size during this time.

2. Autolyse

About a 30 minutes before the levain is ready, mix the bread flour and emmer flour in a large mixing bowl and pour in the warm water.

I typically don’t autolyse this bread as long because it’s more extensible, but you’re welcome to let it rest longer depending on your schdule.

Use your hands or a Danish dough whisk to mix the flours and liquids. It’s okay if some scraggly bits of flour remain, but you want most of it to be hydrated.

Cover the bowl and set it aside to autolyse for a half hour.

3. Add the Levain and Rest

When the levain is bubbly and ripe, add all of it to the dough.

Use your hands to dimple the levain into the dough. Then, stretch and fold the dough onto itself for a few minutes until you thoroughly incorporate the levain into the dough.

You’ll do more mixing later when you add in the salt, but you want to make sure the levain is evenly distributed throughout the dough.

Cover the bowl and rest it in a warm location for 30 minutes.

4. Add Salt & Mix

After 30 minutes, sprinkle the salt onto the dough.

At this point, you can add another 10 grams of water if you think the flour can handle it. However, emmer flour tends to be very extensible, so it’s better to hold off on some of the water and only add small amounts as it soaks in.

Dimple in the salt and begin mixing. Stretch and fold the dough for about 5 minutes until it’s smoother and mostly holds its shape and is smoother.

Cover the bowl and rest for 30 minutes.

5. Bulk Fermentation and Folds

After mixing in the salt, bulk fermentation will take about 4.5-5 hours at 78ºF.

I noticed fermentation was slightly faster with emmer flour, which can be attributed to using a whole grain flour, so keep an eye on your dough as it proofs.

If your dough and environment are colder, bulk fermentation will take longer. Conversely, in warmer conditions, the dough will ferment faster.

Because of its extensibility (the stretchiness of the dough), I also needed to perform stronger folds during bulk fermentation. If you notice that the dough is still very slack after a few folds, you may want to add more folds in.

Perform at least four more sets of stretch and folds, separated by 30-45 minutes each.

Because of its extensibility (the stretchiness of the dough), I also needed to perform stronger folds during bulk fermentation. If you notice that the dough is still very slack after a few folds, you may want to add more folds in.

The dough rests for the remainder of time until shaping.

Bulk fermentation is complete with this dough doubles in size, feels full of air, is smoother, and there are some visible bubbles on top of and around the dough.

6. Shape

Lightly flour your surface and banneton (rice flour is helpful to prevent sticking) and use a bench scraper to shape the dough into a boule (round) or batard (oval).

Lift the dough and place it seam-side up into the banneton. Stitch the dough if necessary to strengthen it some (as seen in the image below). To do this, I simply pinch two ends of the dough and cross them over each other down the middle of the dough to create the stitch.

If you notice that the dough is very slack when you turn it out of its bowl, add an extra preshaping step to strengthen it further.

7. Overnight Proof

Cover the banneton and place it in a cold refrigerator overnight and up to 48 hours.

The overnight proof, or retard, will give additional flavor to the dough and slow down fermentation so you can bake it on your own schedule.

8. Score & Bake

Place an empty Dutch oven inside the oven and preheat it at 500ºF (260ºC) for an hour.

After an hour, remove the cold dough from the refrigerator and turn it out onto a small piece of parchment paper.

Then, score the dough using a sharp bread lame.

I usually score with one long slash for a batard (oval). For a boule (round), score the dough with a cross pattern in the center of the dough or another design.

To help increase the chances of a sourdough ear, the score should be about ¼”-½” deep at a slight angle. If interested, I often share scoring videos on my Instagram.

Carefully place the scored dough with parchment into the Dutch oven and immediately cover it with the lid.

Bake

I follow the same routine to bake most of my sourdough breads, such as My Everyday Sourdough Bread Recipe and adjust the final baking times slightly depending on how fast a loaf is browning.

Bake at 500ºF (260ºC) for 20 minutes.

Remove the lid, turn the oven down to 450ºF (232ºC), and bake with the lid off for about 13-15 minutes.

Cool the loaf on a wire rack for at least an hour before slicing.

Finally, enjoy cutting into this mouthwatering emmer sourdough bread!

It’s normal if the loaf is flatter than your typical breads due to the lower gluten content of the emmer flour, but I notice I tend to get a very open and wild crumb using this flour which I love!

---

How to Store

I like to store sourdough bread cut-side down once sliced. This helps the loaf retain moisture so it doesn’t dry out and become stale.

To slice, cut the bread in half, turn it cut-side down, and then slice it with a sharp, serrated bread knife.

Then, wrap the loaf in a tea towel and place it in a bread bag, bread box, or brown paper bag, where it will stay fresh for about three days. After a few days, you may need to reheat or toast slices.

Unsliced, the bread will last another day or two without staling or losing too much moisture.

Finally, you can freeze emer bread by placing slices in a freezer-safe bag where it will keep for months. To thaw, reheat the frozen slices in a toaster oven, toaster, or oven.

---

❓Emmer Sourdough Bread FAQs:

---

---

Other Bread Recipes You Might Like: