OMG this bread turned out better than expected. It has a nice sour taste – soft texture – nice rise. The crust was crunchy. I have to pat myself on the back for this recipe since it started out with a series of what if’s…

Häussler instructions for Experimental Multigrain Sourdough Bread
Multigrain Bread made with a soaker and sourdough starter
Ingredients
Soaker Day 1
- 3/4 cup 12 Grain Cereal https://bulkfoods.com/multigrain/12-grain-cereal.html
- 1 1/2 cup Water
Soaker Day 2
- 1 jar soaker – prepared day before
- 2 spoonful sourdough starter I used black cooking spoons to measure the starter. Probably is close to 1/2 cup starter.
Soaker Day 3
- 1 jar day 2 soaker
- 2 tbsp whole wheat flour
Bread Dough Day 6
- 1 jar soaker
- 10 cups bread flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 tbsp yeast
Instructions
Soaker Day 1
- Mix 12 grain cereal with water. Mix well – I put the soaker into a quart jar. I covered the jar with a piece of cheesecloth secured with a canning ring.Let soaker sit on the counter overnight.
Soaker Day 2
- Add sourdough starter to the soaker. Mix well. Cover with a piece of cheesecloth secured with a canning ring. Let soaker sit on counter overnight.
Soaker Day 3
- Add wheat flour to soaker. Mix well. Cover with a piece of cheesecloth secured with a canning ring.Let soaker sit on counter overnight
Soaker Day 4 and Day 5
- By day 4 you should see noticeable signs of fermentation in the soaker. There should be bubbles on the surface. Day 4 and 5 give the soaker a good stir. Cover with cheesecloth secured with a canning ring. Let soaker sit on counter overnight
Bread Dough Day 6
- Pour soaker into a 4 cup measuring cup. If necessary, add enough warm water to make 4 cups of soaker. Pour soaker into Häussler bowl. Add 6 cups flour, the sugar and salt.Mix on low for 3 minutes. My sponge was a bit dry so I added another cup of water. What I wanted here was a sponge dough.Let dough rise for 2.5 hours. Note this dough took longer to rise than normal sponge. Be patient. It will need 3 hours.I started adding 2 cups of bread flour 2.5 hours into the rise. I mixed on low for 2 minutes then let the dough sit for 15 minutes. Came back and added another 2 cups. Mixed for 2 minutes and let sit for 15. By this time the dough was slack but workable. I added a extra flour a couple tablespoons at a time then turned the mixer on low and let it knead for 6 minutes until I had nice window pane.I turned the dough out onto an oiled work surface. Did a couple stretch and folds then put dough in a large 10 quart greased bowl. Put in the over for 2 hours until dough had a good rise. Split dough into 4 balls that weighed roughly 800grams each. Shaped into loaves and let rise until double. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes to 1 hour