Name: Yecora Rojo Sourdough Bread (No Knead Version too)
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h 40 min
Ingredients: 100% Yecora Rojo Bread; 500g whole grain yecora rojo flour or fine-milled yecora rojo wheat berries (3 3/4 cups flour); 440g water (1 3/4 cups + 2 Tbsp); 75g sourdough starter (1/4 cup); 11g salt (2 tsp); 50% Yecora Rojo Bread; 250g whole grain yecora rojo flour or fine-milled yecora rojo wheat berries (1 3/4 cups + 2 Tbsp flour); 250g bread flour (1 3/4 cups + 2 Tbsp flour); 420g water (1 3/4 cups + 1/2 Tbsp); 75g sourdough starter (1/4 cup); 11g salt (2 tsp)

Yecora rojo is a hard red spring wheat that was developed by the International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center in cooperation with the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture in the early 1970s. It has lately become very popular among west coast artisan bread bakers due to its pleasant earthy flavor profile and great bread baking performance.

I baked a couple of loaves of bread with home-milled yecora rojo wheat flour to evaluate its hydration needs, dough handling, and flavor. The breads came out beautifully and tasted nutty, malty and delicious. I found yecora rojo surprisingly easy to handle. I had no trouble developing a strong dough for an artisan style bread in either of the formulas I tested: one with all whole grain yecora rojo flour and one with 50:50 yecora rojo and white bread flour.

Update: Since my initial write-up of these recipes, I tested the 50:50 dough formula as a totally hands-off no knead bread. It turned out wonderfully, and I wanted to share the results so that bakers looking for a low-key process can make this bread too. I’ve added notes to the printable recipe and a no knead photo gallery after the original active gluten development photo gallery. I haven’t tried the 100% yecora rojo formula with a no knead process yet, but I believe it would work well too.

The crumb, oven spring and bloom of the score were all bigger on the 50% whole grain yecora rojo bread, but as you can see in the photos below, the 100% yecora rojo loaf was also relatively open, tall and possessing of an ear.

100% whole grain yecora rojo on left; 50% whole grain yecora rojo on right

No Knead 50% yecora rojo

A Note on Hydration

In the recipes below, I tried to adjust the water amount to achieve roughly the same dough feel. Still, the 100% whole grain dough with 88% hydration felt a little dryer than the 50:50 dough with 84% hydration. In a future bake, I wouldn’t hesitate to go up several percentage points on the all whole grain dough, maybe to 92% hydration (460g water).

Additionally, when I laminated the active gluten development dough (as opposed to the hands-off no knead version), I introduced more water from the wet countertop, probably about 20g of water.

Yecora Rojo Sourdough Bread (No Knead Version too)

Yecora rojo is a nutty, malty wheat that tastes delicious and makes a gorgeous artisan style bread. Here are two recipes and two processes. One recipe uses only whole grain yecora rojo wheat flour and the other is 50:50 yecora rojo and bread flour. One process is no knead and the other process involves an autolyse and active gluten development. Enjoy exploring all the possibilities.

Prep Time

1 hour

Baking Time

40 minutes

Total Time

1 hour, 40 minutes

Ingredients

100% Yecora Rojo Bread

500g whole grain yecora rojo flour or fine-milled yecora rojo wheat berries (3 3/4 cups flour)
440g water (1 3/4 cups + 2 Tbsp)
75g sourdough starter (1/4 cup)
11g salt (2 tsp)

50% Yecora Rojo Bread

250g whole grain yecora rojo flour or fine-milled yecora rojo wheat berries (1 3/4 cups + 2 Tbsp flour)
250g bread flour (1 3/4 cups + 2 Tbsp flour)
420g water (1 3/4 cups + 1/2 Tbsp)
75g sourdough starter (1/4 cup)
11g salt (2 tsp)

Instructions

NO KNEAD PROCESS

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl until they're thoroughly incorporated. If possible, put the dough in a straight-walled container and let it double in size. This took my dough about 6 hours in a warm lit oven. (You can see in the photo gallery that my dough more than doubled; this was a bit too fermented).
After the bulk fermentation, continue with the instructions below, starting at the Pre-Shape and Bench Rest. Keep those steps as brief as possible and refrigerate your proofing basket quickly if you ferment the dough as much as I did.
I recommend at least some time in the refrigerator during final proof for this no knead dough to give it some stiffness before baking.

ACTIVE GLUTEN DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Autolyse

Mix the water and flour in a bowl, cover and let the dough rest 30-60 minutes.

Bulk Fermentation

Add the sourdough starter and salt to the dough by folding and squishing it into the dough. Let the dough rest a few minutes if it starts to tear, then resume until it is incorporated.
About 30-60 minutes into the bulk fermentation, laminate the dough to strengthen the gluten and increase elasticity. Do this by wetting a large countertop or table space, scraping your dough out onto it and stretching it fairly thin (see photo gallery). Then fold it back up, return it to the bowl and cover.
Perform 2-4 rounds of coil folds or stretching and folding at 20-30 minute intervals.
End the bulk fermentation when dough is puffy and aerated. For my doughs, this was about 7 hours after mixing in the starter in kitchen temps in the low 70s. You may find you need more or less time, depending on the vigor of your starter and your dough temperature.

Preshape and Bench Rest

On a lightly floured countertop, preshape your dough into a boule and let it rest for about 20 minutes.

Shape

Shape your dough appropriately for your baking vessel (oval, oblong, round) and place it into a well-floured banneton. This dough was fairly sweaty and almost didn't come out of the bannetons the next morning, so be generous with the flour (or bran flakes).

Final Proof

Many variations on time and temperature will work for a final proof. In the case of these doughs, I left them at room temperature for 35 minutes and then refrigerated them for 8 hours. In the photo gallery below, you can see how much they expanded.

Bake

Preheat your oven and baking vessel to 500F for 30 minutes.
Flip your dough directly into the base of your vessel, or flip it onto parchment paper and then transfer the dough and parchment to the base of your vessel.
Score the top of the dough. Cover it and return the vessel to the oven.
Bake:
20 minutes at 500F with the lid on.
10 minutes at 450F with the lid on (add a baking sheet under your baking vessel if it is cast iron).
5-10 minutes at 450F with the lid off.
The internal temperature of your bread should be at least 205F when you remove it from the oven. Let the dough cool for several hours before cutting.