Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread - no yeast!

Last Sunday a young couple came to my table at the temple and asked me if I also make sourdough bread, the kind that does not have any yeast in it. For some reason they do not like to eat anything with yeast in it. While I have made sourdough bread many times before, I only tried it a few times without any yeast in it. It turned out to be a brick, very dense and chewy. I did not like it, so I gave up on it. I did tell this lovely couple though that I would make them a loaf without adding yeast, but warned them that the bread would be on the dense "side." It was fine with them as they do not like the fluffy bread anyways. The next day I did some research on the Internet to find a method to make good sourdough bread that is not too dense. Then it dawned on me that I never tried to make whole wheat sourdough bread, I always make it with mostly rye flour. Since I like to experiment I converted my rye sourdough to a whole wheat one and got to work. It bubbled away happily and I had a feeling that the bread would come out great, and it did! Not dense at all and the taste was phenomenal. I could have eaten the bread all at once, if my stomach could have fit it all.

I was so happy with the result, I called the couple to let them know that I figured out how to make "fluffy" sourdough bread. They were less than enthusiastic. Apparently they really DID want the bread to be on the dense side. They dislike the fluffy American style bread. Oh well, I can make you a brick if you want, but as far as I am concerned, I prefer the "fluffy" version...

I think I will be selling my "fluffy" unyeasted sourdough bread this Sunday. Let's see who else likes it "fluffy" ...