Einkorn Sourdough Hearth Bread

Einkorn is the oldest wheat still in cultivation – genetically closer to wild grass than anything in a modern bag of bread flour – and it bakes like a different grain entirely. This is a 100% whole einkorn hearth loaf, handled the way einkorn actually wants to be handled: short autolyse, gentle mixing, a fast-moving bulk ferment, and a lower, closer-watched bake.

It comes out denser and more rustic than a wheat boule, with a nutty, faintly sweet flavor that’s genuinely distinct – not a lower-effort version of a wheat loaf, a different loaf entirely.

Why You’ll Love It

• 100% whole einkorn – the oldest wheat species still cultivated, genuinely distinct from modern flour
• A nutty, faintly sweet flavor unlike anything from a bag of bread flour
• A hands-on lesson in how fermentation speed changes with the grain, not just the schedule
• A realistic, achievable ancient-grain loaf – no specialty milling equipment required
• Ties directly into the site’s fermentation-science content if you want to go deeper

Ingredients

Volume measurements are included for convenience, but they’re approximate – for the most consistent results, weigh your ingredients on a kitchen scale, especially the flour.

Heads up: Some of the links below are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This means if you click and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

• Whole einkorn flour (450 g / 3¾ cups)
• Water, cool room temperature (310 g / 1¼ cups + 2 Tbsp)
• Active sourdough starter (90 g / ⅓ cup)
• Fine sea salt (9 g / 1½ tsp)

Equipment

• Kitchen scale
• Dutch oven, 5-6 quart
• Banneton (proofing basket) with cloth liner
• Bench scraper
• Lame or a very sharp, thin blade

Sample Schedule (2-Day)

Einkorn Sourdough Hearth Bread

A 100% whole einkorn hearth loaf – the oldest wheat species still cultivated, with a fragile gluten structure and a fast ferment that both call for a gentler, watchful approach than modern wheat.

Print Recipe

Cook Mode Keep your screen awake while you bake, no more mid-knead taps.

★ Leave a Review 📷 Submit Your Bake

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Bulk Ferment 3 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Total Time 4 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Servings: 12 slices

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Calories: 130

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 450 g / 3¾ cups whole einkorn flour
• 310 g / 1¼ cups + 2 Tbsp water, cool room temperature
• 90 g / ⅓ cup active sourdough starter
• 9 g / 1½ tsp fine sea salt

Heads up: Some of the links below are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This means if you click and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Equipment

• Kitchen scale
• Dutch oven, 5–6 quart
• Banneton (proofing basket) with cloth liner
• Bench scraper
• Lame or a very sharp, thin blade

Method

 

1. In a large bowl, mix the einkorn flour and water together by hand just until no dry flour remains. Cover and rest for 20 minutes – einkorn hydrates quickly, so it needs less autolyse time than wheat flour.
2. Add the starter and salt. Mix gently by hand just until incorporated, about 2–3 minutes. Einkorn’s gluten tears rather than stretches, so avoid kneading – gentle folding does the work instead.
3. Cover and bulk ferment at room temperature for 3–3.5 hours, with two gentle folds in the first hour. Watch it closely – einkorn ferments noticeably faster than wheat and overproofs easily. It’s ready when visibly puffy and airy at the edges, not doubled.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape gently into a round – it will feel looser and less taut than a wheat dough, which is normal.
5. Place seam-side up in a well-floured banneton, cover, and refrigerate overnight (10–12 hours – don’t push much past this, since einkorn keeps fermenting even in the cold).
6. The next day, preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C) with the Dutch oven inside for at least 30 minutes.
7. Turn the cold dough out onto parchment paper and score with a simple cross or single slash.
8. Lower the dough (on its parchment) into the hot Dutch oven, cover, and bake for 25 minutes.
9. Remove the lid and bake another 15 minutes, until deeply golden. Einkorn browns faster than wheat, so watch the last few minutes closely and tent with foil if it’s coloring too fast.
10. Cool on a wire rack at least 1 hour before slicing.

Notes

Einkorn is the oldest wheat species still in cultivation, basically unchanged since before agriculture as we know it existed, and it bakes like it – this loaf will not look like a tall, open-crumbed wheat boule, and that’s not a sign you did something wrong.

The single biggest mistake I made the first few times I baked with einkorn was treating the fermentation schedule like a wheat loaf. It moves fast. I’ve had bulk fermentation finish nearly an hour ahead of a wheat dough started at the same time, and over-proofed einkorn dough goes slack and hard to shape in a way that’s hard to recover from.

Baking it low and slow relative to a wheat boule keeps the crust from setting too dark before the inside catches up – einkorn’s sugars behave differently in the oven than modern wheat’s do.

How to Make It

Tips & Troubleshooting

• It moves fast: einkorn ferments noticeably faster than modern wheat – check bulk fermentation earlier than you would for a wheat loaf, especially in a warm kitchen.
• Don’t chase a wheat-style rise: a denser, flatter, more rustic loaf is normal and expected for 100% einkorn, not a sign something went wrong.
• Keep the water measurement close to the gram: einkorn dough can go from workable to soupy with surprisingly little extra water.
• Lower and slower than a wheat boule: the 400°F bake here is intentionally cooler than the 475-500°F many wheat boules use – einkorn’s sugars brown faster and will scorch at wheat-loaf temperatures.
• Want the fermentation science behind why this dough behaves so differently? What Fermentation Actually Does to Your Flour goes deeper.

How to Store

To store: in a paper bag or bread box at room temperature up to 3 days.

To freeze: slice first, then freeze in an airtight bag up to 3 months; toast slices straight from frozen.

Nutrition

Per slice, based on 12 slices per loaf. Estimated from the ingredients used – provided for convenience and not a substitute for a precise calculation.