The time has finally come to make some bread. This is the soaker that I made last night.

This is 14 ounces of my mother starter. I have about 8 ounces leftover which will need to be refreshed when I’m ready to make my next loaf.

I divided the soaker into 12 smaller pieces, to make it easier to combine with the other ingredients.

Next, I did the same thing with the starter.

The pieces are sprinkled with flour so they don’t stick together.

The final ingredients are 1.5 ounces honey (or any other form of sugar), 1 ounce canola oil (or melted butter), 2 ounces whole wheat flour, 5/8 tsp salt (5 grams), and .25 ounce yeast (2 1/4 tsp).

Since my yeast was active dry instead of instant, I mixed it with a little warm water to hydrate it.

Next, everything is mixed together in a big bowl.

This can be done with a stand mixer, but I opted to get down and dirty and use my hands.

Then I dumped it out onto a floured surface and kneaded it for 3-4 minutes. I let it rest for 5 minutes and prepared a lightly oiled bowl.

I kneaded it for another minute or so, then formed it into a ball, put it in the bowl, and covered it with plastic wrap. Now I’m letting it ferment for 45 minutes to an hour, until it is 1 1/2 times its original size.

Extra flour needed for this dough: 3/4 ounce