Processed
Wholemeal Starter
A tier
A wholemeal starter is fed on whole-wheat flour, so bran minerals and wild microbes ride along. It ferments faster and tastes nuttier than a white-wheat levain, and it is the honest raise for a 100% wholemeal loaf. The bran also makes it hungrier and more prone to over-acid if you forget a feed. Many bakers keep a white starter and only convert a build to wholemeal for the final levain. A dedicated wholemeal pot is a different house: darker, fruitier, sometimes a little bitter from bran. If it smells of wet cardboard, you have starved it. Sifted wholemeal is kinder than the coarsest farmhouse grind.
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Characteristics
Preparations
Traits
History
Wholemeal health bakeries kept dedicated brown-flour leavens rather than white levains.
British wholefood bakeries maintained wholemeal starters for 100% brown loaves.
Home bakers were taught to convert white starters to wholemeal builds for flavour.
Fresh-milled bakeries treated a wholemeal starter as a separate culture with its own feed schedule.