Crusty honey wheat bread - it didn't rise very well today because I wasn't careful with my liquids. Still tastes good. Oh - I used molasses instead of honey today too, which is why it's so dark
Hubbie bakes all of our bread, and he's quite good at it.
He used to use 9x5" pyrex loaf pans and bake two loaves, but the slices were too big for our sandwich containers, so he just bought 3 4x8.5" pyrex loaf pans and this is his first batch making 3 loaves instead of two.
The recipe he uses is from a 1960s Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, but he uses about 60-70% whole wheat flour instead of the almost 50/50 whole wheat/white in the recipe but otherwise follows the recipe to the letter, including the rising and baking times, and putting foil over the loaf tops part-way through baking.
Ok, this is the pics I got of today's bread, buns and my first attempt at Ciabatta bread.
If your finding your bread heavy in the center maybe check it with a meat thermometer before taking it out. I got better results after I was told that bread should be at least 195 degrees, 200 is done, and specialties or artisans like Ciabatta should be 205 degrees I read today. I was going by the exterior and the sound, not that accurate apparently.
A few new tricks I've been doing, one, I've been putting my dough in the (cold) oven to rise with a hot cast iron pan on the bottom of the oven. Keeps the oven around 80 degrees during the rise processes. (I reheat the cast iron twice per rise.)
Two, I have been misting the loaves before and during the baking process. I also have a pan of hot "steam" water in the oven at all times. I mist every 10 minutes..makes a super thumpy good crust, yet the inside is soft. Perfect every time so far.