Free's bread thread....quest for the perfect 100% whole wheat recipes

[Hattie the Hen]

Anyone got one for a loaf of wheat bread that my husband won't complain about?

He complains that it is too dry, too crumbly, not soft enough. Welcome to my world.

Try incorporating some mashed potato in with the flour. You will have to do a bit of experimenting with the amount as flours are very different in various parts of the world. When I had my restaurant here in the UK we made our own bread several times a day & always used potato as it kept the bread from getting crumbly as well as keeping it fresh for longer. Using olive oil also helps. I used to save some of each batch of dough to add to the next batch. It was very popular with the customers!

freemotion, your calzones sound great! It is early morning here (I have just woken up) & you have made me feel very hungry.........!!

Hattie

 

[okiemomof3]

Hey all, I am new to the site and this is my first post. I love to bake and cook so i of course zero'd in on this thread

i have been grinding and baking all my flour now for almost a year, it will be year Christmas because that is when i recieved my Nutrimill and Bosch!!!

I have found out a few things through trial and error. First, you need a good dough enhancer, and i have the recipe for a homemade one with things readily found in normal grocery stores or health food stores. Second, with WW, you really, really REALLY should try to get your hands on SAF instant yeast. it makes ALL the difference in the world! My food co-op is where i can get a huge package of it for 3 bucks!! I had used Fleischman's and the such for years baking white (dead) bread, adn it worked find, but it does NOT do the same for WW bread. The third, is you have to knead your WW bread dough to pass the window pane (or stretch) test....to make sure enough gluten has developed (i also add a bit of gluten to my dough, it really helps).

I am not sure if you want recipes to be posted to this thread or if you have a forum just for recipes...so i will hold off on posting my every day sandwich bread (passes the PB&J test ) and my dough enhancer recipes until i get a chance to look around this site some more. I found this site from the BYC forums

Samantha

 

[freemotion]

I'm flattered that your first post is here! Please do post your recipes and instructions. I used to be able to get SAF yeast in a one pound brick for $3 at my local grocery store in Maine.....20 years ago when people still baked at home. I used to buy white flour by the 25 lb bag in the same grocery store. And molasses by the gallon. Etc.

There is nothing like freshly ground flour! Please post all your discoveries and recipes here. We can all experiment and figure out what we like best, and also learn more quickly from each other. There are extensive sourdough threads here, so we can somewhat skip that. Somewhat.

My dh was asking about the homemade bread for toast once that first loaf was gone. It was crumbly, but had a wonderful nutty flavor that we both loved. And the health benefits are worth the texture. EVERYTHING homemade should be different from commercially produced stuff. That is the point, right?

 

[okiemomof3]

Okie dokie This is the recipe my family says is the best i have it memorized so here it goes:

350 degrees - cold oven start

2 loaf batch

2 cups hot water
5-7 cups fresh milled flour
1/3 cup olive oil*
1/3 cup honey**
1 Tbl dough enhancer
1/3 cup vital wheat gluten *
1 Tbl SAF instant yeast*

2 tsp kosher salt

In your mixer, pour in the 2 cups hot water, 3 cups of flour, oil, honey, gluten, dough enhancer and yeast. Mix for one minute until all is incorportated and it looks like a batter. Cover with plastic wrap (or your Bosch mixer plastic covers) and let it sponge for 20-30 minutes. Mix for a few seconds and add in the salt and a cup of flour at a time until it cleans the sides of the bowl. I personally wait at least 1 minute in between adding in the flour once i have reached the 5 cup mark, because the dough will be sticky and wet looking, but after it kneads a little bit, it will become perfect! that fresh milled dough really can soak up the liquid, so it is better to have a stickier dough than a tough dough. Knead for 10 minutes in the Bosch or 20 minutes in a Kitchen Aid or until you can achieve the window pane test. If using a Bosch, at this point, shape and form your loaves and let rise for 30 minutes or until double. If using a kitchen, cover and let rise until double, punch down, shape into loaves and let rise a second time, then bake.

How i let my dough rise, is while the dough is kneading, i get a sauce pan filled halfway with water and get it boiling. when its time for the rise, i stick the loaf pans in the oven, the pan of boiling water in the bottom of the oven, and quickly shut the door. This creates a moist atmosphere and no need to cover your loaves. Once risen, take out pan of water, turn on oven to 350 and bake 30 minutes or until done.

The sponging time in this recipe, i think, is critical. i can really tell the difference in the dough when i don't sponge...... also, DON'T forget to add in the salt with the remaining addition of flour....i have and it's not good i usually just set my salt and measuring spoon smack dab infront of my Bosch so i can't forget The reason behind adding the salt after the sponging process is because the salt can hinder the yeast.

* - these items i get through my food co-op www.clnf.org which i LOVE and i would check it out

** i use local raw honey

When i am wanting the nuttier flavor i use Montana Wheat Bronze Chief, a red hard spring wheat berry. When i want a more mild flavor, i use Prairie Gold, a white hard spring wheat berry. When trying to convert your family over, i used the white spring wheat. Now, we are to the point, i use whatever i feel like except for cinnamon rolls, etc, i do use the white wheat, sometimes i use 1/2 and 1/2 for the bread My friend adds in a cup of flax seed and she says it gives great flavor!

Another thing to remember is (and it goes against ALL bread recipes) is to NOT turn onto lightly floured surface to knead and/or shape loaves....turn it out onto an lightly OILED surface....you don't want to keep working in more flour to a loaf that doesn't need it, that results in dry crumbly HEAVY bread.

This dough recipe also makes GREAT cinnamon rolls. I sometimes make cinnamon raisin bread with this dough also...just add in 2 cups of raisins at the end of the kneading process and knead just enough to get them incorporacted into the dough. then roll out as for cinnmaon rolls (check your width, no longer than your bread pan) and spread sucanat and cinnamon over, roll up and shape loaf. Don't spread butter on it, just over the dough, do the sucanat and cinnamon.

Dough enhancer (single batch)

1 C dry milk - helps with texture
2 C wheat gluten - helps with texture
2 tsp powdered ginger
4 T pectin (used in making jam or jelly can be found in the canning section at your grocery store, in small boxes. Dont use the type for freezer jam.)
4 T gelatin (plain gelatin is available in small packets)
4 T lecithin (can be found at most health food/vitamin stores)
1 T ascorbic acid crystals (health food store) - preservative


Mix ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight container. ( i keep mine in a quart mason jar with a plastic screw on lid in the fridge) To use, mix 1 T per 2 loaves of bread or use what the recipe calls for.

 

[freemotion]

My latest try.....failure...sort of. We will still eat it...it cost almost a dollar for two loaves, after all!

I used a variation of an oatmeal bread recipe, by grinding a cup of oat groats into flour, hoping it would help the texture. The bread is delicious, but is very, very dense and although it rose well in the first rising, it didn't rise at all in the pans. My yeast is getting older, though, and I don't have SAF, which is a fantastic yeast.

We will eat the bread toasted, as dense toast is kinda like bagels, right? And the taste is WONDERFUL.

For two loaves I used:

1 c ground oats in 1 c boiling water
1/2 c lard
A glug of honey
1 tsp sea salt
1.5 c kefir
5-6 c flour from hard white wheat
1 T yeast

I like the taste of the white wheat but the red may be better for bread, so I think I might mix them next time. I will also use the method used previously for the plum bread, in which the flour is fermented a bit but the yeast is added later, with one rising. If I remember to mix the dough on Sunday night, I may cook it before leaving for work on Monday.

edited because I forgot the yeast!

 

[Javamama]

Hey - how does one use SAF anyway? I bought a huge package and haven't opened it yet. I found conflicting info on various sites that made my head spin and I had to slowly back away from the internet FYI, I have SAF instant yeast in a 1 pound foil-like pack that is square shaped.

I'm having trouble with my breads lately too. Dunno which of my ingredients is causing it.

 

[okiemomof3]

you just add it in with all the rest of the dry ingredients...no need to proof it or dissolve in water...just add it ontop of the flour and start mixing it up.

 

[Javamama]

OK, but in what amount if I usually use active dry yeast? I never proof my yeast for my bread recipe.

 

[miss_thenorth]

My whole wheat recipe is pretty simple, and awesome, I have been making it for years. I use a breadmaker to knead the dough, but I'm sure it would work just as well by hand.

1 3/4 c water or milk, (I sometimes use whey if I have it) luke warm
2 T butter
2 T honey
2T molasses
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 3/4 cup ww flour
1-2 T gluten flour
1 3/4 tsp yeast

400F for 10 minutes. makes 2 loaves.

edited to ad the yeast--duh!

 

[freemotion]

What is gluten flour? Is that like "vital gluten?"

I'm trying to come up with a method/recipe that just uses ingredients that would be available if we were growing everything ourselves. It would then be sourdough, of course, once the yeast ran out. I'm not opposed to adding purchased ingredients, since I purchase all the ingredients now! It's just a project/challenge that I've given myself. I'll buy the gluten if it really works, though, for our own bread if I end up giving up on the challenge.

SAF Instant yeast can be added with the dry ingredients and you use maybe 2/3 of what the recipe requires. It has been a very reliable yeast for me, too, making a nice, lofty loaf. I haven't used it in recent years or with all whole wheat, though, as I haven't found it nearby. Haven't looked too hard, though. Gotta check the co-op next time I order stuff.

Ummm....is that 400 F for 10 minutes a typo?