Invention of sliced bread

[raro]

Hi there,
I've been doing a lot of research lately on bread. I was really disappointed to find that even 100% whole wheat, store-bought bread is often no better for you than Wonder bread, because they pulverize the whole grain until it's dust in order to make the bread "lighter" for the consumer, thereby killing the fiber until it's only 1 gram more than white bread.
At any rate, I have a bread machine and have made bread in the past. But the biggest problem I've had is that, while homemade bread tastes better, is cheaper, and is better for you, it's lousy for making sandwiches. If I slice it thin enough for sandwiches, it falls apart. If I slice it thicker, it's way too filling for a sandwich.
Does anyone have a good recipe for sandwich bread that you can slice thinly? Thanks!

 

[Britesea]

It's all the extra fiber in the whole wheat flour that makes it so crumbly- not much 'glue' in bran. We add a little bit of white flour to the mix- seems to help with the 'crumb'. Other than that, I think you might have to just get used to it; or learn to like open faced sandwiches like the Danes eat. Sandwiches were invented by an aristocrat... and you can bet he wasn't eating brown bread like the peasants.
We threw away our bread machine and make our bread using a long ferment/rising time and natural yeasts. The amount of active time spent is no longer than any other bread, but the rising time can take 12 hours or longer. It seems to really develop the gluten (and the flavor!) in the bread- which is what holds everything together for thin slices. The long fermentation time also means that the carbs don't impact my diabetes as much.

 

[raro]

Sorry to sound lame, but what is the difference between store-bought and "natural" yeast? I remember as a kid my mom had a glass orange juice jar that she kept in the fridge for years. It had what looked to me like chicken feed in it, but she said it was yeast that had been given to her. I don't think she had a clue how to use the stuff. The pellets (for lack of a better word) were about the size of BBs. Is that "natural yeast"?! (Of course, it could have been chicken feed and someone was playing a joke on her...we'd never know the difference...!)
Does the fermenting process make the bread taste like sourdough bread? I'm not much of a sourdough fan. And I only use the bread machine to mix the dough. I don't have much energy for kneading, and I prefer the regular loaf shape!

 

[Britesea]

The natural yeast is a little like making sourdough, but it doesn't turn very sour if you are using it weekly and then feeding it for the next baking. This is the way they made bread for thousands of years, before the invention of dried yeast. I have no idea what the pellets in your mom's fridge were, unless the yeast had simply overgrown or something.
Try looking up the no-knead methods of making bread- my hubby doesn't knead his dough at all- just does a couple of what he calls "stretch and folds" The dough is very soft - he bakes it either on a pizza stone or in a clay loaf pan which are preheated in the oven to 480F-- the dough rises in baskets with flour covered towels and he just sort of tips it into the hot loaf pan. The crusts are wonderfully crispy this way, and the bread has a good flavor and a decent crumb. He told me the best mix for a good sandwich loaf is about half whole wheat and half white (Darwin's mix, it's called), but you can still get a pretty good crumb from a 2/3-1/3 mix.
And just like the fermented feeds everyone talks about for their livestock- this method neutralizes the phytic acids and unlocks more of the nutrients in the grain.

 

[baymule]

I have this same problem. The bread I make, I mill the wheat into flour, is crumbly. Delicious, but crumbly. Fresh, but crumbly. DH still prefers store bought.

 

[Britesea]

we mill our flour too. But to help with the crumbly part, I sift out the larger particles that the mill doesn't always get, and use that as a farina type hot cereal.

 

[baymule]

.......smacks forehead with heel of hand...... DUH! Why didn't I think of that?

 

[Britesea]

 

[Denim Deb]

Looks yummy!

 

[baymule]

Recipe please! You give a vague description of how you make the bread, show us a picture and leave us hanging. How do I make this no-knead bread that holds together and doesn't crumble in my lap after the first bite?