Moist and Delicious Whole Wheat Bread
by Mark on May 16, 2009
Dad (Gary) made a whole wheat loaf the other day. He and Mom were pretty pleased with it. Very moist and delicious. I think they managed to polish the whole thing off between the two of them in little more than a day.
On baking it a second time, he modified the recipe slightly and here are his notes that he sent to me to post.
Notes:
I slightly increased the flour, increased the gluten, salt sugar, molasses, and honey. Also the seeds and grains. It can still be a little sweeter or maybe less molasses.
I also increased the baking time by 5 minutes. It was still a little soft. The gluten increases the open crumb which weakens the structure so
that may be why the need for a longer time in the oven.
Whole Wheat Bread
Starter:
225 grams whole wheat
75 grams KA Special
½ t yeast
240 grams water
Soaker:
240 grams whole wheat
240 grams water
20 hours on counter
Balance:
200 grams whole wheat
150 grams KA Special
2 t diastatic malt
3 ½ T vital wheat gluten
4 t salt – 24 grams
4 t sugar
3 t yeast
3 T honey
3 T molasses
3/4 cup water +/- 180 grams
about 1 cup grains and seeds
Knead in mixer for 12 minutes on #2
Rise for one hour (double fold at 30 minutes)
Single fold and shape
Oven at 400
Rise for one hour.
Egg wash and oatmeal - slit
Oven at 375 for 50 minutes (200 degrees interior)
Water spray before putting in and every 3 minutes for first 10
Tagged as:
bread,
whole wheat
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Gary he a must a make a duh Italian a bread a too, no? I a used to make a ton uva bread in duh 70s and a 80s. Guess I a have a to a post a mya anadama bread a recipe. Does a Gary still a grow all dat basil and hot a peps?
edb
Yes he does! Lots of it. And this year, he is indeed growing da peppas anna da basil.
Hi Mark.
I saw this bread and have decided to try it. However.. I’m 100% in-experienced in bread baking, banana bread I’m sure doesn’t count. I’m a tad confused with the Starter, Soaker and Balance. Any insight on how I would begin this in “layman’s terms”. Thank you! Andrea
Andrea, let me see if I can give you a better understanding.
A soaker is typically used when dealing with coarsely milled whole grains, which need to be softened. The moisture not only softens the grain, but it also gets into the grain and activates enzymes that start to work on the grain, releasing sugars and enhancing the flavor. If the grain has not been milled and is still intact, the grains can actually sprout. The soaker doesn’t contain any yeast and so it’s not part of the fermentation process.
A starter is a pre-fermented dough. You introduce the yeast here, and you let it get working on the flour. This is going to sit for a while (in the case of the recipe above, for about 20 hours). The result of the yeast action here isn’t as much leavening as it is for flavor.
The balance is essentially, everything else that goes into making the final dough. This is where you’re going to combine the soaker and the starter with additional flour, salt, sugars, additional yeast and whatever else your recipe calls for and then you’ll knead it, let it rise, shape it, let it rise some more and bake.
Note that the soaker in the recipe above has milled flour, rather than coarsely-milled or unmilled grain. Flour does not really need to be softened since it will hydrate easily enough. But we do the soaker to get the benefits of enhanced flavor.
I hope this helps! Tomorrow I will be making some banana bread myself because I have bananas on my counter that have gone past the point where anybody is going to eat them in this house. I think banana bread is still a respectable baking activity.