January 24, 2011 - 9:23am
whole wheat flour
ate a delicious whole wheat bread baked with the canadian brand FIVE ROSES WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR. This company is owned by Smuckers and they claim they do not have this flour in New York. I tried local 100% stone ground organic whole wheat. my bread was dry and crumbly. I tried adding gluten but results were only somewhat better.
Is there any flour equivalent in New York? (short of going to Canada or having it shipped)
The recipe is a mix of whole wheat flour (3-1/2 lb. white spelt 1-1/2 lb. and 1 lb. of white bread flour) That bread was moist and spongy while mine is still in the freezer and no one wants to eat it.
thanks
fayee
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In Maryland we can get a course stone ground whole wheat flour by Hodson's Mill and several brands of finer grinds from Pillsbury, General Mill and King Arther.
I have found whole wheat flour to need longer hydration so I often use the ww flour in a poolish that I start yesterday for bread today.
Have you tried the ubiquitous King Arthur Flour brand. Their hard wheat flours seem to be selected and milled primarily with breadmaking in mind. Some wheat flours are selected and milled yielding a flour more appropriate for cake/pastry applications. The differences may not always be readily apparent.
So again, try the KA whole wheat, or white whole wheat. They both make excellent breads.
have you seen the Wheat Montana brand flour in any of the Wal-Mart stores in your area? I know that they carry that brand in other regions of the U.S. Like KAF, it is an excellent flour with a very finely-milled texture.
Good on you for the extended poolish with the WW flour. It definitely helps the texture of the finished bread. For that long a period, you may want to include the salt in the poolish so that the enzyme activity is controlled. I wonder if things might improve if you also increased the hydration in the formula a little?
From what other posters have said, long kneading times (upwards of 20 minutes!) can also improve the texture of WW breads. Frankly, I'm too lazy to spend that much time kneading and find that a 2-4 hour autolyze with the WW flour produces good results.
Best of luck with your future bakes!
Paul
Pre ferments and soakers really help with whole wheat flour. I'm using a poolish and a soaker on some breads with good success as well as Reinhart's biga and soaker which works well. The longer autolyze is a type of soaker and works well as you say Paul. I've tried the long kneading once as suggested in Laurel's Kitchen and want to try it again, but didn't have a lot of success. I know others as you say that do.
Loren
thanks for the replies. couple of questions though. what is a poolish and an autolyze? im not a professional baker but enjoy bread baking.
does someone have a good recipe for soft center cruster outer whole wheat bread or challah that one can follow for home use with ready to find ingredients. I also dont mind mixing different kinds of flours i.e. whole wheat with spelt etc.
thanks fayee
archhm@yahoo.com
Wow, Fayee, have you come to the right place.... There are so many recipes, formula's, and an extensive database here. There's a search box above and to the left, if you put in some of the those words you will find a ton of different answers. Not to mention the handbook and lessons above on the toolbar! We are blessed with many talented professional bakers here who are willing to share and help us, but we also have a ton of home bakers who have a lot of experience. They are ready and willing to share and help and guide us, just look around and read a lot and when you have questions ask them.
Poolish: simply water, flour, yeast. It usually ferments 8 to 12 hours and improves the flavor of the flour. It is only a small portion of the finally recipe, and it added to the dough that you make the following day.
Autolyse: when you first mix your flour and water together you give your flour a chance to absorb the water for anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour, with the most common time being right around 30 minutes
Joanne