September 12, 2012 - 9:03am
Whole Grains how much is too much?
So I've been expirimenting with baking whole wheat bread for awhile, and I want to put as much whole grains in as possible, for health reasons. I've made many loaves with only whole wheat flour. Let's just say they were a little dense, to say the least. So here's my question, How much whole grain flour can I use, while still making a loaf with good texture, etc?
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You can make a very palatable and tasty loaf using 100% whole grains. Your whole wheat flour may or may not actually be "whole" wheat as all flours are different.
There is probably a loaf that you make that works well in both taste and texture. That loaf will be your starting point in working towards more whole grain in the bread. Make that bread and take out a small portion of your white flour and replace it with whole wheat flour. Use a bit more water so that your dough is always at least tacky and possibly even sticky. You should become comfortable with handling wet sticky dough as this is the key to a lighter whole wheat loaf. Each time you make this loaf, take out a bit more white flour and replace it with whole wheat flour. Do this again and again until you have the loaf that you want in terms of whole grain content.
Going directly to a bread with mostly or all whole grain is quite difficult but moving there inch by inch works well and you will teach yourself how to make whole wheat bread in the process. Jeff
Our esteemed TFL member, txfarmer, has demonstrated that one can get a light, airy bread using 100% whole wheat flour. Here's a link to my trial of her approach: Light and fluffy 100% Whole Wheat Bread
You can do it!
Happy baking!
David
Peter Reinhart's book _Whole Grain Breads_ is a must-read if you're going swim in the waters of whole-grain only.
thank you so much. I'm excited to get started again.
Hi Marlyne,
My suggestion is that you look at the book previously mentioned in this thread, Whole Grain Breads by Peter Reinhart. Baking with whole grains can be tricky and this book has good recipes and excellent instruction. To me, your recipe reads more like a cake than a bread. Whole grain breads are simplier than that but the trick is in the technique.
Jeff