March 24, 2014 - 7:08pm
Breads that are dense in texture and nutrients?
Hey everyone! Its been a long time, since I last baked bread, but have decided to start up again!
To the point, I've become quite active in the past while, and am looking for types of breads that are more dense in texture, and hopefully nutrients as well. I've tried Googling for this, however the issue is that I don't know WHAT to look for. Almost all of the results that I have gotten has mostly to do with breads that did not bake properly. Help!!
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You might try searching for rye bread recipes. If you want to stick with wheat, try searching for "100% whole wheat bread recipes," as they will be much more dense than typical whole wheat breads, which are usually only 1/2 or 1/4 whole wheat. It's true, most recipes are geared toward trying to make bread lighter, so search terms like "dense" might get you negative results!
I'm on a similar mission and if I understand correctly, Einkorn wheat (the ancient granddaddy of all wheat, and is the only non-hybidized wheat) is supposed to be significantly higher in nutrients and is definitely a lot denser than other wheat based breads. I'm a beginning baker so although my first few attempts have produced loaves that look like bread, and taste yummy, I found that Einkorn does not handle like regular wheat. It accepts a lot less water and yet produces a very soft (gooey) dough that I find hard to lift up and place into my dutch oven, but that may be due to my total lack of experience. A bit of research leads me to believe that everyone finds the dough a bit of a handful to get into the oven so its not likely completely my lack of experience. I do like its dense nature and good crust. It has a light nutty flavor and hope to benefit from its purported nutritional advantage. There are also some folks that have been referring to s study that shows that Einkorn has very low glycemic impact so some people that have slight gluten sensitivities claim that they can eat this bread. I purchased a large bag of flour and will keep experimenting and hopefully learn how to bake a proper loaf of bread.
Bob, have you tried using parchment paper for transferring your delicate loaves to the dutch oven? That's what I do for my gluten-free boule bread. I just let it rise on the parchment paper, then use the paper's corners to lift the dough - paper and all - to the dutch oven. Maybe you've already heard of this work-around. Eikhorn sounds like it acts similar to GF, and I've heard of it through a company that does both GF and ancient grains, Jovial.
Although I do have parchment paper, I have not tried it yet because I'm trying to learn the skills to do this the way the rest of you do,but I suspect that you are right, I may have to try that next, thank you.
to using parchment paper, because my dough is unmanageably soft and I do not want to drop he hydration level because I love the amazing crust it gives me. I found a 9 1/2 pie pan that can hold the dough in the parchment paper while it ferments overnight then I'll just lift and drop it into the dutch oven and see what happens. I think this could be an awesome idea because I can also slash the dough properly just before I drop it into the dutch oven, thanks again!
I'm a klutz with parchment paper, it always follows on me and I get weirdly shaped loaves so for the past few months I toughed it out and just practiced placing the Einkorn dough into the screaming hot dutch oven as best I can without a sling. I'm getting better and have more consistently produced lovely loaves from this tricky flour.
I'm definitely open to suggestions in regards to this topic. Bob, thanks for the suggestion on Einkorn wheat, it looks odd, but fantastic at the same time. Could I achieve a healthier loaf of bread by using wheat berries as well?
I have not found any information that definitively proves, in a scientific manner, that milling the berries is any better however I suspect that it is because I've read where some folks have bleached their Einkorn just by kneading it in a stand mixer a bit too long and turning it white (presumably oxidizing out the high Beta Carotene levels, which leads me to believe that freshly milled and gently handled Einkorn could be nutritionally better).