Hi. I just pulled two Honey Wheat loaves out of the oven (and I haven't tried them, although they smell good) and while they are done, and the tops are a lovely golden brown, each loaf cracked on the side. I've only tried bread a few times, and each time with a different recipe. I made some dinner rolls last weekend that were divine, and I thought I'd try some Wheat bread (my second attempt, although a new recipe - the first wasn't good at all).

The recipe I used was this one: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Honey-Wheat-Bread-II/Detail.aspx?prop31=4 (I love allrecipes!). I did everything exactly like the recipe said, with the following exceptions: I used 1/2 of honey instead of 1/3, and I used 1 cup or wheat flour and about 3 cups of all-purpose in the last step (I couldn't add the other cup in).

I spent probably about 10 minutes kneading the bread, let it rise for about an hour (it doubled in size nicely), and I split it into two loaves. I put it in a warm over to rise a second time (I cut the oven off when I put them in, just wanted a tiny bit of heat since it's kind of cold in my house tonight). After 4 hours, my loaves were both about 1/2 inch BELOW the pan edge. The recipe says to let it rise until it's OVER the edge of the pan, and my questions are these:

- How long should this normally take?

- Why didn't mine rise as much as it was supposed to after 4 hours?

- Did it dry out (if that's the cracking?) because I let it rise for so long?

I used a regular package of active dry yeast, and my wheat flour is relatively new.

Any thoughts?

Much appreciated,

Leigh McKagen

In every bread book I've read, it's always suggested to retard dough during while its proofing (with the exception of pain a l'ancienne). Is there any reason one shouldn't do this during bulk fermentation? I imagine the yeast population is a lot smaller at that point, so It may not have as drastic of consequences. Also, since the cold makes dough much more elastic, it may have a negative effect on doughs that need folding. Has anyone tried this?

This weekend I made the sourdough miche recipe from Peter Reinhart's BBA book.  I want to share this experience, since I was surprised how quickly the dough fermented and rose.  I followed the formula much like it was detailed in the book, using half whole wheat flour and half bread flour and the 7 oz. batter-like starter called for.